I have a philosophy and that is:

Not all dog owners have horses (true!) but all the horse owner's I know have dog(s) and most have more than one!  True! 

Although Earth Song Ranch has been primarily focused on Horse Health we also help owners with dog health!  Mostly advising and sharing what I do for my "pack" in the way of nutritional options! Although we do and have offer Canine Wellness  for years!  We offer some of the Horse Tech canine specific probiotics too along with a couple of joint support products including Joint Juice for Dogs and HylaSport Canine. 

So, I was inspired to write about our puppy pal family members after recently having occasion to take my puppy, who is now 8 months old, in to the vet for a well puppy check prior to scheduling a "spay" (it is a hysterectomy sparing the ovaries so she will have her hormones!)  in coming months.  She is a 6 lb. Maltese, super healthy, from a breeder who feeds gently cooked, some raw, goats milk and eggs (scrambled and raw to her adults), Open Farm kibble, some fruits and veges, along with minimal puppy vaccines and those are given by weight not the full syringe of the vaccine as is sold.  This breeder  is now also using our canine nosodes in place of vaccines, a homeopathic alternative!  I do not believe in over vaccination just because, and I feel that this leads to so many health challenges over the year from the adjuvents used in the various vaccines.

I was so shocked as to what I saw in the vet's waiting room - dogs who were maybe 5-6 years old looking like decrepit seniors, joint issues, dull coats and many of them "smelled" which I was not prepared for!  All I could think about was wow poor dogs, and that their owner's were doing the very best they could with what knowledge they had and relying on the vets in the practice.  Of course front and center in the vet office was all of the Science Diet offerings! (Yuck)The lady who was sitting to my left and I began to chat and found out she was also a follower of Saving Pets One Pet at a Time. 

Saving Pets One Pet At A Time, is a comprehensive resource dedicated to holistic pet health, nutrition, and natural care for dogs and cats. Their goal is to help pet parents better understand the potential risks associated with highly processed pet foods (kibble), medications, vaccinations, flea and tick products, and environmental toxins, also about spay/neuter options, while also sharing healthier options that support longer, happier lives for your furry companions. It's followers on FB/IG are approximately 192k because there is so much information that needs to be shared in order for our dogs and cats to live a healthier life!  Junk food like Science diet and Purina should not be in any pets bowl!!!!

Over the decades I have owned dogs, and my family before me it was always about their health and nutrition, my Dad insisted on giving them pieces of raw fish, freshly caught, when the Pacific Ocean was still clean while he would be cleaning the fish he had caught of the day including Rock Cod, Halibut, Base and White Sea Bas! My Mom would cook gizzards & liver for them a couple times per month and in the day the dogs had a supplement called Ultra Mend (which I cannot find doing a search) and Brewers Yeast.  My Mom also would give them raw eggs and sometimes cooked ones.  They did not get table scraps but the dogs would eat carrots when we were at the ranch with the horses, and if my Mom was steaming veges for us she would save the water and pour on the dog kibble. 

So we were never the norm as I was growing up as I have shared many times - in the 1950's and 60's we ate organic, no junk food, no sodas, no frozen dinners, an occasional treat when we would go to the dump with my Dad, usually a Popsicle.  We had a DO who was also a homeopath for a "regular doctor", with our local doctor for stitches and broken bones.  My mom grew most of our veges. What my Mom did not grow she purchased from the Self Realization Center in Encinitas on Thursdays, she bought fertile eggs, raw goats milk and so much more.  She made our yogurt and the dogs and cats also shared in that as well! 

Our dogs lived to their late teens and our cats often to mid 20's!  No vaccines in those days! So fast forward to today's dog ... cats too even... what is most often fed is highly processed "crap" kibble - brown bits of hard stuff when you read the labels where is the "real food" -  the vets want you back yearly for vaccines they (your pets) probably do not need, then push food that is not going to add to their health or well being.... so below I am sharing what I do to help anyone who is wanting more for their dogs.  What I find is if I spend $ on/for nutrition my vet bills are minimal in comparison to others and I do not have a "stinky/smelly" dog in the group, nor an overweight one, no joint issues, or ones with skin issues, nor the dental issues so many other have in their pets! 

All of my little dogs  get non anesthesia dentals once or twice per year and I brush the small dogs teeth with organic dog tooth paste!!!! All of my dogs get a variety of gently cooked meats - chicken, ground turkey, ground chuck and some pork, on rotation.  They get eggs in raw and also cooked form (scrambled and hard boiled).  A couple times per week they get yogurt and Daisy cottage cheese with probiotics (yes they offer/ make that now!). 

My small dogs get goats milk several times per week, my puppy gets hers daily.  The small dogs also get for breakfast on rotation Open Farm Kibble, a scrambled egg with cottage cheese and yourt, or  Dr Marty's Natures Blend freeze dried for small breeds which has salmon, beef, turkey, & duck, apples, sweet potato, egg and blueberries; the small dogs are fed twice per day, and my cats also get a handful of Dr Marty's too they love it. 

My two Border Aussies get the Nutro Ultra Senior Kibble with Chicken, Lamb and Salmon to which I add the gently cooked meats, Grandma Lucy's, along with Daisy cottage cheese with probiotics, eggs and yogurt. They also get Dr Mercola's probiotics, kelp and turkey tail 3x's per week added to their dinners.  They get Grandma Lucy's Artisan Pre Mix a couple times per week as well.

My small dogs get Nutro Ultra for small breed and Open Farm. In addition a couple times per week I give them Turkey Tail, Dr Mercola's Probiotics (found on Amazon), Canine Wellness, and Kelp.   They do get a dollop of Grandma Lucy's Artisan Pre Mix a couple times per week.

All of this is supportive and preventative by nature and I can tell you, knock wood, my dogs do not have the health challenges that I see in neighbors dogs or the ones I see at the vet clinics! 

My community comes to me for the Turkey Tail for their horses and their dogs to treat the various cancers they are dealing with in their fur family members lives, as well as for nutritional advice, and we do sell it in our web store, all pure Organic Turkey Tail, frown in the USA, no fillers or additives or flowing agents!.

So below are the links of some of what I personally do for my fur family -  Grandma Lucy's Freeze Dried Iove the Artisan Pre Mix which I add to the other things I have cooked or even to their Ultra kibble.  I have been using Grandma Lucy's for well over 16 years now and swear by it.  How I found it was from the breeder of my Mini Aussie, Tess, who recommended it.  It is fed a couple times per week to my gang and they love it I only use the Artisan Pre Mix. You can also get the Artisan with freeze dried meat in them, if you prefer and when you sign up directly to her site you get discounts - Grandma Lucy's also available on Amazon and Chewy's. Nutro Ultra  a Trio of proteins for the large breed dogs, and comes in a small breed and a senior as well, available on Amazon and on Chewy's. 

Cats are far harder and I do feed my cats a kibble to nibble during the day, along with their cooked meats, eggs, yogurt and more.  What I typically purchase for them is the Blue Buffalo Salmon or Taste of the Wild Rocky Mountain with Venison and Salmon. They are pretty picky eaters and I do give them some canned food but only the Friskies Turkey Pate.  And although they are on some kibble and canned too right now they are both 14+ and doing well!It does take a bit of work to do all of this but their health is important to me as well as they living a long life!

For all the dogs who are loved out there live long, strong and healthy!