Available in their breed-specific stores, these booklets take a proactive approach to feeding our dogs.

There’s no point in waiting for a disease to strike if we can promote health instead. That’s what being proactive is all about. Knowing the genetic diseases a breed is disposed to, symptoms, treatments most commonly used, what a good vet would check for, and of course, how dietary measures and supplement choices can play roles in prevention are key points for Mike Cormier DVM and myself. The dietary information provided applies to all methods of feeding (commerical, cooked or raw).

The Saint Bernard and Bernese Mountain Dog join our other breed booklets: Airedale Terrier, Akita, American Staffordshire Terrier, Australian Shepherd, Basset Hound, Border Collie, Boxer, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Chihuahua, Golden Retriever, Great Dane, Labrador Retriever, Siberian Husky, Standard Poodle, Miniature Poodle, Toy Poodle, and Rottweiler. Don’t see your breed listed? It’ll be here as soon as possible. New breeds are announced monthly.

Check out the savings when you choose to buy a three-pack of booklets. This option allows you to learn about these breeds as well as two other subjects that can help even more - and you save money! If you’re part of a group (veterinary teams, rescue organizations, and breed clubs are welcomed) wanting 48 or more booklets (mixed titles is fine), we offer a deep discount to support your effort! Contact us to discuss an order.

Fact of The Month
There is a “Hidden” Sources of Vitamin D

One of roles of vitamin D includes promotion of calcium absorption. As vital as this may be, vitamin D, like anything else, can be overdone. Like people, dogs can obtain some vitamin D from exposure to direct sunlight. However, other than a hairless dog, this exposure is limited to the nose and ears (obviously not the case for floppy-eared dogs). Since the amount of vitamin D from direct sunlight is relatively limited for most dogs, and since inclement weather may prevent the dog from receiving even this limited amount, we need to provide it via diet. Animal livers provide small amounts of vitamin D, as do eggs, but usually not enough to meet requirements and maintain health. Fish liver oils (cod liver being the most common) provide whopping amounts of vitamin A and large amounts of vitamin D. Fish provides vitamin D as well, although the amount is highly variable. On the other hand, canned fish such as sardines and salmon add plenty of vitamin D to the diet, so be sure to incorporate these amounts when formulating your dogs’ diet for the long term.

Hidden sources of vitamin D include poultry skin, chicken skin in particular. You’re not likely to weigh the skin itself, but consider this as a guide: 100 grams (3 ½ oz) of chicken skin provides 900 IU of vitamin D. That’s a substantial amount! Think about the number of dogs consuming chicken wings or even cooked chicken breast or thighs that include skin and you can see that many of these dogs may not require the addition of cod liver oil to the diet. Now, add in the fact that fish body oils contain vitamin D as well. Just about everyone I know adds some fish body oil to their dog’s diet, and usually, this is perfectly fine. In fact, the omega 3 fatty acid content benefits most dogs. But there is an unknown to most fish body oils. Few sellers of these oils have any idea of how much vitamin D their product contains. We test ours so we do know, and there can be small variables from one lot number to the next. When you know how much vitamin D is in your chosen oil, or when you can receive some guidance, you’re more likely to be able to formulate a better diet. If you feed canned fish, you may not need any fish oil, and if you feed plenty of chicken skin, you may not want to add canned fish to begin with. Of course, the entire diet needs to be considered. Looking at only one component is an exercise in futility. Add foods and oils as necessary to provide a healthy, balanced diet - not on a “just in case” basis.

Adult Case of the Month
Meet Tally

Tally is a six year-old Havanese that could give lessons in owner manipulation. She’s a very smart girl, with a will of iron. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, can sway this dog to eat unless she deems it appropriate. She can go as long as three days without food, and while she’s never become ill from this, her top-dog position in the household had backfired badly. Tally likes eggs and refused to eat anything else. The problem is that eggs contain sulfur amino acids, so they are one of the best foods if the goal is to acidify urine. This dog had acid urine to begin with. The end result was removal of calcium oxalate stones in a dog that was about 15% below her best weight. Whether or not the prescription diet the veterinarian had given Tally’s owner to try would have helped or not remains unknown because this little spitfire was on a hunger strike. Let’s face it, I could almost hear her saying - if I refused to eat steak, I’m certainly not going to consider “lowering” my standards and start eating canned food!

I explained to Tally’s owner that we had to add carbohydrates if we had any hope of seeing less acid urine. We started off by offering Tally scrambled eggs for two days, because I needed her to be eager to eat and more trusting of what she was going to be fed. On day three, we added a little milk to the eggs so they were a looser consistency. Baby rice cereal was added on day four; only enough to make the scrambled eggs firmer. Seven weeks later, Tally was eating half the eggs she used to, and much more of the cereal. By the tenth week, she was accepting a smidge of sweet potato, and by the twelfth week, she ate a balanced diet, including supplements and even a little chicken and vegetables!

Tally’s owner sent me a note the other day. Her dog’s urine pH is a perfect 6.5, and a little tough love has turned Tally into a better eater in general. No more fighting to get the dog to eat, no urinary problems - all’s well that ends well.

Monica

“The dog represents all that is best in man.’
-- Etienne Charlet