Puppy looooove

[nilchance]

So I know my flist is chock full of people who will appreciate this: brynwulf has published two articles on holistic dog care! She's being paid per hit, and the articles ROCK the HOUSE.

Alternative Pet Medicine Compliments Rather than Contradicts : And this is where it gets tough, IMO. Your vet has to determine the root of your darling’s ailment with hardly any communication from their patient. Sure, there are symptoms and they can fill in some of the blanks themselves, but it’s mostly a keen intuition, years of studying and the love of animals that drives a veterinarian.

Don't miss this great dog massage workshop! : Vital info for those of you in the Denver area.

I'll continue to share the links as Bryn updates. \o/

Comments

[brynwulf]

*squishes you tight* Oh, BB, thank you for the plug!! Wow, you're just awesomesauce with a side of fantastic-cakes.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

Since you commented here, and I got the link here, I will ask here instead of stalking you at your lj!

I just read the article, and I have something I've been wondering about re: omega 3 sources.

Specifically, my boy Pirate (see icon) gets dry skin/hair at the drop of a hat, so we've been supplementing his (grain-free) diet with some salmon oil. However, I would swear that not all brands of salmon oil are as effective. The last lot we got at PetCo didn't smell off or anything, but it just didn't seem to do as much, whereas the Grizzly brand stuff really cleared him up and made his fur look amazing.

Therefore, my question is: Am I imagining that there is a difference between brands for these things?

(As a related question: Are there any scientifically conducted studies regarding the use of joint-supplements in dogs? I was wondering if we should consider some for our dogs, since they're both 6 and not going to get younger, but my dad is not convinced, and since he's gonna be the one paying...)

And as a comment: I deeply deeply believe people would be amazed at how much just changing the quality of the stuff you're feeding them can make a difference to the dog. When we adopted Pirate this past summer, they'd aged him at 10. In part, this is because he has bad teeth on one side, and the white on his face makes him look older, but he also just looked kind of run-down; he didn't have any sparkle. (The shelter feeds a good name brand food which is basically grain. And more grain. And parts of grain.) We found out he was 5 (at the time) by tracking his microchip, but it wasn't until we got him home and on better quality food that he started LOOKING it. When we took him back to the shelter for a visit, they were amazed it was the same dog.

[brynwulf]

Pirate looks like a real sweetie!! :) And yes, diet has SO MUCH to do with a dog's health. I'm planning an article soon on raw diet, which is what I feed my dogs.

And you are not wrong. There really is a difference in Salmon oil. Grizzly salmon oil is probably among the top three brands and I recommend it, as well as the salmon oil sold by Only Natural Pet products. I'm not a vet and don't claim to be an expert, but I've been doing this long enough, trying out the cheap alternatives, that I feel I do know what I'm talking about.

Good luck with Pirate!!

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

What was funny was they give the whole speech about gradually changing them over- but Foxy (the other dog in the house) was already getting better stuff, which Pirate managed to sample. So within a few days of getting home, if you gave him a bowl of the Science Diet they sent us home with, he'd just stare at you like 'what the heck is this?'

Right now they get a mix of EVO (chicken or beef, depending on what we happened to pick up) and Solid Gold Barking at the Moon. The EVO was too rich alone, and the BatM seemed to bore them- they ate it for a while, then stopped. So by adding the Tasty Stuff (Evo) about half and half, and varying the EVO flavor, we seem to have found good quality dry food that they will eat and not get bored with. :)

(I did a lot of research about feeding raw, but I live with my parents and they're not really into it, so. They were, however, quite happy to have me investigate other food options. They're very much of the opinion that our dogs should get decent food, too. :) )

When the bottle of salmon oil runs out, I think I'll just switch back to the Grizzly. It made SUCH a huge difference to him within about a week that I feel like it's worth the extra hassle to get it. (No one local to us has it, so we have to either drive a bit out of the city, or mail order.)

[eponin10.livejournal.com]

Sweetie... you might want to fix the spelling of brynwulf's name. *g*