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Going Mutts Pet Services and Nutrition, Fort McMurray, AB (2025)

10/16/2025

🍲🐾 Bone Broth for Dogs — Cozy, Healing, and Smarter Than You Think

I made a fresh batch of turkey bone broth for myself and the pups after Thanksgiving dinner 🦃🐶

Short cook time (4–5 hours) — because lower histamine > longer simmer sometimes.

Let’s talk about why this simple food is such a powerhouse… and why it’s not for every terrain just yet 👇

🧬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 (𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲)

💧 𝐇𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐬
Broth is basically warm, mineral-infused water — perfect for encouraging picky or low-drinking dogs to rehydrate.

🦴 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧 & 𝐆𝐥𝐲𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞
Supports joint, gut, and skin health — glycine helps the body repair connective tissue and calm inflammation.

(Bonus: it’s gently calming to the nervous system — glycine = chill molecule)

🩸 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭
Contains small amounts of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium — easy for the body to use in that warm, liquid form.

🧠 𝐆𝐮𝐭-𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
The gelatin in broth soothes the gut lining, which can indirectly help with mood, allergies, and immune balance.

🫀 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐞 & 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝
Broth’s amino acids (especially glycine and taurine) help conjugate bile acids, improving digestion and detox pathways.

⚠️ 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 (𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐰)

❌ 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭-𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐃𝐨𝐠𝐬
Long-simmered broths can be a histamine bomb. Short cooks (4–5 hours) are safer, or skip altogether during a flare.

❌ 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐮𝐫-𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧
Dogs with sulfur or redox bottlenecks (think ear wax, itchy skin, or strong “detox” reactions) might react to the high cysteine and glutamate in broth.

❌ 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐲 𝐆𝐮𝐭 / 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬
If your dog is still reactive to proteins or struggling with loose stool, wait until gut and bile flow are calmer — broth can stir things up before the body’s ready to rebuild.

❌ 𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
Depending on minerals used (especially sodium), broth might not be ideal unless balanced carefully.

🕰️ 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐭

• Bones: turkey necks, wings, or frames (raw or lightly roasted)
• Water: enough to cover bones
• Add-ins: optional splash of apple cider vinegar (helps extract minerals, but I don’t bother with it), dog-safe veggies
• Cook time: 4–5 hours for a low-histamine version (avoid the 24-hour simmer trend)
• Cool & strain: remove fat if needed, refrigerate or freeze portions

Serve warm over meals or as a hydrating treat!

10/15/2025

🐾 Dental Chews: Junk Food in a Toothbrush Costume?

We’ve all seen those grocery store “dental chews” (like Dentastix, Greenies) claiming to be clinically proven to keep teeth clean. But here’s the truth behind the marketing 👇

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🟡 How They “Prove” It
• “Clinically proven” usually means a tiny, company-funded study with carefully chosen conditions.
• Control groups often get nothing to chew — so any chew looks good in comparison.
• They measure plaque (soft film) instead of hardened tartar, which is much easier to reduce.
• Scoring is sometimes done visually, not by scaling — subjective and inflated.

🟡 Why They “Work” a Little
• Chewing anything creates some scraping action.
• Some contain sodium hexametaphosphate, which slows tartar hardening.
• Dogs that never chew otherwise might see a small benefit.

🟡 The Catch
• Main ingredients? Wheat, corn starch, glycerin, additives = junk food.
• Most dogs gulp them down in seconds → zero abrasion.
• They don’t address gum health, saliva quality, or the oral microbiome — the real drivers of dental disease.

⸻

🦴 Better Alternatives
• Raw meaty bones (appropriately sized and safe for your dog’s age & chewing style)
• Dehydrated or raw chews (tendons, trachea, bully sticks)
• Brushing with a dog-safe toothpaste (still the gold standard!)

⚠️ Important: Not all bones or chews are safe for all dogs.

• Puppies: Avoid hard bones — fragile teeth.
• Seniors/dental disease dogs: Avoid hard chewing that risks fractures.
• “Gulpers”: Need safer options to prevent choking.

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🤓 The Nerdy Takeaway
Don’t fall for marketing sleight-of-hand. Real dental health comes from the right chews for your dog, balanced nutrition, and (when possible) brushing.

⸻

10/14/2025

╭────── ✦ ──────╮
𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑻𝒖𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒚 💕
╰────── ✦ ──────╯

What my dogs had for Thanksgiving dinner

I don’t share what my dogs eat nearly enough — I’ll try to get better at that! Maybe some of you will find it helpful to see what I actually do day-to-day.

My dogs eat breakfast at 5:30 am, which is way too early for me to be taking pictures, so you’ll have to settle for their supper bowls instead 😂

Anyway… I love letting them share a bit of the holiday with me — but always in a way that supports their terrain, not stresses it. Because let’s be honest… nobody wants to deal with Thanksgiving diarrhea later! 💩🦃

✦ Here’s what went in their bowls 👇 ✦

🥣 Turkey Feast Edition:
• Light & dark turkey meat
• Cooked turkey heart & liver (they refuse raw — divas 😅)
• White potatoes & carrots (Treble got rice instead — he’s a potato protestor)
• Whole cooked egg
• GLM powder for joint support and manganese
• Zinc, iodine & magnesium supplement
• A piece of raw turkey neck for crunch & minerals
• Fresh bone broth (short simmer, low histamine style 🧬)

✦ Day Recap ✦

Since they’re fed twice a day — this was dinner only!

Earlier today they had:
🍎 Apple slices & a bit of kefir as a snack (Treble still gets hunger pukes, so he gets a snack and the girls do too, otherwise I feel guilty)

🍖 BCR for breakfast with their cleavers tincture and bile & liver supports (because my dogs do the foundational work that’s in all of my protocols)

✦ Simple Tip ✦

I basically cooked the potatoes and carrots for our meal, and after straining them, I just set a bit aside for the dogs — plain and simple 🥕🥔 Easy!

Feeding your dog fresh food doesn’t have to be complicated — even making one home-cooked meal every now and then makes a real difference!

10/13/2025

🦃 Thanksgiving Feasts & Fats: Keeping Dogs Safe This Holiday

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Holidays mean lots of food on the table — and lots of eager eyes under the table 👀🐾

But here’s the nerdy truth: high-fat meals (especially cooked fat) can overwhelm a dog’s bile and pancreas.

Even a few rich scraps (turkey skin, gravy, buttery stuffing) can trigger gut upset — or worse, pancreatitis!

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🐶 What My Dogs Get
I love sharing a safe “Thanksgiving plate” with my crew:
• Turkey breast or thigh (no skin). I cook the heart and liver the next day. They get the raw turkey neck (I cut it into 3 pieces)
• Boiled potatoes
• Boiled carrots (sometimes sweet potato or beets if I’ve made them)
• If there’s ham, they might get a tiny piece — but never the cooked bone 🦴❌

They’re more than happy with some meat and veggies, and their tummies stay happy too!

⸻

🚫 What I Don’t Share
• Stuffing: mine has onions (toxic for dogs)
• Corn on the cob or kernels: not really digestible for dogs, so I skip it
• Gravy & fatty trimmings: too rich and risky for pancreatitis
• Dessert: … not on purpose at least, LOL! The girls have definitely had cake before!

⸻

📍 A Note for Fort McMurray Pet Parents
Here in YMM, we don’t always have emergency vet access over the holidays.

A case of pancreatitis might mean a 4–5 hour drive to Edmonton 🚗 — not the way anyone wants to spend Thanksgiving!

⸻

🤓 Nerdy Takeaway:
Dogs don’t need the fancy sides or fatty extras to feel included.

Keep it simple — lean meat and plain veggies = a safe and happy holiday meal!

⸻

10/12/2025

🍂 Gratitude for Gut Health

When we think about Thanksgiving, we usually think about food on the table — but I also like to take a moment to be grateful for the food that nourishes life inside our dogs: their gut microbes 🦠🐾

These tiny allies help digest food, balance the immune system, and even shape mood and energy. And just like us, they thrive when we feed them the right terrain!

⸻

🥕 Seasonal Foods for the Microbiome

Many holiday favorites double as microbiome-friendly dog foods (when offered plain and safe):
• Squash: Gentle fiber that soothes digestion.
• Sweet potato: Rich in resistant starch to fuel beneficial bacteria.
• Cranberry: Antioxidants and compounds that support urinary and gut health.
• Pumpkin: Beta-carotene and fiber that supports stool quality.
• Beets: Prebiotic compounds, betaine, and gentle liver support.
• Carrots: Crunch (if raw), fiber, and carotenoids for gut and skin.
• Green beans: Light, gut-friendly fiber dogs usually tolerate well.

These foods don’t just fill a belly — they literally shape the ecosystem inside your dog.

⸻

🤓 The Nerdy Takeaway
• Your dog’s microbiome is like a garden.
• Seasonal plant foods = compost and fertilizer that help good bacteria flourish.
• A diverse, happy microbiome = stronger immunity, calmer digestion, and better overall resilience.

⸻

🦃 This Thanksgiving, I’m not just thankful for what’s on the plate… I’m thankful for what’s happening after the plate — in the gut, where health truly begins!

⸻

10/11/2025

🍒 Cranberries & Kidneys: A Thanksgiving Superfruit for Dogs

Cranberries aren’t just for turkey dinner — they’re also a powerful kidney & urinary tract support tool for dogs!

⸻

🧪 How Cranberries Help
• Rich in proanthocyanidins (PACs) that prevent certain bacteria (like E. coli) from sticking to the bladder wall.
• Can reduce the risk of recurrent bacterial UTIs in dogs.
• Support kidney health through gentle antioxidant and terrain-balancing effects.

⸻

🥄 How to Give Them
• Fresh or unsweetened dried cranberries: chopped and added to meals in tiny amounts. Some dogs might not like the taste…
• Cranberry powder: easy, consistent, and more concentrated (often more effective than whole fruit).
• Cranberry capsules for dogs: available, but make sure dosing is dog-appropriate and not human-sized.

⸻

🚩 What to Avoid
• Canned cranberry sauce (loaded with sugar)
• Cranberry juice cocktails (usually sweetened and not safe for dogs)

⸻

❌ When to Use Caution
• Dogs with calcium oxalate stones or prone to oxalates should avoid cranberry, as it can increase oxalate levels.
• Dogs with unknown urinary history are best to get urinalysis first before using cranberry long-term.

⸻

🤓 Nerdy Takeaway:
Cranberries aren’t a cure-all, but they’re a fantastic terrain-supporting food for urinary tract health.

Safe in small amounts, smart in powdered form, and most helpful for dogs with recurrent E. coli-type UTIs.

⸻

10/10/2025

I hope that everyone has a great long weekend, and a very happy Thanksgiving 🦃 🍂

10/09/2025

🩸 WHEN YOU FIND OUT WHAT’S ACTUALLY IN KWIK STOP 😅

So… confession time.

I nicked my finger the other day… nothing major, just one of those tiny cuts that refuses to stop bleeding. I held pressure on it, but of course it was almost dinner time — and Jazz was circling like a little shark. I’m standing there going, “Mommy’s bleeding, you have to wait!” …but she was not having it 😂

In a moment of pure logic (lol), I thought, “Hey, Kwik Stop works great for dogs — why not me?”

Big mistake. Within seconds my finger was on fire 🔥 …and then turned black!

Turns out, that’s because Kwik Stop isn’t your gentle first-aid powder — it’s basically a chemical cauterizer in a jar… and I’d never actually looked at the ingredients before. I always just assumed it was something simple, like cornstarch and a little something extra.

⸻

🧪 WHAT’S ACTUALLY INSIDE
Kwik Stop’s “magic” comes from ingredients like:
• Ferric subsulfate – an iron-based compound that literally cooks proteins to seal bleeding tissue.
• Aluminum & copper salts – help tighten tissue and stop blood flow.
• Benzocaine – a numbing agent that kicks in after the sting (so yes, it burns first 😬)

That “black spot” I got? I guess it’s totally normal — it’s just oxidized iron and coagulated tissue. Yay… LOL!

⸻

🐾 WHY IT’S FINE FOR DOGS
Dogs don’t feel it the same way we do. The quick of a nail has fewer nerve endings than our fingertips, so for them, it’s more of a quick sting than an all-out chemical burn.

You might see a flinch, maybe a paw pull, and then they’re over it (minus those super dramatic dogs 😅)

It’s designed to be used in tiny, precise amounts — just enough to seal the vessel and stop bleeding fast.

⸻

💡 THE NERDY TAKEAWAY
Kwik Stop is awesome for what it’s made for — stopping nail bleeding in pets.

But for humans? Yeah… let’s just say, pressure and a clean tissue work better 😂

So if you ever wondered why your dog doesn’t scream when you use Kwik Stop… it’s not because it’s gentle. It’s because they’re tougher than we are 💪🐶

PS – You’re welcome for testing it out, now you all know! (Yes, I am dumb, LOL!)

10/08/2025

🦴 Calcium/Bone and Bile: What’s Going On?

Most people know bile is important for digestion, but here’s a little-known twist: too much calcium (like from a bone-heavy raw diet) can actually bind up bile acids and block them from doing their job.

⸻

1️⃣ Calcium Binds Bile
When there’s extra calcium (hello, poultry mixes or 80/10/10 diets), it forms insoluble complexes with bile acids. Instead of staying free to break down fat, bile gets “locked up” and flushed out.

2️⃣ Why That Matters for Fat Digestion
Bile acids are like dish soap for fats — they break big globs down into tiny droplets so enzymes can digest them.

If too much bile is bound, fat digestion suffers leading to:
• Pale, fatty, or greasy stools (steatorrhea)
• Nutrient malabsorption
• “Greasy” terrain symptoms like itchy skin, dull coat, or sluggishness

3️⃣ Ripple Effects
• Vitamin loss: A, D, E, K drop when fat digestion falters
• Liver stress: Bile recycling gets disrupted, so the liver has to overproduce new bile
• Gut imbalance: Bile acids normally regulate bacteria; if they’re bound and lost, dysbiosis can creep in

4️⃣ Why High-Bone Diets Are Risky
The classic raw formula (80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organ) often overshoots calcium.
Poultry-based mixes are especially bone-heavy.

⚠️ Chalky white or yellow stools are a red flag: your dog’s bile isn’t working properly.

⸻

🤓 The Nerdy Takeaway
High calcium doesn’t just cause chalky p**p — it hijacks bile. That means:
• Poor fat digestion
• Fat-soluble vitamin deficiencies
• More liver workload
• Shifts in the gut microbiome

Balanced bone content = healthier bile flow, better digestion, and shinier, itch-free pups 🐾

⸻

10/06/2025

🐾 Why Some Dogs Lose Muscle on a High-Protein or Meat-Only Diet

We often think: “More meat = more muscle”

But sometimes the opposite happens — a dog eats plenty of protein, yet stays skinny or even loses muscle. Here’s why ⬇️

⸻

🍖 Protein Isn’t the End of the Story
Protein (amino acids) can either:
• Burn for energy, or
• Build tissue

To do that, those amino acids must flow into the mitochondrial energy cycle (Krebs/TCA)

⚠️ The Catch → This cycle doesn’t just run on protein. It needs B vitamins, magnesium, and lipoic acid to process amino acids into usable energy.

⸻

🔄 Where Protein Gets Stuck
Many amino acids funnel into α-ketoglutarate (α-KG).
To keep moving, α-KG needs α-KG dehydrogenase, which relies on:
• B1 (thiamine)
• B2 (riboflavin)
• B3 (niacin)
• B5 (pantothenic acid)
• Magnesium
• Lipoic acid

👉 If these are low, α-KG piles up → protein can’t flow through the cycle.

⸻

⚠️ The Cost of Overload
When protein builds up but can’t process:
• Nitrogen still must clear → dumped as urea/ammonia.
• Stress on liver & kidneys.
• Body acts like it’s in starvation mode.
➡️ Result? Dogs lose muscle instead of building it.

⸻

🐕 Why Dogs Differ From Humans
• Dogs are highly efficient at gluconeogenesis → they don’t “need” carbs to make blood sugar.
• BUT protein use still has a micronutrient cost.
• Without enough B vitamins, magnesium, and lipoic acid → protein metabolism bottlenecks.

⸻

🧩 Terrain Factors That Raise Risk
• Meat-only diets (low in natural B-vitamin foods: organs, eggs, greens)
• Gut or liver stress (poor bile flow, microbiome imbalance, weak absorption)
• High-demand states (working dogs, recovery, illness)

⸻

🚩 Signs to Watch For
• Eats plenty of meat but stays skinny
• Low muscle tone, fatigue, weakness
• Strong-smelling urine (nitrogen overload)
• Dogs on all-meat/extreme protein diets who just don’t thrive

⸻

🐶 The Nerdy Takeaway
Protein alone doesn’t build muscle — the body has to be able to process it.

✨ Nuance, not numbers → Dogs can thrive on higher protein, but not without the cofactors (B1, B2, B3, B5, magnesium, lipoic acid) that let protein feed the mitochondria.

10/04/2025

🐾 Why Kibble Dogs Can Still Struggle With Thiamin (Vitamin B1)

Most kibble is labeled “complete & balanced” — including thiamin (B1), the nutrient that helps carbs move through the mitochondria to make energy.

So why do we still see B1 issues in kibble-fed dogs? Let’s break it down 👇

⸻

🔑 Thiamin’s Big Job: Running the Carb Gate
Carbs → glucose → pyruvate → into Krebs cycle via PDH (pyruvate dehydrogenase).
• PDH can’t run without thiamin.
• Low B1 = pyruvate piles up → lactate/alanine → fatigue, brain fog, neuro signs.
• High-carb diets = higher B1 demand.

⸻

🥣 Kibble & Thiamin Stressors
1. Heat Processing Loss
• B1 is heat-sensitive → kibble extrusion destroys it.
• Synthetic B1 is added back, but it degrades in warm warehouses or over time.
2. Magnesium Connection
• Thiamin must convert to TPP (active form). This requires magnesium.
• Low magnesium (from stress or synthetic vit D in kibble) = thiamin can’t “turn on”
3. Gut Factors
• Dysbiosis from carb-heavy diets.
• Some gut bugs eat thiamin.
• Inflammation blocks absorption.
4. Anti-Thiamin Compounds
• Legumes contain mild anti-thiamin factors.
• Raw fish = thiaminase (rare in kibble, but worth noting)
5. Carb Load = Burn Rate
• Every kibble meal = PDH demand.
• Thiamin is burned constantly compared to lower-carb fresh diets.

⸻

🧪 Why Dogs Still Go Low on Kibble
• Heat & storage loss
• High carb turnover
• Low magnesium status
• Stress + synthetic vit D draining magnesium
• Gut bugs + poor absorption

⸻

🐕 Signs of Low Thiamin
• Fatigue after meals
• “Foggy” or irritable behavior
• Weakness, stumbling, poor coordination
• Vomiting, loss of appetite
• Severe: seizures, neuro collapse, heart issues

⸻

🤓 The Nerdy Takeaway
Kibble does contain thiamin, but heat, storage, high carb load, magnesium depletion, and gut health can leave dogs hovering at the edge.

This doesn’t mean kibble is “bad” — but many dogs benefit when we support terrain: gut health, magnesium, and B-vitamin cofactors so added nutrients actually work.

10/03/2025

I didn’t have a super busy week, but as always, we all had a bunch of fun (except on the rainy day…)

I hope that everyone has a great weekend! 🍂

Going Mutts Pet Services and Nutrition

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