Hawthorn | Short

Hi, this is Rita Hogan and welcome to the Dogs are Individuals podcast. I'm a clinical canine herbalist and I've been practicing for over 20 years. This podcast is all about your dog through an herbal lens. So let's get to it and dive right in. Hi everyone, welcome to another edition of my podcast shorts. We're going to talk about Hawthorne and Hawthorn's Latin name is Kratius. Hawthorn is a lovely, some would say slightly cooling, some would say slightly warming. I think it's right in there, in between and depending on the dog, depending on the part of the tree, the leaf is more cooling and drying, where the berry is more warming and slightly drying. It's definitely good for energetic patterns of like dampness, too much heat, that's for the leaf relaxation, too much relaxation in the body. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out my energetics course at Canine herbalism. Com. A lot of people use the dried berry and again that's going to be slightly warming, just slightly and it's safer long term use. So some herbal actions of hawthorn are going to be that it's, it's diuretic for one thing, so your dog may pee a little more. It's antispasmodic, it helps with digestion, it has quercetin in it so it can help with summer allergies. It's a restorative for the entire cardiac system and I would say definitely this system in general. I like to give a mixture of the berry and the leaf and sometimes you use the flower essence which I'm about to make actually tomorrow cause I to make hawthorn flower essence. We have a beautiful hawthorn tree where my horse grazes and going to go over and get some buds off that tree to make flower essence. But I like to just give hawthorn in the summer months because it can be used for both types of energetics. Warm and cool. It's good to just give hawthorn for you know, maybe like six days a week for one to two months, possibly three, depending if your dog has like, you know, is any prone to any cardiac issues. I like to give it in the summer to support the heart. And it's a good idea. You can give it in a powdered form, you can give it in a tinctured form. It has some good constituents. It has vitamin A, vitamin C, B complex, calcium, iron, it's got the double M's, the magnesium and the manganese. It has potassium and phosphorus and selenium. So some good trace minerals there and some good vitamins and minerals. The Flower essence of hawthorn is good for heart weakness, and it supports the heart chakra. It helps dogs with extreme behavior. And also dogs that, you know, that have any type of emotional heart issue, physical heart issue, and fearful dogs, dogs that are afraid. I like to use the flower essence. Hawthorn is safe for kitties. I would use like, probably a glycerit extract or a little bit of hawthorn berry in their food if they'll eat it. Otherwise, just liquefy it a little bit and syringe it in the mouth. But you're gonna give. You could do just a little bit of tincture, too. Just one to two drops twice a day. But I always dilute for cats. So let's just talk about some of the things that Hawthorne is good for. I like to talk about cofactors, and these are things like the more your dog has, the better the herb is indicated. So low or high blood pressure. Hawthorne tends to regulate blood pressure, balance it out. Autoimmune disease, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, anxiety, nervousness, restlessness, agitation, OCD behaviors, food allergies, environmental allergies, irregular heart rhythm, kind of like heat in the cardiovascular system, heart murmur. It also has some lymphatic stimulation properties. So stagnant lymphatic system. Dogs that have a harder time in the summer months, dogs that have a lot of heat and kind of combined with hyperactivity, dogs that have low appetite, with panting or a history of pancreatitis, grief and trouble digesting proteins. So those are some cofactors for Hawthorne, I think. Definitely. Anxiety and heart issues are a focus of Hawthorne. For a lot of people, anxiety, it definitely helps calm the sympathetic nervous system. That means getting your dog out of excess, you know, being too hyper all the time and not being able to calm down. Because when you can't calm down, you can't digest your food, your liver has a harder time. Everything goes to the musculature. So basically, it can help balance out sympathetic activity and give your dog better access to parasympathetic activity that rest and relaxation and digestion. So for the heart, hawthorn leaf and you can mix with berry helps cool and regulate the heart and cardiac sign system. And it's good for respiratory heat and lymphatic heat. The berry itself is very high in antioxidants and flavonoids, which is excellent for liver health and also for the basic metabolic functioning of the body. Hawthorn can increase circulation throughout the cardiac system. It interacts with the lymphatic system, which, again, helps, like, digest fats and oils. And it can help decongest the entire cardiac center. So that's also going to help with anxiety or dogs that are agitated or restless. It definitely clears weakness in the cardiac system when used long term. And you can do, like, five days on two days off or six days on one day off. And for, like, little tiny dogs, let's just do like a Hawthorne berry leaf tincture. Extra small dogs, like a chihuahua would be one drop twice a day, one to two drops twice a day. And a pug, which is a small dog, would be two to four drops twice a day. And let's say a spaniel or corgi, which is a medium dog, would do like four to six drops twice a day. And then a. What do we got next? A golden retriever, which is a large dog. I would say six to eight drops twice a day. And then an extra large dog, 8 to 10 drops twice a day, up to 12 drops, even 15 drops, depending on what they got going on. You can do two to three times a day, twice a day for maintenance or support, three times a day for something, you know, more serious going on. For the powder, you're gonna start at 150mg twice a day for an extra small dog, 250 to 300 for a small dog, 3 to 5 for a large or medium to large dog, and then five to, like, 800 for an extra large dog. And up to 1,000 milligrams twice a day for something more serious. Always start out low and work your way up and see how your dog is doing. You can do a glycerin extract with hawthorn berry and leaf. I would say extra small dog, two drops, small dog, four to six drops, medium dog, seven to 10, large dog, 10 to 15, 20, extra large dog, 15, 20, 25 drops twice a day. And I would put those, anything liquid in the mouth or dripped on a treat or in a very small amount of food, and then the powders can go in the food. These, you know, hawthorn doesn't act quickly, so it's definitely not an acute remedy. It's something that you're going to do. Slow and steady wins the race. And, you know, specifically for supporting. There's a lot, a lot to say about Hawthorne, but that's just a little short, a little kind of taste. We can discuss more about Hawthorne as months go by, if it comes up in conversation. If you want to know more about Hawthorne, check out my monthly monograph section in k nineherbalism.com I feature one herb every month in detail. Everything that you'd possibly want to know about that herb, how to use it, how to grow it, everything and I keep those updated. So as I learn more about any herb that I get to know, I update those monographs and they're yours. It is $12 a month and you have access to them with downloads and updated monographs for as long as I am on this planet living and breathing. Thanks for listening to this episode of Dogs Are Individuals. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in your podcast app. And don't forget, sharing is caring. So if you love Dogs Are Individuals Podcast, share it with your friends and family who love dogs. This will help me so much. And remember, as a listener, I appreciate you much. Thanks to Resonant Media, my podcast production team. This podcast is produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. Any questions, email the show, go to k9herbalist.com, click podcast contact in the menu and then fill out that form and I'll answer any questions here online. Okay, so thank you so much for listening to this episode. Thank you of Dogs Are Individuals Podcast and I'm going to talk to you in our next episode. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for veterinary care. This podcast doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor, veterinarian or healthcare provider first before starting anything new. And that includes herbs. I'm not a doctor and I don't treat disease or prescribe herbs anything. I'm a traditional herbalist providing herbal support education only. Regarding any products I may suggest the statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All information presented here on the podcast is not meant as a substitute or alternative to information from your vet. 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