So You Want to Be a Canine Herbalist | Shorts

Hi, this is Rita Hogan, and welcome to the Dogs are Individuals podcast. I'm a clinical canine herbalist, and I've been practicing for over 20 years. This podcast is all about your dog through an herbal lens. So let's get to it and dive right in.

Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of shorts. This episode is about my new herbalism course, sort of, but it's also about those of you that want to practice using herbs, those of you that want to get better at using plants and herbs and want to know more. I definitely want to talk about that. And first, I want to thank my sponsor, and that is Earth Buddy, earthbuddy pet. So earthbuddypet.com Sean is the lovely owner of Earthbuddy, and wow, you know, he grows all of his own hemp. It's all organically grown. Love his products, love his tinctures, love everything about this company. And what's awesome is they've given my listeners a 20% off coupon. That's a lot. That's a lot for a maker. I know that I don't make a lot of money on CBD tinctures, and so offering 20% off for me is a big deal, but Sean is giving every listener that I have 20% of off. 20. I'm sorry, 20% off of everything on his site through the coupon. Herbal Buddy 20. All lowercase, all one word with a 2. 0. Herbal Buddy 20. So check his website out and see what they have to offer and know that their CBD treats have been tested for glyphosate and 0. Just know that. So that is something that I love to brag about for them because I don't see a lot of companies out there doing glyphosate testing and publishing it. So just wonderful work, Sean. Wonderful work. Okay, let's talk about herbalism and, you know, working with plants in general. So I just debuted my canine herbalism level one course, and I had a lovely person write into the podcast. Okay. Jennifer. Jennifer, are you are listening. This is for you. Jennifer writes into the podcast. Hi. I'm thinking about taking your canine level one course. Will this make me a canine herbalist? Unfortunately, Jennifer, the answer is no. So I'm in my going on my 23rd year of learning herbalism for dogs, and I feel like I've just scratched the surface. But the question really is, you know, where do you want to go? Do you want to be a practitioner? Do you want to be a professional like myself? Do you want to be an herbalist, or do you want to just Learn how to use herbs with your pets. You know, more proficiently. You want to know how to dose things. You want to know if things you know, how you tell if things are working. How do you tell what to use? Do you want to avoid your supplement graveyard? Do you want to learn more about your dog's energetics? You know, that's definitely what my level one course is about. But it is a foundational course. So it is going to be the gateway for a lot of my other level two, level three, and level four canine herbalism courses. And that is the pathway to becoming a canine herbalist. So the first two levels will be, you know, videos and written lessons, but the level three and level four will be more interactive and only a certain amount of students at a time. So those are going to be different, but they're not going to be published for another couple of years. And here's the rub, okay? So it takes time. It takes time to learn about plants. You cannot learn how to be an herbalist in a weekend or just taking one small course. You know, my colleague and mentor, Seja Popham, has the school of evolutionary herbalism for humans. And I will tell you, his courses are just unbelievably awesome. He has this program called the Vital herbalist program. And if you want to fast track yourself and into becoming an herbalist, I highly recommend that program. You know, my programs are not published yet, except for my level one. And if, you know, if you want to do the level one herbalism course and then get yourself into that course. He doesn't open up registration. I think he opens up maybe twice a year. But it's an online course and I highly recommend it. It's. It's wonderful, and it will give you a holistic view of herbalism. But learning herbalism, especially canine herbalism, you need to know anatomy, you need to know definitely physiology. You need to know how the body works. My introduction course is gonna give you an overview of how the body works. The important things that I think you need to know in order to understand some of those bigger issues that might be going on with your dog at home. For those of you that are already practicing something like nutrition or holistic coaching, this course is going to help a lot. Along with my book that's coming out in the fall of this year. Finally my book is coming out. Finally heard from my publishers. We're going to start working on that this month. But my book will help immensely as well. But the process is part of this. It's not. I want to have all These skills tomorrow, if that's the case. I don't think herbalism is for you because it is a process. You know, I was making a comment on Dr. Odette Suiter's Facebook mentioned. She mentioned some course that was $97 in animal naturopathy. I've seen the ad, like, that's just absolutely nuts and roll, naturopathy. I, in my understanding, you have to have a doctorate. You know, it's a doctorate of naturopathy. I'm not, I'm. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I. I don't know. I'm not a naturopath. I'm an herbalist. But the thing I was commenting on is that, you know, early on I had to learn anatomy, I had to learn physiology, I had to learn how some chemistry. I had to learn interactions, synergy, formulation, how to make medicine in general with herbs, which I will have a course for that. Not this year, next year, but I will have a course for making medicine. My current Level 1 course deals with making infusions and decoctions and how to use tinctures and how to use glycerates. It does include those types of things or making a poultice or a rinse. It doesn't include how to make tinctures. I will have recipes for salves, maybe some videos on there. But again, takes time. And you have to get to know the plants. And that doesn't mean from your living room. You got to get out there in nature and introduce yourself and get acquainted with them and look at them and touch them and taste them and be with them. That's what being an herbalist is about. And that's what my level, three, four, and possibly a professional level of five. It'll be a three or a four to five year program. Yeah, A half a decade, you know, I would say, is the minimal to becoming an herbalist. Can you up your game in your current practice? Absolutely. I mean, phenomenally. And it's up to you to learn more about plants, you know, to recommend plants to other people. Make sure you know those plants, make sure you understand them, make sure you know what cancels each other out. Make sure you know what pharmaceuticals you're not supposed to give them with. Make sure you know that, you know, like I was just talking about Maitake on my last episode of the podcast and how Maitake can lower blood pressure, which is great for a dog with high blood pressure, but what does it do with a dog with low blood pressure or low blood sugar? It can be at a detriment so you need to know these things. I do have a program called monthly monographs on canineherbalism.com and you can learn about one plant every month. But I encourage you, when you do learn about a plant, order some of that plant, taste its leaves, taste its medicine, order a tincture, put it under your tongue, see, See how it makes you feel before ever giving it to your dog. You want to be acquainted with these, these plants. That's one of my biggest things about essential oils. And you know, I don't mind essential oils. I don't think they're sustainable. They do offer good medicine in many ways. Absolutely. I've seen them create miracles, but I've seen homeopathy create miracles, and I've seen regular herbs create miracles and the entire natural kingdom create miracles, you know, but essential oils, there's a lot of people practicing with essential oils that could not pick that plant out of a lineup. Right. They have no relationship with that plant. And they're telling people to swallow it and take it and pour it all over your body and all those things and, and no offense to any of those practitioners, but you need to get to know your plants. Essential oils are the strongest form of herbal medicine. You need to get to know your plants. And I do a lot of self selection with essential oils and high aromatic plants that have a lot of aroma with my dogs. My level one course will cover self selection. But again, we have to be. We have to be, have grace with ourselves. We have to calm down. We have to let go of any regret that you haven't started this work prior to now. You know, I went through that like, oh God, in 2002, I was like, why didn't I do this when I was in my 20s? I could be so farther ahead. But you know what? I was right where I needed to be. Right where I needed to be. And so are you. Start now. You know, time goes by so quickly. It'll be a blink and three years have gone by, you know, so just pat yourself on the back, give yourself a hug, and breathe. So the answer to your question, no, this level one course will not make you into a canine herbalist, but it will put you on the path to become one if you want to put in the work to do. So just take a deep breath. I love these shorts. They're so much fun, right? So much fun. I love them because I'm just rambling on here and you know, to and fro and everywhere. So here is some news you can use.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Dogs Are Individuals. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave.

A review in your podcast app.

And don't forget, sharing is caring. So if you love Dogs Are Individuals Podcast, share it with your friends and.

Family who love dogs.

This will help me so much. And remember, as a listener, I appreciate you much. Thanks to Resonant Media, my podcast production team. This podcast is produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. Any questions, email the show, go to k9herbalist.com, click podcast contact in the menu and then fill out that form and I'll answer any questions here online. Okay, so thank you so much for listening to this episode of Dogs Are Individuals Podcast and I'm gonna talk to.

You in our next episode.

The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for veterinary care. This podcast doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor, veterinarian or healthcare provider first before starting anything new.

And that includes herbs.

I'm not a doctor and I don't treat disease or prescribe 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.