French bulldog - cane corso breeder in Bellingham, WA, north of Seattle, WA, moving to Nashville Tennessee  fall of 2022

This page will always be under construction..

I will constantly add helpful articles I come across that will educate you on how to keep your dog healthy and happy. 

A healthy dog never needs to see a vet and has a longer life span than other dogs of its same breed!

When I make a recipe like this for my dogs I DO NOT cook the carrots, but I do shred them to add to the mixture and I don't cook the broccoli, I just chop it up.  (Raw is better than cooked).  The eggs should be blended in the blender, shell and all, which this recipe does not state to do either.  The egg shell is calcium which your dogs needs in its diet. 

The recipe above is also missing the very important Knox Gelatin ingredient.  Knox Gelatin should be added to all your dogs raw mixtures if there is no ground up bone in their food or make sure to add it to their kibble if you don't feed raw.  Add one pack of Knox Gelatin for every pound of your main meat, such as ground beef.  (Thirty pounds of ground beef means you should be adding 30 packs of Knox Gelatin)

If you only feed a good quality kibble to your dog than sprinkle a pack of Knox Gelatin on its food at least once a week and throw in some beef or chicken liver and heart, for the vitamin A & B's

Another thing the above recipe does not state but should is "Make sure to separate and freeze the food once it is made".  It will go bad in the fridge after being in there for 6 weeks.  Only take out a few days worth of food at a time for your dog.  Dogs won't care for rotting food just like we don't and the bacteria that will form on the rotting food could be deadly to your dog!

Best Raw Recipe

to keep your pup/dog healthy and allergy free

*  (Main Meat..ground or chopped up) Beef or chicken or turkey or rabbit or bison etc (Make sure your main meet is organic, for beef, bison etc this means "GRASS FED & GRASS FINISHED" so the meat your dog eats doesn't have antibiotics or trace amounts of poisons that can harm him/her)

* Heart: min 10 %- max 50%

* Liver: min 5%- max 10% max

* Mixed Fruits & Vegetables: min 10%  to max  25% (Kale, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, string beans, blueberries.. a mixture of any/all of these and more.  Put them in the food processor and blend them up so your dog can't eat around them.)

Tripe: 5%

Goats milk: add a table spoon over ever meal or add to the recipe an appropriate amount for the recipe that will equal or be close to a table spoon for ever serving.

Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil: 1/2 teaspoon per meal or add to your recipe the equivalent (farmed salmon is no where near as good or healthy as wild Alaskan salmon)

Plain Unflavored Gelatin: 1 tsp for ever pound of main meat.

Turmeric Golden Paste:The final ingredient to make this recipe one of the best recipes to feed your dog to be the healthiest longest lived dog you have ever owned (genetics willing) with less to no visits to the vet is "TURMERIC GOLDEN PASTE".  Do not  add the golden paste recipe to the above recipe, keep it separate and add to all your dogs meals. If you add it to the recipe, it may change the great taste and smell of the above raw food recipe and make your dog turn its nose up to your cooking...lol..Just add 1/2 to one teaspoon depending on the size of your dog.  If you don't add a little meat or veggies to the Turmeric recipe in the link that follows, than only start your dog of with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon depending on the size of your dog.    I have added a link below, which will open in a new window for the recipe and all the benefits of feeding this very important spice to your dogs food every day.  One suggestion.. Once you make the Turmeric Golden Paste as it states in the link below you should add some ground up veggies and some main meat. Divide it into 4 day portions and freeze the portions, as it will only last about that long in the refrigerator.   You can fill ice cube trays with this mixture and once frozen, put them into a big freezer bag and take out portions for just a few days at a time to add to your dogs food.

Benefits of feeding the above ingredients to your dog

TRIPE:  (Protein, Potassium & minerals) Dogs love tripe.  You don't have to add this every time you make this recipe, but your dog would love it if you did most of the time.

HEART: Since it’s a muscle, heart shares many similarities with steak, roasts and ground beef, is less expensive (probably because people won’t eat it), and has a higher amount of protein, thiamine, folate, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, CoQ10 and several B vitamins. It’s a great way to rack up amino acids that can improve metabolism and compounds that aid the production of collagen and elastin. This mixture of unique nutrients helps build muscle, store energy and boost stamina and endurance.

LIVER:  One of the most common organs, liver is a great source of high quality protein and is one of the most concentrated sources of vitamin A, along with copper, folic acid and iron. It also contains Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is important for cardiovascular functions. Athletes love liver because it improves the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood cells, increasing endurance and strength and fighting fatigue, while its B vitamins aid people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

KALE:  high in Iron, vitamin K, filled with powerful antioxidats, great anti- inflammatory , great for cardiovascular support, high in vitamin A, high in vitamin c, high in calcium. It is a great detox food!

GOATS MILK: Packed with Probiotics for gut health, anti-inflammatory, good cholesterol, buffering chemicals to reduce acid, can prevent bone loss, less allergens because it is easier to digest, packed with vitamins and minerals ( vitamin B6, A, E & D)

WILD ALASKAN SALMON OIL: Packed with Omega-3s... Wild salmon oil can prevent cancer and can help slow cancer growth, helps treat arthritis in dogs, slows the progression of kidney disease, helps prevent skin allergies and helps make coats shinier and healthy-looking, helps improve brain development in young dogs and supports cognitive function in older dogs, regulates the immune system, calms overactive immune systems for dogs with allergies or autoimmune diseases, lowers blood pressure and triglycerides, provides support for dogs with kidney disease, fights heart disease,  helps promote weight loss in overweight dogs, helps in producing more collagen

GELATIN: The main benefits of feeding your dog gelatin are:

•Protects against seizures and brain damage
•Has anti-inflammatory actions that can reduce painful inflammation
•Supports a healthy digestive system
•Is fat free, cholesterol free and sugar free
•Helps harden the toe nails
•Supports cartilage growth and development, especially in the joints and ears & keeps joints lubricated
•Can help prevent arthritis, arthrosis and other degenerative joint disorders and diseases
•Strengthens tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones
•Supports a good coat, good skin and blood cell growth
•Increases alertness and energy

Feeding your dog gelatin has many health benefits. The main amino acid in gelatin is glycine, which carnivores normally get from eating the tendons, skin and cartilage of their prey. If you decide to add gelatin to your dog’s diet, the gelatin MUST be sugar free and fat free. The only two gelatin's I personally recommend using are Great Lakes Gelatin and Knox Gelatin. Knox Gelatin is better used for small dogs than large dogs, as the amount needed for large dogs would require larger amounts of the gelatin and would be more costly, however can still be used for large dogs. Great Lakes Gelatin can be fed to all sizes of dogs, and this is the brand I recommend most. 

TURMERIC GOLDEN PASTE: 

1. Natural detox
2. Anti-inflammatory
3. Natural antibacterial
4. Promotes heart and liver health
5. Reduces blood clots that can lead to strokes and heart attacks by thinning the blood*
6. Promotes digestive health
7. Acts as an antioxidant AND it’s believed to be able to prevent cancer**
8. Offers allergy relief
9. Helps to prevent cataracts
10. Has been used in the treatment of epilepsy
11. Natural pain relief
12. Natural treatment for diarrhea

food

First and foremost.. If you want to have a happy and healthy dog with next to no vet visits and a long healthy life span, then the FOOD YOU FEED IT is the most important thing to look at.

Kibble is made to convenience a persons busy life.,  It is NOT the only thing you should be feeding your dog to keep it as healthy as can be!

First of all, feed it a quality kibble if you are going to feed kibble to your dog.  A quality kibble does not always mean you have to spend big bucks for a bag of food..Acana runs around $70 a bag, but you feed half the amount to your dog as it is a quality kibble and your dog will absorb mostly everything it its.  Since you feed half the amount a bag or Acana really only cost $35 for a 25lbs bag, which is only a couple bucks more than Costco's line of foods.   Most of Costco's Kirkland brand and Nature Domaine foods are less than a $1.00 a pound and are rated at 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.   A 40 pound bag of Kirlands Chicken and Rice, which is a 4.5 star food is only $29.00 and Costco's Nature Domains Beef and Potato or Turkey and Potato is $30 for 35 pound bags.  SO CHEAP AND YET NOT SO BAD FOR YOUR DOG!  They won't be as healthy as they would be on Acana or Orijen which are the 2 best kibbles in North America, but they will do okay.  If they get yeasty ears, itchy skin and chew at their paws than they are having an allergic reaction to something likely in their food and it would be best to change them to the top quality Acana or Orijen lines.

However kibble does not provide all the nutrients your dog requires to keep it healthy.  They need Gelatin (KNOX plain Gelatin) at least once a week, vegetables, fruits and hopefully some meats in their diets, such as beef or chicken livers and hearts for the very necessary vitamin A's & B's.

I throw raw carrots to my dogs in the yard all the time along with many other vegetables and fruits, such as cauliflower, broccoli, apples (no seeds as it is like cyanid to a dog) , bananas, etc . 

A raw diet is the best diet you can feed your dog though, so if you are able to feed raw without kibble, then feed away.  Your dog/dogs will be healthier because of the raw diet.

Did you know that dogs in other countries live until they are 20 to 30 years old, yet it North America our dogs are barely making it to 15 years old?  Our dogs live shorter lives and we spend more money at the vets, because of the horrible kibble sold on the market, all in the name of convenience.  Kibble such as Pedigree, Beniful and Science Diet to name just a few, are killing our dogs because of the horrible ingredients in these bargain basement brands.  Some brands of kibble have hefty price tags on them, so people think they are healthy for their dogs, like Iams and Science diet and Blue Buffalo etc.  But they are no better than your $15 bag of Pedigree.  If you feed kibble, buy ACANA OR ORIJEN as the cost is just a few bucks more a bag and it the BEST kibble on the market.  Costco's Kirkland brand or their Nature Domain line which are rated at 4.5 stars will do okay for your dog as well, they just won't thrive as well or be as healthy.

If you want to see how your food compares and what the ingredients are doing for your dogs health, than visit the DogFoodAdvisor.com (Click on the link below for their site, which will open in a new window)

satin ball recipe

• 10 lbs hamburger meat (the cheapest kind with at least 20% fat)
• 1 (16 ounce) box Total cereal (or comparable natural brand)
• 1 (42 ounce) box instant oatmeal
• 1 (12 ounce) jar wheat germ
• 1 1⁄4 cups vegetable oil (not soybean)
• 1 1⁄4 cups unsulphured molasses
• 10 eggs (raw with shells crushed!)
• 10 (1/4 ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin
• 1 pinch salt

I also add shredded carrots and peas to this recipe.

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, like you were making meatloaf.
2. Divide into 10 portions and put in freezer bags or other containers.
3. Thaw as needed and feed to your dog.
4. (Do not cook.).

IF YOUR DOG IS ALLERGIC TO WHEAT THEN SUPPLEMENT WITH COOKED SWEET POTATOS AND/OR COOKED RICE.

How much raw should you feed your pup/dog a day?

Medications

Dangers to your dog

flea control

I am currently researching facts about different medications and natural remedies for flea control.. I will post under this heading as soon as I am clear on some facts.

phospholipidosis

a generalized phospholipid disturbance with major deposits, derived from alveolar surfactant, in the pulmonary alveoli.

How much exercise does your pup need?

The amount of exercise your puppy needs depends on his age, breed and medical condition. Not every breed will be up for a long walk through Central Park. Some breeds are just not built to go the distance, while others are always ready to romp. Some of the breeds that need the most exercise are Border collies, Labrador retrievers, Jack Russell terriers and Dalmatians.

Puppies need five minutes of exercise per month of age up to twice a day, according to the U.K. Kennel Club. In other words, a 3-month-old puppy will need 15 minutes of exercise while a 4-month-old will need 20 minutes. This may take the form of low-impact activities like swimming or playing with small dog exercise balls. You can also take your puppy out for short walks on a leash. However, if he starts to sit down, give him time to rest. If he does not start walking again, you may have to carry him home.

Most adult dogs should participate in some form of physical activity for at least 30 minutes and up to two hours every day. Your puppy's genetics will determine when it's time to move her up to adult dog exercise. If she won't get any larger than 25 pounds (11 kilograms), then she can start at around 9 months. If she'll end up weighing between 25 to 100 pounds (11 to 45 kilograms), it's best to wait until she's at least 14 months old. If she'll be tipping the scale at 100 pounds (45 kilograms) or more, you can introduce these activities to her when she is at least a year and a half old.

potty training

puppy apartment

House breaking your puppy

House breaking can be more difficult for some dogs than others and for some breeds versus other breeds.

French bulldogs are not the easiest breed to house break and Cane Corsos pick it up so fast some of my clients tell me that their pups have never had an accident in the house since the day they pick them up from me.

The first thing we need when house breaking a dog is "PATIENCE".  I know this can be trying at times and we think the dog should have made the connection by a certain point, but some dogs just don't pick things up as fast as others and some dogs have smaller bladders, so they can't hold them selves as well as others.

The following is a few tips that will definitely expedite the house breaking process.

*  First thing "DO NOT HIT YOUR DOG" for having an accident.  They will not make the connection any faster and you  can cause permanent damage to your dogs temperament and confidence.

*  If you catch your dog in the act clap your hands loudly and say NO and grab your dog as fast as you can to get it out side to finish its job.  When the dog finishes make sure to praise him/her.  

*  If your dog had an accident in the house make sure to clean it up and disinfect the area so you remove all traces and smells.  If your dog doesn't smell urine or feces in the house and only smells it in the area in the yard where they are suppose to go, then they will make the connection much faster.

*  If you have to leave for a couple hours or so, make sure to put your pup in a good size training crate or lock them in the kitchen or bathroom, so they don't have the run of the house to do their business in while you are away.  When you get back, make sure the first thing you do is put your pup out right away and praise him/her when they do their business.  

*  When you wake in the morning put your pup out right away (no playing with it first as it will need to do its business) After it has done its business outside bring it in and feed it breakfast.  After breakfast, I always put my pups back outside for a half hour or so as they will go again right after they eat and this is a time they really like to play as well.  After playing they will need to go back outside to relieve themselves as wellbefore their naps (They are pooping and peeing machines when they are pups)

* If you can, put the pup out at least once in the middle of the night.  I put mine out around 2 am (its hard for a pup to go through the night without relieving itself)

*  Whenever your pup wakes up from a nap it will need to go outside right away.

*  Whenever your pup eats it will need to go outside to relieve itself.

*  After your pup has had a fun play session, put it outside to relieve itself before it takes its nap.

*  DO NOT let a new pup have the run of the house. You need to be with your pup every minute of the day, until it is house trained, so you can catch him/her in the act which will expedite the house training ten fold.  I suggest putting your pup on a leash in the house, so this way he/she will always be at your side.  If the pup has an accident while you are playing and it runs when you clap your hands and say no, then you will be able to grab the leash really quick before it gets away on you and put him/her outside to finish its business and praise it for doing so.  

*  The more positive an experience your pup has with house breaking the faster it will learn.  Hitting your dog doesn't make it learn the connection between going out side versus inside faster, it just teaches your dog to fear you and you will end up ruining what could be an amazing family member, to a shy and cowering dog that wants to run and hide from you.  

If you need any advise with house breaking your dog and this article is not completely helping you, please give me a call.  I am more than happy to chat with anyone who needs help or advise with training their dog in a positive manner.