Dog Dish Diet

09/01/2016

Remember that some treats are not tolerated by some dogs and others just contain a lot of calories. These chicken jerky treats contain 37 calories a piece. If you feed several of these a day, you can add more than a hundred calories a day. If a dog is overweight, then less food should be fed to decrease the daily calories.

Treats can negate all the good benefits of a quality food. Economical treats can contain wheat gluten and other ingredients that your dog may not tolerate. I find that treats are commonly incriminated in a recent case of itchy ears or diarrhea that starts within a week after the new treats have been fed. Treats can be a new biscuit, a new dental treat, or a different type of jerky. The most common allergic ingredients are wheat gluten, beef, and even chicken. If your dog has ear infections or bouts of diarrhea or soft stool, always consider the treats or food. If your dog has has a sensitive stomach or bowel, you can feed a few pieces of their kibble as a "treat". It's safer for some dogs and usually all the same to them...a snack!!

09/01/2016

My dog ,Reggie, always c***s his head and strains to hear different words in my sp*ech.
I'm convinced he knows the word "go", "walk", "eat", "potty", and others. This video of a study shows that the portions of their brain that process sp*ech and try to understand it light up just like ours on an MRI. That's really cool!

08/26/2016

I received this card and loved it!

08/23/2016

Even though there is not scientific evidence for it's use, I have personally seen the joint formula products help painful dogs. These joint supplements(glucosamine ,chondroitin, msm) are used to decrease the pain of, or to help prevent arthritis.

You do have to use the supplements for at least 4-6 weeks to see if they work! There are many types, and there are some excellent veterinary products now available over the counter. ( cosequin, vetriscience)

Years ago, my dog Teddy used to take the green-lipped mussel form of glucosamine, and it really helped him.If the glucosamine/chondroitin from cows don't work, maybe the glucosamine from mussels will. Every dog is different!

The product pictured has only enough chondroitin(100mg vs 300mg in better products)in one tablet for a 10 pound dog daily , but pictures a lab!!The lab in the picture would need 600 mg of chondroitin daily then after a month, could go down to 300mg. That's more than is recommended on the bottle. The dose should be about 10 mg per pound of chondroitin daily for 30 days, then reduced according to improvement. Based on the chondroitin, not the glucosamine or msm or dark berry or grapeseed.

This bottle also shows omega 3 fatty acid as flaxseed. It's alway better to supplement with fish oil to get a higher amount of omega three's like EPA and DHA that dogs can use for their skin, brain, heart, eyes, and kidneys . The alpha linoleic acid(plant form of omega three) in flaxseed is not efficiently converted to the usuable form(DHA and EPA animal form ) in dogs. A good quality glucosamine/chondroitin may help prevent or treat the pain of arthritis. Check for the dosage of chondroitin!!

Make sure there is enough chondroitin for your dog's weight. 10mg/pound daily for 4-6 weeks, then see how half that amount works.

If that isn't working, try a better or different brand. Consider glucosamine from green lipped mussels.

Add fish oil at 1200 mg per 30 pounds( 10-30 mg of DHA+EPA per pound). The omega three's in fish oil are a mild antiinflammatoryingredient.

07/27/2016

It looks so good I had to take a picture of it. The real test is if my picky 18 year old terrier will eat it. Maisy usually only likes chicken, green beans,peas, or carrots

07/27/2016

Lots of squash in the garden. They contain vitamins and bioflavonoids or antioxidants. I shredded a pound of the squash and added it to 2 pounds of ground turkey, 1 pound of ground chicken, two eggs, one pound of shredded carrots, one pound of peas, and 8 ounces of rice. Also mixed in 4 ounces of chicken liver and 4 cups of water. Then started the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours. I'll add 3 tsp of bonemeal and mix it up when it's done!

07/19/2016

https://youtu.be/JCWmkvN2Qok.

Here's a link for an easy recipe that just takes minutes to prepare. I used frozen fish patties, turkey burger patties,peas, green beans,chicken liver,and bone meal. I cooked it on low for 6 hours in the crock pot. It is 50% meat and 50% veggies with 1 teaspoon of bone meal per pound of meat. Organ meat is really important and I included 2oz of chicken liver per pound.

Try it...your dogs will like it!

Home Cooking can be really easy. Dr Greg shows you how to prepare an easy, lowfat, high quality dog food!

06/14/2016

At a recent Relay For Life event, I was asked the question, “Does some commercial dog foods have ingredients that cause cancer?” By the way, this was an event called “Bark for Life”, the canine cousin of the Relay for Life, which raises awareness about the escalating cancer rate in dogs.

I think about cancer as the result of several things going wrong. Cancer cells are produced daily in all of us and our pets. These nasty little cells have to be intercepted and neutralized before they spread or grow to cause medical problems. There are a couple common reasons cancers can develop. The first is that the number of cancer cells that normally develop increase in number and overwhelm the body’s immune defenses. The second one is that the immune system may be stressed and unable to handle the normal amount of cancer cells. Cancer cells may result from irritating chemicals, UV light, aging, viruses, or constant inflammation of an organ or body system. Since we and our pets are individuals, the triggers for cancer may be different for each individual. So how does that apply to our pets?

Well, back to the question about food and how ingredients may cause cancer. Commercial food may contain additives that will help prevent the food from getting rancid, which is the oxidation of fat. The food may also contain thickeners or preservatives that also help that dog food sit for weeks without spoiling. These different chemical antioxidants and preservatives like BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, and propylene glycol may irritate or inflame the cells of the digestive and filtering systems (bowel, liver, and kidney). Any time a daily dose of irritants bathes these cells, it may push them “over the edge” and medical problems or even cancer can be the result. And it is not only chemical irritants that may cause chronic irritation, medical problems, and cancer. The most common allergens in dog food are wheat gluten, beef, and chicken. Dogs that are sensitive or intolerant to these ingredients can have one or more medical problems. Itchy red skin and ears, chronic bowel problems, bladder infections, and even seizures can result from common allergens in sensitive dogs. It’s not a big stretch to imagine that the stress on the organs from constant medical issues may lead to more serious issues like cancer. We can’t really control the breed of the dog we already have, or its age…but we can control what ingredients enter its body!


To prevent health issues and cancer, we have to help our dogs body function as well as it can. The first step is to feed a quality food and supplement with antioxidants to prevent chemical and allergic inflammation of their body. The next step is to make sure our dogs are not overweight and that they get exercised at least 3-4 times per week. (Exercise and a lower weight helps everything work more efficiently!) Those three things, the right food, the right weight, and a few added antioxidants are the most important things that you can do to help prevent chronic diseases and cancer. This is especially helpful for those purebred dogs that are prone to cancer (golden, labs boxer, and bulldog).
Fish oil capsules, Vitamin E, sardines, and many vegetables (green beans, carrots, and peas) help bathe our cells in an antioxidant barrier to help reduce the effect of harmful chemicals and inflammation from food ingredients, allergens, and even pesticides like flea control. (I only use flea control when absolutely needed and have found that a better diet with healthy oils may reduce the need for flea control!)
To find out more details visit http://dogdishdiet.com and/or check out the Dog Diet Answer Book just published this May! http://tiny.cc/dogdietanswerbook

Pet Food, Grain, Allergens, Dog Food, Raw food, Puppy, Dog, Dog Treats, Dog Health

05/21/2016

Jon Patch of Talkin Pets Radio interviewed me last Saturday. It's always difficult to focus in on whats really important in a live interview without notes. The interview was prompted by Dog Diet Answer Book just being published and available at http://tiny.cc/dogdietanswerbook.(and amazon.com).
Here's the tips and info I covered and that are in my book.

Feed your pet:

A grain free diet or limited ingredient diet. Grain free for all, and limited ingredient diet for those with allergy symptoms.Grain free means NO WHEAT in biscuits or dental chews!!

The right amount of calories( 50% of dogs in the US are obese)
Lower calorie treats (veggies or small pieces of grain-free biscuits or kibble)

Supplement with 2-3 ounces of healthy low fat chicken, turkey, shrimp, pork, eggs,or sardines several times a week (Commercial food may not contain as much quality protein as we all would like.)

Supplement with fish oil, vitamin E, and chondroitin sulfate several times a week.

Thanks Jon for having me on the show!!

"Talkin' Pets" offers live, fun-filled discussions about pets and our other friends in the animal kin

05/08/2016

All dogs may benefit from supplemental vitamin E in their diet. When Vitamin E in processed food is older, it may become "worn out" or oxidized. Then it can't do it's work by shielding the cells of the heart, kidneys, muscles, and brain from the "molecular bullets" of the free radicals. These, radicals are damaging but kept under control by antioxidants in the food. As the food ages, it may lose some of it's antioxidant capability. That's where some additional Vitamin E comes in handy. I squeeze a drop on my dogs glucosamine treat several times a week. The dose of Vitamin E is about 2 IU per pound daily. Most human capsules are 200-400IU, so I just puncture the capsule and put a drop on my 10 pound dogs treat. A 60 pound dog could get a 200 IU capsule 3 times a week. Don't overdo the vitamin E, way too much is reported to cause blood clotting issues. One good result is 18 year old Maisey seems brighter and her owner, Dr Greg, now regularly takes fish oil capsules, glucosamine-chondroitin, and vitamin E. I take the remaining capsule of vitamin E after I puncture it! I have my own glucosamine chondroitin, I don't take the dog type. Not that I think it would matter!

Vitamin E and other antioxidants protect living creatures from free readicals. What do they look like?One common type is pictured below. The BIG O's are paired oxygens with an extra electron. That extra RED electron makes them unstable and a threat to living cells.These irritable oxygen atoms (free radicals) may cause cancer or aging in us or our pets, or even rust when they attack iron.( Iron oxide is rust)

htpp://dogdishdiet.com
htpp://tiny.cc/dogdietanswerbook

04/27/2016

Dogs that eat commercial kibble and some shared "human food" will still benefit from adding omega fatty acids to the diet. Regular strength fish oil capsules may contain 300 mg of the omega three fatty acids as DHA and EPA. Double and triple strength fish oil may contain 2-3 times that amount.

A 30 pound dog can take 1 pill daily as a supplement to help dry skin, where 2-3 pills daily may be needed for a chronic medical issue involving the kidneys, heart, liver, or brain.

As you probably all know omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to help treat and prevent many medical issues involving many organs. That's why my dogs get some sort of omega supplement several times a week. A dog can receive from 10-30mg per pound daily of the omega portion of the fish oil. Just look for the combined amount of the DHA and EPA on the label and use from 10-30 mg per pound.

For dry skin you can also add olive oil or coconut oil to the diet every day. 1 tsp-2 tbsps for a tiny, small, medium, large, really big, or giant dog several times a week. My dogs eat 2 tins of sardines in water weekly as an excellent omega or high protein snack. Each tin may contain 1700 mg of omega three fatty acids!!.

http://tiny.cc/dogdietanswerbook
http://dogdishdiet.com

04/22/2016

Human food can safely be shared if your pet is used to it. Common allergens are wheat, beef, and even chicken. These allergens can cause ear inflammation, a**l gland irritation, colitis, and hives. Fatty beef is the common problem of pancreatitis. Fat is the culprit of pancreatitis, whereas beef can cause all the previous uncomfortable inflammations as well as seizures
Lean meat and vegetables are the safest ingredients to share. Chicken, fish, eggs, and liver are great proteins. Green beans, peas, carrots, garbanzo, and sweet potato are great carbs!
I dedicate a whole chapter to this in Dog Diet Answer Book.
http://tiny.cc/dogdietanswerbook

04/12/2016

Glucosamine and chondroitin are ingredients in the production of healthy cartilage. I have been using these as a medical supplement to treat dogs with joint pain due to degenerative arthritis of the joints. That's when the cartilage of the joints wear down due to wear and tear, lots of exercise or jumping, imperfect joints that rub in the wrong spots, or faulty cartilage that wears down too soon.

Articles always point out that there is no scientific evidence that these ingredients really help produce healthier cartilage and decrease inflammation in joints.

My 18 year old dog, mazie, doesn't know when I give it to her, that she is supposed to feel better, but after a week of taking the right dosage, she does.

That's the thing about dogs. They will show pain relief if the medication or nutritional supplement works. They don't know about the "placebo" effect where just taking something that we think will do us good, actually will, even if it's a sugar pill.

I believe that these supplements are useful in every dog that shows any pain due to joint problems. It may be a really good idea to give these to really active dogs that demand alot of their joints! It may even be a good supplements for all dogs.

The dosage is about 10-15 mg per pound of pet of the chondroitin part. A 30 pound dog would get 1/2-3/4 pill of the Kirkland type( contains 1200mg per TWO PILLS or 600mg per ONE PILL) or a whole chondroflex-II pill(that contains 400mg per ONE PILL). You really have to check the amount of chondroitin in the pill to get the right amount. Overdoing it won't hurt, but it will just waste the ingredients and your money!

01/22/2016

Treats are often the main cause of dogs to itch or have a soft stool or diarrhea.
Not only that, but treats can add significantly to the number of calories a dog eats per day. If your dog has weight, itching or bowel problems, he or she may not need the glutens and extra carbs in many grocery store treats.

If you find a food that your dog can tolerate and decreases their medical symptoms like chicken and rice ,fish and potato, or a hydrolyzed diet, then you can feed that same food as a treat. You can also try to find those same ingredients in a treat. We all give treats because of routines, habits, and a show of affection.

My dogs enjoy grain-free treats, freeze dried fish and chicken treats, along with those you see pictured.

If your dog is weight challenged, you could use just a few kibbles, smaller pieces of the biscuit or treat, or a low calorie treat like a mini carrot.

If your dog has skin or bowel problems, avoid grocery store treats that contain a lot of wheat gluten and other allergens Treats are not a nutritional need and often cause medical issues when they are high carb, gluten filled, void of nutrients, junk food.

01/02/2016

I always learn from my clients experiences with their animals. Everyone knows that fiber can have a laxative effect. Common examples are metamucil and pumpkin. Did you know that these same bulk producing fiber laxatives can also soothe an angry bowel?

A client told me that when their cat began showing signs of a soft stool, they mixed 2 tsp of pumpkin in some canned food twice daily for 2-3 days. It often help prevent the flare up of Inflamatory bowel disease that their pet was experiencing. It make not help every pet, but may be worth a try for constipation or diarrhea in dogs or cats. Metamucil may also helpful in the same dosage for those constipated animals or those with diarrhea.The fiber absorbes toxins and makes the bowel healthier.

12/28/2015

Dogs can often snag something tasty but irritating this time of year. The food or plant can often cause mild nausea and loose stools.If the symptoms are mild and your dog doesn't appear too sick, over the counter medicines can often help,

Fasting for 12 hours is a good idea for both nausea and diarrhea, then a small meal of white rice(or low fat cottage cheese) with chicken broth can be offered.

Pepcid AC 10mg can really help with nausea. Small dog 1/2 pill, medium or large dog 1 pill daily.

Pepto Bismol can help settle the stomach and help firm up the stool. Small dog 1 tsp 3x daily, medium dog 1 tbsp 3x daily, large dog 1-2 tbsp 3x daily.

Probiotics can help with diarrhea with a daily dose of 5 billion or more bugs or the Fortiflora pet probiotics.

If symptoms are severe....seek veterinary help.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD9tX1lAPro

Dr Greg's own dog, Reggie, surprises him with diarrhea and needs diagnosis and treatment

12/16/2015

Some dogs begin drinking tons of water and p*eing frequently. there are many causes including diabetes, bladder infections, and a medical issue involving the adrenal gland or pituitary glands called Cushing's disease. With Cushing's disease and diabetes, dogs will p*e large volumes of clear urine several times daily. Bladder infections will usually lead to squatting and p*eing a whole bunch of times and the urine may be pink( blood tinged).
Each one of those conditions need testing and medication. Diabetes requires daily insulin injections and blood sugar tests. Urine testing with bladder infections may show blood, white cells, and crystals in the urine and need antibiotics, moist food, or a prescription diet.

I have found that some dogs that eat dry food only will often compensate for the dryness by drinking an abundance of water. in the case of a dog drinking lots of water with normal blood and urine tests, moistening the dry food, or feeding canned food may calm the thirst and reduce the urge to drink. Moister food is better for the digestive system and kidneys and may be a better way to feed. You can moisten dry food by adding warm water, chicken broth, or either with some canned food.

12/11/2015

Itchy dog primer:

Itchy dogs may be suffering from unhealthy red skin due to:

1. Flea Allergy: It may only take a few flea bites to cause hives and itching at the tail, butt, and sides. Frontline and Advantage appear to be loosing their effectiveness. Use other oral or topical flea control such as Bravecto, comfortis, trifexis, or seresto collars.

3. Food Allergy: Many dogs do not tolerate wheat, beef, or chicken in their diet and will itch, puke, or sq**rt when they are fed these ingredients. Biscuits and dental chews are very common causes of itching and diarrhea! Canned food and home cooked food may decrease itching more than dry food.

4. Dry skin itches more and is from from eating kibble or dry food that lack enough healthy oils. Add fish oil( 1 capsule per 10-30 pounds daily), coconut, canola, olive oil (1 teaspoon-tablespoon daily). Sardines in water or olive oil( 1-3 tins per week). Alternate oils ....but use several times a week for months to see if it helps!

5.Allergies or low thyroid hormone level or dry skin may make bacteria, yeast, or ringworm infections more common! A blood test will help dianose a low thyroid problem. A simple daily thyroid pill can make a world of difference.

6.Limited ingredient diets like fish and potato or duck and potato may help.(others: rabbit, venison, turkey and oats, Purina HA hydrolyzed soy) There are many other grain free novel protein types at your pet store. Use the same food as a treat instead of junk wheaty treaties. Do not feed other proteins or grains. If you are feeding fish and potato, feed a piece of freeze dried fish as a treat! If It may take 2 months to know if food and oils will help...don't give up early!! I like Blue, Natural Balance, Taste of the Wild, Merricks, Evangers,Stella and Chewys freeze dried raw, raw chicken, home crocked chicken and veggies.

7. If you use flea control and feed a grain-free limited ingredient diet without any treats or chews, your dog may have enviromental allergies. Don't forget to add oils or try canned food( it often has more oils and less additives). Dogs allergic to outdoors may need weekly shampoo/ condtioner and benadryl at 1mg per pound twice daily as needed. Vitamin E may also help at 2-15 IU per pound daily-weekly

8. Mange, bacteria,ringworm, and yeast can always complicate things and need to be treated. Your vet can help get rid of infections while the skin becomes healthier to resist them naturally.

Sorry it's been so long, but I've been writing the Dog Diet Answer Book that should be out soon. These itchy points are a summary of some of the material in the book. My goal is to help dogs itch less, weigh less, and live longer!!