As spring approaches, many dog lovers are bracing for weather that can turn their dog into an itchy, relentlessly scratching misery, and seeking online support just in case anyone has found a perfect solution – a new supplement that stops itching without the side effects of a steroid, or a diet change that makes all […]

Further to the last two entries on management of your dog’s diet during COVID-19 –  perhaps the biggest issue home feeders are facing now, is finding supplements needed to balance their dog’s home made diet. This is, as mentioned in the last two entries, more of an urgent concern for clients or anyone whose dog […]

Hello all…I hope you are all safe, staying in, and doing well in this difficult time. Many have emailed since my last update – I have limited time for blogging these days, but it’s important to me to get this information out to you.  Further to the last post, I’ve answered many individual emails but […]

This message is first and foremost directed to my clients, both current and recent (last few years) who are too numerous to reach individually, whose dogs are eating one or more of my therapeutic recipes. First let me say that anyone who needs specific advice, whose dog is on a strict recipe such as we […]

Good day readers – I’m just dropping in quickly today to offer you a little information, something I had promised for a while, but seems extra important now we are launching the Home Cooking Tutorial in March.  It’s a little series on some foods we home feeders use all the time,  as part of our […]

This started off as part of an exercise for the Cancer Tutorial, and as it grew I decided to share it with a  wider audience. One of the things I am most adamant about is ensuring that home prepared diets meet all nutrient requirements – fatty and amino acids, vitamins and minerals – at levels […]

Spring has finally arrived here in the Gatineau Hills and I have been having a very busy year so far. I can’t believe it has been months since my last post! Today I am sharing some thoughts, briefly, on my position regarding raw and cooked diets for dogs; I often hear, both professionally and on […]

Happy New Year to my friends and readers, I am looking forward to a great year ahead, after what many described as an Annus Horribilus  — 2016!  One of the comments I’ve received a lot, about this blog, in email and on my Facebook group, is that my entries are “amazingly informative” (blush) but sometimes […]

With all the focus on my new herbal course, I’ve been neglecting to talk about the two canine nutrition courses I’ve run for years, seems like they are well known and I always have a steady stream of new students along with graduates. That said, I think it’s time to re-cap what the Formulation course […]

Fruits and Veggies – my Top Ten Picks Further to my blog entry about pros and cons of feeding plant foods to dogs – several of you wrote and asked what are my very favorite veggies and fruits for dogs. Well, as always the bottomline has to be, that your dog enjoys and does well […]

A concerned follower sent me these questions with some deeply nonsensical answers attached,from another source –  and asked if I might offer up some more factual and informed replies. These are all things I hear every day, anyway – so in aid of my personal mission to elevate popular canine nutrition to a serious study, […]

A topic that comes up often on my Facebook group is, how do people know if a recipe they find online is balanced or not? It is critically important, of course, that recipes not only utilize nice wholesome ingredients, but they provide all the essentials a dog needs, from Vitamin A to zinc.Now this doesn’t […]

 WHERE: Rupert Community Centre, 24 Shouldice Road, Rupert, Quebec (about 45 minutes north of Ottawa) WHEN: Sunday, September 27, from 10 am- 5 pm COST: $75.00 in advance or 90.00$ at the door TOPICS This one day seminar will cover a lot of ground! In four parts,  here’s what we’re going to look at. 9:30 […]

This is a topic that I am pretty sure I’ve written about before, but every time someone asks me – which is frequently – I can’t seem to find where. So today, I thought I might revisit the whole topic with a new post.  Vegetables in the canine diet seem to carry a little controversy, […]

For those of you who do the Facebook thing – tomorrow afternoon I’ll be live on my Page, between 2 pm and 4 pm, answering questions about home made diets, and sharing why careful formulation, balancing nutrients – and knowing all  you can about the foods you choose to supply them is  – so very […]

This is an article I wrote for an online journal (which is now not going to be published) and while it’s nothing I haven’t said so many times before, I thought it might be an idea to share here anyway. Occasionally I hear from Friends on Facebook or in “real life” that I might seem […]

Everyone who loves dogs knows that dogs love liver! Treats containing liver abound, recipes for liver “brownies” are perennial favorites (you can find one here on this blog, but there are countless versions) and simple baked treats are a mainstay as “bait” for show dogs and rewards for hard working canines in all kinds of […]

This is a quick entry today, to announce a long-awaited offering from TPC – the Formulation Course! For many years on my yahoo and Facebook groups, I’ve been urged to set up an online class that teaches the art and science of basic dietary formulation, so those with an interest in developing their own recipes […]

The one question I have seen over and over from interested students and the newly enrolled alike – which herbs will we be covering in the course? well, fair question! First off, the ones we focus on will not be the *only* herbs discussed, but certainly the main ones. In your own research projects and […]

So, with about 25 topics in the drafts folder and a bunch of assignments to mark today, I feel a pressing need to add this entry. It’s mostly because I am asked about it all the time, because I have strong feelings about this, but also, well sometimes the spirit just moves us. Recently on […]

I’ve been asked many times over the past month or so if I can comment on the problems with arsenic in rice, especially brown rice, and what should those who home- prepare a diet with rice do about it. I am taking the arsenic issue very seriously but as always, or most of the time […]

A few entries back I posted a cursory look at supplementation for canines – dividing them into Essential, General and Targeted. I find a great number of my clients present with (on the Intake form) a list of supplements they are adding, but often they’ve missed the Essentials, and focus on Targeted (for a health […]

CANINE NUTRITION – 10 MYTHS DEBUNKED – It’s been 20 months since the first melamine-related pet food recall, and during that time, more dog lovers than ever have decided to turn to home made diet – cooked or raw – as insurance against a potential problem with a commercial product. But is a home made […]

Below is a reprint of an early article I did with TheBark – an interview they conducted with me several years ago. It was pleasant to review this and see that everything I said then holds true now. Many things in nutrition change, but a personalized dietary approach grounded in both science and observation of […]

Today, a guest post from Ellyn Grubbe, a former student of mine and a CASI graduate, Ellyn does consultations in her own right now and is one of the most nutrition-savvy dog people I know. She wrote this entry years ago to help members on our yahoo group figure out the foundational calculation of all […]

 Some rules are made to be broken. This one, I want you to take a closer look at. And see what you think is best. The Boston Terrier is one of many breeds prone to hypothyroidism; correct dietary iodine levels are essential for thyroid health, and many home made diets are low to deficient in […]

…”species-appropriate“, to be specific. This morning I am amazed yet again at how many people feel that “species-appropriate” is the main aspect of nutrition that needs to be considered when developing or choosing a canine diet. I know, I can come across a little strident on these matters – and when it comes to laypeople […]

Many of my readers know a little bit about my beloved Ridgeback Daniel, the dog who rescued my heart after I lost Luke so suddenly and so cruelly back in 2006. Danny has been a soulmate for me since the day I clapped eyes on him, a wide eyed, sweet faced puppy of 10 weeks, […]

…and I don’t mean eggshell, although that’s pretty much a constant around here.. It’s been a month since I’ve been blogging – due in part to a heavy consulting workload, and then a two week “vacation” that has turned to three as I started research for my herbal thesis (exciting stuff). I’m posting tonight just […]

I know, I know – I have promised (and am working on!) entries about canine cancer, allergy, yeast, anxiety and more…but hey, it’s been a busy week (new students,  lots of client work) and it’s the weekend (a long one here in the frozen north) and I am behind. It’s tough getting everything done, so […]

In this entry I want to take a closer look at some of the main foods we could use to form the carbohydrate portion of our dogs’ home made diets, and then look at a sample diet. The  higher-calorie/starch foods I  see people using in home made diets often include: Rice Sweet potato Quinoa Winter […]

Over the course of the past week I’ve received a LOT of email about the entries on carbohydrate, some voices in support of my approach (no vilification of whole nutrient groups, multiple factors considered in dietary decision making) others who strongly oppose the use of any carb of any kind (except pulped veggies and fruit) […]

You are all going to think this is my favorite topic. …the reality is, I am passionate about teaching others to be unbiased, well-informed  – good critical thinkers and researchers when it comes to canine nutrition. And as I’ve been emphasizing, carbs are very misunderstood and unjustly feared. Extremes in diet are never wise, and […]

Let’s face it; people are really bothered by carbs these days. And with good reason, in many cases; excessive carb, especially simple sugars and those that contain gluten, contribute to not only our own, but our dogs’ tendency to gain excess weight, plus a whole host of other conditions we used to blame on fats. […]

Over the past two decades,  there has been a veritable explosion of information about canine nutrition, with books such as Dr. Billinghurst’s series on raw feeding, Richard Pitcairn’s venerable Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, and a multitude of  newer recipe books – some of which offer reasonably balanced recipes, others that appear to not […]

It has been a long time coming, this post. Many years ago, when I set up the original website, I had planned to add articles of all variety, and earnestly tried. Alas, I was not in control of the site, I had to find a time when my super helpful but equally very busy webmaster […]