Mealtime is an opportunity for leadership.

Proper Nutrition and Exercise

Providing proper exercise and nourishment for your pets is one of the most important and easy ways to ensure a long lifetime of good health, and reduce veterinarian fees. This is the foundation for good health.

Have you noticed that recently more and more grocery products include words like, “all natural”, “no preservatives”, “no artificial ingredients” or “organic” on the packages? In thinking about your own diet, are you conscious of the fact that all natural fruits, vegetables and quality protein like fish or chicken is the best food you can eat for lifelong health?

Well it’s the same with dogs. They stay healthier longer when they are fed proper nutrition. This means quality, protein – like chicken, fish, lamb, or turkey, pure fruits and vegetables, and no by products, or artificial ingredients.

An easy guideline to live by is: if you can buy it in the grocery store, it doesn’t belong in your pet’s bowl or stomach. Pet food from the grocery store, even if it claims to be healthy, is very, very unhealthy for your pet (it’s sort of like feeding your pet fast food every day of the week).

Animals with quality diets get sick significantly less than those with poor quality diets. This means fewer trips to the veterinarian, and even though you may spend slightly more money for high quality pet food, your pet will ultimately pay you back by staying healthier.

Dogs who eat top quality food have softer, thicker coats, shed less, have significantly fewer ear, nose, eye, throat and skin infections, among other medical problems. This means fewer visits to the vet - which saves you time and money.

Perhaps best of all, dogs who eat high quality food love it! And because this type of food is so densely packed with real, quality ingredients and pure protein, dogs require a smaller quantity of food per serving, so that bag of quality food you buy will last significantly longer than the same weighing bag of poor quality food.

Guidelines for proper nutrition:
•The first two ingredients should be pure protein (ideally fish, fowl or game)
•No bi-products
•No corn
•No Wheat or wheat products
•No soy product, which is toxic to dogs and cats
•No artificial ingredients
•No preservatives
•Only domestically raised and produced products, whenever possible
•Organic is always better!
•Preferably, the vitamins and minerals are naturally part of the ingredients, as opposed to being added in

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL NATURAL, ORGANIC, FROZEN RAW DOG FOOD.

In general, If a wolf doesn’t eat it in the wilderness, isn’t healthy for your dog

and…

In general, if you can buy it in a grocery store, gas station or mini market, it is not healthy for your pet (kind of like fast food). Even the pet food which you purchase at the vet's office is actually some of the most UN HEALTHY food available for pets. These companies spend all of their money on marketing and promotions, and very little money on the actual product.

Feeding a dog table scraps generally leads to poor behavior (begging) and an overweight dog who won’t eat Its own food because It knows It can wait for the table scraps.

It is absolutely unacceptable that major dog food companies try to pass off their products as quality or natural foods when the first ingredient is something that dogs don’t even eat, and there is usually nothing of any real value in these products. These companies put all of their money into advertising and packaging and none of their money into the food itself.

Ultimately, your pet’s bright eyes, positive, energetic attitude and thick, healthy coat from quality product will always be the best proof!
Like humans, depending on age, weight and activity level, dogs require different quantities of food and different feeding schedules.

Many natural food products can actually help reduce your veterinary bills:

•Less than a teaspoon of organic pumpkin helps to soften stool and aids with indigestion
•Minced garlic added to food helps keep fleas and tics off pets
•Omega-3 rich oils in capsule size amounts added to food helps promote and maintain a healthy coat
•Chamomile tea applied to skin helps with irritation, itching and even minor infections
•Olive oil is one of the healthiest things that a dog can eat or have applied to its coat or skin

Some plants and foods can actually hurt, or even kill your dog:

•Daffodils
•Eggplant (foliage)
•Avocado
•Hydrangea (flower buds)
•Jasmine Lilly of the Valley (all parts of the plant, and the vase water)
•Poison Ivy
•Chrysanthemums
•Tomato Plant (all parts except for the actual fruit/tomato)
•Tulip
•Sago Palm
•Christmas Tree (needles and tree water)
•Brunfelsia
•Soy
•Coco Plant and Chocolate of any kind

Proper exercise for a pet, just as with humans, can vary from pet to pet, but usually means approximately 45 minutes of engaged exercise every day.