If there is one condition that people ask about the most, it is allergies. I hope that the upcoming Allergy series will bring you more clarity and relief to your dog if he or she too is trapped in the world of allergies or conditions that resemble them.
Our own experiences shape our perception about our healthcare
My grandfather was a herbalist and my father was a conventional veterinarian and by the time I was six years old, I was the Quinea pig for both. I was given herbal teas and medicine and my father used to think that there was no difference between prescribing medication for people and animals. Because he had the access to prescription drugs and considered the visits to the family doctor a waste of time, he gave us antibiotics for every cold, anti-histamines for allergies and corticosteroids for every pimple on his own.
Trapped in the cage of old beliefs
When I got to vet school, it was because I felt I wanted to figure out healing with more than a cook book approach to medicine. We were taught how to prescribe drugs or perform a surgery but seldom, if ever, we were taught approaching each patient as an individual. Our teachers simply were not aware that the disease symptoms are only the signals of the body that it is out of balance and all they could do was to teach us what they were taught. It also applied to allergies.
I am sure the teachers meant well. None of them were taught that drugs that are sometimes life saving often degrade and erodes the health health we want to restore.
I compare the situation of prescribing drugs to using a credit card. We use it knowing that eventually the statement will come and we will have to pay the balance. If we don’t, we will have to pay the balance plus interest. In the case of drugs, the interest equals the drug side-effect.
A post graduation wake up call
When I graduated from vet school, I started to realize that conventional medicine was not the answer for many health problems. I saw the damage caused by overused drugs and feeding junky processed food. In the mean time, my allergies to animal hair were getting out of control and I knew that if I wanted to continue practicing, I had to heal my (more…)
If your dog has cut his paw, here is a simple natural approach.
If you are out an about and the wound is bleeding, rinse it if you can with the water from a tap or water bottle vigorously and bandage it or use a piece of cloth to apply a pressure bandage. From here , you have 2 options.
Options A: Wounds that superficial and not gaping more than 2 mm.
Rinse it with water or saline solution vigorously – not too hot , otherwise you would burn the cells that are supposed to heal.
Dry wound with gauze or clean towel.
Apply Healing Solution on a piece of gauze liberally and bandage it to the foot using Vetrap or (more…)
It has happened to me today and I think that the “dog gods” are responsible. I may not have a TV but I am definitely guilty of spending more time in front of the computer than my dog, Skai, would wish. He often gives me “The Look” when I am working.
I am often conflicted because I know that at least the main purpose of my life is to spend time with my two and fourlegged family, friends and others interesting people. How do I decide that I divide the time fairly and do not loose the sight of what matters?
So here I am, sitting in an internet café in Tofino, BC, learning that there is no internet today at this end of (more…)
Did you too notice that many pet food companies and food industry giants are suddenly going all natural? Many people appear to have been lured by the promise of top quality ingredients and also by packaging and advertising that likely costs more than the food itself.
“But what if they have really changed?” You may ask.
I wondered about the same so I did a little “market research.” We all know what it costs to purchase “quality ingredients” that these companies claim are in the bag.
Here are some examples:
Science Diet makes 30 lbs of all natural dog food that costs 57 dollars at an online store. This means that it is sold for a believable $1.90/lb. However, if you consider that dried food may be around 60 – 75% lighter than fresh food, you would be paying $0.47/lb. If (more…)
Before you start reading the following lines, I invite you to do a little test. Open your hands with your thumbs touching each other. Place the thumbs at the base of the throat and with the fingers pointing back and surrounding the neck. Now, take a deep breath, squeeze and pull back with all your force keeping your thumbs connected.
This is how many dogs feel when they are on the leash and they are pulling.
If you are still keen to continue with this experiment, put a choke chain around your neck and attach it to a leash. Ask a friend to grab the end of the leash and pull and jerk on it periodically. Welcome to the dog world! No, I will not make you go on with this experiment and ask you to test a prong collar or electric shock collar. I just want you to become more aware of what is happening dogs and that collars have caused more injuries then you can imagine.
One day,
Skai and I were on one of our favorite walks in Capilano Canyon near our home in North Vancouver. The wild river has carved the rock into breathtaking scenery with moss-covered cliffs, white water rapids and old growth rainforest.
Just a few minutes after starting our walk, I noticed a man with a young German shepherd on a leash. The poor little pup was struggling to say hi however his owner had a different idea. He was determined to prevent his dog from coming closer to us by yanking and jerking harshly on the (more…)
If you share your life with a dog, or a cat, you may have found the world of nutritional supplements to be a confusing impenetrable jungle. In fact, most people are so confused that they often resort to the extremes. They either use no supplements at all or fill their kitchen cabinets and counters with dozens of bottles. Almost everyday I am asked by clients for an opinion about supplements and my curiosity has led me to explore the supplement world which often reminds me of sailing uncharted ocean waters.
Many people believe that if they feed good quality food or the best natural food that their dogs or cats diet will be complete. This is not true.
Intensive agriculture has caused a severe degree of soil mineral and nutrient depletion which has caused deficiencies in the whole food chain including plants, herbivores and finally carnivores. We have seen sailors dying of scurvy, iodine deficiency causing goiter, vitamin B deficiency causing beri-beri, a neurologic disease and death. It is a paradox that most people and even medical practitioners do not ask the (more…)
Recently, I have had the pleasure to interview one of the Vancouver’s most talented healers, Ryan Carnahan on a very interesting topic of detox. Heavy metals are one of the most serious pollutant and disease causing factors out there. Learning how to detox naturally may ad months and years to your best friends life. I hope you will enjoy this interview.
With gratitude,
Dr. PD:
Hi Everyone, I have the pleasure to introduce you to Ryan Carnahan who has been very kind and agreed for me to interview him. He is a person who has a deep knowledge on the level of nutrition, supplements and energy healing and I would like you to hear a little about minerals and their (more…)
Yes, you are reading correctly and most likely are as amused as I am, the world’s very first sex toy for dogs was designed and successfully launched in France, the country of love.
I swear that originally I had no intention to write a blog on dogs and their sexuality. My very pure intention was to reply to a few questions of my readers about spay, neuter and false pregnancy and then I did some research online discovered a dog toy of a very different kind.
We all have seen dogs expressing themselves freely in many different ways. Sometimes to our amusement and at other times are embarrassed when Fido decides to hump the leg of our mother in law or a dignified official visitor.
So today, I would like to start a very public discussion on dog sexuality, holistic approach to false pregnancies, spay and neuter procedures and yes, the world’s first sex doll for dogs.
False pregancy
When I was a child we used to have a dachshund named Gerda. In fact she was on top of the children’s hierarchy when it came to my father’s rating because she adored him and never talked back.
Spaying dogs was not as common back than and I remember Gerda wearing special pants that my dad called “the heat pants.” They not only prevented the carpet from being spotted with blood but also the heat vents prevented undesired pregnancies. They were kind of a canine version of the chastity belt. (more…)
A few weeks ago, my yoga buddies came to Maui to attend a yoga retreat. I wanted to show them around and decided to go to see a beautiful bamboo forrest nearby. As the our group was preparing to embark on the journey, one of the group, Cathleen, saw Skai on the back seat of my car and said: ” Oh, I forgot, I don’t love dogs. I better go in the other car.”
First, I was rather upset over her quite rude comment. Her ignorance and lack of tact amazed me. Then I started to feel sorry for her because I knew that she was missing out on one of the most amazing gifts that humans ever got. The miracle of dogs.
Just yesterday, I came across this amazing documentary and remembered Cathleen’s comments. I decided to send her the link and also write this blog.
This documentary shows that dogs are truly unique and they have evolved along side humans like no other (more…)
If you have ever seen a dog dressed in a T-shirt laced up the back or another one looking like a punk with bald spots shaved all over his body, his owner doesn’t need to be an eccentric dog person. The poor pooch may be dressed or shaven because of hot spots.
Depending on what hemisphere you are in, summer may be in full swing and hot spots are likely to be a hot topic under the even hotter summer sun. It is also one of the most misunderstood problems under the sun.
Things often are not what they appear to be.
For years, I lived in oblivion, believing that hot spots were the result of hot weather, swimming and scratching, sometimes fleas may be in the equation. Frequently, a dog with hot spots is pronounced allergic which stands (more…)
