PH-PetHorizons

07/04/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/3AyZqbjEd7JfxPop/

25/02/2024

Came across this in one of my other fb groups and just had to share. Are any of my lovely friends going up that way for a holiday? Do pop in and let me know. 😃

30/11/2022

This is well worth reading if you, like a lot of us, are getting confused around the mixed messages out there over raw feeding vs processed diets. This will get some logic in there...
https://www.facebook.com/100044848263328/posts/678385493666387/

Zinc is a crucial micronutrient in the diet. It’s important for pretty much everything but no time for that now.

The point is, AAFCO, the sort-of regulatory body made up of candy company execs that oversee the quality of dry pet food in the US (FEDIAF over here but it's based largely on AAFCO guidelines too), say you need LOTS AND LOTS of zinc in the diet.

In fact, the MINIMUM amount of zinc AAFCO say you can include in pet food (dry or raw) is 120mg/kg of dry matter. This is a problem as studies show no prey animal contains anywhere near that amount of zinc. In fact, most (bar oysters, hardly common prey of the dog, but are unbelievably high in zinc for some reason!) contain less than half that amount. Even most plant ingredients fail to get close.

So it seems, once again, the dog's natural diet is potentially deficient in something and the candy companies, thankfully, have improved on silly mother nature...once again.

But, as with most things pet food, all is not what it seems.

AAFCOs' minimum estimates (we say estimates as the science backing most of their decisions is truly woeful and of course they are only minimums, not Recommended Daily Amounts, we still today don't know ANY of those. Not one, Honestly!) are based on studies of dry-fed dogs fed ultra-processed pet foods that use artificial, conical flask versions of nutrients, such as zinc oxide instead of naturally occurring zinc.

The body does not like minerals. They are inorganic, i.e. not from the land of the living. The gut only permits them entry if they are chelated to a carbon molecule. These the body trusts. Carbon molecules ARE invited to the party and minerals simply tag along with it (even though the mineral is the one with the tunes!!).

The problem is, at least for our pets consuming these very poor foodstuffs, chelated minerals are pricier to make. So your pets tend to get things like zinc and iron oxide (aka rust!). We know dogs only absorb around 10% of the zinc oxide fed to them. Compare this to 20-40% of the natural zinc fed to them (zinc from meat is better absorbed than zinc from plants…).

This means raw-fed dogs get FOUR TIMES the zinc from their diet compared to their dry-fed counterparts eating dry pet food with Goerge Jetson-esque mineral pill additions. So what some view as a diet deficient in zinc is actually a diet that contains plenty of zinc just in its more bioavailable form.

Red meat and poultry are the best sources of zinc so a raw dog food diet made up on meat, bone, organ and a bit of veg, contains more than enough zinc for the average healthy dog, I assure you (though do check out Note 3 below re Northern Breeds).

Of late, there has been a surge of folk to real feeding. It's great news. But unfortunately, many seem to come with large, NASA-like Excel spreadsheets of exact vitamin and mineral demands of their dog (there is no formulator on the planet that can tell you the nutrient content of your food, particularly US ones....eg comparing CAFO beef to my grass fed stuff? A crappy greenhouse blueberry grown in dirt poor soils versus these wild ones I feed?! And this iswe before you discuss storage, age at consumption, preparation etc etc).

I worry this needlessly detailed / scientific approach to dinner time has fuelled the development of Pet Food PTSD in owners.

The AAFCO guidelines are for dry food manufacturers, nobody else. They do not apply to folk feeing real food. In fact, if anything they are misleading. Folk are now driving themselves mad trying to find enough zinc or vitamin E (another one where the natural form is significantly better absorbed...) to keep the AAFCO minimum protocol happy when they are comparing apples and oranges.

If you only knew the slap-dash, mish-mash info the guidelines are based on, from an insane focus on MINIMUM protein (who would want to feed their kids the minimum amount of this nutrient), to maximums based on pigs and virtually zero info on the micro minerals, it's all nutritional gobbledy g**k that would never be permitted in human nutrition. It was invented to get pet food quality off the floor in the 70's (when tens of thousands of cats and dogs were dying for want of taurine...) but has evolved little from that point.

[For anyone still confused over the AAFCO requirements, or believing they have some relevance, please check out my new course on "AAFCO and the "complete" myth". Proving popular!
https://dogsfirst.ie/courses/aafco-the-complete-myth/]

As you walk into the light you need to leave all that sort of stuff behind.

Folk naturally say "but what else do we have to direct us"... and the answer is, very little!

Not very assuring Conor! We were looking for a little more!

I don't have it. All I can say is - don't worry. We don't know the vitamin and mineral requirements of the kids let alone where to source those nutrients or how much is in their food at the time of feeding....and yet they're doing fine (albeit we all wish they ate more veg...!).

We tend to work more with food pyramids and the dog's pyramid happens has meat at the bottom.

That will have to do for now.

***
Note 1: For an exact understanding of what exactly a dog might eat, I have a course for that too...it comes with the entire first section of my book!!
https://dogsfirst.ie/courses/what-do-dogs-eat/

Note 2: An understanding of vitamin and mineral needs does become important during sickness, for sure, some diseases drain this or that. We then turn on to it. But in your average healthy dog, we go for balance over time by varying the bits fed.

Note 3: ZRD is an issue in Northern breeds (huskies and Malanutes) where intestinal absorption is affected and zinc, for whatever reason, is poorly absorbed. Digging into this now - I want to see if zinc deficiency is common in raw-fed dogs...(Edit: seems like it does occur in raw-fed dogs....next up...is it as common and why?!)

18/08/2021

Worth reading ... very positive walk ...

Exploiting the sensitive dog.

This came to mind during our walk today.

It can so easily happen. We might have our own agenda for the walk, our own idea of what socialisation should be and what we believe to be a safe space for our own and others dogs.

We might have a tight timeline, decide that we are in charge of our dogs and hold beliefs about how a dog 'should' behave.

How can we avoid exploitation and instead offer our dogs support within their current coping skills and abilities so that they can experience positive learning?

I had an opportunity presented today on our walk when we saw a young dog ahead of us. I could have seen how close I could get but I didn't know the other dog or person and Ruby was able to see the dog, pause, air scent and pause some more.

The dog moved on and Ruby chose to observe them walk away. When she was ready we moved on. She was able to take her time, sniff the area the dog had been in and continue with the walk.

This is a huge development in her confidence, skills and abilities and she was comfortable enough to observe and remain relatively calm but alert.

It would have been so easy to push the boundary, to see if we could get closer without a vocalised reaction. It is a very natural human thing to do. We want results, we need change, we want improvements, we want our dogs to get used to being close to other dogs.

It is possible to improve confidence, skills and abilities without exploiting our sensitive dog/s or jeopardising the relationship when we truly consider what is going on for our dogs from their perspective.

All dogs are individual. One of my walks today presented us with a cat running behind us at approximately 9 ft and veering off. The dog I was walking was calm, watched the cat run off, was not particularly bothered by it and carried on with the walk. If that had been Ruby we would have had a different response.

So, today's walk with Ruby presented us with quite a number of significant inputs. After the young dog we spotted another dog, a bit further away. The dog sat and watched Ruby and Ruby stood and watched the other dog.

Neither of us asked our dogs to move on because we had the opportunity to provide a positive learning experience. It felt like absolutely ages but I watched the birds and enjoyed the pause and holding Ruby's space.

When she was ready she was able to continue the walk.

We then saw a third dog walking towards us on the other side of the road. This was a bigger challenge for Ruby. She was able to continue walking and had a choice to stay put, move on or turn left along a road for more distance. She actually chose to turn left accompanied by a bit of a grumble and some whining. I then offered her the opportunity to parallel walk which she did for about 10 ft then she stopped and turned around so we headed back.

We had two more big triggers, two men, one with a wheel barrow and as she was still aroused from the dog we used a car as a barrier and she chose to watch from a distance and then we moved on and the second man walked and I supported Ruby by suggesting a 'this way' which helped her to stay just about within her coping level and able to move on.

It was another interesting walk that presented positive learning opportunities, a few stretches and some recovery time.

Ruby continues to discover novel items and develop her skills one walk at a time.

02/04/2021

Always remember... know the signs, they will always be there ....

It’s our responsibility to make sure our dogs feel safe.

thank you for this lovely educational reminder

24/03/2021

Think about your enrichment games ... who benefits most, you or your dog? Be careful, it can backfire somewhat...

Featuring Zazu!

18/03/2021

I know this is a bit long, but it's worth the read ...

Few independent canine nutritionists disagree that it's best for your dog if you avoid pet food based on rice.

Dogs are meat-eaters. They have zero physiological need of any carbohydrates in their diet whatsoever. When they are used in high dose by kibble companies it is for one of two reasons - a little acts as a binder, sticking the ultra-processed gloop together but the main reason is carbs are a cheap filler, compared to say meat, dramatically boosting their bottom line. And there is little foods cheaper on the planet that rice.

Asides a high arsenic content (dogs fed rice-based kibble have more arsenic in their systems https://www2.helsinki.fi/en/news/life-science-news/dogs-eating-rice-based-dry-dog-foods-could-be-at-risk-for-chronic-arsenic-exposure #:~:text=Rice%2Dconsumption%20is%20considered%20a,diet%20did%20not%20contain%20rice) rice is a very rapidly digested carbohydrate with a high glycemic load. As such they are to be avoided at all costs in your dogs, if not you. These sorts of carbs quickly transform to sugar, spiking the levels of blood insulin, and insulin is where your problems begin. If your dog's diet is 50% rice they will be at greater risk of obesity, diabetes, pancreatitis and cancer.
https://dogsfirst.ie/health-issues/feed-fat-dogs-fresh-not-less/
https://dogsfirst.ie/health-issues/cause-of-pancreatitis-in-dogs/
https://dogsfirst.ie/sugar-causes-cancer-in-dogs/

To mask their use of such carbs as a cheap filler, there are now many lines of nonsense excreted by paid-up promoters to keep you feeding high carb dry foods to your poor pet. Their approaches include:

THEY ARE AN EXCELLENT FORM OF ENERGY
So are cola and chocolate bars, what's the point? Moreover, studies of sled dogs show they perform better the less carbs you feed them.

CARBS CAN CONTAIN OTHER NUTRIENTS TOO
They can, like the way they supplement terrible, terrible breakfast cereals for kids (made by the same companies!) with added vitamin B and iron for your child's health, there may be better ways to get these nutrients in without the obesity kicker, what do you reckon?

A STUDY IN 2014 SHOWED SOME BREED HAVE TAKEN TINY EVOLUTIONARY STEPS TOWARDS CARBOHYDRATE DIGESTION
True, fascinating isn't it? Some breeds have more genes for amylase production which means they can digest carbs. This wouldn't have happened without some prior exposure to carbs. Darwin would have killed to learn this sort of thing. But asides the fact many breeds didn't take this step to any real degree (Akitas, Huskies, doesn't stop them feeding them carbs!), it was only a few genes in a still very carnivorous body. In taste trials dogs avoid carbs and they still have zero physiological need of them (and this study only came out in 2014, what was your excuse before that?!). The best rebuke to this comes from Doug Knueven though "just because I can digest ethanol and sucrose doesn't mean half my diet should be rum and cookies".

Fresh, species-appropriate food is best for them as, it is us and every other animal on the planet, of course it is (here's how to do it https://dogsfirst.ie/raw-faq/everything-about-raw-dog-food/) but if you are feeding dry then here are some tips on how to choose one of better quality that will provide more nutrient bang (and less disease?) for your buck https://dogsfirst.ie/what-is-the-best-grain-free-dog-food-we-compare-the-top-9/.

As always, and despite the absolute nonsense about grain-free dry food and DCM (another day, or just buy the book https://geni.us/Ab9fHuY) if I was buying dry I'd buy Patron Pet Food. It's good dry food, lower in carbs, higher in meat and made in the UK on EU ingredients. Best of all though, 20% of EVERY BAG goes to a dog charity. If looking for someone to support, think about Marie in Dogs in Distress, doing trojan work on our behalf https://dogsindistress.org/

To this, I would add some real food when you can - crack an egg on top, a bit of meat when you can, tin of sardines, a few plant scraps, your leftovers (and yes even that occasional bit of rice leftover from the takeaway, why not). And don't forget a raw meaty bone for the occasional lunch (best fed separately to the kibble by a few hours) at least once a week for a clean mouth. That's the good stuff and the more of it he gets the better off he'll be.

29/01/2021

Very true....
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3058341224400361&id=1607005836200581

Lockdown seemed like the perfect time to get a dog, but for some, the excitement turned into regret.

28/12/2020

Wry interesting and worth considering..

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3031136637120820&id=1607005836200581

Protecting our dogs and being their advocate.

Dogs are sentient beings and do have emotions.

So what?

Similarly to human beings our dogs have good days and bad days. They have some walks they love and some they don't.
They meet some dogs and may ignore them, play a little with consent, share some sniffs, clearly avoid them or take a dislike to them.

Would it be realistic to expect humans to enjoy every other human beings company because they are all humans?

Would it be realistic to punish a person for not wanting to interact with another person?

Why do we have the expecations that our dogs must get along with other dogs, whether familiar or not, in all environments, wherever they are, indoors, on a countryside walk, in woodlands or in a town or suburban streets?

Why do dogs get punished, told off, reprimanded for growling, lunging or barking at another dog?

There are some situations as humans when we have expectations and when we are expected to behave in certain ways. That dynamic changes but our emotions may not.

We may go into a shop or make a call to a utility supplier and expect a certain level of respectful communication and to be listened to.

We may be at work and expect a certain type of communication from our colleagues and our boss.

What happens when our expectations are not met?

It depends who we are in the dynamic of the situation.

If we are the customer we may complain if we don't get spoken to or listened to the way we expect. We may make it clear about 'who the customer is' and what we do expect and we could easily fall into conflict.

If we are an employee we may be spoken to by our boss in a way that is upsetting, whether intentional or perceived it is a negative feeling and experience but on top of that, we may feel supressed and unable to speak freely about how we feel out of fear. This can feel uncomfortable but we may not feel there is anything we can do about it or........

We may speak up and feel confident and have the necessary skills to be assertive and to communicate how we feel, that the we are being spoken to is upsetting and we may feel able to explain this in a non emotional way.

The response we get may be very positive.

If we snap back because we don't have the necessary communication skills or self esteem, or we feel we lack self worth or just cannot tolerate any more rudeness or aggressive behaviour because it has been going on for a period of time.......

The response we get may be very negative.

Living with dogs that are selective about other dogs they feel comfortable with or are sensitive to the space they need and the choices they need to make can be challenging, especially if we thought we would have a dog that we can walk anywhere, off lead, whenever we wanted to around any or as many dogs as we saw and our dogs really prefer their own company.

We may try to encourage them to like other dogs, to play with other dogs, to walk and or train in classes or do activities with other dogs. We may try lots of different methods and techniques to help our dogs like other dogs or at least not growl, bark and lunge at them.

Imagine an advert that guarantees to change your dog for life! That your dog's behaviour can be changed in minutes, forever and that your dog will be able to walk past any dog, any time and not growl, lunge or bark! There is a promise of your money back if you are not 100% satisfied and if your dog does not change their behaviour.

Imagine that you might not even have to do the work and that there is a service where you can send your dog to be fixed, for the rest of their life.

Imagine that you could have the option to do the work with the trainer, to see for yourself how your dog is going to be transformed, permanently.

Who wouldn't say a big fat YES to that?

It might be affordable or it might be over budget but who wouldn't find the cash with a full money back guarantee and a promise that the dog will never be aggressive, reactive, anti social or unfriendly ever again and that the dog can be walked anywhere at any time with as many dogs as there are around?

No risk?

Or is there?

Who is at risk?

What's the worst that could happen?

That all depends on the methods and techniques used, what the dog is subjected to and experiences, whether we believe that a sentient being can truly be 'fixed' for the rest of their lives, guaranteed.

What might we need to be aware of and look out for if we saw an advert and imagined our dogs being fixed for life and in such a short time too?

Some methods and techniques still in use in spite of being outmoded include 'corrections'. These look like a 'pop' of the lead to jerk the collar, 'quickly' and then released. Methods that are said to 'mimick what the mother dog would do to correct behaviour', to show the dog who is boss' and be a 'strong pack leader', startle devices like sprays, throwing disks on the ground near the dog, squirting water or using equipment like a prong or pinch collar, citronella collars, choke chains and electronic collars.

These methods and this equipment is still used today by people that are working with dogs. It is a human behaviour to want a quick fix, to feel the need to sort a dogs behaviour out quickly, to justify that it is in the dogs best interest for them to learn how to behave around other dogs and that we as owners must step up and take control.

What's wrong with that?

Go back to the beginning. Why are our dogs behaving the way they are? Are our expectations realistic? How would we feel if we were subjected to punishment in order for us to comply with someone elses expectations that were unrealistic? How quickly might we change our behaviour when punishment was used? Pretty quickly in many cases! How long would that change in behaviour last for? It could last quite a long time.

What might happen if we feel we have no choice, no influence, no say? We may become depressed and learn how to live a helpless life which may in turn make us feel physially and mentally unhealth and ill. We might bide our time and then let rip, we may try to run away and escape or we may turn our frustration and suppression towards our care givers or we may even start to self harm.

As amazing as quick fixes and money back guarantees may sound and whilst they may work for a certain period of time. I cannot think of anything worse than punishing a sentient being for behaving in a way that is expressing how they feel and that they need help to cope and support to learn new skills or are simply out of their depth.

As tempting as these 'permanant solutions' sound, there is always going to be a fall out and there is always going to be a loser. Whether that is the dog in question or the dog and care giver, a member of the public, a friend or visitor, a vet or other practitioner, there is no winner when punishment is used for a behaviour that is misunderstood, ignored or punished.

I have been told by professional people that work with dogs and have heard the discussions and seen the posts and adverts that claim these methods, techniques and pieces of equipment do not harm the dog. They are very convincing, especially if we want to believe and find a quick fix. So, convincing that people still subject their dogs to these methods.

This is not a judgmental post about trainers or care givers. There is no blame to be passed. No need to jump on any bandwagons about who does what, when, where or how.

This is a post about choices, awareness, compassion and empathy and about raising awareness about how we can be an advocate for our dogs by asking questions and getting curious about the why.

Why does my dog do this and why would I use any form of punishment and instead, consider how we can listen to our individual dogs needs and how we can support them to develop trust, confidence, skills and provide them with what they need for a quality of life that they feel safe in.

24/12/2020

Just bought a little Crimble present for myself. From the wonderful Dr Conor Brady, my new bible...Christmas bedtime reading ...😁

10/12/2020

For those of you interested in the fresh vs processed question on feeding, this is an excerpt from a new book about to be published, that will really bring some sanity to the world of argument. I loved this ... it makes so much sense, why would we think otherwise!! Enjoy. Would love to know what you think.

I have a disembowler. As I was watching him disembowel Monkey (mark 4, guess what Dudley's getting for Christmas?!), I can't help but note how very meat-eaty this animal is. To get him excited enough to kill, you move Monkey, shake it about. He freezes, staring with terrible focus before leaping (he can't really leap, he's all feet, but we let him pretend he's very swift and impressive). When he clamps on you tug as if Monkey is trying to get away. So he does a death shake. That would finish most small animals off.

Then he begins the disemboweling. He starts at the soft, squishy tummy, nibbling through with pointy incisors, then ripping the insides out, getting to the real "juicy" bits. All very normal carnivore behaviour. Along the way, he pops in a few more vigorous head shakes. This is because his jaw only snaps open and closed. There is no need for side-ways jaw movement in meat-eaters (as we see in actual omnivores). Such movement might allow a jaw to dislocate when hanging on by your face to bigger prey with more fight but also when eating said dinner you have no need to grind tough plant forage, flesh lumps are swallowed hole down a large, keratinised gullet. The problem is removing those flesh lumps when you have no sideways movement. That's what the shaking is about mid-feeding, separating pieces so that he can swallow them.

All this behaviour is useless for hunting say corn, or a carrot. It's just one of the reasons we think the dog is predominantly a meat-eater. But there are so many other tools available to a zoologist when examining their animal of choice before feeding them. We can look at - sticking just with biology you've got dental structure, head set up, gut morphology, physiology, metabolism and genetics. We can look at their evolution (where did this animal come from and what are his closest cousins and, in the dog's case, half-brothers, doing?). And we can look at the diet studies (what does this animal consume when left to his own devices and why is there so much variation in these studies?).

You put this all together and take a rough stab at what this animal might eat. But even then you are just looking at the tip of the iceberg. We have virtually no idea of what the animal is after at any one particular time. Seasonality aside, we know predators not only hunt certain prey at certain times based on their nutritional and physiological need at that moment but they can consume predominantly those parts of the prey that sustains that need. Classic Zoo Pharmacognosy.

Just one reason why the nutritional claim of "completeness" is so ridiculous (and why we freshies rarely trust one product for too long. We vary it up as often as possible, hopefully achieving balance over time).

All this is just Section 1 of 4 of my new book Feeding Dogs. Once you understand what he needs, we then move on to what he is actually being fed with the health ramifications of that choice (Section 2). We then delve deep into the murk of why we are all so confused (Section 3) and finish with the what and how to feeding them appropriately (Section 4), which may have some surprising conclusions.

Final edits are in. The book is being re-sized. Once that's done it's uploaded to all the online providers, some of which are going to be experiencing festive backlogs. I would expect 10 days or less it will be available to order.

08/12/2020

Worth reading... know your dog ... simple really, and get training for yourself before you get your pet!

Bomb Proof and other unrealistic expectations…..

Quite a few years ago, I did a consultation with a family whose young dog had growled and snapped at their three-year-old child, when the child had woken the dog from sleep or approached the dog while he as chewing a bone. While there were some other factors that were making the dog feel generally a little anxious and defensive, I made it very clear that the child’s behaviour needed to stop immediately, or she would get bitten sooner or later. I was told this was going to be a problem to implement, because the child was deliberately approaching the dog in order to get a response from the parents. I reiterated that if things continued like this the child would get bitten – 6 weeks later she was bitten in the face. Luckily for her it was not too serious an injury and luckily for the dog there was an extended family member who was willing to adopt him at that point and keep him out of harm’s way.

Stories like this are unfortunately all too common. A popular question in puppy class is “how do I stop my puppy from growling at my child”. My response is always to ask in what context this is happening and the answer is always something like:

When he touches her while she’s sleeping
When she pulls his ears or tail
When he picks her up
When she hugs or kisses him
When he grabs her collar

When we try to explain that this is a child problem, not a dog problem, we get blank stares. Then statements or questions like: Isn’t the dog supposed to tolerate all this? A good dog never growls. My previous dog allowed my children to climb all over her. How am I supposed to make sure visiting children don’t do any of this? But my children don’t listen or they are too young to understand. A dog that is around kids should be bomb-proof, surely?

Here’s the thing – there is no such thing as a bomb-proof dog. Some dogs are more tolerant than others, yes. Some dogs feel less threatened or anxious about certain invasions of their space, yes. Some dogs are also a lot more shut down and have given up trying to express when they are uncomfortable, because of punishment. But ALL dogs have their limits. All dogs will get to a point where if they are pushed too far, they will use aggression to make someone back off and leave them alone. Those dogs that have been allowed to express their feelings and have had subtle displays of discomfort (looking away, moving away, growling) respected will be far more likely to give plenty of warning when pushed too far. Those who have found that telling people how they feel results in bad things happening, will not. They will be more likely to go straight to a bite.

If you want your child to be safe around your dog, train your child how to behave. Teach your child to respect your dog’s space and their body. Don’t allow your child unsupervised access to your dog. And just as importantly, listen to your dog’s warnings: Don’t punish them for politely letting you know that they don’t like something. If they are uncomfortable with having your child anywhere near them, then please get help from a behaviour practitioner who will show you how to create better associations with your child for your dog. If your dog doesn’t like your child, most of the time it is because of what your child is doing to your dog, whether they intend harm or not. If you think it is hard to teach your child or get across to them what they should and should not do, what chance have you got trying to explain this to another species? Instead of expecting a dog to be something other than a dog, first educate and manage your child.