Maxizoo Products: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly! I love popping into my local Maxizoo. You get lots of ideas for blogs for one! One thing they have right in there is the staff. They are so friendly, very eager to help. Another thing they have right is that
Studies Debunk Veterinary Prescribed and Single Protein Dry Dog Food Diets as a Route to Determining Adverse Food Reactions in Dogs… A recent study in the Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition examined 12 limited-antigen diets for dogs from 5 separate manufacturers (11 novel protein diets and 1 hydrolysed protein
Why Do Vets Recommend “That” Dry Food?! Are Irish vets not yet wondering why the only dry food they choose to stock (Royal Canin) is rated a miserable 2.5 stars out of 5 by Dog Food Advisor? With Science Diet not performing that much better (3 stars out of 5).
IN THE 1980’s 40% OF PETS EUTHANISED IN LARGE US CITIES WERE RENDERED FOR MEAT OR BONE MEAL AND PUT BACK IN TO THE ANIMAL FOOD CHAIN…INCLUDING DRY DOG FOOD What?!! No! Couldn’t be, surely? I was on a veterinary forum last night. They were discussing the “myths of raw
Natural Dog Treats Part 2 – Best Natural Dog Treats and Yummy Recipes! In my previous post we discussed how murky the dog treat world is. It should come as no surprise as it is largely controlled by the same companies that brought your dry, cereal-based food for a carnivore. Whatever regulation
Make Your Own Dog Treats, Naturally… As we all slowly get wiser to the toll dry feeding can take on our little carnivores, attentions naturally shift to everything else that we’re being sold by the industry. I’ve covered chemical parasite control for dogs with no parasites amply already, as we
Dog Ear Infections, The Simple And Natural Solution Ear infections in dogs are one of the top 3 reasons for visiting a vet today. They can be pretty uncomfortable, particularly if you allow them to fester. You’ll know he has one as he will be vigorously shaking or rubbing at
Hands up Who’s Given Their Dog Antibiotics in the Last Year? Has anyone noticed that the application of antibiotics (often used with in conjunction with steroids) is now absolutely routine by your vet? Got a cough? Antibiotic. Got a dickie tum? Antibiotic. Got a rash? Antibiotic. Got a sore ear? Antibiotic.
Bad Breath in Dogs, The Simple Solution The cause of bad breath in dogs (halitosis) is the very same as it is in humans, and that is largely poor dental hygiene and diet. There are other causes, such as liver / kidney issues but they are far rarer. If you
What is Gum Disease in Dogs and Why Does my Dog Have it…?! Gum disease in dogs is bad news and it’s not simply what you see (and smell) on the surface that’s so worrying, it goes much, much deeper than that. You really want to avoid this happening in
How to get Better Coat Condition in Dogs… The below is not a photo-shopped dog. This is what a black Labrador can look like given the right nutrition. Beautiful eh? The key to better coat condition in dogs is absolutely all about the diet. We all want a good coat but
I was reading a post in The Journal over the weekend. Iran sent in the authorities to remove all dogs from people’s homes. Needless to say it didn’t go down well with the poor owners. Especially the way they did it, if there was a way to do it. The
Dog Bites Continued: With Input from Paraic O Sullieabhain I had a great response to my article on the Irish Governments “Dangerous Dogs” signs / approach last week. Sadly not every point was spot on. The main man with all the experience in this field is Páraic Ó Súilleabháin. He
It’s funny, when we think of really poor dry dog food we imagine it coming from the likes of China, largely a result of the melamine scandal (when a chemical fertiliser used to boost the apparent protein content of the food, saving the company having to use more expensive items
Unlike Human Food Products, The Watchdogs Guarding Your Pet From Poor Quality Dog Food Products are Practically Non-Existent…. In human health and nutrition, the burden of ensuring a product’s safety, efficacy and any claims of benefit is on governmental organisations that independently test drug and food product manufacturers. In dog health
Great Home Made Spray for an Itchy Dog So you have an itchy dog. First things first, everyone wants the quick fix but more important than what you put in at this point is what you STOP putting in. After all, if your friend has a shrimp allergy and you
No, raw dog food does not cause aggression. In fact the opposite is true… People often hear that a taste of fresh meat or blood creates blood-lust aggression in dogs, when the complete opposite is the case. Eating fresh meat is proven to calm dogs (Mugford 1987), actually making them
How can a dog have too much protein when they are protein eating machines?! For a human to over dose on protein they would want to be consuming a diet of pure protein (chicken breast say) with no fat or carbs – which is rare to the point of being ridiculous. In fact,
The ideal cat food is a little baby bunny… Cats should not be forgotten in the whole fresh feeding conversation. On top of all the usual issues we find in a dry fed carnivore, dry fed cat’s suffer far a shocking amount of kidney and pancreatic disease than their raw fed counterparts.
Feed A Pregnant Dog Much The Same As Any Other Adult Dog, That Is 5:1:1:1, with Just With A Few Tweaks Along The Way… The best dog diet is built very roughly around the ratio 5:1:1:1, that is 5 parts raw meat, 1 part raw bone, 1 part fresh organ (liver,
The Most Important Thing You Can Do For A Young Animal Is To Feed Them Correctly, The Best Puppy Food Is Fresh Meat And Bone… Studies show major problems with Dry Puppy Food… A study of some of the top rated dry food by vets reveals little difference between them
Can you mix raw and dry dog food? If the question is, is it necessary to mix some dry food into the raw diet, then the answer is no, absolutely not. That would be like putting a salad on a frozen pizza. The best diet for a dog is a
HOW TO MAKE A RAW DIET FOR DOGS… Look at those bowls of food. OK, so we’re not aiming for these exquisite masterpieces initially, if ever, just showing you what’s possible! On a side note, I really don’t know how any vet can tell me with a straight face their
It’s natural to wonder is raw dog food bad for dogs, but know the dry food industry is scaring you silly… We have always been told to cook our meat. Today, in the U.K, there is a 15% chance of handling some chicken with Salmonella and, in Ireland, more than 3/10
Have a dog not Eating his food?! No Problem and There’s Definitely no Need to Starve him… Back in the bad old days when we just fed dogs the same stale, boring, tasteless, chemical riddled and outright gank dry food every day and the dog would tell us he would
Top tips for switching dogs to raw dog food… In a very small number of cases switching to raw dog food can be a bit tricky. Your dog has most likely been eating that dry diet for a long time. His stomach is conditioned to it. This is why any change
For Nice Teeth you Need To Cut Out The Dry Food And Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones… Gum disease is a serious issue that goes far beyond unsightly teeth and smelly breath. Left to progress it can cause your dog serious discomfort and they may lose teeth. But more
The More Time / Effort you are Wiling to Put in to Feeding Your dog the Lower Your Cost of Raw Dog Food… There is no point in comparing the cost of raw dog food with the price of a bag of cereal-based, dry dog food as pound for pound
5 tips on How to Pick the Best Raw Dog Food… Are they using the right formulation? Are they using actual meat? Use your eyes and nose What is the range of organs used? Be wary of window dressing Price After a doctorate studying the effects of diet on the
The Top 5 Benefits of Raw Food For Dogs (Reasonably Anecdotally) Below are the top five benefits of feeding dogs a fresh, species appropriate diet of raw meat and bone. They are in no particular order, except perhaps order of appearance to the naked eye. They sum up not just
Dogs are meat eaters. Here’s Three Reasons why… 1. Dogs are Descended From A Long Line Of Meat Eaters… The dog comes from a very long line of carnivores. He is not a wolf but he certainly descended from something like a grey wolf perhaps 30,000 years ago and wolves,
The Number one Cause of Recurring Skin Conditions in Dogs is Poor Diet… The number one reason for folk contacting Dogs First is recurring dog skin conditions. It’s a very common problem largely of dry fed dogs. The good news is we can very likely help you, quickly and easily, without the need
Feed Fat Dogs Fresh, Not Necessarily Less [I use a lot of references in this article folks. Some key ones are available below. The rest are available on request]. Obesity figures are soaring in dogs, from approximately 22% of the dog population in the 1980s (Edney and Smith 1986, Donoghue et al.
Safer Alternatives To Neutering Dogs Our article on neutering last year is far and away our most successful article to date. Heavily supported by numerous independent studies, it has been shared by over 15,000 people on Facebook and read by over 80,000 dog owners. In very short the article highlighted
DOG NEUTERING IS AN EMOTIVE SUBJECT FOR WELFARE AND POPULATION REASONS BUT LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE FACTS… It is hard to find a vet today that would recommend anything but early dog neutering, certainly before they are sexually mature, often around six months of age. The reasons given are always the
Itchy Dog Scratching Or Nibbling Himself Raw? No Problem. Here Are My Top 15 Tips For Itchy Dogs Before The Vet Is Called… So, you have an itchy dog. We get this all the time. Itch in dogs is the third most likely reason for pet owners to see the vet. Itchy dog owners
Hot Spots on Dogs are Due to a Bacterial Overgrowth, but why is the Question… A dog hot spot is when the dogs own skin bacteria overpopulates a certain area. This suggests that the immune defences are down, and something is happening to deplete the bodies resources that would normally keep
Diarrhoea In Dogs, A Common Issue With A Simple Cure. Here’s Dr Conor Brady with more… Diarrhoea in dogs is one of the main reasons people end up on our page. And we’re often not talking about the occasional episode here! Most of us would not be trawling for answers
The Most Common Cause of Constipation in Dogs is Incorrect Diet… A constipated dog will be visibly straining to go the toilet but nothing will be coming out. They might get a little distressed, licking at their bums, maybe doing some bottom scooting. If a dog does not poo for
Colitis in Dogs / IBS in Dogs, you Have to Treat the Cause Not the Symptoms… After recurring skin and ear issues, recurring gastrointestinal upset in dogs, often diagnosed as IBS or colitis by your vet, is one of the most common reasons for visiting a vet today. Unfortunately, as
Arthritis in Dogs I don’t normally do this but to set the scene for the cause and solution to arthritis in dogs let me begin with a little anecdotal story of my old girl Meg. A shepherd/rough collie cross, Meg did not evade the poor hindquarters that commonly curse poor
Gut Inflammation and Too Many Soft Poos Is The Cause Of Anal Gland Issues In Dogs… Anal gland issues are almost entirely a dry-fed dog phenomenon. They are greatly relieved with its removal. Below I will show you the cause and solution to your dogs issues. I’m Dr Conor Brady,
We’ve all suffer it at some stage, it’s just we don’t go round licking each others faces every chance we get. Bad breath in dogs arises for the same reasons it does in humans. However persistent bad breath (halitosis) needs attention. Why So Much Bad Breath in Dogs? The most
Among a host of other issues, Dudley didn’t toilet train as quickly as I thought he might have. This was disappointing and somewhat embarrassing when people came to visit as this was bread and butter stuff in guide dogs. So it got me thinking on the best toilet training tips for
Should you need a little hand holding, I’m here to help. Consultations are typically 1 hour in length: 15 minutes to read your presubmitted questionnaire and prepare for your pet, 30-40 minutes with you directly via Zoom / Skype and 10-15 minutes to write your summary email, including all necessary tips and their diet plan. It also includes a follow up email should you need it.
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Advice, training and support from dog nutrition specialist, Dr. Conor Brady who delivers his teaching based on no-nonsense, well-researched and factual information so that dog owners can gain a greater understanding of their dogs, their dog’s nutritional needs and the natural health of their pets.
As well as being a dog nut, I am a Dog Nutritionist, Writer, Research, Speaker and Consult on all things canine nutrition and health. My blog, which has become a trusted and valuable resource for all dog owners, is now read by more than 200,000 people per month. I established Dogs First to give dog owners a better understanding of what’s right and wrong when it comes to feeding and maintaining the health of their dogs.
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