Let’s say your bottle has an adult dosage of 20-30 drops per day, and your dog weighs about 70 lbs. A 70 lb dog would be considered HALF an adult dose and you would give your dog 10-15 drops per day.

If your puppy weighs only 20lbs, then you would give 1/6 or 1/7 of a dose. In this case, about 4 drops a day.

Digestive Enzymes

There are a few products out there that may leave you scratching your head wondering what to get. Basically, you want to look for the words “Full Spectrum”.

There are many products marketed directly to pet owners. You may want to compare prices between the pet store and the health food store to ensure you are not paying for an expensive label.

Spring Time

A healthy immune system is important to all of us. And your pets are no exception.

Looking holistically at your dog, something like a parasite will most certainly affect her physically, as well as emotionally and mentally. Sometimes subtle symptoms such as behaviour and training issues can be the only indication you get that your pooch is struggling with an asymptomatic infection.

The prime time of year for the introduction of foreign invaders into your dog`s life is springtime. Meeting other new dogs, damp environments, and migratory animals all increase their risk of exposure to viruses, bacteria, and parasites.

Planning ahead as we approach springtime by boosting your dog`s immune system naturally is your best defense against these foreign invaders.

The good news is there are some very simple things you can do to boost your dog`s immune system. Many of these things you probably already have lying around the kitchen. Others can be picked up easily at your local health food store, or by ordering online.

Coconut Oil

Words cannot begin to share the health benefits of adding coconut oil to both your dog`s diet as well as your own. I could write a whole website on why this should become a staple for everyone in your home! But that`s not what this page is about. For now, if you don`t already have some, head to Tropical Traditions to order some.

Did your Coconut Oil arrive yet? Great. Now, simply add 1 heaping teaspoon to your dog’s food daily. Simply stir it into their kibble, or spread it on their raw meat. Yum Yum!!

If your dog is currently fighting something, add ½ tsp directly to each meal.

To simply boost your pet’s immune system (cats and dogs alike), or if your dog is a constant grazer with food available 24/7, then add ½ tsp to their water dish at each filling and allow them to enjoy throughout the day. It is odorless and tasteless.

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Okay, this is another product that deserves its own website. If you are reading this, and there isn’t a link to its own page yet, it’s coming!! In the meantime, the product you are looking for is Bragg’s Raw Apple Cider Vinegar. If you don’t already have some, head to STORE NAME HERE to order it. If you are able to in your town, several good grocery stores will carry it, as well as most health food stores. Please, don’t compromise on it being RAW. This is important.

Ok. So the coconut oil is yummy, but when you open the Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV), this doesn’t smell nearly as pleasant. Trust me, it’s not. And undiluted, it also burns! So this one may not be as easy to get into your dog. Time to get a bit creative. Start by only giving your dog a small enough dose that its odor isn’t as strong as what you have diluted it in.

Your best bet is beef blood as it has a very strong odor all on its own. See below for instructions.

If beef blood isn’t on the menu tonight, your next best bet is broth/stock. Ideally, beef or lamb as they have the strongest odor, next would be chicken, and then vegetable.

If you don’t make homemade stock on your own, it is easy to pick up. I get mine from Costco because they have a good organic broth and I can buy it cheaper in bulk.

Once you have your blood or broth, add 1 teaspoon of RAW ACV.

Raw Pumpkin Seeds

These can be added into your dog’s dinner, or simply kept on hand as treats. Some people grind them and add that into their food. I recommend, if you choose to grind them first that you do so right before feeding. Grinding speeds up how quickly they go rancid.

Goldenseal & Grapefruit Seed Extract

Both of these also have a very strong flavor, so I only add them to other irresistible foods such as the beef blood, or try adding some diced all-natural deli meat to make it worthwhile to your pooch.

These are available at health food stores, or by ordering online. For dosage, follow the instructions on the bottle for adults, assuming an adult dosage is approx. 120 - 150 lbs and adjust for your dog’s approximate weight.

I recommend purchasing both Goldenseal and GSE in dropper form as they are the easiest to administer.

Personally, we give our dogs the same enzymes we buy for ourselves, so I choose the most natural, full-spectrum enzymes I am able to get that have not additional ingredients in them whatsoever. I am pretty fussy because we have food intolerances in our home, so I really only buy the most natural I can find.

For dosage, I follow the same directions for GSE and Goldenseal: Follow the adult dosage based on 120-150 lbs, and divide based on your dog’s weight. You can’t overdose on Digestive Enzymes, so you can relax in deciding how much to give your dog. *If you purchase one sold to pet owners, most likely the dosage is already calculated for you.

For Further Reading:

I encourage you to pick up a copy of Lisa S. Newman’s book Three Simple Steps to Healthy Pets

Preparing beef blood for your dogs (or lamb)

Whenever you are preparing beef, if the absorbent towel in the bottom of the packaging hasn’t absorbed it all, there should be some residual blood in the packaging. Or, leave the meat sitting in a colander for a few minutes before you finish your recipe to allow any extra blood to drain out. If you have an exceptionally ‘juicy’ piece, sometimes it gives you enough to throw in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days.

For ACV, you only need a couple tablespoons of blood, and can dilute it with water to make enough if you need it.

You will be hard pressed to find a dog that will turn up their nose to decadent beef juices. Here’s your chance! Add 1 teaspoon of RAW ACV, as well as any other ingredients on the menu tonight, into the juice and Bon Appetit!

Colloidal Silver

I am torn as to whether to put Coconut Oil or Colloidal Silver as my #1 recommended addition to your pet’s diet. We recently used silver ourselves to help clear up a bout of GI upset in our dogs that simply had no diagnosis. I will save the long rant about how amazing this product is for another page.