Rita Hogan- Canine Herbalist

Foreign.

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Putt Pup and Away podcast. My name is Stephanie. I'm a certified dog trainer, canine behaviorist, canine nutritionist, and the very, very proud owner of Pup Pup and away in San Anton, Texas, where we specialize in pet care with the behavioral edge. That is boarding, that is socialization, and that is all sorts of training. Today I am joined by Rita Freakin Hogan. That's what it says in my schedule. Rita Freakin Hogan, who is the canine herbalist. She has been working with dogs and owners for over 20 years, but has been connected to mother Earth since childhood. I am thrilled to have Rita as a guest as she shares her endless well of knowledge on herbs and how they can benefit not only us, but, of course, our canine sidekick. So welcome, Rita.

Hello. Hello. So excited to be here just to. Just to correct something. I am not the canine herbalist. I'm just a canine herbalist.

In my heart. You're the canine herbalist.

Well, in your heart, if you preface it in your heart, we're okay. I just don't want to, you know, step on anyone else's toe. Especially I'm training people to become canine herbalists, and there's a lot of other animal canine herbalists on the planet, so. Yeah, yeah, I just, you know, I'm beating the drum.

I love that. And it's amazing. Someone's got to start us off right? So tell us about you. Your. I guess just tell us whatever you want us to know about Ms. Rita Hogan.

Well, for those of you that don't know me, I have been doing this a long time. You know, you said I have a wealth of knowledge or a well of knowledge. I'm not sure which one. But I'm filling that well all the time by, you know, learning, learning, learning, learning, learning. We're all learning, right? And, you know, my main goal in the world is to teach people to understand the body, how it works as an ecosystem, how to use herbs according to plant language, and training vets, vet techs and integrative practitioners on herbs. So that is my main goal in the world and to, of course, help all of you heal your dog's organs.

Yeah. Amazing. So I have a little something to show everyone. I showed Areta right before we went on. But, Rita, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting you at one of the feed reel summits. And here's a picture of us. I asked you for a selfie, a story that I wanted to share. So this is like the VIP time. It's. It's overstimulating there's so many people over the place. We're all asking questions and just, you know, just mingling with each other. And of course, people like you, who are very well known in the industry. I'm sure you guys get, like, a ton of people coming up to you asking questions. You're super sweet to still take the time to take a picture with me, but out of all the pictures I took that day with people, yours always stands out. Because I asked you, can we take a selfie? And you said, of course. And you put your arm around me and gave me, like, the best side hug I have ever received in my entire life. And it sounds so silly, but just, like, just the way that you embrace people and the way that you embrace helping people through your work is super impactful. So just thank you for always just being willing to share yourself and your knowledge with everyone. So, speaking about your knowledge, you have a new book out, which is amazing. I grabbed it as fast as I could. It is. And to be quite honest, it is like, it is a textbook. You have dropped knowledge bombs throughout. I mean, look at the size of this thing. It's. It's ginormous. I feel like I should have paid for a master class, like, in herbology and herbalism, because this is just so amazing. So I wanted to ask, you know, all the questions that we have going on today have been inspired by your book. So obviously there are things that you want people to go and buy the book and read it. So anything that we talk about today, listeners, if you're interested, you want to learn more, you want to dig deeper into it, go buy the book. Because it's great.

For those of you that are freaking out how big that is, I just want to explain. Hold on. Let's just. Let's just give them a little bit of perspective here. So the book, the learning in the book is only that big. Now, that big is all of the herbal goodness. This is learning. This is how to heal your dog in general. Right? It's kind of even, isn't it?

It is, yeah. Yeah.

Sort of even. Sort of even. You should have saw it before. And I handed it in. They cut a stuff out of my book. They're like, honey, it just can't be that big. I'm like, yeah, okay, I get it.

But it's amazing. Like, you cover so many different things in here. So how did you come to write a book? I mean, I think I read that it took you five years to write it. If I'm not correct, please correct Me. But how did. Like, how did you spark yourself to get into writing something this big?

So I. It took me about six months to write it.

Oh.

But it took me. I wrote it. Like, I had most of it already written because I taught a group of women for four and a half years every Thursday. We missed, like, 10 Thursdays in that four and a half years.

That's about it.

Yeah. And so I had written. They showed up for me, I showed up for them. And I had written, you know, I have a lot more than what's in the book, but because we did four and a half years, but I took the most important things. And I really asked so many people, like, what do you want from me? Like, what do you want to learn? You know? And they're like, I want to get my dog better, and I want my dog. I want to learn. Like, I don't know what the lymphatic system is. What is it? And can you explain it? And I want it easy to understand and don't use all that jargon, and. Which I don't in general. And I think that that's the most important thing about writing it, is that I'm giving you the things that people seek me out for. Right. I can tell you that. Yeah. A lot of people want to do a protocol with me, right? But the answers are in the book. I mean, they really are. When you deal with organ health, right. All the things that people seek me out are symptoms, right? Even cancer. Like, I'm doing a cancer intensive series right now. My next book is on canine cancer. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. If you have a healthy lymphatic and healthy liver, cancer can't take hold.

Gotcha.

Our livers are. Our livers are. And our. And our dog's livers and, you know, and a lot of that has to do with behavior, right? So I'm excited to talk today about that. But back to your question, you know, how did you come to write it? I. I worked with a group of women, awesome women. And I taught them canine herbalism. And I started my school, and here's my book. And it's kind of a prerequisite, you know, like, people. People. Like this book will change people's lives. And it's not my. And here's the thing, it's not my information, right? Part of it, you know, I would say 25% mine, right? But what. What a good mentor does is they teach you, right? And then you put that information through your head, like, your head, like Stephanie. Stephanie's head. You read the book, and then you. You apply and think about what I've said according to how you view your life and how what you're working on, right? And you may come out with something else. They, you know, oh, my God, I'm gonna try this. And then it worked this way and this way and this way, right? And so you carry the torch eventually for other people as well, if you choose to be a mentor. And so, like, I learned so much from my mentors, and some of them are on my book, which is amazing. Like, Cheryl Schwartz changed my life. I didn't know her just until two years ago, but she's been with me on a daily basis for two decades, right? And she's written this beautiful Cheryl. And then, you know, Greg Tilford's in here. And, you know, he was one of the original animal herbalists. It still is. And, you know, he wrote a lovely thing to me in here. And. But these are the people I learned from. And. And I learned from a lot of human herbalists as well. And map that on to canine physiology. And like, Julia Debart, like Levy was. Was an animal herbalist. She's since passed on. And Carol Tresato, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful herbalist who has since passed on. And, you know, and one of my favorite herbalists, Matthew Wood, he is in his 70s, right? So the thing is, is we're getting to that cycle where. Where people are working on, passing on their knowledge. And, you know, I'm not there yet. I mean, I'm passing on my knowledge, but I'm in my 50s, so I hope I have many years ahead of me. But those years are going to be spent writing books and passing on knowledge and developing more knowledge and handing that baton to the people that need it.

That's amazing. And I think one big thing that kind of runs true, you talk about it in the beginning, is like, pharmaceuticals are based off of these plants, right? So this medicine has been provided to us by Mother Nature, by the earth, for millennial, like, so long, right? And so it's all about the power and the knowledge and how to use these plants not only to better ourselves, but our dogs. And, you know, I'm sure lots of other, like, cats and all the other things, too. So there's lots of power in that. My. My original first question for you was going to be, what is an herbalist? But then I started to think a little bit more. So I. I love.

Right.

You. So all of us. Right. But when I was reading the book, you talk about all Kinds of different plants. You talk about flowers, mushrooms, all kinds of different things. And so then I was like, wait, what is an herb? So let's start off with that one. What is an herb?

An herb is a plant.

Okay.

Like fungi's, you know, mushrooms are not herbs. They work differently. They're completely different. Like they. They're like cats and horses. Right. Not related and. But we use a lot, you know, herbalists use natural modalities and an herb is anything that is medicinal and that includes so many things. And then we have also we have trees and kind of lump those into herbs. But you know, there's lots of tree medicine that I use and. But you know, like right now I could walk out my door and find like immediately, within five minutes, probably 20 herbs, you know, so it just depends on what little herby friends you know. Right.

Yeah.

But most of the time you're staring right at one when you're outside.

Gotcha. So pretty much any plant that has some sort of medicinal property or can be used as medicine is what an herb is.

Yes. And different forms and the different forms of those plants. So like you have flower essences and stem cell therapies and like there's different forms of medicine that come from these plants as well.

Gotcha. Yeah. And even not just different forms of the plant in the way how you can use them, but there's I don't know how many different types of lavender or how many different types of frankincense as well. So it sounds like there's a lot of knowledge that has to go not only in understanding the physiology of whatever patient species you are going to be, you know, working with, but also a huge wealth of knowledge as to all the different plants and what medicinal purposes they carry. But then also, how are you going to use them for your patient is. It's a lot of layers. So many layers to that.

It's a lot of layers. Absolutely. For sure. And I can tell you, herbalists don't use the word patient ever.

Okay.

So, you know, the word patient will get you in a lot of trouble. Gotcha. Yeah, I have clients. I do herbal support protocols and I am not allowed to practice medicine or treat disease.

Very good to know. Very clear difference. We always love to draw those boundaries.

Unless you are a veterinarian, you are not allowed to do any of that. So. And then you'd have to be clear, you know, you have to be clear. Like, I don't help people with diabetes or dogs with diabetes. They need a veterinarian. You know, that's a very serious situation. So I have to abide by those rules that are here for me. And. But also, you know, that leaves the door open for so much for me. And you know, I liked. I followed. I follow a code of ethics and denoted by the American Herbalist Guild. I follow their code of ethics. And also, you know, being an herbalist also means caring for the environment and it means not using plants that are endangered, like frankincense. Like, I don't use that plant. Very popular. I don't use it at all. It falls into the category of just because you can doesn't mean you should. Because that frankincense, the tree is almost gone from the existence. There's a. You know, the only non endangered frankincense, I believe is in either Australia or Hawaii. I can't remember. But like, I don't use it, especially the essential oil. It's very popular. Like, I have a bunch of frankincense on my shelf over here that was gifted to me years and years ago. But the essential oils is the need for frankincense. Essential oil is basically creating the extinction of the tree because it takes 30 years to produce that oil and it.

Takes so much of that plant matter in the process. Right, right, right.

So that's another big part about being an herbalist is, you know, there's people that are experts that refer to them as experts, but a lot of plant experts are not herbalists.

Right.

You know that I think caring for the environment and caring for the plants that you're using and, and seeking that information out, I think is very, very important and sending that information forward. So, I mean, like, right in the book, like the, the first thing in the book there that I wrote. I don't know if you read this part, but the first little bit is a. Is about my beginnings. And right here it said. And I wrote. I remember this. I remember this so well. When I was around seven or eight, I saw my first lady slipper. It was magical. I sat there gazing at it like it was a fairy. Though I wanted to pick it for my mother. She had taught me that lady slippers were rare and had a bigger purpose than her love for beautiful flowers. Right. And I remember my mom telling me, you know, there's certain plants, honey, that you just can't pick because you can't grow them. And they only grow in the forest and you need to leave them alone. They have a bigger purpose than bringing them to me and having them die in a day. Yeah, exactly what they did. I remember. I You know, I picked one once and it wasn't good. And it's just very interesting that, you know, that's part of being an herbalist is being caring about for the environment. For sure.

Yeah. Add just another layer to it all.

Yeah.

I love it. One of the. Your book is so full of very like actionable items. One of the things that I was able to implement right away and something that Sully, my 15 year old schnauzer, resents you for making, not making me do, but suggesting that I do is not feeding cold food. What? Why?

Oh my God. I remember when I made that meme. Wow. It was. I think it's the only viral meme I've ever had. Nasty comments. And I just didn't even look at the comments. Like I replied to a few of them and I was like, okay, so it's fine. I don't care. It some people, they just don't understand how the body works. They're like, well, I've never had a problem with my dog. Have you? Like, how long does your dog live? The issue is, is not to feed cold food, especially frozen food. Right. If you're. If it's 85 degrees out, right. It's humid, it's hot, you give your dog like a cucumber or like one of those little frozen treats. Not the end of the world.

Right.

I'm talking about consistency because what we consistently do really affects it. So when you feed cold food, you are putting pressure on the spleen. And how many dogs have spleen problems? Tons. Yeah, it's really hard on the rest of the organs. It makes everything work overtime. It negatively affects digestive enzymes. It. Your dog has to compensate for that cold. Right. And another thing, chapter three, the chapter on energetics. If you give a cool dog consistently cold food or frozen food, which is even worse. Right. So much worse, you're going to push them towards deep cold and then you're going to get chronic disease. So I don't advocate for feeding cold food. You know, once or twice a week you take it out of the fridge and you drop it, it's fine. But what I do is I usually use an infusion to warm it up a little bit. You know, a lot of people give me the argument that dogs will eat frozen carcasses like wolves will. Yeah. But it. If they had to choose between frozen and warm, they're going to take warm every day of the week. Right. That's called survival.

Yeah.

We can all do things. You know, if the, our volcano here in the Pacific Northwest Erupted, I'd be eating, you know, I'd be eating vegetarian beans out of a can probably for a while until services got back online.

Right, right.

We can all survive, but it doesn't mean that that's a really good thing for me. And so you just, I think you have to look at that. And once someone understands energetics, they'll stop feeding cold food. And you really don't want to feed cold food even to like a hot dog. You could on a, on a really hot day or they need to be a hot dog. But again, it really does mess with digestive enzymes and the gastrointestinal tract and how things move through the body. You know, I had one client that said, you know, there's nothing wrong with my dog. And she was feeding frozen and cold food all the time. So I asked her, you know, what kind of poop does your dog have? And well, it's really, you know, healthy, good looking poop. I said, well, well, you know, shoot me a photo or tell me about it. Right. And you know, it was in little segments and that's not healthy at all. And you know, and one of her dogs only fed once a day or only pooped once a day. They're constipated. And, you know, as soon as she started warming up the diet, poop started getting completely normal. We start pooping twice a day. Even dogs that eat once a day should poop twice a day. Right. You get the occasional dude that lives until he's 20 and he only poops once a day. But that is such a, an anomaly. It's just, it's not even relevant. But, you know, dogs are individuals. Some dogs can tolerate it much more than other dogs. But if you have a cool dog, you're doing some damage there.

Gotcha. You've already like broken into a lot of the other things that I want to talk about. So I'm so glad that I asked that question into kind of like, you know, what our whistles as to what all this is gonna be because you also talk about, I'm probably gonna get this word wrong. Oh, allopathic versus holistic. And I think that's something that everyone needs to like slow down and realize and know the difference between the two. So in just a second, I'd like for you to define, you know, the difference between those two. I know I fall victim of this scrolling through social media. It's like, hey, here's this product and it's going to help with X, Y and Z. And I'm like, yes, I need that one. So what is the difference between, you know, treating a client, your dog, finding out the best route for them allopathically versus holistically?

Well, you know, allopathic herbalism or allopathy in general can work some of the time. You know, if you find that product, you want to try it, you want to throw it on the wall and see if it sticks. Right. But that's how you end up with a supplement graveyard, you know, and then that's how people badmouth herbalism. Like it doesn't. Didn't work for my dog. Holistic herbalism looks at the dog as an individual. The dog is an ecosystem. It looks at energetics and it looks to, you know, plants have language, they have their individuals as well.

Right.

And they all. We all live on a spectrum and it. A spectrum of warm and cool for. On the, on the, like the surface, then it can get a much more complicated. But like, people who are warm. People who are cool. People who. Dogs who are warm. Dogs who are cool. Dogs who are warm need predominantly the majority of their herbs and food coming from cooling substances as to not get them too warm. Right. If you have energetic flexibility, you can eat. You know, I'm. I'm a little past warm. Okay. I'm slightly hot. I'm getting to a nice healthy warm, but I'm working on it. So I don't use a lot of heating foods, but if I was just a nice healthy worm, I could have some ginger every now and then or some turmeric for nutrition or work in fermented foods on an every other day basis, but that would still be consistently. But once you get to the point where you're not in that healthy, warm or healthy cool environment, you need the opposite of what you think you do. So like, like. Well, I mean, not really what you think you do. I mean, a lot of warm and cool people want layers, right? They want warmth. They want. They gravitate to more towards things that are warming because they have a hard time keeping warm. Right. And warm people want to cool themselves off. And you know, chapter three goes through the complexity of energetics, but so complex. Yes. And just read it a few times, it'll be fine. But you know, it's so important to get it because that's where you will see the beauty of herbs. Because, you know, garlic and ginger and turmeric and different types, angelica, rosemary, you know, different types of herbs that are warming work so well for dogs that are cool to cold. The other. You know what, let's go for behavior. Let's use that. So here's the thing. So dogs who are more warm to hot, right? They, their nervous system is up here and it, it, it's like, oh my God, let's leash. Oh my God, I want to go for a walk. Oh my God. Oh my God, my God. You know, you put them in the crate, they start throwing themselves, you know, biting it, you know, ah, you know, like that, that's, that's a big manifest. Not all the time, but most of the time it's a big manifestation of too much heat. Heat rises, okay. It goes up and out and it's very expressive. And then you have, well, and so the herbs that are for, for warmed hot dogs are your passion flower, your chamomile, your skull cap, your valerian, you know, all those herbs, your lemon balm, Those are all cooling herbs, all of them. Right. So then you have the other side of the spectrum. You have dogs that are cool. They predominantly lean towards worry. They take on more of our stress. They have their, they have what I call on the down low reactivity right there. Those dogs that sit there and you come near them and bamboo, you're bit before you even know it.

Right, right, right.

They are, they're worried and they need adaptogens. They need stress relief. And the majority of the adaptogens out there that are available for dogs are warming, right? Nettle, ashwagandha, reishi mushroom, you know, there's, there's, those are three very popular ones. And then there's really mild adaptogens. Some of those, like licorice and nettle, you know, more towards neutral. Any dog can use them. Turkey tail mushroom. But the really effective adaptogens, a lot of them are warming. There's a few on the cooling side, but most are warming. And it's those dogs on the cool side that do need the adaptogens. They do need help dealing with our stress. And notice I said our stress, you know, they take on our emotions heavy. So do the ones that are warm, but just it manifests in a different way and it's less because they're, they're, their nervous systems need sedation. They have to come down a few notches to even pay attention.

Right, right, right.

And so stabilizing their nervous system is the number one thing that you can do. Page 137 of the book.

I love how you just know like right off the top of your head what everything is. I don't, oh, I haven't gotten there yet.

So page 137 is creating a healing protocol for chronic conditions. Number one step in that protocol is to stabilize the nervous system. Because the thing is, is that if a dog is in fight or flight, they can't heal. A person in fight or flight can't heal, Right. You know, you can't heal. And here's crazy thing, just by scrolling on your phone, just scrolling puts you in fight or flight. Okay? They have beautiful brain scans of this. Just scrolling with intent, right? Scrolling with intent. This thing right here puts you in fight or flight. And the crazy thing is, is that when you are in fight or flight, you smell unsafe. Our dogs don't interact with us like we interact with the world. Our dogs interact through smell and vibration and frequency. And when we are scrolling and when we are stressed and when we are watching, you know, violent shows, when we are playing video games nonstop, right? We are all in fight or flight. That means that our liver isn't working very well, our digestive system is not online, our nervous system is not working very well at all, and our immune system's in the tank. So like dogs, you smell unsafe, you're unsafe. And dogs want us to be safe, so they sit there and interact with us through smell. We're smelling like cortisol and adrenaline. We're at a completely different frequency. They are just like, what is the matter? What's going on? I should be here. I should sit there. I should worry, you know, I'm taking on your stress. I'll do it. Don't worry. You know, dogs love unconditionally and they will take on our stress.

Yeah.

People say, you know, and I say this all the time, but why not? I, you know, Rita, what's the best herb that I could give my dog? It's not an herb. Get your stress underhand. That's the biggest, biggest thing you can do for any type of behavior situation, for any type of medical situation, physical condition that your dog is having is to teach yourself to be calm. And we are living in such a high society, so people have to look like, what do I do on a daily basis that stresses me out.

Yeah.

And stop doing it. Right. You have to learn how to stop doing it. And it. Here's the. Yesterday, I was at an event, and I was talking about energetics and the nervous system, and I was telling people about scrolling. And there was this young boy in the back of the room, and he popped up, and he came up to me afterwards, and he said, oh, my God. I had guilt like when you said that, because I said, you know, get off your phone when you're with your dog. Just if you can do that one thing, just get off your phone when you are with your dog. And he was like, oh my God, I felt guilty. And I said if you feel guilty about that, then you're on your phone too much.

Mm.

Right. I mean, you know, like I don't feel guilty for being on my phone because I'm hardly ever on it. Yeah, I get. People get mad at me for that, that reason very much. You never answer your phone. But it, it, it's interesting. And so you have to look at what stresses us out because you know, if you are trying to deal with behavior, the first way you deal with it is right here. You know, I doing to stress myself out and how is my dog relating to that? Because their heart energy goes out 8ft. We're sharing our energy with our dog. Non stop or emotional support dogs, they need emotional support and nervous system stabilization. Like and, or like we pick up our. If we have a small dog, we might pick them up while we're crying. Right. You can do. Just don't pick them up while you're crying. Right. You know, I want my pug while I'm crying. But the thing is, is that that's very confusing for them, you know, like, mom, you can do. Just don't pick them up while you're crying. Right. You know, I want my pug while I'm crying. But the thing is, is that that's very confusing for them, you know, like, mama, why are you crying? You smell terrible. You smell like you're unsafe.

Yeah, you smell terrible. I don't know why that's funny. That shouldn't be fun.

That's funny. You know, safety is, safety is the main, like kind of power, powering force of animals.

Yeah. Of survival.

Survival and safety. And we got to remember that we're the ones that brought our, all of our dogs and stuff into our homes. And if we bring them into our homes, we have to be responsible for that because, you know, fresh air and exercise helps get rid of stress. And so many dogs are not getting the amount of exercise that they need.

Absolutely. I'm thinking about all the, the energetic stuff that you've. That you've mentioned. And I feel like, like you said, I need to go reread that chapter because I felt like I was on the right path thinking that Sully was a warm dog and that Rishi is a cool dog. But there were some things that I was like, wait, now I'm confused. So I'll have to go back and reread it.

You know that there's an easy way to figure that out.

Oh, okay.

Heat. So, you know, some of the symptoms overlap. Just figure out what your dog, how your dog deals with heat. You know, do they sleep under the covers? Do they like to sleep on a, like a foam bed? Warm dogs usually don't like to sleep on them. Not saying they wouldn't, but for the most part they don't. They don't want to be covered up. They don't want to lay in the sun for over 15, 10 to 15 minutes. They don't, you know, they don't want to cuddle all the time. Yeah, we give off a lot of body heat. Right. They might move maybe a foot or two away from you instead of trying to soak up your warmth. A lot of cool dogs, you know, you'll see them laying in that one ray of sun that's coming through the. Because most people have their blinds down and you'll see them in that one ray of sun. Or they'll be sitting in front of the fire or, you know, a cool dog or warm dog could get cold. They can get cold for sure. But they'll sit in front of the fire for like 5, 5 minutes, 8, 10 minutes.

Gotcha.

Whereas a cool dog or a cold dog, you might have to physically remove them.

Yeah.

They're not going to lay on the cold tile floor. They're not going to lay on the, the cold tile wood.

Do you find that there are like breed differences in cool? I mean, obviously every dog's an individual. Right. But just kind of like in a general sense, like we always talk about Chihuahuas, how they're always shivering and love to like lay in the sun. Would you say that a lot of Chihuahuas will most likely be cool or cold? No. Gotcha.

Chihuahuas like to shake.

Okay. So that's something completely different.

Yeah, that we're assuming that shaking is, is cold. Yeah, that is. Chihuahuas have a nerve. You know, their nervous systems are a little jacked. Right. They love to bark and they, they, their nervous system on the warm spot.

Their behavior is the warm spectrum.

Yeah. Just like, you know, rottweilers. They, they are bred for protection. Their nervous systems are a little hair triggered border collies. They are bred to be on. They suffer such sympathetic excess. Right. They need nervous system support. That has nothing to do with energetics.

Gotcha.

So I've met lots of little Chihuahuas that are warm. Lots of little Chihuahuas that are cold. But we see them go, you know, they're doing the yeah. Okay. We assume they're cold. No, they're nervous.

Okay.

You know, and. And shivering. Shivering can be dampness. They need nervous system support. That has nothing to do with energetics.

Gotcha.

So I've met lots of little Chihuahua, and you have dampness when you're too hot, and you can have dampness when you're cold. So you can be cold and damp, and you can be warm and damp. Like, for instance, if a dog has hypothyroid that are warm. Lots of little Chihuahuas that are cold. But we see them go, you know, they're doing the. Yeah, okay, we assume they're cold. No, they're nervous.

Okay.

You know, Android, right. They're damp. You can have hypothyroid, as you'll see that symptom crossover. You can have hypothyroid in heat and hype. Shivering. Shivering can be dampness, both thyroid and cold. So I have hypothyroid. I am warm, right?

Okay.

I'm warm and damp.

What is you say? So you have dampness, and you have.

Dampness when you're too hot, and you can have dampness when you're cold. So you can be cold and damp, and you can be warm and damp. Like, for instance, if a dog has hypothyroid, right. They're damp. You can have hypothyroid dryness.

So you. You kind of mentioned an easy way to figure out if your dog's hot or cold or, you know, cool or warm.

A lot of dog are damp.

A lot of dogs are damp. Okay.

There's an epidemic of hypothyroid. A lot of the things that we do to our dogs create stampness. As you'll see that symptom cross over. You can have hypothyroid in heat and hypothyroid in cold. So I have hypothyroid. I am warm, right?

Okay.

Over vaccination, spay and neuter. Okay, I'm warm and damp.

What is.

You have dampness and can create damp in the body. Antibiotics.

Not all spay and neuter dryness. So you kind of mentioned an easy way to figure out if your dog's hot or cold or, you know, cool or warm.

You know, spay. Neuter can also create too much dryness. It just depends. Like, a lot of dryness comes in animals that are too hot. The fluids are burnt up. A lot of dogs are damp.

A lot of dogs are damp. Okay.

There's an epidemic of hypothyroid. A lot of the things that we do to Our dogs creates dampness. Right. But you can be hot and damp as well. So everything is on a spectrum. But I can say there. They're definitely more damp dogs than there are dry dogs. And. And there's like. Like I said, you know, I deal with this in the book, but there's dampness that gets completely out of hand when you get very damp. You can see dryness on the skin, and that's like, you compare that to a. A dam that's damned something up a river. Right. Everything downstream, more dry. Okay. Is. And if you dam it up completely, it's super dry. So you can have dryness on the skin and have too much dampness. But you look for the signs of dampness. So like lipomas, little growths all over the body. Acid reflux can be dampness. Hot spots, leaky ears, things that are leaking out, like excessive drainage from the eyes. That can be liver health and dampness. Dogs that drool a lot, dogs that have runny noses. Runny noses is a sign of. Can be a sign of dampness. Sebaceous cysts. Right. Definitely can be sign of dampness. Dogs that don't absorb nutrients that, you know, have nutrient deficiencies, that can be dryness or dampness. It just depends.

You're like a troll of being in the sun.

But, yeah, you know, I think all those things are important to look at.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's worth the time for people to look at all those things because there was also, I think, a different one. You also talked about rigidity and. Oh, tension.

Tension and relaxation. Yeah. Yeah.

Which was something I never heard of before. I was like, whoa.

Yeah. So that's in human herbalism.

Okay.

And yeah, I've been. You know, there's a lot of, like, CCL tears. Right. A lot of those. Tension. Too much tension. The inside scoop this past week was about tension. Was about tension in the fascia. Like thinking your dog has arthritis, but they have too much tension. That is not allowing them to fully extend their movements. So. Yeah, but I mean, if you get one, like, if you only get one thing out of. Out of chapter three, warm and cool, it still will change your dog's life. And then once you master that, look at damp and dry. And like I said, a lot of dogs are damp. But look at damp and dry and. And then master that. And then if you really get good at that, then you can, you know, ponder and consider tension. But it's it. You know, to read those chapters, you might be. You have some aha. Moments like, oh, God.

Oh, there's so many. I have so many notes and, like, different things that I need to start doing with Sully, one of them being addressing his lymphatic system. That's a huge one that I don't think we even have time to cover, because that's a huge chunk to. To look into.

But definitely, there is a good amount of information in here about the lymphatic system. I will tell you one thing. Every single event that I've had, and I think I'm on, like, 15 or 16. Every single event that I've had, I have asked the audience, do you know what the lymphatic system is? Okay, barely anyone knows.

That's a huge one that I don't think we even have time to cover, because that's a huge chunk to. To look into there.

But it definitely. There is a good amount of information in here about the lymphatic system. I will tell you one thing. Every single event that I've had, and I think I'm on, like, 15 or 16. Every single event that I've had, I have asked the audience, and then for those who do know what it is, I ask them what it does. They don't know. But those. For. For those who do know what it does, I asked them what kind of toxins it transforms, transports, and what kind of vitamins. They do not know. Yeah. Only people that have known so far are the vets that have been in my audience. Do you know what the lymphatic system is?

Mm.

Okay. Barely anyone knows. And then for those who do know what it is, I ask them what it does. They don't know. But those for. For those who do know what it does, I asked them what kind of toxins it transforms, transports, and what kind of vitamins.

Gotcha. Yeah. I mean, because it just does so much. And, like, me, like, I'm on social media, and my TikTok's all about the lymphatic system, and I'm like, yes, but what exactly is happening in there? Because there's a lot. There's a lot going on.

It's a vehicle in which the immune system acts. I quote one of my favorite herbalists there. And it transports vitamin D. And vitamin D is they do not know. Only people that I've known so far are the vets that have been in my audience.

Gotcha. Yeah. I mean, because it just does so much. And like me, I'm on social media, and my TikTok's all about the lymphatic system. And I'm like, yes, but what exactly is happening in there? Because there's a lot.

It's one of the reasons why, you know, it's a cancer preventative. It's one of the biggest cancer preventatives we've got along with liver health. And a lot of people don't realize that without a good lymphatic. And it's a vehicle in which the immune system acts, I quote one of my favorite system, a healthy lymphatic system. A lot of the things that you're trying to do with all of your supplements and food are not happening due to the fact that the lymphatic system is not bliss therein and it transports vitamin D. And vitamin D is healthy.

So even just like taking vitamin D supplements isn't even enough, you have to make sure the lymphatic system is working well enough to be utilizing it, absorbing it, distributing it, all that.

Yeah, most people that like take is one of the reasons why, you know, it's a cancer preventative. It's one of the biggest cancer preventatives we've got along with liver health. And a lot of people don't realize that without a good lymphatic, a high volume of vitamin D and their vitamin D doesn't go up, their lymphatic system sucks. They're sitting on that system. A healthy lymphatic system. A lot of the things that you're trying to do with all of your supple couch all day, they're not moving. They might be sitting at a desk like we're doing right now, you know, like too much, not getting, you know, we, we are sedentary right now and it is, it is showing. Like I, I got up this morning at 7:00 and went to the gym. Okay. The time just changed and in my head I'm like, I know it's six o'. Clock. Okay, yeah. Lenses, food are not happening due to the fact that the lymphatic system is not healthy.

So even just like taking vitamin D supplements isn't even enough, you have to make sure the lymphatic system is working well enough to be utilizing it, absorbing it, distributing it, all that.

Yeah, most people that like take like a high volume of vitamin D and their vitamin D doesn't go up, their lymphatic system sucks. They're sitting on the, it is six and I had to kick my butt to go there, to go lift weights. And I, you know, I walk like a half a mile on the treadmill to warm up and Go lift weights. And then, you know, as soon as I get a chance this afternoon, gonna go for a walk. And I personally couch all day. They're not moving. They might be sitting at a desk like we're doing right now, you know, like too much. I believe that on your busiest day is when you should do it.

Yeah.

You know, like, I could have all the. I'm not getting, you know, we, we are sedentary right now, and it is, it is showing. Like, I. I got up this morning at 7:00 and went to the gym. Okay. The time just changed. And in my head I'm like, I know it's six o'. Clock. Okay.

Yeah.

Reasons why I can't do it. But you gotta do it. You gotta move your arms, you gotta move your legs, you gotta move your lymphatic system. You know, those vibration plates are very. I saw a lady on the Viper, a vibration plate holding her Chihuahua. Oh, my God. I laugh so hard. She's like, yeah, we're moving our lymph system. I don't know how much Chihuahua likes it, but good for you. It is six. And I had to kick my butt to go there to go lift weights. And I, you know, I walk like a half a mile on the treadmill to warm up and go lift weights. And then, you know, as soon as I get a chance this afternoon, gonna go for a walk. And I personally. Yeah, I mean, we have to move it. And so I think that learning about the systems of the body that are the, in my opinion, the most important. They're all important, but the ones that are the cause, because remember that every behavior, the issue that you deal with, every physical condition is a symptom. People treat it like it. Believe that on your busiest day is when you should do it.

Yeah.

You know, like, I could have all the reasons why I can't do it, but you got to do it. You got to move your arms, you got to move your legs, you got to move your lymphatic system. You know, those vibration plates are very. I saw a lady on the Viper of vibration plate holding her Chihuahua. Oh, my God, I laughed so hard. She's like, yeah, we're moving our lymph system. A cause. No, it's a symptom of organ. Poor organ health. That's poor nervous system health, poor endocrine health, poor liver health, poor kidney health, poor lymphatic health, poor cardiac health. Like, right? So, like, it's a, it's a symptom. And you know, your mouth is kind of like an organ as well. Likes it but good for you. But yeah, but yeah, I mean we have to move it. And so I think that learning about the systems of the body that are the. In my opinion the most important. They're all important, but the ones that are the cause because remember that every behavior, the issue that you deal with, every so. And health trickles down. So like most of the things that we have are a symptom. Like bad teeth are a symptom of kidney weakness. You know, poor eyesight is a symptom of liver stagnation. So obviously my liver has been working since I was a kid because I've had these since I was a kid. But I would love to try to get off the glass. Physical condition is a symptom. People treat it like it's a cause. No, it's a symptom of organ poor organ health. That's nervous system health, poor endocrine health, poor liver health, poor kidney health, poor lymphatic health, poor cardiac health. Like right, so like this. But then I'm like what, what do I do in the meantime? I don't even know I am. My glasses, I've had them. But yeah, so I think organ health is like the key component of the book because in my opinion everything else is a symptom.

One thing that you mentioned, and you probably know like exactly what page you said it on, but you mentioned like dogs who spend a lot of time like it's a.

It's a symptom. And you know, your mouth is kind of like an organ as well. So. And health trickles down. So like most of the things that we have are a symptom. Like bad teeth are a symptom of kidney weakness. You know, poor eyesight is a symptom of liver stagnation. So obviously my liver has been.

Their sympathetic nervous system is always firing, right? So those are the dogs that are more in that flight or fight maybe the more reactive dogs, whatever the case might be. You said one important organ to look at into and to support is the kidney. Why is that? How is the kidney like directly related to that? And then how what are. And obviously this is a general question at the very end, but what sort.

Of things can we working Since I was a kid, because I've had these since I was a kid. But I would love to try to.

Get off the glass do to be supporting the kidneys.

So fear based behavior. But then I'm like, what, what do I do in the meantime? I don't even know I am my Glasses, I've had them. But yeah. So I think organ health is like the key here. So when I get a dog that's afraid of thunderstorms or that himself or reactive or falls over component of the book. Because my opinion, everything else is a symptom. One thing that you meant repeating when he sees people or any of the anything like that's a major fear based behavior. One, I figure out their energetics. Number two, we work with the kidney, okay? We stabilize the nervous system, but we work with the kidney because fear comes from the kidneys, okay. And it has a lot to do with minerals.

And you probably know like exactly what page you said it on. But you mentioned like dogs who spend a lot of time like their sympathetic nervous system is always firing, right? So those are the dogs that are more in that flight or fight. Maybe the mortals are depleted.

You're not getting the trace minerals that.

You used to get reactive dogs. Whatever the case might be. You said one important organ to look at into and to support is the kidney. Why is that? How is the kidney like directly related.

From anything including our dogs? And I have found that, you know, aggression comes from liver health, so. And fear comes from kidney health. Grief settles in the lungs. These are traditional Chinese medicine principles. I use diagnostics of Chinese medicine, but I'm not a TCM herbalist.

But to that and then how what are obviously the general question at the very end, but what sort of things can we do to be supporting the kidneys?

So fear based behavior. So when I get a dog that's afraid of thunderstorms or himself or reactive or falls over, it rings true every time. Every time. I always, always repeating when he sees people or any of anything like that's a major fear base. They support the kidneys and kidneys need minerals to be healthy. They need minerals, they need circulation, they need stimulation and they need support. My biggest kidney remedy that I usually start out with is nettles. It's high in minerals. It is a systemic remedy. It's pretty neutral. Pretty neutral. And it, you know, most dogs can use it. It's drying behavior. One, I figure out their energetics. Number two, we work with the kidney, okay? We stabilize the nervous system, but we work with the kidney because fear comes from the kidneys, okay. And it has a lot to do with minerals. Our soil. Most dogs are damp. You know, if your dog starts to get dry on, on nettles, then you need to add something to add moisture or take them off the nettles and work with something else. But I like Nettles for that because it's, they're, they're ready, they're, you know, they're easy to source and they, they're gentle and they really help get rid of fear based behaviors.

Interesting. So interesting. Again, a whole nother layer for me to know as a behaviorist. Right. Like I'm normally talking to people about nutrition and different things like that and you know, trying to get rid of inflammation in the body and to know that, you know, to be even better, to be even more educated, more knowledge to look at these organs, these organ systems and what exactly you know, they're doing to support or not support our body in the best way to get these sort of behaviors. That's. My mind is just blown. I'm just like sitting here with my mouth open the entire time because I'm just like drinking it all in. It's so amazing.

Yeah. Well, you are a young woman that is going to take on the behavior world. And the more that you can know about how the body works, the better. That way you can apply that nutrition so that, you know, a dog, here's the thing, A dog can eat the best diet on the planet, but if they can't absorb it because they're in fight or flight, right. Then it's not worth much. And a dog that is afraid of everything, you know, food therapy is good. You know, kidney food therapy and also herbs that help with the kidney and mushrooms that help the kidney. A lot of those fear based behaviors will dissipate. And I love flower essences for behavior. And you know, because every physical manifestation has an emotional component. And so a lot of times when you deal with the emotional component of a physical ailment, that physical ailment goes away too. So there's just so many great ways to deal holistically, deal with behavior and sickness.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

So, you know, your dog has a lot of fear based behaviors. Fear usually starts in the kidney. So let's look at ways that we can support the kidney while we're doing training exercises. You know, I am a big proponent of telling people, hello, your dog's an anxious mess. Let's look at you.

Love that. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Are you, do you guys, are you anxious? Do you fight a lot? Do you, do you have a stressful job? Let's just get that out of the way. You know, it's, and just develop your conversation in that. This is a multiple. It's a kind of like a five fold issue. One dog owner. Right. I, I said this before, but I'll say It again, like, in a short version. When I was in my 20s, I had a rottweiler, and I got that rottweiler because I thought it was cute. And that was very irresponsible of me. Okay. Because you have a dog for a very long time. My dog bit somebody, and I hired a trainer. That trainer walked into my home. My dog went and laid down on the couch. I thought, what is going on here? Because my dog. My dog was a complete butt head to anyone that came into my house. We had to, like, do, like, things. And she looked me straight in the face and she said, this is all you, 100%. And I had a good diet going on at the time, and I wanted to cry, but I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. So I'm gonna listen to this woman and went for walks and she told me. Showed me my body language. She told me that I was afraid and that Itchy was protecting me because I smelled like adrenaline and cortisol. Because she's like, my middle name is Rita. I did not go by Rita at the time. And my real name is Christina. And she's like, christina, look at you. Like, look at what you're doing. She goes, your hand is an extension of your energy into that leash. And you are. You're. Whatever you're doing is what she's responding to.

Mm.

And you are afraid. You're afraid she's gonna bite somebody. You're afraid. You know, all of this stuff, right? And I was like. And I probably needed kidney support at the time. And, you know, that was a lot to take in. However it. And she said, you know, the beautiful thing about it is that if it's your issue, then you can change it. And all you have to do is change who you're being with your dog and stop the thought that she's gonna bite everyone. Because when you do that, like, I was in fight or flight the entire time I was with my dog. Anytime outside of my. Anytime someone was coming over or somebody was outside with me or I was on. On a leash.

Mm.

And it all started when my dog growled at me. Okay. Like, I said, I got her because she was cute. Yeah. And I had. I was in way over my head. And. But it was amazing, the difference in her behavior. Once I was unafraid, like, when I stopped being afraid, she turned into a completely different dog. And also, like, when people came over, I just had them ignore her until she settled down, and then they could go over and pet her. And if she got Excited. They ignored her again. And she just really figured out that, okay, whenever I am calm, I get attention. You know, dogs aren't stupid. They're so eat. They just. They. They do what works. Right, Right.

So they're so beyond us in that sense. Yeah.

Oh, my God. They do what works. And like, so I think that any behavior, and I learned that early on, is that most behaviors are our behaviors, and a lot of them can be nutritional deficiencies. Right. And we exacerbate that stress because the nutritional deficiencies usually come from being stressed all the time because we're unsafe. And so when you deal with the nervous system first, then you can really make strides. Then you deal with the lymphatic system, then you deal with the liver system, then you deal with the digestive system. And when you get those all online, a lot of those issues, problems, sicknesses, they fall to the wayside.

The body doesn't want to be this way.

No, you cannot heal when you are stressed. It is not full. So. Yeah. You know, sometimes sleep is the only time that some people are not stressed out.

Yeah.

When they are physically sleeping. That's it.

Yeah.

Right. So think of all the times when people are in fight or flight and when dogs are just feeding off of it. And so we just have to. We have to look at ourselves. So, yes, you can tell someone that we need to work on the kidney because you're the expert, they're hiring you because they don't know what they're doing. And you step into that. Just step into it, like, okay, I'm going to learn about what's going on in the body. When dogs are really afraid, or if your dog's aggressive, they have some liver issues. Right. My dog, Itchy, had liver issues because she was in flight, fight or flight all the time because I was constantly afraid of her, so I smelled unsafe. So her liver just wasn't working the way it was. As soon as we. I calmed myself down and I got my. My psyche together with my dog, she was no longer aggressive.

Wow.

Yeah, it. That was a life changer.

That's amazing. I have similar conversations like that with some of my clients because, you know, it's. It's. It's a trust thing. Right. Well, I. The way that I communicate it, and I think the way that most people understand it is it's trust. Like, if you. If you experience something with your dog that makes you lose trust in them. So now you're anxious and stressed and agitated, and now your dog's learning that they can't Trust you either. So then it's just this really bad feeling feedback system of, like, no trust between the two. But when you start implementing, when you start showing up, when you start, you know, calming yourself down, being that leader that you're. And I use the word leader very, very loosely because then we got. Now we're in a whole alpha dominance hierarchy bullshit that I'm not. I'm not. I don't buy into. But when you show up, as, you know, the presence of peace and of calmness and serenity for your dog, now they start to trust you more. And now they're doing less of that behavior. Now you're starting to trust them even more. And it's just it. I see it in so many different ways. Not only just what you're talking about energetically. Right. But more of the manifestation of what behavior is.

Yeah, exactly. You know, when you start giving off, they will match your frequency. They're gonna match it. Right. If you're being a stressed out idiot, they're gonna be a stressed out idiot. Right. They're just gonna be like, yeah, I'm. I'm matching you. Like, if you start yelling at them, they are gonna be stressed out.

And we do it the same way as them. Right. They're barking and we're like, stop barking.

Like, yeah, you know, so. Yes. You know, it is true. And so I just think we need to help calm ourselves down.

Yeah, calm ourselves down. Support the nervous system.

Yes.

That's amazing. Rita Hogan, thank you so freaking much. I mean, I sent you a list. Everyone. Before Rita and I were talking, I had sent her a list of different things, and she's like, we're not going to get through half of them. And we sure did not, because there's so much information that is in the book that is in Rita's head. So please, by all means, go buy the book. It's amazing. But, Rita, how can the listeners follow you? Or, I mean, you're doing. You're doing book tours. Right now, the majority of my listeners are in Texas, and I noticed that you're not coming to Texas. But I am coming to Texas. You are coming to Texas When?

Yes, I think I am coming to Texas in August.

Do you want to come to San Antonio? We could talk after.

We could talk after. I think I'm coming to, like, outside of Austin.

Okay. San Antonio's on. We'll talk after. But right now, where can people learn more about you? Do you do consultations?

Like, how do I do consultations? But right now, this year, the best Way to get a hold of me. And you can send in a consultation thing. And I work with a few of my students. The women that I trained for four and a half years, they. A lot of them turned into quite good herbalists. So I can refer you to them. But if you want to work with me specifically, we can try to figure that out. But also, like, if you buy the book, right. I have a Q and a group. It's $25 a month, which is a lot cheaper than my protocols. And I can coach you through working with the book and your dog. You know, I answer questions in there non stop. It's. It's atmycaneverybalism.com. that's my teaching website to my school. I have oral health courses there. I have a course on fleas, phytoembryonic therapy, my level 2 herbalism courses on there and my subscription group. Also my podcast, free podcast. Dogs are individuals. You can listen to it wherever you find that. And then I'm on Instagram and Facebook as canine herbalist. And yeah, those are like the main things that I'm doing.

Cool. Do you have a course on fear and aggression or behavior in general?

I do not.

Well, when you do have one of those, I'm gonna be the first one to sign up.

Chicken lime right now and I'm starting my level two course and I think my next one after that will be flower a flower essence training.

But beautiful.

Yeah, those. That's basically a aggression and behavior course. So. But yeah, sounds good to know. You should literally show up at your appointments with a belt that has like 32 flower essences on it.

And just one at a time. Let's see which one works the best. That's amazing. Rita Hogan, thank you so freaking much for being here with me today. You are amazing and I enjoyed every minute of it. I hope you. I hope all the listeners enjoyed it as well. Go find Rita. Get connected with her on the medias and all of the different things. Buy her book and I will see you guys at the next podcast episode. Have a good one. Bye Bye. Now that might be the end of the episode, but the fun doesn't have to stop here. Follow us on social media. I'd love to connect with you. We have quite a few social media platforms for nutrition and holistic pet care tips. Follow me on TikTok and Instagram. Instagram. Steph the prodog mom. You can find fun training tips on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. Up and away SA if you're in San Antonio and you want to bring your dog to us for boarding, training, socialization and nutrition. Come find us. But if you're not in San Antonio, we do training and nutrition sessions virtually. Yes, they can be just as effective, I promise. Please rate, review and subscribe to my podcast on whatever platform you listen on. And please, please, please share with a friend. The positive reinforcement of knowing people actually listen to this and find it valuable helps motivate me to keep on recording. We'll see you guys at the next episode.