The News At Home
As devoted as our dogs may be, it seems that they live by a common rule: Love the one you’re with.

We left them in the very capable and loving hands of Pam, our trusted pet sitter, when we took off for the Michigan seminar. Still, my heart was a bit heavy and I couldn’t wait to be reunited with my girls. We arrived home, opened the door and waited to be rushed off our feet by two joyous dogs. It never happened.

They looked at us, gave a happy wag of tails and came to say hello, s-l-o-w-l-y. It was almost as if they were doing what they knew was expected but frankly, without any enthusiasm. The good news is that they love Pam and obviously, weren’t missing us all that much – ok, maybe not at all!

The not-so-good news is that Pam might need to move in with us if we expect the dogs to be excited about things again. She visited for one hour later that day and both dogs seemed to return to life. Pam left and the girls moped on the couch for hours. Hello? Remember us? The ones who feed you and put up with your craziness? We live with four-legged traitors – but we love them anyway.

New Product at monicasegal.com
Milk Thistle
Milk Thistle protects liver tissue and helps regenerate damaged liver tissue. It can be used to help address some liver problems as well as to support liver function in healthy animals.

We’ve been looking for a high quality Milk Thistle for years and we’re thrilled to be able to say we found it! Our Milk Thistle has been tested for purity and is packed as a loose powder that’s so convenient to use. Mix it into food rather than opening capsules or having to try to get your dog to swallow one. Many of the products on the market are bitter. We’re pleased to report that ours is not. Dogs that tested this Milk Thistle mixed into food, responded beautifully.

Directions: 1/2 tsp. per 25 pounds of bodyweight.

Myth of The Month

Allergy to protein in kibble does not translate to allergy to raw food
I’ve heard it said that some dogs who did poorly when eating a commercial diet, improved dramatically when being fed a raw diet. The same story can apply to home-prepared cooked diets. The ‘magic’ doesn’t have anything to do with the food preparation so let’s explore the mystery.

A true allergy is an immune system response. The body sees an otherwise harmless food as the enemy and reacts in various ways, usually with some inflammation. This is why skin flare-ups are common. The immune system has a memory like no other. Once a food has been deemed an enemy, the immune system will always react to it. The form of food makes absolutely no difference. You can cook it, feed it raw or extrude it into kibble but you can’t fool the immune system.

So why is it that the dog who chewed paws and scratched himself all day long, may suddenly stop this behavior when fed a home-prepared diet?

Like his owner, a dog can have an allergy or an adverse response to just about anything you can think of. If you look at the ingredient list on any of the commercial diets, you’ll see far more than one protein source. The dog may have been reacting to anything on the list, including the form of a mineral. For instance, our Zoey does not tolerate calcium citrate or carbonate but does well with calcium lactate. Something as simple as having calcium carbonate in a commercial formula would cause her colitis to flare up and she’d be rubbing her chin along the carpets until the skin folds infected.

Home-prepared diets, raw or cooked, are not magical. They allow us to take control over the ingredients being fed and more often than not, the dog’s reactions calm down. In this way, the ‘magic’ of a home-prepared diet may not be what’s in it but rather, what isn’t.

Caring and Sharing

Your purchases of products from our web site have helped us to donate, once again, to Hemopet Animal Blood Bank and Animal Trackers, the no-kill shelter. We look forward to being able to continue our support and are grateful for yours. Thank-you!

Until next time...

Monica

“Properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend.”
-- Corey Ford, American Writer