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Thanks for all
the nice words about my dogs and me as a breeder. They are very much appreciated and I will do my best to deserve them. The girls and I enjoy all of your visits but Seven is reminding me to bring more tennis balls!
EXTRA! EXTRA!
I have been holding off this newsletter to announce the arrival of all natural, SUPER PREMIUM, CANIDAE Pet Food
to be offered with limited free delivery for now! I have been working on getting the best deal I could for this Outstanding Nutrition for your dog or cat. My web site will have all the information about this New CCS Product line as soon as it is official. The future holds FREE Home Delivery for any 40 lb. Bag of pet food along the Front Range. FREE Delivery is now available in the Roxborough/Highlands Ranch/South of Southwest Plaza/West of Park Meadows area. I hope to expand these boundaries in the near future!
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Contents
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1. Nutrition Tip #6 Feeding the Adult Dog
2. Training Tip #6 The Heal! Part 2
3. Health Tip #5 Is It Pano Or OCD?
4. The Plan For Free Food!
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I hope by this time you have examined your dog food labels and are at least considering a switch to a product like Canidae Pet Food.
Along with the supplements I suggest, Canidae is a good choice to feed your dogs and very economical. Canidae contains enzymes and probiotics!
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Nutrition Tip #6
Feeding the Adult Dog
The first thing I want to discuss with you are the goals or objectives of feeding
your adult dog. They are pretty simple really.
GOAL NUMBER ONE is brilliant health ... both short and long term.
Short term, no dental problems, no skin problems, no ear problems, no eye
problems, no bowel problems, in fact no health problems of any description
plus a dog that is full of energy, bright, alert, active etc.
Long term, this healthy state should continue into advanced old age without
any major disease problems. That is, no heart disease, no kidney disease, no
diabetes or arthritis etc. Dental health should also continue into old age. Poor
dental health goes hand in hand with poor general health.
GOAL NUMBER TWO is that your dog should maintain a steady
weight, throughout its life. That is, it's ideal weight. This will be
achieved through a combination of eating and exercise.
Those Aims are Achievable.
To maximize your dog's health, including dental health, to prolong it's
active healthy life, to maintain ideal body weight and minimize health
problems including the degenerative disease processes of old age, your
dog should be fed a diet based on raw meaty bones, the way it always
has been for dogs.... until recently.
In addition, you should consider the addition of extra vitamins,
particularly the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, together with B
complex, particularly B1, B5 and B6.
FEEDING DOGS IS SO EASY!
As I stated in the introduction, this book should consist of about three lines.
Those lines would read as follows:
"If you feed your dog on a diet consisting of about 60% raw meaty
bones, with the rest being made up of good quality human food scraps...
you will have a healthy trouble free dog."
Those few words embody all of the principles I have outlined earlier in the
book. That is...
Principle Number One
The bulk of your dog's diet should be raw meaty bones.
Those raw bones with meat supply the bulk of your dog's dietary needs,
including its energy requirements, it's protein requirements, it's mineral
requirements [and that includes all the calcium it needs], and if the meat and
bones are derived from chickens, most of its essential fatty acid requirements.
Great stuff!
Bones have many other benefits of course, including most importantly dental
health.
Principle Number Two
Feed your dog a wide variety of foods, based on the type and quantity
of foods a wild dog would eat.
That is, lots of green vegetables [to mimic stomach contents of prey, some
offer, [liver, kidneys, etc.], meat, eggs, milk brewer's yeast, yogurt and small
amounts of grains and legumes... etc.
The important point to remember is that apart from raw meaty bones, no other
single food item should ever become the main part of your dog's diet.
Principle Number Three
Most of your dog's food should be raw.
Principle Number Four
Your dog should have a balanced diet over all, but not every meal needs
to be balanced. Balance is better achieved over time, during the
consumption of lots of different meals.
Principle Number Five
Watch your dog and vary its diet accordingly.
This mostly refers to its weight. If your dog is becoming too heavy, you must
feed it less food, less energy-rich food and you must feed it less frequently. It
also refers to more subtle indicators of health such as the state of the coat. For
example a dry lusterless coat would indicate that not enough essential fatty
acids were being fed, and you would increase eggs or chicken or oil, etc.,
accordingly.
Dr. Ian Billinghurst
Give Your Dog a Bone
Check with me for a modified
version of this Natural Diet. By adding a meat and bone supplement to a superior dog food including enzymes you can achieve similar results! My Basic Supplement I would add no matter what you feed.
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Training Tip #6
The Heal! Part 2
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Review last Issue's Training Tip on the Heal.
Last issue we learned about the command, "Heel." I neglected to emphasize how important your body alignment is to your dog. The improper
way to teach the heel is to walk with your shoulders angled back towards your dog, so that you can look at your dog while you are
walking. The problem with this is that the dog reads your body language and attempts to align himself with your shoulders, thus lagging behind the owner, rather than walking in the heel position (aligned with your left heal).
Solution: Keep both shoulders forward as you walk. If you need to look at your dog, cock your head, without angling your shoulders. This will keep your dog lined up right alongside you.
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Health Tip #5
Is It Panosteitis or OCD?
Pano' is often diagnosed mistakenly for the more severe OCD.
Here is the low down on OCD:
OSTEOCHONDROSIS
Osteochondrosis defines conditions where bone formation (endochondral ossification) does not proceed properly and some notable defect occurs.
If the defect causes a piece of surface cartilage (articular
cartilage or joint cartilage) to separate from the underlying bone and then inflammation of the joint occurs, the condition is called Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD). Otherwise, the usual defect will be one where sections of developing bone do not fuse together properly and a free piece is formed. These problems are most common in dogs that are under 1 year of age and of larger, rapidly growing breeds.
The most common site for OCD lesions is the head of the humerus, but the elbow, stifle (knee) and ankle can all be involved. Ununited Anconeal Process (UAP) and Ununited Coronoid Process (a.k.a.
Fragmented
Coronoid Process) are the other common osteochondrosis lesions involving the elbow joint. The clinical signs for these conditions include lameness which often becomes worse with exercise, pain upon joint manipulation and possibly swelling of the joint or atrophy (shrinking) of muscles in the area due to disuse.
Diagnosis of these conditions is based on history, physical examination and X-rays. In some cases, dye may need to be injected into the joint to expose any flaps of cartilage that might otherwise not
be readily identifiable.
TREATMENT OF OSTEOCHONDROSIS
While some dogs may receive temporary benefit from rest and exercise restriction, most dogs need surgical removal of either
the cartilage flap or loose cartilage in the joint, or removal of the ununited process from the joint. Some veterinarians will also
curette (scrape) the surface of the defect to stimulate healing. Strict rest, confinement and passive exercise for about 4 weeks after surgery will be needed. Some advise the use of Cosequin, Adequan, SynoviCre, or Cartiflex after surgery; while unproved for these cases, these drugs should provide benefits and certainly have minimal risks.
OCD SURGERY (OSTEOCHONDROPLASTY) Dogs that
develop OCD of any joint often need to have free or partially free pieces of cartilage removed from the joint. No matter which joint is affected, the procedure is basically the same. The joint involved is prepped, and the surgeon dissects through skin, muscle and connective tissues to expose the joint. The capsule surrounding the joint is opened and any defects are curetted (scraped) out to expose fresh raw bone. Chips or other pieces are removed and the joint is flushed clean. The surgeon then exits layer by layer closing tissues with suture along the way.
Remember! Only readers of this newsletter and CCS pup owners will still receive the lowest price available anywhere!
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Legal Statement
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Please ask about your particular nutrition situation or if you have any questions about
feeding your dog for his maximum health! These suggestions on
health, nutrition and training are given as a service to the readers of A Shepherd's Worth. They are intended to enlighten you on what we do here at Crystal Creek Shepherds and not a substitute for professional veterinary care. Consult your veterinarian with any information contained in this newsletter before incorporating into your practices.
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Some Information extracted from: "Give Your Dog A Bone", "Happy Dog Healthy Dog", "Natural Healing for Dogs & Cats", "Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog"
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Please be well in health and Spirit!
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