Bridget Gronow  BSYA(Hom), D.I.Hom. MBRCP
Veterinary Homeopath & Homotoxicologist.
Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire.

Post from: Natural Dog Food

Time and time again when clients have changed their dogs diet to a more natural based food, the problems have diminished considerably, and this coupled with some training and management strategies eliminate the problems altogether.  So many foods these days are full of chemicals, unsavoury by-products of meat (not actually meat itself!) preservatives and many other unnatural substances, it is impossible for it not to have an effect on the physiological make up of our beloved pets.

Some indicators of possible diet related behaviour may be hyperactivity (this is the most common one due to the inability of the dogs digestive system to process the unnatural substances), excessive drinking, excessive itching and scratching especially at the top of the tail, eating grass, fibre based destructive tendencies such as toilet rolls and tissues, coprophagia (eating faeces) digestive problems (constipation or diarrhoea) allergic reactions, flatulence, inconsistent motions.
There are now a vast number of manufactured dog foods available to pet owners and many of these are produced with sales in mind as opposed to canine health and nutrition.  They are manufactured to appeal to the owners by looking appetising and colourful in order to increase trade. Unless pet owners are knowledgeable in correctly analysing the content of the food, it is likely they won’t even know what is actually in the food they are buying.

There is much controversy surrounding the subject of manufactured dog foods, and whether they are actually healthy for our dogs, or whether they in fact contain many unhealthy, unnatural ingredients.  It has become increasingly common over recent years for diet to have an undeniably extensive effect on the behaviour of so called ‘problem dogs’.  I would advise any owner who is remotely interested in what they are actually feeding their dogs, to investigate thoroughly the ingredients and manufacturing process that produces the dog foods they buy.

Tru Nature recommends All in One by Natural Dog Food Company for its natural, holistic food providing natural well balanced nutrition for our dogs.

Michelle Masters
Tru-Nature
Halstead, Essex
0845 2579501
info@tru-nature.com
www.trunature.com

Post from: Natural Dog Food

It is common to find many people who suffer allergies or reactions from eating certain types of food and drinks.  Modern medicine has developed significantly to realise that the chemicals used to produce and preserve many processed foods, can have considerable effects on the human body, mind and behaviour – this is true also for our dogs.  As a trainer and behaviour consultant, this is always an important area for concern when dealing with canine behaviour problems and diet is always checked very early on in the consultation, as it always has a significant effect on the success of eliminating problems.

Time and time again when clients have changed their dogs diet to a more natural based food, the problems have diminished considerably, and this coupled with some training and management strategies eliminate the problems altogether.  So many foods these days are full of chemicals, unsavoury by-products of meat (not actually meat itself!) preservatives and many other unnatural substances, it is impossible for it not to have an effect on the physiological make up of our beloved pets.

Some indicators of possible diet related behaviour may be hyperactivity (this is the most common one due to the inability of the dogs digestive system to process the unnatural substances), excessive drinking, excessive itching and scratching especially at the top of the tail, eating grass, fibre based destructive tendencies such as toilet rolls and tissues, coprophagia (eating faeces) digestive problems (constipation or diarrhoea) allergic reactions, flatulence, inconsistent motions.
There are now a vast number of manufactured dog foods available to pet owners and many of these are produced with sales in mind as opposed to canine health and nutrition.  They are manufactured to appeal to the owners by looking appetising and colourful in order to increase trade. Unless pet owners are knowledgeable in correctly analysing the content of the food, it is likely they won’t even know what is actually in the food they are buying.

There is much controversy surrounding the subject of manufactured dog foods, and whether they are actually healthy for our dogs, or whether they in fact contain many unhealthy, unnatural ingredients.  It has become increasingly common over recent years for diet to have an undeniably extensive effect on the behaviour of so called ‘problem dogs’.  I would advise any owner who is remotely interested in what they are actually feeding their dogs, to investigate thoroughly the ingredients and manufacturing process that produces the dog foods they buy.

Tru Nature recommends All in One by Natural Dog Food Company for its natural, holistic food providing natural well balanced nutrition for our dogs.

Post from: Natural Dog Food

Post from: Natural Dog Food

We werent looking to change our dog's food but were given a sample of yours and were amazed at the results .People commented on how shiny Willoughby's coat was and his digestion was much more settled - (no more embarassing flatulence!). We were also pleased at how reasonably priced it is.The portion size is smaller as it isnt full of bulking agents- so a bag lasts much longer.We will definately be staying with your product thank you.

(Images below are a thumb nail version, click on the image to see the full size copy)

Post from: Natural Dog Food

Since at least the 1970s, when researchers successfully trained chimpanzees to use and read words in sign language, we have known that language, in a loose sense of the term, is not unique to humans. Animals have the brain power to understand human language and use their own languages in surprisingly profound ways. We all know parrots can be trained to speak human words. And dogs will react to the word "walk" with a knowing, tail-wagging enthusiasm.

How deep is the dog's bank of human words? On the next page, we'll take a look at one border collie's remarkable talent at retrieving objects of different names.

After being featured on a television show for his ability to understand 200 words, a border collie named Rico intrigued some researchers at the Max Planck institute. These researchers asked if they could bring Rico in to perform some experiments to find out just how far they could stretch the dog's language ability. The answer: surprisingly far.

At first, the researchers wanted to verify in a controlled setting whether Rico really knew 200 words. To do this, they collected 10 items with which Rico was familiar. At the verbal command of his owner, they had him fetch a specific item from a separate room. Rico performed very well at this task, but the researchers wanted to challenge him further. Next, they chose a new item — one that Rico had never seen in his life — and placed it in the room among the familiar items. The owner requested that new item by name and, lo and behold, Rico brought back the new item.

Researchers performed this test several times, each time with another new item, and found that Rico brought back the correct item an impressive 70 percent of the time. This demonstrated not only that the dog had a large vocabulary, but also that he knew how to use process of elimination.

Impressed as they were, researchers pushed Rico further with an even more difficult task. They wanted to find out whether Rico could remember the items that he learned in the experiment after only one exposure, a process called fast-mapping, which children can do. One month after Rico proved his language abilities in the lab, researchers brought him back in. This time, they put one of the new items that Rico correctly fetched a month earlier in a room with four familiar and four unfamiliar items. When his owner requested it, Rico was able to correctly fetch the item he had learned a month previous as much as 50 percent of the time. Though that might not seem remarkable, it was to the researchers, because this success rate compares with that of 3-year-old children.

However, whether a dog's "understanding" of a word compares to a child's is another matter.

When kids learn language, they start by associating sounds with objects or ideas. For instance, if a child hears the word "bottle" every time the child is presented with a bottle, the child will eventually learn to connect the sound of the word with the object. In this way, kids understand words before they learn to express them. One could say the same thing happens with dogs. Dogs just never make the next step to speak with words. However, whether a dog's "understanding" of a word compares to a child's understanding is another matter.

When a toddler learns a word, such as "pencil," the child will associate the word with the concept of a writing instrument in a variety of ways (even making the mistake of calling a pen a "pencil" after seeing someone write with it). On the other hand, dogs probably learn the word "pen" as a sound that commands a response — "bring me the pen and you'll get a treat," for example.

Because dogs most likely don't understand abstract concepts, they can't understand the words that refer to abstract concepts. For example, humans understand ideas like "love," "hatred," "beliefs" and "carelessness." These ideas don't necessarily relate to a specific object or action. Ideas that do refer to specific things are called concrete concepts. So, when we tell dogs we love them, this probably doesn't mean as much to them as the word "treat" does. Some might say that until we find a way to interpret a dog's mind, we can't definitively say that dogs don't understand abstract concepts. As far we know right now, however, dogs are only capable of understanding words that refer to concrete things.

Can we say that a dog understands language? That depends on the definition of language, which is contested. If language indicates the process of merely communicating a particular stimulus (a word) to produce a particular reaction, then dogs definitely understand language. But for many linguists, people who study language, a proper definition of language must go deeper.

Some linguists think language necessitates sentences with syntax. Syntax refers to the way words relate to each other in a sentence, based on a structured rule system, such as word order. For instance, for English speakers, the sentence "the dog bites the man" means something different from "the man bites the dog," even though both sentences incorporate the same words. Under the umbrella of this stricter definition of language, dogs don't understand language because there's reason to believe they can't understand sentences in this way. Even toddlers can distinguish between parts of speech such as verbs and nouns, while a dog probably can't [source: Kaminski]. One might argue that if dogs can't use syntax like children can, then dogs can't truly understand a word because they don't understand how it relates to other words.

But if dogs can't really comprehend language in the way humans do, why do they seem to understand us so deeply? Certain studies show that dogs pick up on human gestures and cues (like Clever Hans did) better than other animals, even great apes [source: Hare]. So when dogs seem to understand our words, they might really just be reading our body language or tone of voice.

Regardless, dogs have an amazing ability to understand us.

Post from: Natural Dog Food

Giving your dog a regular massage is a good way to become familiar with the feel of her body so you'll notice any unusual lumps, bumps, or other changes. A dog massaged also gets your dog used to being handled — something your vet and groomer will appreciate.

Post from: Natural Dog Food

Pictures of my agility dogs to cheer up your Friday afternoon!

Post from: Natural Dog Food

I am writing to thank you for your wonderful product. I have a 6 year old German Shepherd, Zak, who was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease when he was about two. Over the years we have tried every dog food imaginable and medication from the vets. I came to hear about your food when I took one of my other dogs to a Fun Dog show at Eastville Country Fair back in May and we won a sack of your adult chicken and brown rice.After much shall I, shant I, I decided to try Zak on it.It was the best decision I have evermade! The constant diahorrea stopped within 3 days and now for three weeks we have had good solid poohs! He has stopped losing weight and I am looking forward to his monthly weigh in at the beginning of August.This food has literally saved Zak's life.Thank you once again,
Sherryl.

PS. He's looking forward to the treats coming out.

Post from: Natural Dog Food

Natural feeding is known to maintain a healthy digestive system, coat and skin, mobility and immune system as well as preventing hyperactivity associated with 'E.numbers'. As such Natural Feeding is highly recommended by holistic veterinary surgeons.

Natural Feeding is intended to mirror the diet of the un-domesticated dog, which is meat, carbohydrate and vegetables, all of which are obtained from its prey and by scavenging. It excludes the use of ingredients which are commonly found in commercial pet foods, such as artificial products, sugars, dairy products, the wrong types and amounts of carbohydrates, and by-products.

Natural Feeding is normally achieved by making up the diet from individual ingredients. It is a growing trend, particularly amongst breeders, but it is time consuming and can be relatively expensive for the single dog owner.

All In One Diet

A convenient alternative to preparing individual raw materials is to use All in One diet. It is not expensive, embraces the principles of Natural Feeding, and is the only complete food certified by the British Association of Holistic Nutrition and Medicine, a veterinary group operating a registered national certification scheme.

All In One is a complete food, which reflects the natural diet of the dog. All nutrients, including (uniquely) vitamins and pro-vitamins, are contained in the raw materials. It is made from human grade meat, properly balanced carbohydrates and vegetables with nothing added.

Optional Extras

Although, technically, our product All in One is a complete natural diet in itself, and nothing else is required, we think that dogs are individuals with individual tastes and should be treated as such. Like humans, they thrive on variety and this can be provided through optional extras, which should be compatible with natural feeding principles. Suitable optional extras could be made up with a range of fresh green vegetables, other types of meat and raw bones. Most processed food should be avoided. If you are not sure what else could be used as extras please call the free veterinary careline.

Many owners give All-in-One during the week and prepare other food for their dogs at the weekend when they have more time. Remember, optional extras are just that, they are a novel alternative, not a requirement.

Amounts of optional extras

We suggest that All in One can be given as say 85-90% of the total diet, which can be less, provided the owner has enough knowledge of nutrition to provide the balance from individual ingredients.

Vegetables

Suitable vegetables would be cabbage, sprouts, broccoli and other similar green varieties, plus soft fruit occasionally. All vegetables should be lightly cooked or liquidised otherwise the dog cannot digest them properly. Starchy root vegetables such as potato and parsnip should be kept to a minimum. Dairy products, salt, spicy, and sugary foods, should not be given.

Meat

Lamb, beef, boneless fish, chicken, plus other types of meat except pork, are all suitable.

Bones

Cooked bones should never be given and there are some rules about feeding bones, which are mostly common sense. Small splintery bones should be avoided if the dog is unused to eating them; also dogs which are likely to fight should not be left with a bone unsupervised. Large knucklebones are the best as they are less likely to cause problems and provide hours of entertainment.

Remember, optional extras are just that, they are a novel alternative, not a requirement.

Post from: Natural Dog Food