Your Dog Is Not A Wolf

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.

Hey, everyone, this is Rita Hogan. We are live from Charlotte, North Carolina. I am doing kind of a work vacay. A little bit of work, a little bit of R and R. Getting ready for the next round of events for the Herbal Dog Tour. Still going strong, having a great time. This past week I spent with Billy Hochman of Green Juju. We went to, like, goat Farm, the Green Juju Amish Goat Farm. That was a lot of fun. I was actually teaching the man who runs the farm what kind of plants were in his field and how to use them. That was super fun. He wants a copy of my book. How lovely is that? We had a blast. Billy showed me around Lancaster or Lancashire, I don't know what they call it, something like that. It was actually beautiful. I really loved it and I'm probably going to go back again to, to explore the town and the architecture. It's got beautiful architecture and I was surprised. So that was fun. And then I went over to D.C. and Tacoma, part of D.C. and had a great time. We did two events. I did one in Gainesville, Virginia at Ms. Kipples and then I did another at the Big Bad Wolf in Takoma Park. So fun abound. Had great time. People were awesome. I hope I can meet all of you during my tour. Many of you I might have met already. So very excited about this and special thanks to my sponsors, Earthbuddy, of course, Green juju, real mushrooms. Dr. Ruth Roberts. Goodness gracious. Feed Real Fido's Bone Broth, Coco Therapy, Innovative Pet Lab. So many people to thank for supporting my podcast and supporting this tour of mine. Our new sponsor is Pug and Hound Apothecary. Krista and Jeff are the proprietors there. Krista Fox and she's a vet tech and has been a vet tech for a very long time. And she has a wonderful, wonderful store in Geneva, Wisconsin, but she also ships nationwide. And a couple of products that I want to feature for her is she has Madoricide, which I've discussed before. It's a flea and tick defense spray. I love Madoricide. You know, it's a good alternative to the nasties, but they have the extra defense spray and then they have the regular. I find that both of them work really well. And then our friends at Wolf Creek Flea and Tick defense. Krista sells that. She sells the tick mitt. I love the tick mitt. Also, Project Suds love Project Suds. Flea and Tick shampoo. They have the little bar there. I use that on my own. Dogs love, love, love. And then the tickless tags. So my dog Gertie wears a tickless and it cuts down the ticks. When we travel, I find that, you know, it doesn't work for every dog, but when it works, it works, works really well. And it's definitely worth a try. I love the different types of ultrasonic tags when my dog does not seem bothered by them because sometimes dogs can be bothered by them. Okay, again, pugandhound.com so Pug and hound. Okay, so what are we talking about for our short this week? I was at an event and someone asked a question about our, you know, what would our dogs. Can our dogs pick out energetics in the wild? Okay. And here's the thing about that. So our dogs are not in the wild. Most of us are feeding commercial brands of food or putting our ingredients together through commercial sources, right? And so that makes energetics super important because we are giving a lot of the same foods all the time, right? And if you have a cool dog, you want to give a foundation of warming foods, then you can rotate different cool sources in the diet, you know, a few times a week. That's fine, perfectly fine. Remember, the sicker your dog is, the more sensitive they are going to be to that energetic. But when we're looking at dogs in the wild, right, wolves, right? One, our domesticated dogs are not wolves. They suffer from sedentary lifestyles because, well, we suffer from sedentary lifestyles. We have to keep that in mind. And wolves in the wild eat, you know, they eat deer species, right? Different types of deer, like white tailed deer, red deer, mule deer. In certain areas, they eat elk and then moose, caribou. They work as a team to bring down an animal and share it amongst themselves. Depending on their hierarchy, they also have been known to eat bison or a cow, wild boar. And then, you know, they definitely go for the, you know, the super young, the old, the injured, the weakened, you know, these types of individuals. But then they have what's called, you know, secondary prey, right? That's supplementary and that's like beavers, of course, rabbits and hares, they're a little different. All types of rodents. All types of rodents. Birds, especially birds that nest on the ground. They also can eat their eggs. Some of them eat fish occasionally, depending on where they're Living. They might steal fish from, like, a bear. They also eat small carnivores like, you know, raccoons, possum, foxes. I don't know if opossums are carnivores, so don't quote me on the carnivore part of that. But they have been known to eat possums, and they also eat according to the season. Right. So it's not so important that they're considering energetics because they're having such a. A varied diet. And also they are eating what's available in winter. They're eating what's available in spring, summer, fall. I'd love to see our dogs eating this way. In fact, that's a kind of a pet project of mine coming out in a couple years. But the issue is, well, healing your dog according to the seasons. But the issue is, this is not what our dogs are doing. Our dogs are eating the same foods day in and day out, you know, or the same five proteins day in and day out. They're not eating according to the seeds. Well, most dogs aren't. Right. So we have to consider energetics. And it's also. It's just very important that you don't compare your dog to a wild dog. Wild dogs and wolves also do a lot of fasting. Okay? They do a lot of fasting when they can't get a meal. And I know that some people fast their dogs maybe once or twice a week, but it's not the norm once again. So more energetics comes into play. And wolves are not dying from the same comorbidities, the same problems conditions that our domestic dogs are dying from. We don't give wild dogs, and wolves don't get heartworm. They don't have heartworm medicine. They don't have flea and tick medicine. They don't have autoimmune disease, hyperthyroid. They're not spayed and neutered. They're living a free life. What they do die of is being shot, trapped, killed by hunters. Right? So a lot of them are not living out their full potential in the wild. Right now, wolves are being killed across the spectrum in all 50 states. And some states are trying to preserve wolves, while others are completely annihilating them and messing with our ecosystems. And now we're getting an overgrowth of deer. And as you know it, when you're in the east, like I am right now, ticks. So I just want, like, you know, I just wanted to talk a little bit about the whole idea that dogs can pick out their own energetics. Yes. I don't think anyone has ever done a study on this, right. As far as being wild and in the wild, I don't think anyone's ever done a study on that. I couldn't find one for sure. And different wolves will eat different things and prefer different things, but when push comes to shove, they'll eat almost anything. But again, they're not eating the same things day in and day out. And different things are available in. In different seasons. They're also eating plant material. They can be known to eat fruit, a wild fruit, like wild berries, wild blueberries. So comparing our dogs to wolves, I don't think is a good idea for the conversation of energetics, okay? Because that's not what they're doing. The domesticated dog is what I'm talking about. You know, our babies, they're not doing that. So energetics definitely needs to come into play when you're dealing with, like, three proteins or four proteins all year long, because we have to deal with what's commercially available. If your dog is super healthy and energetically flexible, they can have a lot more. But again, still not the norm. A lot of our dogs are suffering physically and mentally. And, you know, my colleagues and I are trying to bring about awareness to this and bring about change, and that's what this, you know, this podcast is all about. A little ranting, a little change, you know, bringing awareness to subjects that might be of some importance, like, can dogs eat energetically in the wild? Again, I've never lived with dogs in the wild. I can only go by the research of what they eat. They do eat a lot of rodents, you know, lots of rodents, moles, moles, gophers, different types of little guys out there in the wild. Rabbits are another big prey animal for wolves and different types of carnivores. So I think that, you know, we just need to breathe and try to do the best we can with what we've got and what we've got now, you know, we've got duck, turkey, we do have venison, we do have bison. We do have, like, different types of fish, cod, mackerel, sardines, salmon, mussels, different types of mollusks that some people feed their dogs. Most molluscs are warming to, very warming. And, you know, chicken, beef. I think I mentioned beef and bison. But, you know, the different types of commercially available foods, that's what we have to choose from. So the goal is to improve organ health and improve energetic flexibility so that your dog can tolerate more, a more diverse diet. But again, look at their energetics and feed a foundational diet with rotating other proteins in and out of the diet, rotating the veg and using the herbal dog, rotating the herbs to support the different body systems so that your dog has longevity and is thriving during that longevity thanks for listening to this episode.

Of Dogs Are Individuals. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in your podcast Apple. 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 going to talk to you in our next episode. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for veterinary care. This podcast doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor, veterinarian or healthcare provider first before starting anything new. And that includes herbs. I'm not a doctor and I don't treat disease or prescribe 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 the 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.