Can Dogs Eat Garlic? The Answer Might Surprise You!

July 12, 2017 by Fanna Easter

No, Dogs Can’t Eat Garlic

About 20 years ago, it was completely acceptable to feed dogs garlic, and many pet owners swore garlic repelled fleas. Fast forward to today and things have changed. Garlic is now considered poisonous to dogs. What has caused this sudden change? In a nutshell, better veterinary care with sophisticated diagnostics has proven garlic is not your dog’s friend.

Garlic is Related to Onions

Garlic and onions are extremely poisonous to dogs. According to Pet Poison Helpline, ingestion of garlic can result in:

“Oxidative damage to the red blood cells (making the red blood cells more likely to rupture) and gastroenteritis (e.g., nausea, oral irritation, drooling, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea).”

As a pre-veterinary major years ago, I had the opportunity to view red blood cells of a dog that passed away from ingesting onions. It was clear this poor dog’s red blood cells were ruptured, and it was very disturbing to view.

Garlic is a close cousin to onions, so are chives, and it seems garlic can cause the same dog fatalities caused by onions. This applies to garlic powder too.

How Much Garlic is Poisonous to Dogs?

In all cases, garlic ingestion is lethal in large doses, but what is considered too much? While we can assume large dogs can ingest larger doses than small dogs, that’s not always accurate.

Certain dog breeds are more sensitive to garlic than other dogs. Japanese breeds of dogs, such as Akitas, Shiba Inus, Japanese Spitz and Tosa Inus, are much more sensitive to garlic than other breeds (Pet Poison Helpline, 2017). The amount of garlic that is fatal to dogs is unknown, so it’s not worth the risk.

Healthier Options

After researching the latest information, it’s best not to feed any garlic or garlic powder to dogs. It’s just not worth the risk because you don’t know if garlic can affect your dog. Instead, add pulped raw vegetables and fruits to your dog’s meals. Raw vegetables and fruits have proven to reduce cancer in certain dog breeds. Toss in cooked oatmeal, eggs and apple cider vinegar for additional health benefits.

Repelling Fleas Without Garlic

For pet owners concerned about repelling fleas, adding apple cider vinegar (ACV) to your dog’s morning meals works just as well. Most dogs dislike the taste of ACV, so hide the bitter taste with a dollop of raw honey. Also, control your dog’s environment with weekly sprays of cedar oil and use an essential oil flea shampoo for dogs.

Skip garlic for dogs. It’s just not worth it for your dog’s health.

7 Tips For Bike Riding With Your Dog

July 5, 2017 by Fanna Easter

Biking With Dogs Safely

As temperatures warm up and daylight lingers just a bit longer, pet owners are taking advantage of the summer months with their dogs. While many pet owners choose to go on a walk, some enjoy biking with their dogs. Before grabbing your dog and bicycle, check out these dog safety tips first.

1. Size of Dog Matters

When humans pedal bikes, they move really fast, so only bike with a dog that can keep up. Think twice before exercising with an energetic Chihuahua, terrier or hyperactive young puppy. Small dogs must run at maximum capacity during a bike ride, and it’s impossible for them to comfortably maintain this speed.

Additionally, biking with a dog under two years old is highly discouraged because adolescent dogs are still growing, and high impact exercise can cause permanent damage. Ideally, it’s best to bike ride with healthy medium or large-sized dogs over two years old.

2. Introduce Dog to Bike First

Bikes are spooky to dogs, especially if dogs haven’t been introduced to one before. Think about it from a dog’s perspective: Bikes are big and move awkwardly plus they can run over dog toes.

To get your dog used to a bike, push your bike alongside slowly during a walk. If your dog still avoids your bike, have a friend push your bike during walks. Once your dog is comfortable with a moving bike right next to him, it’s time to bike slowly.

3. Position is Key

Teach your dog to hang out on the side of your bike. Your dog should not cross over in front while you’re riding. Better yet, use a safety device to hold your dog’s leash in place. This way, you can use both hands to steer your bike.

My favorite is the Springer Dog Exerciser. This device attaches to your bike and keeps your dog safely away from moving bike wheels. Before riding off into the sunset, attach your dog to this safety device and push your bike around for a few days.

4. Start Slow

Once you’ve installed a bike safety leash attachment and your dog is comfortable walking next to a moving bike, it’s time for a slow and short bike ride. Start by pedaling slowly up and down your driveway, which includes turns to the left and right. Reward your dog with tiny bits of yummy treats for moving with the bike.

After a few practice sessions on your driveway, try biking with your dog about a block away from your home. Continue to move slowly, so your dog learns to enjoy jogging alongside your bike.

Increasing distance and duration will slowly build your dog’s endurance. Each week, add 2-3 minutes to your bike ride. Don’t expect your dog to run at maximum speed for longer than a few minutes, so slow down and provide multiple breaks for your dog. Offer your dog plenty of water and potty breaks during exercise sessions. Take it slow.

5. Skip Warm & Hot Days

When it’s above 80 degrees, it’s probably a bit too warm for long bike rides with dogs. Your dog is covered with a fur coat that traps heat and causes him to warm up quickly. During hot summer days, bike ride with your dog early in the morning. If you’re biking with your dog at night or during dark early mornings, ensure your bike and your dog’s collar contain reflective strips. Better yet, skip hot and humid days.

6. Check Paw Pads Frequently

Your dog’s paw pads will take a beating during bike rides, especially on concrete and asphalt roads. Starting slowly provides time for a dog’s paw pad to adjust to rough surfaces, but sometimes it’s too much.

Before a bike ride, stand on a sidewalk or road with bare feet. If you’re unable to stand on it yourself, then your dog should not run or walk on it. Hot pavement will burn pads, but excessive running on hard surfaces can burn pads too. Check your dog’s paw pads often during bike rides. Choose sidewalks that have grassy areas. These will be much easier on your dog’s paw pads.

7. Allow Your Dog to Set the Pace

When walking, jogging or biking with a dog, it’s important to allow your dog to set the pace. Dogs feel most comfortable trotting when they’re able to cover ground effortlessly. Running at maximum speed is too much for a dog, so watch your dog’s gait as you vary speeds on your bike. Slow down and watch your dog’s movement for an easy trot, then adjust your pedaling speed to maintain that trot.

Post pictures of your dog biking with you below. We want to see!

DIY Natural Flea Shampoo For Dogs

June 28, 2017 by Fanna Easter

How to Make a Flea Shampoo for Dogs

It’s that time of year when flea populations are exploding! While most Northern and Midwestern states are just now having issues with fleas, the Southern states have been battling them for months now. With fleas becoming immune to certain pesticides and a recent warm winter trend, it’s understandable why pet owners are reaching for heavy duty pesticides for their dog.

Put down that pesticide shampoo, and try this DIY flea shampoo for dogs instead! Mix essential oils with natural dog shampoo ingredients, and you have a luscious and moisturizing shampoo that will repel fleas and smell divine.

Choosing Dog Shampoo Ingredients

You’ll need Castile soap, water, a squeezable bottle and essential oils to make this amazing dog shampoo that actually repels fleas. Castile soap contains natural and biodegradable cleansers. It’s filled with rich moisturizers, such as coconut oil, olive oil and jojoba oil that can be safely used on dogs. In addition, it has different essential oils, such as lavender, almond or unscented for sensitive dogs. You can find this gentle soap online or in natural supermarkets.

Choosing an essential oil is extremely important, so always choose a therapeutic grade oil. For repelling fleas, Young Living Purification does an amazing job because it contains citronella, tea tree, lemongrass and rosemary. Stay away from essential oils containing chemicals, water and alcohol.

Homemade Flea Shampoo for Dogs Recipe

You’ll need:

1 cup Castile soap
2 cups water
20 drops of Young Living Purification essential oil

Directions

Add soap and water into a squeezable bottle, and gently swirl to combine ingredients.
Slowly add 20 drops of Young Living Purification into shampoo mixture. Close and gently swirl bottle to evenly distribute oil into shampoo mixture.
Keep shampoo mixture in a closed cabinet to preserve the essential oils.

Bathing Your Dog With the Flea Shampoo

Wet your dog thoroughly with warm water and add shampoo down your dog’s spine. Start lathering shampoo around your dog’s neck to prevent fleas from running to your dog’s face and hiding inside her ears. Continue to shampoo toward the back end of your dog, focusing under her tails, legs, paws and between each paw pad. Rinse thoroughly.

WATCH: DIY Natural Flea Shampoo For Dogs

Did you try this homemade flea shampoo for dogs? If so, what do you think? Please comment below!

If You’re Going To Feed Your Dog Raw Bones, Feed This Kind

June 16, 2017 by Fanna Easter

Raw Bones for Dogs

Raw dog food diets are certainly a huge trend in the pet world now, and rightly so. Many pet owners attest raw diets have cured canine allergies and even held back cancer, affording dogs a longer life. When feeding dogs a raw food diet, it’s important they consume raw meaty bones—but this is where many pet owners and pet professionals disagree.

As someone who’s provided raw bones for dogs for more than a decade, I do think raw dog food diets work for dogs that tolerate them. With that said, I’m a nervous wreck when it comes to feeding my dogs raw bones. Here’s what I do to minimize fractured teeth, obstructions and the obsession that my dogs might have bits of undigested bones in their stool. And yes, my dogs thrive on their raw diets!

Best Raw Bones for Dogs

I feed raw meaty bones instead of raw bones. Feeding your dog too many raw bones can cause constipation while raw meaty bones provide the perfect balance of meat-to-bone ratio. Never ever feed your dog cooked bones. Once bones are cooked, they lose their moisture and can cause obstructions. Raw meaty bones should be 50% of your dog’s daily meal unless otherwise advised by your holistic veterinarian.

If you’re a nervous pet owner like myself, try feeding your dog raw chicken wings. They’re easy for most dogs to chew and swallow, and the bones are smaller than rib bones, chicken thighs and chicken backs. For large dogs that swallow chicken wings whole, try giving them turkey wings instead.

What If You’re Scared to Feed Raw Meaty Bones?

Don’t worry; I’m the same way. Once, my large Rottweiler ate an entire chicken back and pooped tiny, undigested bones the next day. I freaked out and swore I would never do it again ever. While many raw dog feeders laughed at my reaction, I learned to grind up raw bones for my dogs. 🙂 I feel much better about feeding my dogs raw bones, and their teeth are gleaming white now too!

Grind Up Raw Bones

For pet owners who make their dog’s raw meals, it’s best to grind raw bones in a heavy-duty grinder. Just toss in chicken backs, turkey necks, wings and so forth, then grind away. Mix your ground-up bones into your dog’s veggie mixture and voila!

If cleaning a raw food grinder is not your cup of tea, then you can purchase ground meat and bones from pet food companies. Most small pet stores offer these pre- ground mixtures with the perfect meat-to-bone ratio. Also, many raw pet food companies have local distributors within your area, so contact them for delivery dates (usually once a month).

Calcium Supplement

Dogs need calcium, which they can get from raw bones. However, if you omit raw bones, then you must include a calcium supplement to your dog’s raw or cooked meals. Dogs need to eat a balanced diet, and calcium is an important aspect of that.

Try feeding your dog raw bones. You’ll be shocked at the difference in your dog!

What To Look For In An Essential Oil For Dogs

May 17, 2017 by Fanna Easter

Choosing an Essential Oil for Dogs

Essential oils are extremely popular lately, and now being used on family pets and in shelters. It’s important to know that using essential oils topically is not a new trend. It’s been used for thousands of years. As with anything, the moment a product becomes popular, everyone jumps on the bandwagon, which is why you’re seeing essential oils at discount prices.

Though the quality of the essential oil differs between brands. Put down that bottle you purchased on Amazon or at a superstore down and choose a high quality essential oil instead!

Be Picky

Essential oils can be applied on skin, ingested or inhaled, so consumers must be picky when selecting an essential oil for dogs. When choosing an essential oil, select one that is:

Made from plants and flowers
Void of added ingredients, such as water or alcohol
Single or blended
100% pure of the listed oil type

Beware of an essential oil that is always in stock because this means they’re not selective of which plants are used during the distillation process. Lastly, choose an essential oil for dogs that has been lab-tested to verify promised concentration (i.e. not diluted with water or carrier oils). Be super picky!

Where to Purchase Essential Oils

Stay away from Amazon and superstore essential oils for dogs. There’s no guarantee as to what’s in the bottle. By far, the best essential oils are made by Young Living and doTERRA. Both essential oil brands follow stringent regulations on growing, distilling, testing and selling their products. They also don’t sell their products in superstores, including Amazon. Plus, their oils contain 100% therapeutic oils, which means no water or alcohol. 🙂

Purchase a Starter Kit

Each single or essential oil blend has a purpose. Once you’ve chosen a reputable essential oil company, purchase their starter kit, which should contain multiple small bottles. Reputable essential oil companies label and carefully explain each oil’s purpose and recommendations.

Some oils are very calming for dogs while others will repel insects, soothe skin irritations, and disinfect bedding/surfaces. For reactive and anxious dogs, check out these recommended oils. Remember dogs have an incredible sense of smell, so learn how to appropriately use calming essential oils around them.

WATCH: Choosing An Essential Oil For Dogs

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