Are You Loving Your Dog to Death?
Over the past 6 months we have had the honour to look after people’s homes and pets, and many of the beautiful animals that we cared for were dogs. I realised during this time that the health of dogs and the illnesses that they struggle with were not so different to human health and human illnesses…
…and like ‘us humans’ who tend to enjoy treating ourselves to foods that may not be as supportive as healthier choices, we also tend to offer our pets, especially dogs similar foods and treats.
I am not saying we don’t love our animals, on the contrary we love them so much, that we can often forget that they are dogs. We provide them with foods that may be marketed as ‘healthy’, but in reality they are often not as easy for them to digest. We also may sneak them food from our plate…or provide them with treats that can often be filled with grains and other ingredients that are just not suitable for their digestion.
Like us when we overindulge, we often feel the effects… and so to will our fury friends. We may be over feeding our pets without realising that they don’t need to be eating food all the time, but unfortunately may also have little understanding as to how this is effecting their health.
So, I guess good questions to ask ourselves would be: How is my health? How am I supporting my body to provide me with optimal health? …and how is my dog’s health?
Does my dog’s health mimic my health and how could I start making better choices for myself and my pet?
Interesting questions?
Dogs are so amazing, and they can take on so much of our energetic ills and this may be the reason why there is a huge increase in serious illnesses in dogs such as cancer, arthritis, skin conditions etc. So as more and more people struggle with their health, it would appear that our doggy friends are also struggling with similar conditions.
Veterinarians are not surprised to see more and more dogs presenting with these serious health conditions. This may be because many of us have forgotten that as dogs, they need foods that support their body and their digestive system…not human foods, cooked foods and a variety of processed so called ‘treats’. They also need exercise and plenty of good quality water…
What do Veterinarians Say?
Veterinarians validated the idea that a pet’s health can often reflect that of its owner: anxiety, obesity, allergies, gastrointestinal infections and even insomnia are all disorders that can exist in pet-owner dyads. Read more here…
Dogs are not designed to eat what we eat, if they were in the wild, they would not choose cooked food, dried food or special doggy treats… they would more likely look for raw meat from other animals and occasionally you may see them eat grass or vegetables.
Is your dog suffering form ill health?
If you have a pet that is suffering from skin conditions, arthritis, showing signs of digestive issues and bowel problems, you may find that the dried food (which often contains grains) could be causing inflammation, yeast infections and other conditions. It may be the hormones in the meat and the preservatives and food additives that is affecting your dog’s health?
Like ourselves, when we want to make a change, it is difficult to know where to start so I have added this link to an article about dried dog food, so you have more information about what to look out for and some further knowledge that can support you. Read more here…
Also, there are some very convincing reasons to provide a good quality beneficial coconut oil to our fury friends meals. Amazing coconut oil…
Another added supplement that is showing tremendous results is turmeric (curcumin) which you can add to your dogs food. This has been proven in scientific studies to out perform any anti-inflammatory drug available, so can be extremely supportive for arthritic conditions. The following link is where you can get pure curcumin that has been extracted without heat from the turmeric plant. This is highly potent and provides 1000mg of curcumin in one teaspoon… You can purchase good quality pure curcumin here…
If you suffer from Arthritis yourself, you can easily take 1000mg of curcumin (and more) a day. Have it with a good fat (coconut oil etc) and black pepper which boosts the absorption of curcumin.
Both turmeric and black pepper have key active ingredients that contribute to their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and disease-fighting qualities read more here…
Hopefully this article has been helpful and remember, the best thing you can feed your beloved friend is real food… think about what is natural for a dog to eat. Raw is best if you can get good quality meat without antibiotics preservatives. Don’t believe what they write on the labels…if it comes from a packet or a can, it has to have preservatives and other chemicals in it… not the best. If it has been processed and is dried, then all the nutrition has been destroyed and it has probably been sprayed with cheap vitamins so it can be marketed as healthy…
I have found two companies that are passionate about dog health and who have created the best possible pet foods for dogs. Note: I have no link with these companies and receive no benefits from promoting them, however, I have used these foods to support dogs who have had serious health conditions and I have witnessed a remarkable difference in their vitality, skin conditions, eyesight and arthritic conditions.
Like humans, every dog is very different, so there of course is no guarantee…but rather than love our dog to death by providing them the foods that we love…let’s love our dogs to good health, by giving them what they actually need.
Exercise is very supportive for your dog, so it is extremely important that they are able to get some sunshine and movement each day, especially if they are an inside dog. If you struggle with knowing what the best exercise is for yourself… check out this link
Here is to your health and the health of your fury friend…
