You have decided to enroll your dog at a Doggy Day Care or you will be boarding it at a Boarding Kennel.Much like chidren going to school, there is the potential for your dog to pick up diseases from other dogs. If another dog has a cough or is sneezing, the airbourne bacteria and viruses can quickly spread. The best way to avoid such problems is to ensure your dog has a robust immune system. Here are some easy ways to ensure your dog does
1) Feed your dog a raw or natural diet. There are many resources to find recipes or suggestions. Some are listed on our resources page
2) Add supplements to the diet to ensure your dog gets the optimum amount of all vitamins and minerals. It's especially important to include antioxidants like Vitamin A,C,E and zinc and selenium.Additionally the B vitamin are important for the extra bounce your dog will need to keep it going all day at Doggy Day Care. These can be found in some foods like liver, brewers yeast but also in tablet form. A recipe for Dog Oil Mix and Dog Powder Mix can be found in both books mentioned in the resources page.
Dog Powder Mix - 2 cups Nutritional Yeast, 1 cup calicium carbonate powder, 1/2 cup kelp powder, 1/2 cup lecithan, 1000mg Vit C powder. Shake together and store in cool, dry place in sealed container.
Dog Oil Mix - 1.75 cups safflower, canola or sunflower oil, 1/4 cup cod liver oil, 100 IU Vitamin E capsule. Mix together, puncturing the Vitamin E to ensure liquid comes out. Store in the fridge.
Alternatively a supplement such as My Beau will give a range of vitamins and minerals. It is available to purchase from our Tauranga Doggy Day Care.
3) If you suspect your pet is coming down with something, i.e. is a bit listless, off food a bit or sneezing, increase dose rate of Vitamin C to 100mg/kg or to bowel tolerance i.e. if the dog gets the runs reduce the dose rate.
4) Echinaecea is excellent to use and can be purchased from the chemist or health store. Dose rates depend on the size of the dog.
5) Garlic added to the food is a great natural antibiotic. There is some contradictory information stating garlic causes bleeding disorders but it is more to do with the dose rate, just like anything, you can have too much of a good thing. Take in moderation.
6) Colloidal Silver taken orally may be used for viral infections, throat and respiratory infections, parasites, diarrhoea, allergies and many other problems.The dosage rates outlined below are given as a guide, due to the individuality of the animal and the condition you wish to treat. This is available from our Tauranga Doggy Day Care.
Dogs - General maintenance
Small: 10 mls once a day
Medium: 10 mls - 15 mls once a day
Large: 5 mls - 20 mls once a day
Dogs - Ailing
Small: 10 mls twice a day
Medium: 30 mls twice a day
Large: 40 mls - 50 mls twice a day
7) Biopet put out a range of homeopathic remedies , one is called Immune System. The homeopathic remedies in this formulation support and promote healthy immune function in pets whose health has been compromised for whatever reason be it chronic illness, exhaustion or as a support measure when undergoing regular vaccinations. All BioPet products can be used on pets on all ages. This is available from our Tauranga Doggy Day Care.
8) Aconite is a homeopathic remedy for the onset of illness. There are many other homeopathic remedies for treating your pet and it would depend on the symptoms present as to which one is best to use. See a homeopathic Vet or research symptom lists online.
9) Avoid overwhelming your dogs system with toxins from the environment, overuse of medication, processed foods.
10) Keep up to date with worm treatments and flea treatments. Any extra parasitic burden is going to put more of a strain on the immune system
11) Give your dog plenty of exercise and walks. This encourages normal elimination of wastes as well as getting the blood pumping to efficiently rid the body of impurities via the kidneys & liver. We offer extra walks at our Tauranga Doggy Day Care.
12) Grooming stimulates the oil glands in the skin and the lymphatics, at the same time removing old hair and sloughing skin cells. A bath with an organic shampoo containing no nasty chemicals rid the skin and coat of environmental pollutants.
As a sensible dog owner you will know if your dog needs to see a Veterinarian. These suggestions are to give you ideas to boost your pets immune system or to treat them if you notice they are off colour. If symptoms aren't improving or getting worse a visit to the Veterinarian is in order.