I promised I'd write about the last alternative treatment that I use for my dogs: homeopathic medicine. I'm totally comfortable with someone calling this wackadoo and weirdo, because even I am not comfortable with the explanation given by proponents of the treatment. I'm fine with the first part, in which preparations are given that are believed to cause a diminished version of the very symptoms you are trying to treat. This is much like the vaccination principle in allopathic medicine, and I have no problem with it. It's the second part that loses me, in which the preparation is so heavily diluted that in some cases, there are virtually no molecules left of the original substance. It was explained to me that it works because the energy field around the water molecules has been changed. Oh Read More
Alternative Medicine for Dogs
A comment from a reader inspired this post, about "alternative" medicine for dogs (see the comments for April 15th). In her comment, she expressed great disappointment that I bought into "...wackadoo absolutely scientifically unsupported claptrap." This is not the first time I've been told that my interest in Chinese medicine, acupuncture, chiropracty and natural foods is a kind of a betrayal to my scientific background. And yet, it is exactly my background in science and research that causes me to make the choices that I do for my own health and for that of my dogs. One of the things that one learns when getting a Ph.D. is that "science" is a fluid creature, moving this way and that, depending on the state of our knowledge (and the culture) at the time. You also learn that there is a Read More
Dogs Love Bones; New Lambs
Ahhh spring. Finally the weather is mild enough to let the dogs lie outside and chew on bones. I just love watching my dogs chew on real, fresh bones. Of course, I would never give my dogs cooked bones (I know most of you know already that cooked bones are brittle and tend to splinter. Don't ever give them to your dog.), but I love giving them the kind of fresh, raw bones that are safe--the large joint bones or large long bones from beef are my preference. The first time I watched dogs chew on real bones I was astounded. Okay, that sounds pretty strong, but I had not anticipated how much exercise and skill it takes to chew on a bone. All of the parts of a dog's mouth, including the jaw muscles and different types of teeth are engaged in tearing, pulling, grinding and chewing. It was an Read More
Speaking for Spot Now Available
As you probably know, we don't offer a lot of books by other authors on our website, but we've just put up Dr. Nancy Kay's book, Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life. There's just so much good about this book, and it is such an important resource for those of us who consider our dogs to be family. I love Nancy's thoughtful and compassionate voice, and couldn't agree more with her encouragement to all of us to be active advocates for our pets' veterinary care. I will admit that there are times I've longed for the "good old days" when medical decisions were simpler--it seems most of my dogs develop complicated, confusing ailments that elicit completely different recommendations from vets, and create tremendous angst when it comes time to Read More
What are You Grateful For? and… House Training Dogs
Every morning I start my day writing a list of things that I am grateful for. Sometimes they are big things (Jim, my dogs, opportunities to learn, grow and improve relationships between people and animals) and sometimes they are small (the plaintive Wooo Heee song of courting Chickadees, the deep, purple blue of the first spring flowers). This morning I surprised myself, by adding: I am grateful that none of my dogs potty in the house. House training and elimination control is like health, isn't it? If everything is fine, you don't really think about it much. But when it's not, it can be overwhelming. I went through two years living with old dogs who simply couldn't control themselves. Pippy Tay lost control of her anus in her last year of life (at age 15) and I picked up poop at least Read More
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