Team Dog! Learn the Secrets of Effective Dog Training!Reliable and Gentle Dog Training Based on Clear Communication

Wow! I knew that nutrition was important in dogs, and I have been conscious about feeding a good diet, but despite my best intentions, I have not been supplementing my dog’s diet to give the balance necessary for his athletic make up. That, as you can imagine, is changing! What was established was that Monk is not getting enough protein, and his specific need is beef. I had him on a raw diet last year, on which he did well, but I learned this weekend that there is raw and then there is raw!

Each dog has unique dietary needs, plain and simple. The more we are learning about canine nutrition, the more we are able to meet the individual needs of our dogs. I used to find the highest quality dog food out there and give Monk what I believed to be the appropriate amount, split in to two feedings. While the feeding schedule was right on, the food I was feeding him was lacking some. So, now, today, we are heading out to test various foods in line with what we learned yesterday, and will be supplementing it with one of Wendy Volhard’s formulas. Not rocket science here, but we will see what Monk needs (that testing process in and of itself is nothing short of amazing), check to see which food he is the most compatible with (nutrients, digestibility, nitrogen waste levels) and then see what else is needed to supplement the food to give him a truly balanced source of energy!

There is a lot that goes in to determining what food is right. Considering the region of the world that the dog came from, how the domestication process has helped or hindered the dog’s longevity, each of the vital organs’ functionality, coat shine and skin dander, temperament, etc. Wendy has developed a system for finding out specifically what the individual dog needs, and then feeds accordingly.

We are implementing this knowledge in to our dog training programs, and perhaps, as we become more educated in this exciting field, in our seminars and workshops! I watched a couple of dogs this weekend that showed behaviors that most trainers would have began working on extincting or correcting that were not necessarily due to disobedience or lack of understanding, but perhaps due to issues going on within the dog that had not been properly diagnosed. By being able to have a better understanding of the dog from the inside and seeing how dietary and muscular-skeletal irregularities can indeed influence behavior, we can better customize a plan for bringing a dog back to a point of balance. I have always been aware that underlying issues can be in any dog, but just how prevalent it is was made painfully apparent. What was very nice was to see that a lot of the issues that we see can be not only treated, but reversed!

I know that these blogs are not to be long and drawn out, so I will close this up for now. But, I am excited about the yet another way that we can have a positive impact on our dogs’ lives, and bring balance back to the dogs that live with humans, and the humans that choose to have dogs live with them! Love your dog…make sure that you are feeding them right and looking in to what is going on inside of them! Have fun! Brice