Live with Canine Herbalist; Rita Hogan

But you know what? Vegas is a lot. It's busy. It's just.

No, Vegas is a lot. It is a lot. It is a lot. But, yeah, I've been there one time and that was for. At that time, I was like, oh, my God, never again, again.

But, yeah, you know, actually, Super Zoo was my first time, you know, go. Not just driving through, like, actually stopping and standing there. And I had to just go back to my room and, like, decompress.

Just even walking down the aisle at Super Zoo was enough to make me want to fall over. You know, I just hold this sign at Super Zoo.

I love it, this space. Okay, well, we are live. Awesome. Hi, everyone. Ruby here from Real Dog Box. I am here with Rita Hogan, the canine herbalist.

Hi.

Very excited to have you here on our live today. I feel like herbalism is something that is so infrequently talked about, not only for our dogs, but for us as well. For everyone that's joining in, this is a very interesting time of the day for us to do our live. So if you're here just for a minute and you gotta run, don't worry. We are going to repost this on later today if you have any questions. We are planning going about 30 minutes, just chatting back and forth and then opening up the floor for a Q and A for the last 30 minutes at about 01:30 Pacific Time. But go ahead and drop any questions in the comments so that we can answer those and Rita can address whatever you have and then you can go back and watch this later on. But, yeah, here we are. We are talking about canine herbalism. If you guys don't know Rita, my story is that when we started Real Dog Box seven years ago, I actually, one year prior to that, came across Rita's writing on Dogs Naturally magazine. And that's how I was first introduced to a lot of these more natural alternatives to things that we have going on with our dogs. And what really made me want to bring her on today is because you guys have been following us on our stories and icons. Got this flea hot spot, a hot spot which is a result of a flea allergy right on his forehead. And I'll show you in a second. And I was like, what do I do? What do I put on this? Nothing's working. Of course. I called my vet and they were like, apoquel, that's what you need to add. That's what you need to give them right away. Or 150mg of Benadryl or whatever. So I came across her blog again. And I was thinking there has to be an alternative. Rita, can you shed some light on how you. What is herbalism? Let's. Let's start there.

Well, herbalism is definitely a relationship with plants. So, you know, once you start to kind of tune in to different plants, you start to look at your environment completely different and kind of see, you know, like, I'll be walking along with people that aren't really interested in plant. I mean, not, not interest, but don't know much about plants. When I'll do like a plant walk with people. And, you know, they totally get really quickly that there's all these plants that are kind of like calling out to you and saying, hey, I'm here. Even though we look at them as weeds, you know, one of the most important plants on the planet is the dandelion. And here in the United States, we totally besiege them with pesticides when we should be just like holding them and building altars to them because they can help heal so many of the problems that are plaguing our dogs and people. So it's definitely relationships to plants. I've been a clinical herbalist for close to 20 years. The beginning years were a little like, not so clinically. You know, lots of experimentation with. I ran a rescue and we adopted 332 dogs out in six years. And it was a holistic rescue, One of the first in the country. And I learned a lot with those dogs. I only use non toxic herbs, but they taught me so much. And over the last 20 years, you know, I've been a full time consultant and medicine maker, formulator, speaker, writer, and just immersing myself in plants. And so. And the crazy thing is, is plant medicine is our first medicine. So it is definitely innate in our system, Even though we're very separated from it right now. But I feel like it's definitely coming full circle and people are realizing that pharmaceuticals save lives for sure, right? They totally save lives, but they don't prevent disease, they don't heal disease. Most of them don't heal disease.

Treat, treat the symptoms, they treat the.

Symptoms, and a lot of them cause more symptoms. So they're just very. And what happens is it's pharmaceuticals again. A lot of them do save lives and help people immensely. However they force, you know, they. They're like a. A sledgehammer that literally will force the body into submission within hours and a day, 24 hours, sometimes within just a couple of hours. Right? You can take a blood pressure pill and your blood pressure will drop. That's forcing. And with forcing comes side effects and lots of them. So I just absolutely love seeing animals transformed with herbs. I also use homeopathy, flower essences and stem cell, plant stem cells. They're all part of herbalism. So. Yeah. Okay.

Was there a particular plant that was just sort of the. It was a turning point for you that you saw. It was able to heal something just like right before your eyes, that you were like, this is it. Like, this is the direction I have to go.

I started my relationship with plants with my father on our. On our farm. So I can't say so. No, because I. I really had an early on, like, when I was five and six years old, I was with my dad in the garden and with our animals. So he taught me a lot about using plants. Now I can't remember the plants, like, specifically that we used to use. It was a long time ago, but we used, you know, your basic. We used a lot of nettles. I know that. One of the things that I can say, my own profound healing story about herbs is when I was young, I would say about 22 years old, I took a pharmaceutical called Accutane because I had cystic acne right here, which now I know was a liver issue from eating crap as a young girl and drinking too much alcohol. So, like, I didn't know that. So I went to a dermatologist, right? And they put me on this medicine. Now, I didn't know much at that time, and I trusted them. They were a doctor. And I had to go get my blood taken every two weeks on this medicine. I didn't know why. They never told me why. Well, what happened is that medicine got taken off the market, and it drives you from the inside out. Okay. It got rid of my acne. I haven't had a zit since, right? Like, I. Maybe like one or two. I've had like a little. I get a little zit right here sometimes, but I haven't had a zit since. Skin looks great. Yeah, at a cost. So what happened is it gave me what is called diverticulitis, and it's little pockets in your colon. And I had no idea. And for literally, literally until I was like, 32 years old. I'm 51 right now, so I don't mind telling my age. I'm 51. And when I was 32, I figured out what was wrong with me just by a random CT scan. When my back went out, I got hit by a Great Dane and they put my back out. Two Great Danes Playing, you know, bam. And anyways, so I figured out what was wrong with me, and we were able to trace it back to the Accutane. And so for 10 years, I got really sick a few times a year, just. And I can't tell you how sick it was awful. And the last time I got sick with diverticulitis, I was in the hospital, and a doctor came in and said, we're going to remove your cold. A huge part of my sigmoid codon, which is the smoke. And I was like, no, you're not. No, you're not. And I'm like, I know what's wrong with me, and if I know what's wrong with me now, I can heal myself. And I literally healed myself, my diverticulitis. And I know this because I had surgery in 2017, and I asked the doctor, I said, what did you think about my diverticulitis? Did it scare you, the diverticula? And he was like, I don't. I didn't see any, you know, one or two, but I. Nothing to be alarmed about. And I was like. I didn't say a word, but I was like, anyways. So I healed myself with marshmallow root, slippery elm, chlorella, and. Oh, God, Wheat crest.

Wow.

So those four things I took. I took marshmallow root and slippery elm diligently every single day, and I would cycle in chlorella, and I'd cycle in wheatgrass, and also wheatgrass shots and sprouts. And it completely healed my colon.

Yeah. How long did it take?

I stopped getting sick in about a year and a half. And I thought it was just because I was taking marshmallow and flea for five years, and then I take them every now and then, but about five years, it completely transformed the tissues in my colon. And of course, they told me that I was going to die and that I was refusing care and that time.

Specifically to heal the gut. For canine herbalism. Like, what sort of health issues are your clients coming to you with? What is the most common sort of issue that you've seen, and how are you able to heal that with herbs?

So. Well, I mean, I've seen thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people, so that's a lot. But I would say the main issues are kidney issues, and that's a lot like, deal to feeding kibble. Or even dogs that have been on kibble that have switched to raw. Their insides are damaged from that. It drops. You know, kibble robs water from systemically throughout the entire body. Arthritis, of course, allergies which are not really allergies, they're sensitivities. Some are allergies, but most of them are sensitivities. And did I say arthritis? Arthritis is a big one.

Yeah.

And yeast. Yeast and leaky gut. Inability to deal with some types of proteins and then everything in between. But those are the main, like the main ones that people. And anxiety. Stress and anxiety, things like that.

For sure.

Especially the last three years. So many dogs are completely stressed out because their parents are stressed out.

Sure.

Yeah.

And not, I mean it's not. I think we have a very poor coping mechanism, particularly this younger generation. I've seen it. And I think it's just natural for us to bring that home, carry that with us. And our dogs absorb so much of that stress. That's what I've been learning. Are there. So usually we think of herbs in the healing sense of when you're treating a problem, not so much prevention. Are there herbs? We should be feeding our dogs daily, you know, is there? And, and I don't think there's any.

Herb that you should be feeding your dog daily just because. So, but there is, you know, know, I take a seasonal approach to prevention. So I, I basically deal with my dogs seasonally in that I deal with what the seasons are like. Each season governs like an, a system in the body, two of them actually. And, and so I just act like my dogs aren't well in that system and then I give those herbs for that season and then I, I stopped. But there, you know, there are. If I was going to say one thing that you should be feeding your dogs every day is a variety of antioxidants because one of the biggest problems that dogs and people have is liver health. And a lot of people don't understand how the liver works. They think that it actually filters and stores toxins. Okay. It doesn't store toxins. You know, people like, oh, don't eat liver because it's full of toxins. Not true. The liver, it's a pathway, okay. It detoxifies the toxins in the body and makes them water soluble. One part does, makes them water soluble so they can be excreted through the kidneys. And then it also does oil soluble hormones and oil soluble toxins and antioxidants are so important because the liver produces with phase one detoxification, the liver produces inordinate amount of oxidation free radicals. Okay. As just an ordinary part of our bodily processes. And if we don't feed our dogs antioxidants, you're going to See early aging, you're going to see early graying, you're going to see weak organs. You know, the kidneys get weaker, the heart gets weaker, the digestive system breaks down, down, because free radicals cause a lot of damage and they cause a lot of metabolic waste where you'll get lipomas. So, you know, we were talking about me speaking in California in October. You know, my talk is about liver health because. And it's actually about allergies, but it's going to be all about liver and because there are no allergies without a liver that's not functioning correctly. And the one thing I can say is things that are really high in antioxidants and also not a plant, but part of the earth. Humic and fulvic acid is so important right now because of the fact that our soils are poor because we don't do regenerative farming like we should, like farming is meant to be. Also, glycolyte is a huge issue that affects our microbiome and our dog's microbiome. And humic and fulvic acid can help protect the microbiome against glyphate. So I would say definitely adding humic and fulvic acid into the diet on a daily basis is important. Lots of herbs that are high in antioxidants and supplements that are high in antioxidants, like rose hips powder, Organic rose hips is really good, really high in antioxidant, maritime pine bark, phytoplankton. There's tons of herbs that are high in antioxidants.

I'm curious just in our audience, so we know how to sort of better talk about this topic and how to add them in. Are most of our audience raw feeders, kibble feeders, a little bit of everything feeders. I think that will help us sort of determine the direction that we want to take this conversation. I'm a raw feeder and I think about adding herbs you like. When I think about that, I think about some sort of dry form. Right. I think about slippery elm. And is there a particular way that we should be delivering these so that the body can better absorb these herbs?

It depends on what you want to do with the herbs. But more like support and just for support and more nutritional benefits of the herbs with, you know, coinciding with medicinal benefits, adding them to the food in a powdered form or in fresh form, ground form is. Is sufficient, whereas a tincture is more medicinal and it's going to be absorbed by the bloodstream. So there's, you know, herbalism can be very multifaceted. So I'm only gonna. You know, I'm trying to lighten it up. So, you know, getting herbs digested by the gut is a good way to start. You know, Slippery elm, I have to say, is endangered. So, you know, I only use slippery elm for medicinal purposes. I don't use it for any type of support. Marshmallow root, they're not the same, but they're what you call a demulcent. They're full of mucilage. They get gooey, right? And that gooeyness coats the gut and helps protect the mucosal lining, which is only one cell thick. The lining for, like, leaky gut. That lining is only a cell thick, which is really small. So, you know, things like aloe powder, marshmallow root, deglycerides, licorice, things like that that form a mucilage are really good for the gut slip realm. I only use when I absolutely have to and make sure it comes from a really sustainable source because it comes from the inner bark of the tree, and those are going away because we're using too much of it.

Is it us, like the raw feeders that talk about slippery elm all the time, or is there a human part of the industry?

Okay, yes. So, you know, you know, the. The thing is, I call it the American marketing machine. Okay? We get on one thing, and then we just punch it. And so we have to realize that there's a give and take with the plants on this planet, especially with tree medicine, you know, and because trees don't replenish themselves quickly, whereas marshmallow root grows so easily, it will probably never not be around. You know, you can grow it in your garden like that. It's fabulous. And the flowers are great. You can use the leaves, you can use the root. So I always tell people, marshmallow root first. If that doesn't work, then go ahead and use Cyprium. Obviously saved my life, so. And that it's why I care about it. And I want it to be around for generations and generations. So. But, yeah, I mean, you know, plants like dandelion, okay, whole dandelion, the flower, the stem, the leaves, the root can all be put into food, usually at different times of the year. Use the root in the winter and the fall and the spring, and use the leaves. You can use those in the winter, and you can also use it during. When, you know, when they are blooming. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we get two blooms of dandelion, one in the spring and one in the later summer. But there's, you know, there's a lot of plants that you can just start adding to your food. And the biggest thing that I tell people is look at that plant. And a lot of people don't know how to research a plant. And the best way to look a plant up online is not just put it into Google and just put dandelion. What are the benefits? What you do is you put dandelion, you put the word herbalist and the word monograph. Monograph, monograph. That is going to bring up kind of like a little guide to that plant. It's going to tell you so much about that plant. And then you can look to see if that plant looks like a good fit for your dog. Okay. Because not all plants are for all dogs. Like turmeric is also one of those, let's put turmeric on everything. Turmeric is an amazing, amazing, wonderfully, just very benefiting herb. But not to dogs that are warm to hot. Like dogs that have problems regulating their heat. Turmeric will make them miserable. It's an anti inflammatory for sure, but it can cause inflammation in dogs that are warm. And people like turmeric and I, we don't get along at all. I'm a warm person. And so plants have personalities just like people and just like dogs. So you kind of have to match that personality and usually it's the opposite. So I use a lot of cooling herbs. I'm drinking peach herbal tea right now.

Is it from your garden?

It's not, but it's from the tea maker in town. Peach is extremely cooling. It's called a refrigerant. And so this cools me right down because I have hot flashes right now because I'm 51.

No, that makes so much sense. I definitely. Okay. I definitely want to talk about sourcing and I want to talk about allergies. We're already almost halfway in here and I think based on all of the comments so far, we have mostly raw feeders in here. And what that kind of tells me is they're probably a little more than average in terms of dog nutrition and anatomy. And I think we could sort of steer them in the right direction.

Yeah.

Before we talk about sourcing, though, selfishly, I reached out to you because Icon has this hotspot on his head and I understand it to be reaction to flea bites that he has had. And then also he does have a sensitivity to turkey protein. This is something that has happened all almost every year for the last three years and always somewhere on his head. And my first thought Was. Can this be remedied with something besides a pharmaceutical that my vet is recommending? And is. Can that herb be. Let me just show you guys what it looks like real quick. Icon, show them the hot spot on your head. Come here, baby.

Oh, handsome. Come closer, boy.

Yeah, come closer. Come here. So right.

I see it.

You see that right on top?

Yeah.

So it's dried up significantly, but it was red and Uzi and nasty. And he wasn't itchy anywhere else on his body. It was just right there. But that was the allergy that I was dealing with. And you just said not too long ago that allergies are rare. That probably wasn't really what it was. Can you walk me through what you would see? You know, if I. If we were doing a consult, what. What would you tell me?

Well, if it's true. Flea allergy, right? Flea allergy. If you. I've had a flea allergy, dog. I got rid of his flea allergy, but, you know, in the throes of it, it is miserating. It is just awful for the dog and yourself. And so what happens is that flea allergy dogs are sensitive to the saliva of fleas, okay? It's in the body. It's called an antigen. And being bitten by any flea, whether they're on flea medicine or not, which I don't recommend, but it can happen. With a flea allergy dog, it still causes the immune system to kind of go into a frenzy, to hyperdrive, right? So any bite can make them miserable, and they usually. They'll itch themselves bloody. So what. What is happening is the immune system is kind of turning against itself. At that time, what you want to do is you want to prime the immune system. At the same time, you want to support the liver. The liver is a huge part of our immune system. It's a huge part of how the dog processes hormones. It. It works with the gut for immunity. The release of bile is super important to gut health. And this is one of the biggest things, is that this is what I talk to people about. You know, when I actually had this conversation last night. What happens is that when the liver is not functioning correctly and the gallbladder is not releasing bile like it should, when your dog eats something, okay, what happens is you get undigested proteins in the small intestine. They're not supposed to be there at all. Protein gets broken down in the stomach, but if there's nothing to help break it down when you don't have good hydrochloric acid, when that protein has fats in it. You need bile to break down fats and oils. You want it completely broken down before it goes into the small intestine. And if it goes into the small intestine, it's marked for termination by the immune system. It's not supposed to be there. So most dogs with sensitivities have a enzyme problem. They have either. And also usually there's a. There's low bile. So with a flea allergy, I would work on the liver. I would support the liver. I'd start off with milk thistle. Basic milk thistle supplementation. Figure out what's going on there. And then I would start. There's a product just. Let's just talk about flea allergy. There's a product called professional formulas. Flea flea aid. Okay. It's a homeopathic. It's made with flea saliva. It's made with the body of flea. And you can get regular, just single. But I use this combination formula, and you give small amounts of it weekly. And your dog starts to get. The immune system starts to understand and starts to recognize that, and it calms everything down. But for the head, little puppy's head, what I would probably use is a Beninite pack. Beninite Clay. A clay pack. What I usually let it do is I put it on there, and you can't just rip it off. You have to put nice. When it. Once it dries, you put nice warm water on it and kind of gently wipe it off. I do that. And then I put this product called Restore. It's from farm dog Naturals. I put this product called restore on it. It's wonderful for hot spots, but, you know, it's kind of like a. You know, you have to deal with your environment. You have to deal with the flea allergy in your dog, which is an immune system. And then also you have to make him comfortable, you know, and bentonite clay, really, it. It dries up. All of that liquid. Hotspots are dry, and some hotspots are juicy. They're liquid, they're moist. And bentonite's really good for that moist hot spot. And then when it dries out, you can put the restore on it, and that'll heal it up. But yeah, so it's kind of like a threefold thing.

Okay, so we're talking about support.

Like a threefold thing.

Okay,so we're talking about supporting the liver. So I. We hear about milk thistle all the time. If we can dive a little bit into, we could talk about milk thistle, maybe even dandelion. Where. Where do we Find these things like what should we be looking for?

Milk thistle can get a little tricky because a lot of it is standardized. Okay. So if you. There's a difference between whole herb medicine, which would be the seed in milk thistle. Okay. So a lot of you can use other parts of the milk thistle, but a lot of times you use the seed and then you have these ultra standardized versions of milk thistle that use the active ingredients, Lamarin in the milk thistle. And it's really powerful. So you might, might use that product for something like really high liver enzymes, you know, so you want the seed for basic support. And what I do is I, there's a, there's companies that make really good herbal products like Mountain Rose Herbs. I use their milk thistle. Milk thistle's a little hard to grow as an independent, but Mountain Rose Herbs Herb Farm, Oregon Wild Harvest they make capsules that I use. It's kind of a blend of regular whole plant and some standardized milk thistle. And then usually, you know, for like a medium dog, you're gonna give like 500 milligrams twice a day. Medium to large dog milk thistle is extremely non toxic. If you're using the seed, you can use it longer, longer term. The standardized extracts you don't want to use like super long term, like over like three months. But if you just use the seed, it's pretty safe. But it's a good place to start in, in liver health. And then there's like Adored Beast, that company, Adored Beast makes a liver tonic. It's very popular and it's a very mild liver tonic. Okay. It's a tonic, so it's very mild. That's another place, a good place to start. That's a mix of milk thistle, dandelion and water based chelidonium and barberry. Now you wouldn't want to use an alcohol based chelidonium barberry because they're really high in alkaloids and alkaloids love alcohol. So I love that they put out a water based chelidonium in barberry because then that allows dogs to use that. I have no problems using alcoholic tinctures with dogs in small amounts. I've done that for 20 years. And they're very effective in small amounts. But, but I really like that product. And then, you know, and then you can move up the liver chain. You know, there's artichoke, there's Oregon grape root, which you use short period of time, about two weeks. There is. Oh God, there's so many. Turmeric has some liver helping a bit But I really like that product. And then, you know, and then you can move up the liver chain. You know, there's artichoke, there's Oregon grape root, which you use short period of time, about two weeks. There is. Oh, God, there's so many. Turmeric has some liver helping abilities. Blessed thistle. That's. People mistake that for milk thistle. So, I mean, there's ways to go, but for basically starting out, I don't want to get into all of them. But basically for starting out, I would start with either like a. Liver validities. Blessed thistle. That's. People mistake that for milk thistle. So, I mean, there's ways to go, but for basically starting out, I don't want to get into all of them. But basically for starting out, I would start with either like a liver. The liver tonic, or I would start out with just basic milk thistle to help Milk thistle helps liver tonic. Or I would start out with just basic milk thistle to help. Milk thistle helps the liver detoxify. It brings down those free radical production. It brings it down. And then milk thistle with like some. Something that is high in antioxidants would be even better. And the liver detoxify. It brings down those free radical production. It brings it down. And then milk thistle with, like, something that is high in antioxidants would be even better.

And I've always heard that milk thistle isn't something. Something that should be. I've always heard that milk thistle isn't something that should be fed regularly. It's more of like, that is based on research. Fed regularly. It's more of like, that is based.

On research that's based on research for standardized milk thistle.

Okay. Which is what you said. So no longer than three months.

Yes. So. And remember, okay, so here's a. Here's something awesome to learn.

Awesome.

So when you're looking at herbs and you're researching herbs. Okay. Again, if you don't put the word monograph in, okay. Your research is all going to be based on standardized herbalism. Herbs are extremely hard to standardize. Okay. The way they are in nature. So what they have to do is they have to take them into a lab and they're going to be choosing from hundreds of plants, kind of like essential oils. And they're going to standardize the active ingredient. Herbs are more than their active ingredient. And here's the kicker. Allopathic herbalism is based a lot on. Okay, I heard this was good for arthritis. I'll give it to my dog. No consideration of your dog as an individual. No consideration as the plant, as an individual. So turmeric is an example of that. Right, Right. I'm going to give my dog turmeric. I'm going to give him everything I read about that will help his issue. But standardized medicine, when you look it up online on Google, you're going to get plants that are based on standardized herbs. And that means that you can't do a lot of research, clinical double blind trial research on natural plants in the wild because of the fact that sun levels will vary the constituents, growing conditions will vary the constituents. They're not reliable. They're reliable to me, but they're not reliable to a clinician or a scientific study. Okay. So when you read about all the side effects that this has, this has, you're reading about stuff. Standardized medicines are using the curcumin, not the turmeric.

Sure.

Okay. Curcumin can give you anemia. Turmeric has never done that. Because turmeric has all the hundreds, even thousands of constituents in it that are supposed to be there, that keep that plant having that checks and balances. Okay. So when you deal with standardized herbs, you don't have those checks and balances. So when you read, oh, well, milk thistle shouldn't be give long term. Milk thistle seed is fine. Milk thistle, standardized semiren is not it. Not the best to give forever. Okay, so is it going to cause damage like barberry in an alcohol extraction? No, you know, barberry, alcoholic barberry could kill your dog if you kept giving it to him. Like I'm gonna give him droppers and drop, you could put him into liver failure. So, like, you know, all, all herbs are not the same. Some are more toxic. And that doesn't mean they'll kill you. That means that they have a lower level of toxicity or a higher berry. Alcoholic barberry could kill your dog if you kept giving it to level of toxicity. Toxicity meaning that you can, you have to give them in drop dosages.

Right, right.

Well, like I'm going to give them droppers and drop, you could put them into liver failure. So, like, you know, all, all herbs are not the same. Some are more toxic, and that doesn't mean they'll kill you. That means that they have a lower level of toxicity or a higher.

This, this reminds me of the conversation I had with Angela from CBD Dog Health, who I think is in here last week and we learned about full spectrum hemp and how that differs from CBD isolate. And it's sort of that same thought. It's a concentrated version, but we synergistically you need all of these different things to work together.

So if you're level of toxicity, meaning that you can. You have to give them drop dosages.

Right, Right. Well, this. This reminds me of the conversation I had with Angela from CBD Dog Health, who I think is in here last week, and we learned about full spectrum hemp and how that differs from CBD isolate. And it's sort of that same thought. It's a concentrate. Giving that one concentrated or standardized herb for a extended period of time, that's when you're going to start to see some problems here. But we. Synergistically, you need all of these different things to work together. So if you're just. What's that?

I said people and their. Their cannabis gummies. Yeah, people love their gummies. You know, like, yeah, you can get high in a gummy or it can make you sleep. Right. But you're not getting any of the.

Benefits of giving that one concentrated or standardized herb for a extended period of time. That's when you're going to start to see some problems here, it looks like. What's that?

I said people and their. Their cannabis gummies. A plant, which is cannabis sativa. So, you know, and people forget that it's actually a plant.

Yeah, absolutely.

Demonized. But it's been demonized. However, it's a plant. And.

And I could speculate as to why the industry wants us to move towards pharmaceuticals and not some of these things that are literally growing from our earth. But we'll be here for another couple of hours.

Yeah.

All right. We're a little more than halfway. Thank you guys, for. For tuning in. It looks like we've got some questions coming in. A few people on my team put some together, so we're going to be filtering those. And I'm just going through the comments real quick to make sure I didn't miss anything early on. Oh, we've got people from all over joining. Yay. Yeah. Lots of raw feeders. And thank you, Emma, for the kind comment about Icon's evil eye on his necklace. Yes. This is going to be reposted. That's a question from Ciao Elena. So don't you worry. We're going to go through the questions just starting from the top, and if I miss anything, feel free to comment them back. And hopefully Rita will be able to help us through a few of these. All right, so starting with what we have up, what do you. What if you have a hot dog, can you still give him milk thistle?

Yeah, absolutely. Milk thistle is not Warming, it's more neutral. Slightly cooling, but neutral. Yeah, you can definitely give your hot dog milk thistle. It will help cool. And a lot of people, you know, they only think of the liver when it comes to milk thistle. But milk thistle is also a tonic for the kidneys. It's a very light tonic. But if I was making a tonic for the kidneys or like a formula, I would always include milk thistle in it. And it's also very good for the gut. So.

Good to know.

Yeah.

You know, a lot of raw feeders that I know have dabbled in herbs. This is more of a general question. You know, there's so many different raw feeding models and so many that are often looked down upon because they're thought to be deficient in certain vitamins and minerals because they don't meet AFCO or NRC requirements. Again, conversation for another time. But based on your experience with the majority of raw feeders, would you say that not including some of these herbs are. Is a causing some sort of deficiency? Like are we causing any long term damage or are we just not preventing certain health issues that we could be.

Well, I don't think it's a good and bad. I think it's. You're not getting the benefits of herbal medicine. And I don't know if I mentioned it, I was going to. I think one of the easiest things that you can do is just take a plant that you might be interested in and learn about it. Keyword, monograph. Learn about it, see if it's good for your dog, and do it once a month. By the end of the year, you have gotten to know 12 plants and you may bypass some. Like that's not for my dog. So you go on to the next. You, you can lure 12 plants. And you know, I want to tell you that. So I'm coming out with a book, but this is a really great place to start. Greg Chilford, I would call him one of my elders in herbalism. Greg is great. This little Herbs for Pet book, get it. He tells you a lot about the plant. And I would get this book and just kind of start working through it and see which ones might be very beneficial for your dog. I mean, that's a good place to start and just start to get to know a plant once a month. And then like I said, 12, 12 plants a year. And we all know how quickly two and a half to three years could go by. We've just endured it. So like we're in a time warp. So like, you know people. Well, that's not quick enough. Actually it goes by pretty quick. And you know, if you get to know 12 to 24 plants, that's really all you really need to do is get to know these really non toxic plants that have so much to offer.

I'm not sure if there's an answer for this because it potentially just depends on the dog. But are there daily herbs that you recommend?

No, because I treat dogs as an individual. However, however, there are some things that are good for certain dogs. So like you know, dogs that have really sensitive guts. So if your dog is more cool, you know there's an herb called meadow sweet that is a lovely deep. Like it really kind of, I would say cradles the gut. You know, it helps relieve pain, it like helps with acid reflux, things like that. That's a nice herb. You can use it as an infusion, which is like a long steep tea and put it over your dog's food. Calendula is a lovely herb to add. Now you can use calendula in like a T shirt. Just a few drops can help a lot. Or you can use it as a tea. Calendula is really high in resinous material. So like a hot tea of calendula, you can use dried petals or fresh petals. Works really well. Calendula is super easy to grow. It's antifungal. It helps repair antibiotic damage. It's warming for dogs. Let's see. Marshmallow root is excellent for dogs that have leaky guts. That's another one. You can do it. You do that as a cold infusion. So you, you get pieces of root and you put cold water over them and you let it sit overnight and then you can put it on your dog's food. It lasts about a week. Rose hips, organic rose hips for dogs that are warm. That will really cool them down. And don't forget about our vegetables. Cucumber, celery, beautiful herbs for dogs that are warm in the summer. Watermelon, It's a refrigerant. It'll take a panting dog and then they'll not do panting in 10 minutes. You can use dried petals or fresh petals. Works really well. Calendula is super easy to grow. It's antifungal. It helps repair antibiotic damage. It's warming for dogs. Let's see. Marshmallow root is excellent for dogs that have leaky guts that give them some watermelon or watermelon water or watermelon seed water. You can soak the seeds in water in water and give them that water. It cools them right down. Kale, spinach, organic kale. Always, never use conventional kale or conventional spinach. They're bioaccumulators, which means they suck toxins out of the soil. So you want to make sure that soil is good. But organic kale, organic spinach. For dogs that are on the cooler side. Asparagus is wonderful. You know, those are herbs. Another one, you can do it. You do that as a cold infusion. So you, you get. Are very high in antioxidants. There's pieces of root and you put cold water over them and you let it sit overnight and then you can put it on your dog's food. It lasts about a week. Rose hips, organic rose hips for dogs that are warm. That will really cool them down. I mean, there's just a plethora of things that you can use.

What about mushrooms?

Mushrooms are fab. They're not an herb, but they are in our herbal toolbox. Turkey tail mushrooms are excellent. They're great at preventing tumors. They're great at helping dissolve lipomas. Reishi mushroom is a little bit warming, but not too warming. I just wouldn't give it to a really hot, hot. And don't forget about our vegetables. Cucumber, salmon, celery, dog. Reishi mushroom helps relieve stress. It helps with allergies. It's beautiful herbs for dogs that are warm in the summer. Watermelon, it's a refrigerant. It'll take a panting dog and then they'll be not do panting in 10 minutes. It helps with sensitivities. It helps with sympathetic excess. Which means when dogs that just can't turn it off, they're always like, you know, they're like the big eyes. Give them some watermelon or watermelon water or watermelon seed water. You can soak the seeds off. I'm going to react. React. Reishi is really good for that. It's also, you know, all of our mushrooms are very anti cancer. Cordyceps mushroom.

Super great for the lungs.

Cordyceps are quite warming. So, you know, actually they're. They're hot. So, you know, very good for cool dogs. But super great tonic for the lungs. Wonderful at cancer prevention as well. All of the, all the mushrooms are poria mushrooms.

In water.

In water and give them that water. It cools them right down. Kale, spinach, Organic kale. Always, never use conventional kale or conventional spinach. They're bioaccumulators, which means they suck toxins out of the soil. So you want to make sure that Soil firm, wonderful for dogs who lick their feet. It decongests the skin. It's an anti inflammatory. It's not very popular, but there's a company called Nootropics that sells poria. It's extracted correctly. It's good. But organic kale, organic spinach for dogs that are on the cooler. Shiitake mushrooms are very anti cancer. They're also very. They're also warming. I'm forgetting about a mushroom, chaga mushroom. Now chaga. Chaga needs from. Needs to be from a sustainable source. Don't give chaga mushroom if your dog is prone to oxalate stones because they're high in oxalates. But I use chaga. Chaga is an extreme antioxidant. It's one of those plentiful outer side. Asparagus is wonderful. You know, those are herbs. They are very high in antioxidants. There's antioxidants on the planet. It's good for that. It's not something I'd want to give my dog every day. I mean there's just a plethora of things that you can use.

What about mushrooms?

But I definitely could cycle it. If it's phomocystine sustainable source, then chaga can be okay. But a lot of people steal chaga and so it's, it's endangered. But like realmushrooms.com they make their own birch grown Chaga adored beast has a very. Mushrooms are fab. They're not an herb. But there are in our herbal tool toolbox sustainable chaga. I don't. Can't say much about other people chaga. You know, I get chaga from herbalists that harvest it sustainably. But chaga can be very good for cancer and mast cell tumor. Those. I use it for cancer, mast cell tumor and dogs that have had cancer, dogs that are prone to cancer. And turkey tail mushrooms are excellent. They're great at preventing tumors. They're great at helping dissolve lipomas. Reishi mushroom, there's a bunch of other mushrooms but those are the highlights.

I mean those, those are all.

Mushroom is a little bit warming but not too warming. I just wouldn't give it to a.

Really hot, hot ones that I think most people in our audience are familiar with. And I think, you know, I've just learned so much in the last 40 minutes. But what I'm getting, and hopefully this resonates with other people that are here is that, you know, we're, we're not hurting our dogs by not feeding herbs, but we're certainly not doing them Any.

Favors dog Reishi mushroom helps relieve stress. It helps with allergies. It's.

And because there's just so many out there, I think where I'm going to start is really finding an herb, a plant that I like or am curious about Google.

It helps with sensitivities. It helps with sympathetic excess. Which means when dog.

What was the word that you use? Monograph.

Monograph. Monographs that just can't turn it off. They're always like, you know, they're like the big eyes.

Yeah.

Turn this off. I'm gonna react. React. Reishi's really good for that. It's also on my site. Just tooting the horn for a second on my site canineherbalism.com it's my other site. I have Canine Herbalist which is my consulting site. But my, my course site is canineherbalism.com There is a service there called monthly monographs. You know all of our mushrooms are very anti cancer corporations. I just started it. We are only into our fourth herb but it's a kind of like a preliminary written text for my second book but which will be 25 monographs and how to use them. But it gives you everything that you've ever wanted to know on how to use that herb for a dog. Seps mushroom, super great for the lungs. Its cordyceps are quite warming so you know actually they're, they're hot. So you know, very. But like some of my favorite herbs. Let's just. These are some of my favorite herbs that I use for dogs. These are like really the, the, the very. Not good for cool dogs but super great tonic for the lungs. Wonderful non toxic ones that you really can't hurt your dog too much with. Artichoke, burdock root, calendula chamomile. Cancer prevention as well. All of the, all the mushrooms are Poria mushroom which is a great antispasmodic for the gut. Chickweed, lovely. Great for overweight dogs. Dogs with lipomas, Cleavers, dandelion, eye bright. Ginger. You don't want to give too much ginger because it's very hot. Hawthorn, hawthorn berry, marshmallow root, meadowsweet, milk thistle. Skullcap which is absolutely lovely. Skullcap deserves a little recognition because wonderful for dogs who lick their feet. It decongests the skin. It's an anti inflammatory. It's not very popular but there's a company called Nootropa's Skullcap really helps dogs deal with the rabies vaccine. I'll tell you right now that if you had to pick an herb I would pick skullcap for your dog that sells poria. It's extracted correctly because any dog that has hot spots has what I would call a frazzled nervous system. Shiitake mushrooms are very anti. Cap can help with that. Nettles are just cannot be beat. They're absolutely wonderful nourishing. They help the kidney self heal. Slippery elm, turmeric, violet and I would say yarrow. Those are my favorites.

Madison, did you get all of those? Because I think you just rattled off like four, 40 different plants.

But yeah, I can give you a list of them. Cancer. They're also very. They're also warming. Am I forget. I'm forgetting?

Yes.

How do I put something in the comment? I don't even know.

You could just type it right in there. You should be able to. Okay, well we're gonna definitely share all of these resources. You've got your, your website for your.

Content about a mushroom, Chaga mushroom. Now chaga Chaga needs from, needs to be from a sustainable source. Don't give chaga mushroom if your dog is prone to oxalate stones because they're high in oxalates. But I I salts, which is current.

Canine herbalist and then canine herbalism is where we can find your upcoming monographs on those different herbs. And then you've got a book coming out. Tell us about that.

I have a book coming out. It's called the Herbal Dog. It'll be available for pre sale, most likely by the end of next year, which is a long time. But traditional publishing takes forever and it is going to. I use chaga. Chaga is an extreme antioxidant. It's one of those plentiful antioxidants on the planet. It's good for that. It's not something I'd want to give my dog every day. Blow your mind. It is absolutely great. It's going to talk about allopathic herbalism versus holistic herbalism. It's going to give you the answers to those questions that most herbal dogs don't, books don't. It's going to tell you. But I definitely could cycle it. If it's from a sustainable source, then chaga can be okay. But a lot of people steal chaga. How to dose it, when to dose it, when to stop, when to stop is a big thing that people don't understand. It's going to talk about acute versus chronic illness, how to use herbs effectively, the expectations you should have when using herbs. All it's going to go over all of the herbal remedies and what they are and how to use them, how it difference from each other and so it's endangered. But like realmushrooms.com side effects, herbal interactions with different pharmaceuticals, herbal energetics. It's going to go over bodily systems and then the second half of the book is going to be all about protocols and recipes and sourcing.

Oh, I'm so excited. What's the timeline on this?

What do you mean? It's probably going to be upset. They make their own birch grown chaga adored beast has a very sustainable chaga. I can't say much about other people's chaga. You know I get chaga from herbalists that, that harvest it sustainably. But chaga is. Can be very good for. Available for pre sale by the by next fall.

How exciting.

I have it almost all written unfortunately traditional publishing takes a while.

Yeah. So yeah, yeah we're, we're very excited for that. Is there what is the difference between allopathic and holistic that just allopathic herbalism.

Is when you read about the benefits of an herb. Let's take cancer and mast cell tumor. Those I use it for cancer, mast cell tumor and dogs that have had cancer. Dogs that are prone to cancer. And one that's brand. That's coming up. Coming up. Ashwagandha. There's a bunch of other mushrooms but those are the highlights.

I mean those, those are all ones that I think most people in our audience are familiar with and I think.

You know, I've just learned ashwagandha or turmeric, either one. You know and don't look at that herb as an individual. You're just looking at what the scientific benefits that you've learned scientifically by looking at the Internet what that herb is good for. Right. Ashwagandha is a. It's an adaptogen. It helps you deal with stress but it's also warming. It's not good to give like really long term and adaptogens need to be carefully selected to the individual. The good thing about it Ashwagandha is that it is one of the adaptogens that is most friendly. Right. So it is more adaptable to a larger audience. But just like and turmeric, you know turmeric is an anti inflammatory. I'm going to give it to my dog.

And so much in the last 40 minutes. But what I'm getting and hopefully this resonates with other people that are here is that you know we're, we're not hurting our dogs by not feeding herbs but we're certainly not doing them any Favors. And because there's just so many out there, I think that would be allopathic herbalism.

So herbalism is the whole thing with my dog. What are the patterns in my dog? It's what are the energetics in my dog? And what herbs would be good for my dog based on their patterns? You know, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, you know, he said eons ago, it is better to know the person for treatment than to know the disease. And the reason why is because he truly believed that individual medicine is where cure is found and individual medicine is where prevention is found. So my main goal in my life is to help people, companies. I do a lot of formulating for companies, like help people and companies learn more about herbalism so that when they choose the herbs that they put in their products that they're thinking more individually, which makes things harder. I get it. But it also makes things much more effective.

Sure. Awesome. Okay. I missed so many of these questions. Is holy basil good for anything?

Yeah, it's a slight adaptogen. It's really an antioxidant. I would say holy basil is something that you could use frequently for your dog. I don't use it a lot, but a lot of people use it. It's very comforting. Stress relieving.

Is that something we could feed in its raw form?

Yes, but I would make a tea out of it. So when I usually make a tea, I'll make a tea and then I'll put the, the spent herbs and some of the liquid in the food.

Okay.

You know, it might take me a few days to give it all to my dog, depending on. I have little dogs and big dogs, but yeah, so I tend to do that. So they get the, they get the, the, the herbs and they also get the constituents that the hot water extracted out of the herbs.

Oh, this is a great question. Do you recommend doing a microbiome or food sensitivity test before giving herbs?

No.

Why is that?

Because a lot of people can't afford those. And most herbs that you're going to get are non toxic. And I have a method of what's called ear testing that I use for like what I would call high sensitivities or immune cascades. I teach that in my energetics course. But most microbiome and food sensitivity tests do not test for herbs. They're testing for trees, grasses. There could be. I haven't seen a lot of herbs in any of like, or Glacier Peak. I haven't seen a lot of those. So I wouldn't recommend that.

Yeah, I'VE primarily seen meat proteins.

There's lots of grasses and trees.

Yeah, for sure.

But a lot of those tests, they're a picture in the day of. Okay. The body changes, they're a picture in the day of, so are blood tests. And I think that if you work with the liver, a lot of those things are going to go away because the body just can't handle it, the liver can't handle it. And that's when you get like environmental allergies. But they're just sensitivities. And a true allergy is anaphylaxis. It's where you get hives and you know, and sometimes your throat gets cut off and you, you know, sometimes people pass away. Nut allergy, that's an allergy. So most people call it an allergy, but it's actually a sensitivity.

Right, right. And I would even, you know, in our experience, in our consults, just a slight change in the types of proteins that you're feeding goes a long way.

It really does. It really does. Absolutely. And when you start dealing with the liver and you start dealing with the gut and indigestible undigested proteins, then you see dogs being able to accept a lot more well rounded diet and be able to accept those proteins. But that stuff doesn't change overnight. It takes months to change that.

Sure, sure. I was thinking just this when you mentioned after creating a tea and feeding some of the leaves as well, what if your dog doesn't like the taste of the herbs?

So for dogs that don't like a taste of an herb, if they super duper don't like it, I usually don't give it to them. I might give it to them in a tincture if it's really well indicated. Like I know that this is really going to change but that would be more medicinal. But for nutritional herbs, I probably just wouldn't give it to them. Especially if they didn't like the liquid, the, like the infusion. Yeah, I probably wouldn't give it to them. Some dogs are real finicky though and so that it doesn't work out that you can give it to them in their food. I might try, you know, grinding it up or putting it in a food processor with some vegetables or putting it with their food and you know, pureeing that sometimes helps. But if it's just like sitting on top, like my dogs won't eat dandelions if it's just sitting on top. I put food processor, I grind them up and a lot of people give too much of an Herb. Okay. Way too much. We're talking like a tablespoon to a teaspoon to a quarter teaspoon and sixteenth of a teaspoon, depending on what you're doing. Like, if you're going to take. Let's just say you're, you're cute little icon puppy, you know, big dog, big bowl. Like if you took like three dandelions, chopped them up, put it on the top. He's not gonna eat it. No, he probably won't eat it. Some freaky dogs will. And I love those dogs. But they'll be like, oh, God, I'm eating, you know. Yeah, a lot of them won't. If you mix it up into their food. Chop it up fine, they will. Just like cats. Cats like bone broth.

Huh? What about bone broth?

You can infuse lots of herbs in bone broth. You just strain the herbs out or chop them up really fine and leave them in. Okay, but you don't want to heat your bone broth over 110 degrees.

Oh, tell us more.

That will hurt the herb. So it will, the herb will start to burn. So 110, 112 degrees. Keep it below you like that and below. Okay.

All right.

Because it's a long term, you know, it's not just like a hot infusion. It's long term. So they have a longer time to sit and start to burn and degrade. So makes sense.

Would it be okay to freeze the tea in a Kong or something or would the cold change it?

Yes, freeze the tea. Cucumber water, Watermelon seed water. Yeah. Herbal infusions, absolutely.

And then. Oh, here's a good one. What if you have a hot dog that has lipomas, can you still give turkey tail?

Turkey tail is neutral, so turkey tail is neutral. So you can give, you can definitely give. Here's the thing with lipomas, you have to give a lot. So a, you don't want the lipomas to start proliferating. So medium dog, let's just say, let's just, let's go with the icon because they can see that dog, right? He's a big dog. Big head, big dog. You'd want to give almost 2 to 3 grams, probably 3 grams a day of turkey tail to deal with lipomas. You kind of, kind of deal with it like cancer, which is also 2 to 4 grams a day. Turkey tail is very non toxic. It can irritate the gut a little bit. You want to give them more on an empty stomach and not with food. And if Your dog can't handle the empty stomach, then you can give them with a little food or maybe some bone broth. They compete for nutrition in the gut. So giving them with food isn't always the best thing to do. But with lipomas, your dog's liver is not working correctly. And that's, I'm not talking about what's showing up on blood work. Your dog could have perfect liver enzymes. That's not it. Your dog is your, the liver is not being supported and what happens is your, it's building satellite livers. Because that lipoma, I have this great picture, I can't grab it right now, but of the inside of what's in the lipoma. It is disgusting. I mean, it's awful. There is toxins, there's pieces of like hardened calcified fat, blood, pus. Not, it's not usually necrotic. It's, it's not like, you know that pus like of an abscess where you're like, it's not that it doesn't smell, but it's, it's satellite livers. It's literally, the liver is literally saying, okay, I cannot process this. I gonna wall it off and I'm gonna keep it in this little lipoma sack. It does so any dog with a lipoma and a lot of people say, well, I feed raw. I don't understand why my dog has a lipoma that you have to deal with lymphatics. And just because you feed raw doesn't mean your dog doesn't have a high load of toxins. They're living in your house, they are being exposed to all of the toxins that we are exposed to on a daily basis. And they are very. Dogs build lipomas very quickly, but people do too. Lots of lipomas. And the problem is dogs are much more susceptible to toxins than we are. They're on the floor, they're on the carpet, they are in the grass. They walk across a lot of grasses that are been sprayed. Their livers aren't being supported. And meat, you know, meat and everything that's grown on this planet and animal, animal meat, you know, even if it's organic grass fed grass, spinach, doesn't mean it doesn't have any toxins in it. It does. So I don't think there's a diet on the planet that's clean, clean, clean. We constantly have to be supporting the liver in one way or another for sure. That's one thing I can give you all. Start supporting your dog's Liver. Look it up, learn about it. Yeah.

On that note, this is going to be our last question.

Okay.

How important is sourcing? What should we look for as far as the safe or reputable product? I'm going to go get milk thistle. So that's what I'm doing today. What should I not be looking for?

Are we talking about just like fresh dried herbs?

Let's, let's go with fresh and let's go with. The majority of people are probably ordering things from Amazon, which would probably.

Oh, don't. I don't not order things from Amazon. Okay. But a, I don't support, I don't support Amazon. So I, I try not to use Amazon ever. As I do. I use Amazon. Yes, but do I exhaust all our other options? I do. It's not a company I can support. However, I like to support little companies where a variety of people are getting the income from that support, except instead of just one person. So. But Mountain Rose herbs. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Another one that is on Amazon is called StarWest Botanicals. It's okay. Herb farm again, Oregon's wild harvest. But here's the thing. Look locally. Look locally. There are farmers and there are people. There are, there are herbalists in every community. They're all over the place and they're growing really great product. They're growing really fresh, wonderful herbs. So look locally first. You know, Google it locally. Almost, I think almost anywhere in the United States you can get a, like a farm guide. They usually make a farm guide for your state. Look that up. I would always look locally first. If you can't find it. There are some really great herb growers out there, but just like mainstream right away. Mountain Rose Herbs I completely trust. I've been there. Herb Farm has a wonderful farm in Oregon up by Ashland. Oregon's wild harvest has great supplements. Alchemist and herbalist, Eclectic herbalist, Alchemist and herbalist is a, a line of herbs, really great line of herbs.

Is there a particular certification or something on the label that we just. But we would like to look for organic as much as possible.

Yes. Organic or organically grown. Small, small farms will not be, most likely won't be organic, but they won't. They'll be organically grown. So organic or organically grown for herbs is really important. You want to make sure the herbs aren't, aren't irritated. And so when you get herbs, some herbs from out of the country and on Amazon, there's a lot of irritated herbs. You don't want those herbs if you don't, if you don't need them. I wouldn't want them. You could use it for like a rinse for the external, you know, if you couldn't find anything. Another great place to get herbs is on Etsy. A lot of herbalists sell their products on Etsy. I order. There's a tincture that I use, use a lot in my practice called mullen root. It's for the spine. IBD people like. I mean, animals. Mullen root. I. I get it from a grower on Etsy 4 for Fork Farms. She's awesome. She grows a lot of mullen root. I don't have a. I'm starting to grow more mullen, but I don't have a lot of the root because we have to. It's a certain year that you can pick it and stuff like that. So. But on Etsy. But you want to filter and make sure that you're not getting it from out of the country. And if you are out of the country right now, get it. You know, the closer, the better to what you're doing. So you can ask that person about how they grow it. Don't be afraid to start a conversation. But yeah, there's some really great people on Etsy, but now Etsy changed their policy, so you have to be a little more careful. So use the filtering thing that it is being grown here so you can ask questions.

Awesome. Great advice. Wow. I feel like I have so many more questions.

It's a lot to cover in an hour, but I think we. We had a lot of stuff.

Yeah, it looks like. And we were able to answer a lot of questions that our audience has. You do the T shirt yourself. Can you tell us about that? Like, that makes me laugh.

Oh, yeah, my site. That's really funny. So in the next year, I'll be adding a lot of powdered and ground herbs. I don't have them for sale right now. If you're ever looking for something, I can always put you in the right direction if you send me an email. But I sell a lot of tinctures. I make a lot of them myself. One of my herbal mentors, his name is Sean Croke. He lives about 45 minutes from here. I get a lot of tinctures from him as well. I do sell some of Greg Tilford's tinctures, animal essentials. I work with a lot of plant stem cells. So that's using the embryonic parts of plants. I exclusively sell a lot of those. They're called phytoembryonics. And I. I sell Adored Beast and the Four Leaf Rover brands as well. And I sell CBD Dog Health. They're, they're CBD tinctures and salves and a few more things. Yeah, I'm adding things to the store all the time, but I am working on bringing in a full line of popular dried herbs. I'm just working with sourcing right now, as local as I can get them.

Awesome. Yeah, I too just recently learned more about CBD Dog Health and absolutely love their company. I just dropped your website in the comments here, so you guys can check out Rita's site. Is there a way we can sign up for, like, dates on the release of the Herbal Dog, your upcoming book?

So you can help me so much by signing up for my book interest. It kind of tells my publisher which way they want to go. Like, if there's a lot of interest, which a lot of interest equals 5,000 people at least. So a lot of interest or just a little interest, it kind of, it's kind of dictates the way that they go in advertising and distributing the book.

But we just sign up for the list.

Yes. I don't know how to put a link into the comments at all. I, I, I'm obviously challenged. It doesn't, it doesn't have a box for me. Oh, I'll put it in the private chat.

Okay.

There it is right there. Okay. But it will not let me make a comment.

So I'm also challenged. I just go where they tell me to go. Okay.

But yeah, that is no commitment, no marketing. No one will get your information, including my publisher. It just for me, but it shows them. I can show them that I have at least 5,000 people. I'm trying to get 5,000 signatures in the next two months. So if you can share that with people that might be interested in the book. You can find more about my book on my website@canineherbalist.com in the list, it'll say the Herbal dog. And it will go through, like, some of the things that I am covering in the book. But what's really cool is that you can send me through my website, the contact on my website what you think or what you would want in an herbal book. I've been taking feedback on my Canine Herbalist Facebook page on. I'll be posting that question basically once a week for the next like four months, basically, and getting a lot of feedback on what you think is missing in Herbal Dog books. There's a lot missing. So in Herbal Dog bits. Because I really want my dog to be the dog book to be extremely useful.

So. Absolutely. Yeah. No, we will share it with our members, our followers, and also in our upcoming newsletter, we have been building our own Feed Reel raw nutrition course. And one of the things that is missing from there is the topic of herbs. Like, there is a lot that we need to touch on. So you and I are going to be in touch because I think that we can absolutely get a lot more people on board, and there's a lot of interest in herbs. People are finding their way. Like you said, we're going full circle, going the natural route and realizing there's so much on this earth that we can benefit from.

Yeah, absolutely. Just, absolutely can benefit from. They offer so much.

Thank you, Rita, so much for coming on with me today. Thank you guys for joining in.

Thank you, everyone. I appreciate you. I can't make a comment, but I appreciate you.

I'll have to fix that for next time. All right, guys, have a good rest of your Thursday.