Dog-On Life

07/06/2025

As always we are working away at something in the back ground. This time working with the wonderful Natalie Willis to build a beautiful new website promoting all aspects of my business. Adventures, nutrition, massage and the new Kiss-It-Better healing balm. Head on over and check it out!! We are so excited with how it has all come together.

https://www.dogonlife.co.nz/

To incorporate all aspects we have adjusted from our original Dog-On Adventures to become Dog-On Life as we want to capture all areas of life for our dogs.

Thanks Natalie for your incredible work and ongoing support!!! http://www.nwbusinesssupport.co.nz/

08/05/2025

Our lovable bubble Miss Margo enjoying a well deserved massage. Love this pic, she spent half the massage just staring lovingly into my face waiting patiently for her kisses.
We see this beautiful girl absent from our packs for awhile while she recovers from an injury sustained after being hit by a car. Massage can be so helpful for the healing process, keeping the body itself in balance from the overcompensation occuring. Also for stimulating circulation to the wound to assist the healing process.

09/04/2025

24/03/2025

MY DOGS A FUSSY EATER....

There is so much more involved than just my dogs is a fussy eater and they will eat when they are hungry.
Yea it is for sure true that some dogs have an eating disorder or a medical reason (just like people) but this is often very rare. Usually they are trying to tell us something and we need to learn to listen.

I have 6 dogs and 4 are "fussy".... All for different reasons and gaining an understanding of this has allowed me to work with them and now they aren't fussy anymore.

So let's start with zip as she has been mentioned in my last few posts too. She and her family were all classes as fussy eaters and this is one reason she and others in her family never made it as great sled dogs. It wasn't until she was about 5 that I started to put some links to this "fussiness". She would often refuse her food and eat a lot of grass, desperate to eat grass. She would also simply turn her nose up to certain brands of food. We tried many different brands, some she liked but still had grass desperation, and some lack of breakfasts. Then others didn't like it at all. It wasn't until swapping between our last 2 brands that things started click, between the last 2 brands she hugely decreased her 3am grass desperation wake up calls. Then we swapped to raw feeding and things all fell into place. We found she is sensitive to chicken (but not chicken from my friends farm) and too much offal, especially beef offal. When she has too much of these she then doesn't want to eat her next meal and wants to eat an excessive amount of grass. Now understand this, listening to what she has told us she is an incredible eater and will wait to clean up everyone else's bowls.

Buzz can be fussy, his is when he is stressed. It's not that he doesn't want to eat, he simply can't. So teaching him places that are safe so when we are travelling he can still eat has helped him... He will eat when he is in the car but often not outside.

Ezka is fussy for a few reasons, if she is fed too much. For her it's finding a balance of just enough to get what she needs but not too much to make her too full. She is a sensitive soul. She also doesn't like frozen food or food that is too cold. She will wait until it warms up and then eat it.

Jazz.....well then there is Jazz...we are still learning her..... So far she is similar to Ezka and that she doesn't like to be too full, so finding the right balance for her to make sure she stays a little hungry sure helps. She is also highly distracted and often likes to think her food is a toy and prefers to play with it at times. (See video below, having the best time...idiot!). She is also a super slow dainty eater and very submissive, it can happen that if the others are all finished and she feels pressured she will just leave her food and once everyone else is done she will go see if there is anything to find.

So this being said, dogs usually aren't fussy for no reason but they can't tell us what they don't like so it's up to us to have that conversation and try to find out what they are wanting to say in order to allow them to thrive.

13/03/2025

Following along from our last post of every dog is different lets take a little deeper look into their bowls.

As mentioned with easy keepers and hard keepers the amount of food I feed is different and the level of fat between the easies and hards is different too.

But the level goes deeper. So much deeper.

Zip for example was deemed a fussy eater and it was one of the reasons her and her family didn't make it as amazing sled dogs, little did we know at the time (this took us years to figure out) she isn't fussy she just doesn't do well on some foods. The only really way she shows it is by not wanting her next meals and a desperation to eat grass. No vomit, diarrhea, itching or skin irritations. It was only by chance that we found that out and could pinpoint exactly what it was when we switched to raw. First and foremost chicken, if a large portion of her meal is chicken she is so stoked, but will want up in the middle of the night for grass and won't eat breaky. Too much offal is another, especially beef liver.

So in zips bowl not only does she have minimal fat, she also has minimal chicken and less offal than the others. Now she is a food savage and wants to clean everyone's bowls.

Nizmo is another who requires special attention, he had some serious diarrhea issues when he was a pup after his final vaccines, we don't know the exact cause but think possibly it was just too much to have 2 vaccines and worming all at once for him. He is also a highly strung boy and can get a bit stressed at times which results in his fragile digestive system not handling it so well and some not so nice poops. He have found pumpkin to be a great addition and a higher bone content is needed in his diet to keep him regular. We also know to expect some softer dark poops of he has a high lung and heart content in his diet.

So again we must take a step back and look at the dogs Infront of us and feed what they need to thrive.

11/03/2025

I've been slack and haven't posted in awhile so while all these monkeys are happily sleeping in while we have a patter of rain outside I thought I'd take the opportunity....

Today let's chat about easy keepers vs hard keepers.

All dogs are different and in the sled dog world we split their feeding between easy keepers and hard keepers.

EASY KEEPERS, they hold their weight and could live on air.

HARD KEEPERS, these guys could eat an entire horse and would still be skin and bones.

There are lots of different things that can factor into this.... Age, neutered/entire, metabolism, stress, exercise level and diet.

Among my 6 I have a mixture but none that are a complete struggle..... And they can change!!! Just because they were a hard keeper when they were 1 doesn't mean they will still be a hard keeper when they are 10.

Take zip and buzz for example, both were reasonably hard keepers when they were you, they would not get fat until they were about 7. For different reasons, zip turns out has a sensitivity to some foods, especially chicken which makes her not eat. It took a long time to learn this with very minimal signs. Buzz is a highly stressed anxious dog. Both were neutered at 2 and it didn't make any change to their metabolism.
For the last few years they become very easy keepers in summer and still moderate keepers in winter while they are working. Now at almost 10 they are mostly easy keepers but still need constant checking over the winter months.

My young 4 ranging in age from 1- 3.5 are still hard keepers. They don't get fat no matter.

So I adjust as needed to balance their exercise and energy levels with keeping them in healthy condition.

The youngins are on a high fat diet, high fat meats like lamb and beef, salmon and sardines or literally adding in fat to their leaner cuts like venison or possum.

Zip and buzz however are on a high protein diet of leaner cuts like venison, horse and possum. They still get to enjoy their lamb and beef but I try to pick out the less fatty pieces and they get less than the young pups even though they weigh more than jazz and Ezka. And they don't get pieces of fat as extras in their bowls.

It's all about knowing the dog Infront of you and working off the dog Infront of you.

Want to know if your dogs is an easy keeper or hard keeper and what you can do to keep them in good shape, don't hesitate to get in touch!

10/02/2025

Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are a type of fat found in oils, such as coconut. They help dogs by increasing ketone body production, which has many benefits including stabilizing blood sugar, promoting the burning of fat and being a great source of fuel.

24/01/2025

What's in your bowl!!!

We know what's in ours and the dogs love it!

Want to know more about feeding a real food diet or maybe just some goodies to pimp up your food bowl? Don't hesitate to get in touch.

17/01/2025

***KELP***

Kelp/seaweed can be a great supplement to add into our dogs diets for lots of reasons. It/they (there are many forms of kelps) are incredibly nutrient dense, high in protein and low in fat.
Different kelps contain different compounds so it depends on what type of seaweed and also where it is grown. This is very important and they absorb nutrients from the waters they grow in, they will also absorb toxins and heavy metals so be aware of where and how they are grown.

High in antioxidants, iodine, iron, amino acids and mannitol.

We originally added kelp into the dogs diets for aiding in skin and coat health. It has benefits to help sooth itchy/irritated skin and also improve overall coat health. But have found so many other benefits too...

Aiding in digestion and a healthy gut.

Supporting a strong and health immune system.

Help with boosting the metabolism and losing weight

Bone and dental health, being right in calcium and vitamin k which support strong healthy bones. Kelp also has the added dental benefit of removing plaque and tartar build up on the teeth and maintaining good oral health.

Help regulate body temperature.

Can help in stress reduction. This last one is super interesting...When the body gets stressed for any reason (damage, sickness, stress), Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) levels rise sharply in the blood. When you get stressed, they build up and cause all sorts of issues in plants and mamals. In humans, they play pivotal roles in a whole host of diseases, including:

Cancer;
Cardiovascular disease;
Aging;
Hypertension;
Diabetes mellitus;
Neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis, and male-pattern baldness).

In plants, these little oxygen molecules get in the way of the photosynthesis process. Seaweeds have evolved a diverse range of stress-coping and free radical scavenging compounds, collectively called secondary metabolites or simply "antioxidants," which deactivate ROS, preserving the plant's integrity in times of stress. Lohrmann et al. (2004) found that Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) rose sharply in winter, and thus seaweeds contain more antioxidants in winter than in summer. You may be familiar with some of these anti-oxidative compounds, such as carotenoids, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), various enzymes, and unsaturated fatty acids.
(Thanks to Volhard dog nutrition for putting that bit together for us).

If you have a dog with a thyroid issue kelp might not be the right supplement for you as being high in iodine this can directly effect the thyroid gland. It can help or hinder depending on the issue and cause of the issue. We recommend consulting with a holistic vet in this case.

Dosage of powdered kelp is approximately 1/8teaspoon for a smaller dog and 1/4 teaspoon for a larger dog.
Being nature's multivitamin kelp is very rich and a little goes a long way.

16/01/2025

Some great simple advice for our seniors.

08/01/2025

This is a brilliant guide to understanding your pets body weight.

Not sure how your pet is or maybe you have found they are in an unideal condition. We can help with both gaining weight and losing weight.

07/11/2024

I have had a few people ask advice on how to give a dog pills or medication so here is a wee video.
It's hard to pull buzz slowly as he knows what's happening and often tries to eat the pills straight away. But if you are right handed then hold the pills in your right hand between thumb and forefinger and use your left hand to open your dogs mouth. Using thumb and forefinger to put light pressure just behind teeth should open the mouth and be able to keep it open.

Present the pill as far back in the mouth as you can get it. Ideally central on the back of tongue/beginning of throat.

Quickly release and close their mouth holding the chin up. If their little tongue pokes out that means they have swallowed. Some dogs are crafty and will hold for ages refusing to swallow and spit out the pill as soon as you let go. You can gently rub the throat while holding the head up to encourage them to swallow or hold a treat Infront of their nose.

The quicker you can do it the less stressful for your dog and easier it is. Have some fun and try practice with some soft treats and then reward with a treats after to train your dog to accept it for when they really need it.