How to help your dog live to 20 years young

Tips to have your dog have a long healthy happy life

Many people comment how Bella, my 13 year old Bichon looks and acts like a puppy.

I do contribute my home cooking a factor in her excellent health. If you follow Dr Judy Morgan she studies Traditional Chinese Medicine. She mentions dogs are similar to humans who are born with the “life essence held by the kidneys” where dogs have a good 20 years of life (equivalent to the 100 years that healthy people are born with). But just like humans, dogs are robbed of many years of life not only by the toxins in food but also other factors also contributing to Cancer, Diabetes, Cushings, Kidney failure and other detrimental diseases.

My entire platform is about how food is medicine and how food can increase your dogs life. In my opinion there are other factors in addition to food that will increase your dogs life and that is what I would like to talk about today.

1. FOOD

   Well of course I will start with the type of Food you feed your dog since this is Cut the Kibble!

   Kibble is a DEAD FOOD. All the nutrients are depleted with the rendering process in the kibble factory. That is why a long list of Synthetic vitamins must be added on every kibble bag to comply with Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) MINIMAL requirements Uh did I mention that AFFCO is a non profit organization comprised with CEOs from Purina, Hills Science Diet and other kibble companies????

   Why is adding sythetic vitamins to kibble or buying a powder to supplement your dogs home made diet a bad idea? As recently as 2019, The FDA recalled 86 total lots of 33 varieties of canned dog food of Hills Science Diet and later increased the recall because of the excessive Vitamin D.

   Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for dogs but it is fat soluable (meaning it is stored in the tissue and not excreted with urine). Excessive vitamin D in a dogs food will cause kidney failure and/or death. Sadly toxic levels of Vitamin D from Hills Science Diet killed hundreds of dogs!

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   Up to 90% of all sythetic vitamins come from China and a good majority of them are toxic to some extent. Even if you were to call the kibble manufacture up to ask where the vitamins are from, they may say India but that more than likely is not where it originated from but rather where the manufacturer bought it from. Again, most synthetic vitamins come from China!

   Synthetics vitamins are chemically and physiologically different from natures real vitamins and minerals. Synthetic vitamins and minerals are not bioavailable to the body and remain of questionable efficacy.  Also do not be fooled by a kibble bag stating “made in America”. That means nothing, you want to know where the ingredients including vitamins are SOURCED. If you call the company up, you need to ask “what is the country of origin of your beef, your vitamins” ect. In past years class action suits have been brought against Purina, Merrick and other kibble companies for their false marketing on the bag stating “made in USA” but in fact the ingredients (including actual food) were from China!

   Also do not be fooled by the word “natural”. If something says “natural beef flavor” there only has to be 10% real beef and the other 90% can be up to 200 chemicals to make it beef flavor!

   Bella has never had any form of vitamins added to her food in her 13 years I have cooked for her! I choose to be a smart shopper, buying items on sale and utilizing a deep freeze to add quality human grade food that I can afford at the time of cooking. Of course grass fed and finished beef has a much lower Omega 6 content but you have to do the best you can on your budget. Conventional cows feed on grains; grains are sprayed with Glysophate, a known carcinogen. Grains are also highly inflammatory. Grass fed cows are fed grass and grains the last three months before slaughter. Grass fed/finished cows are only fed grass. What the cow eats, your dog eats! If you live in the United States, Aldi sells grass fed beef at a good price

I also choose to rotate proteins so in the course of the week she is getting a variety of nutrients from turkey, beef, pork, eggs, salmon and the occasional elk.

I choose to only add mostly low starchy veggies. NEVER potatos or beans of any kind. Potatoes and beans are inflammatory foods and beans are heavily sprayed with Glysophate in the United States. I do not use rice, it is not species appropriate and depending on the country of origin, it will contain arsenic, a heavy metal. Potatos, rice and legumes contain have a higher sugar content which causes inflammation which is a precursor to disease. All kibble contains potatoes, rice and legumes because it is cheap! The kibble company is not out for the well being of your furever friend but rather PROFIT in their pocket.

I also never give dairy. Most dairy in the USA is full of pesticides and hormones. Dairy also cause an itchy and yeasty dog (if your dog smells like corn chips, it has a yeast issue). The only dairy I give is a teaspoon of Organic Non GMO Plain Yogurt each day on a slice of banana.

So this is what I feed Bella:

I choose to give her the color of the rainbow with low starchy veggies.

I choose to always give her sardines (packed in water from Canada) for Omega 3s and beef heart for Taurine and Liver which is packed with a powerhouse of nutrients not found in any other food. I also rotate my heart and liver between grass fed beef and pasture raised pigs. Living up here in the country, I have the priviledge of living near many farms and the famer delivers eggs, meat and offal to my door step. But I have not always had this privileged. I used to live near Washington DC for Bellas first ten years of her life. She was then eating convential beef and eggs and offal and she did fine because I home cooked for her and followed certain rules for home cooking.

I always add a calcium supplement to support strong bones

I choose to add cancer fighting foods such as mushrooms, garlic and blueberries

All the above should be added to ALL dogs foods regardless of age.

But for a Senior dog, I do choose to add some supplements to support joint mobility and brain cognitive function.

However food is only part of the equation.

2. MEDICATIONS

   I stopped heart worm meds at age 3, stopped vaccines at age 5, stopped flea and tick at age 8. If and when I get a new puppy, I will only do puppy core vaccines with titers each year, no flea or tick and hopefully by then Rabies will not be mandated in my state. All these medications destroy a healthy immune system. If your dog eats the right foods, it will have a strong micro biome to fight off all disease. If you live in an area of lots of rain and humid conditions where heart worm is prevalent than yes you might want to consider heart worm. *Rabies is mandatory in my state so I only give Bella a Mercury Free (thermisol free) Rabies vaccine. You can ask your vet to do a Titer Test to check the level of immunity in the dogs blood for the certain disease. This will determine if in fact your dog needs to be revaccinated.

3. ENVIRONMENT

   The air our animals breath and have exposure through skin contact and inhaled to the lungs, plays a huge part in a dogs overall health. You have to remember that dogs are small creatures so chemicals that go into their blood stream or organs has a much great affect on them than humans. Here is an example: I have a friend who uses harsh dangerous cleaners in her home including Clorox and Lysol. I went to visit her once for only 20 minutes and the intense smell of the chemicals made me sick and I had to politely leave. When I got home I vomited. You need to know I NEVER vomit (unless I am pregnant and I definitely was not pregnant). It was my bodies way of purging those toxic chemicals. If those harsh chemicals affected me, a human 20 times bigger than a small dog, can you just imagine the horrific effect those chemicals are causing your dog?

   So many neighborhoods have perfect yards with no weeds and the greenest grass, why do you think that is? So many home owners either treat their own yards or have a company treat their yards every three weeks. If your dog walks on the toxic chemically treated grass and then comes home and licks their paws, they are ingesting the insecticide. A deadly pesticide called Round-Up (formally owned by Monsanto and now Bayer) is still sold and used on yards and by farmers for their produce. Round-Up contains Glysophate, which has been linked to cancer. Many people have sued Monsanto and have won cause the Glysophate has caused Non Hogkins Lymphoma. Glysophate is now banned in Europe BUT still is allowed in the United State.

   Another environmental concern is Forever Chemicals PFAS, short for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances. It is a group of toxic chemicals that make products non stick and stain resistant. Exposure to these dangerous chemicals is linked to cancers, weakened immune systems among children, can you imagine what it will do to your dog? The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says PFAS are a public health concern. Alarmingly most Americans have some amount of PFAS in their blood. These toxic chemicals are EVERYWHERE from clothes, to the pans you cook with to fast food to the water you drink!

   So what do you do to protect your dogs? Well lets start with inside your house which should always be a safe haven for your dog and you. For cleaning products I would recommend Branch Basicsthat you can buy online. You can also check Environmental Working Group for a complete list of safe products.

   Do not use any chemicals on your yard and when walking your dog, avoid green grass and look for little signs that should be posted if yards have been sprayed. Wipe your dogs paws when they come back in the house. Clean your tile and linolium floors with a Shark Steamer where you only use filtered water, no chemicals. Do not use air freshens but you can use a diffuser with animal safe essential oils by AnimalEOAnimalEO. For the water issue, use a water filter (which I will talk about in #6.

4. SECOND HAND SMOKE FROM CIGARETTES.

   Even though I know this is part of Environmental factors, I am making it a stand alone topic because I loathe cigarette smoke. I am an asthmatic and cigarette smoke is the death of me EVEN if I am sitting on the beach and someone is smoking far away from me and the wind is blowing in my direction.

   Again, can you imagine what cigarette smoke will do for a dog?

   First of all, what is second hand smoke? The person smoking is breathing in first hand smoke and tobacco by inhaling the primary smoke, then he exhales and people and animals inhale the second hand smoke that the smoker exhaled!

   Dogs exposed to second hand smoke have more eye infections, respiratory issues, and lung cancer! Pugs and bulldogs who have short noes are at a high risk of lung cancer! Long nose dogs have a 250% higher risk of nose cancer! Why is this? The fact is that tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic and cause cancer.

5. DENTAL MANAGEMENT

   I go to my vet for a yearly checkup (they say Senior dogs should go twice a year for a Complete Blood Count (CBC) but I only do once a year because I am confident she is doing great with my regime. If she needs a dental, she gets it. There is a direct correlation between gum disease and heart/kidney disease!!! Dentals are expensive. I use the Care Credit charge card where the vet can spread the payments out a certain amount of time with zero interest. Thank goodness for Care Credit or I could never afford it!

6. WATER

   Water is THE MOST important essential ingredient in a dogs diet. Dogs need moisture to keep the kidneys and bladder flushed out to avoid kidney and bladder stones. Kibble has 3% moisture; home cooked food has 87% moisture. You do the Math! But the water in the USA is BAD, all of it, not just if you live in Flint Michigan, not only if you are drinking on municipal water but well water too can be harmful! All the water in the United States is BAD! I beg you to get your water tested. I have been using a Reverse Osmosis Filter by Culligans for the past 28 years. They are a global franchise, so look them up, they can come to your home for free and test your water for Flouride, Chlorine and heavy metals.

Bottom line, our dogs are family, they give us comfort and unconditional love and we want them to be with us as long as possible.

I strongly believe food is medicine. Contact me if you would like to set up a coaching session to learn how to home cook for your dog so your dog can live a healthier happier longer life. You most definitely will save money on vet bills feeding human grade food that will increase your dogs immunity by building a strong micro-biome.