Liver Issues & Herbalism for Healthy Dogs - Mini Episode

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.

Welcome back. We are in the middle of a short. It's sponsored by Real Dog Box. Can't be happier with my sponsor. Some of the freshest dog treats on the planet. Real Dog Box. Check them out at Real Dog. They have some really awesome blog posts. I was checking their blog out and I was just blown away. They have a really great video on keeping your dog's teeth clean. They have an excellent blog about talking about dog food and allergies, how to bring dogs your bring your dog's weight down if they're overweight and also some articles on preventing cancer. So they're giving back. They're not only giving you great treat and and like real food options, they're giving you good information and they have different plans and pricing for their treat boxes. You can get treat boxes that they curate, you can get treat boxes that you customize. They have single ingredient treats, they have air dried treats. It's pretty awesome. One of my favorite, favorite products that they have, it's called their meatballs. My dogs love them. Check them out. Real Dog Box also has a nutrition course and I've heard pretty great things about it. You can check that out too. I think nutrition courses are very important to take when you're feeding raw, especially when you're doing it yourself. And you can start their food, their dog food nutrition course anytime. It's a work at your own pace. It's a certificate course. Can't get enough of that either. The next short, I'm gonna go over that nutrition course so that you can understand if it's right for you. We are going to take questions from the audience today. We had some people write into the podcast, ask some great questions. So let's just do that on our short today. This question is from Rach and she writes in I have a mini dashie. She provided a very cute picture of her puppy with off and on liver issues. Can you recommend something? Well, yes, I can. So with liver issues I would try to figure out what is causing the liver issue in the first place. That's number one. Number two would be to try different things consistently to see what will bring your dog's liver enzymes down. The first thing that I would try is the Adored beast liver tonic. That is a nice gentle tonic. You can see I would use it for about, I would say eight weeks and then eight to 12 weeks and then retest. Now, if they're not in their normal range by then, I would go to my store and get the liver phyto under phytoembryonics. And for your size puppy, a little weiner dog, I would do, I would say three to four single drops twice a day in the mouth. You can dilute it with some water. And I would do that for eight weeks and eight to 10. Eight to 10 weeks. And then I would retest again. And if there's more issues, just email me via the website on the podcast. Okay. I hope I answered that question. We have another question today. This question is from Jan. She writes in hello, Rita. Brand new to canine herbalism. Welcome, Jan. This is the green path and we're going to walk it. So this is so interesting. My question where does herbalism fit in for the overall young, seemingly healthy young dog? Are there go to preventative herbs that all dogs could use or need. Thank you and love the podcast. Well, thank you, Jan. I would say dogs are individuals. So if you listen to my entire podcast lineup, you'll understand that I am a big believer in individuality and different remedies will work differently for different dogs. A healthy little dog that you want to support herbally, I would look to the seasons for that and work preventatively. So I probably would take my energetics course on canineherbalism.com and get figure out your dog's energetics and this will help you pick supplements and herbs that are energetically appropriate for your pup. And energetics really comes in when we're talking consistency, not your, you know, a single treat here and there, you know, single meal here and there. We're talking about things that you consistently feed over a period of time. So I would do that. Number two, I would look into seasonal health. I'm writing a book called the Seasonal Dog that should be out, I would say in the next couple years. So I'm excited for that. But when you work seasonally, you go by the energetics of that season. So let's just say we're coming up on spring. Everyone wants to get out of winter right now. If you're in the southern hemisphere, I apologize. You guys are loving the nice weather and I'm only dreaming of it. But we are coming into spring. That is the season for the liver. So you would look at tendon ligament health, you'd look at the liver health, you would give liver supporting herbs. You could start as simple as milk thistle. And give that for about two months and then we'll cycle into summer, which governs the heart and the small intestine. So you would support the microbiome, possibly use an herb like hawthorn to support the heart. Hawthorn berry powder, something very mild that you can put in the food. It depends on how well you know we're talking about healthy dogs. So work preventatively. In the fall you're going to support the lungs. So you want to figure out again what your dog's energetics are. Are they more damp or are they more dry? So you want to use herbs for the lungs to, you know, you can use like Mullen or Ella campaign, different types of lung supporting herbs. Cordyceps mushroom. If your dog is nice and cool. So kind of look into that and then you go in to wintertime and that support that governs like the kidneys and the large intestine and you're going to do, you know, infusions. I love infusions in the wintertime. You really can't go wrong with nettles for supporting the kidneys, the large intestine. Again, feed the microbiome. Definitely make sure your dog has enough enzymes. And that goes, that is for sure, in the summer months too, for the small intestine. I think that, you know, when you have healthy dogs, it's better to work in a preventative manner than a reactive mindset, you know, waiting for something to go wrong. I also recommend, you know, kind of doing an X ray every couple years making sure that things are not going awry, making sure that your dog is balanced. Feed a fresh food diet. If you're feeding cooked food, make sure that you're giving digestive enzymes with that food. If you're doing a raw food, you don't necessarily need digestive enzymes, but if you're switching from a cook diet or a kibble diet to a raw diet, I, I recommend giving enzymes for three to six months during that transition. And you know, food is medicine. So you want to look at foods throughout those seasons, what's in season, you know, what, what foods are around in those types of seasons and then look at the energetics of those foods and then rotate veg, fruit and vegetables in and out of the diet during those seasons. One thing I don't do is I don't mix fruit with meals. I give fruit as a treat. I find that it can cause digestive upset. So I do give it as a treat or in an extremely small amount of food. If your dog is picky or if you're using a powder. I hope I answered your question, Jan. And if you have any questions you can write into the podcast@canineherbalist.com click the dropdown menu. You'll see the podcast contact and send me your questions. Make sure that they're questions they're not. Kind of a request for a consult that is under consultation on the drop down menu. And that's just not for the podcast. If it's something very complicated, Jan, you hit it out of the park. Great question. I hope I answered it. I can't give you a lot of specifics without knowing your dog, but it gives you a general idea of how to work with the seasons. And there's some great books out there about working with the seasons. Check those out. You know, Google Seasonal healing. Go to barnesandnoble.com, seasonalhealing, Amazon.com, seasonal healing. Look for some books on that and then just kind of adapt those ideas to your dog and in a couple years my book will come out and you'll have all the answers you've ever wanted.

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 or 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 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 come 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 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. Please consult your veterinary professional about potential interactions or other possible complications before using any product SA.