January 8th, 2008
By Eric Letendre
A few months ago I met with a nice couple to help them with their dog. A few minutes into the conversation the wife asked me, “Does my dog smell bad?”
I was amazed that she asked me that question. When I walked into the house I noticed that the dog not only had a bad odor but looked awful. The dog was a golden mix of some kind and looked to be about 10 years old.
His coat was a mess, he had black gunk pouring out of his eyes and was grey all around his muzzle. I felt really bad for the old guy.
Come to find out he was only about four years old. They called me because they were having a house training problem. My first question was simple. In fact, I knew the answer before they even told me.
I asked them this simple question:
“What are feeding your dog?”
I knew that they were probably feeding a combination of some cheap brand of dry food mixed with some kind of canned food. My prediction was correct, they spent about $12.00 for a 40LBS bag of food made by a large retail chain. The canned food was what ever was on sale.
I told them that the reason they were having house training problems, the reason that their dog smelled and the reason that he looked like he was over the hill was a direct result of the food that they were feeding.
They both looked at me like I was talking Swahili. They went on to say that there was no way that the food that they were feeding was why their dog smelled and looked old. They both thought that it was just the way he was. They added that their vet said that the food they were feeding was fine.
I shared with them the story of my sheltie Sammi. I told them that Sam had some awful allergies, that her fur was falling out, that she was constantly getting fleas. In short she was a mess. I tried everything, cortisone shots, cold tar shampoos, steroids – nothing helped.
It was awful watching her in pain, scratching, chewing, rolling on the ground trying to get some relief.
I asked my vet if maybe what she was eating was effecting her. He laughed at me and said it had nothing to do with it. I ignored him and started to research everything I could on nutrition for dogs. In short, I change her diet, and within just a few short weeks she was a different dog.
Some of the books that I read and people that I studied were Dr. Pitcairn, Dr. Ian Billinghurst, and Wendy Vollard. Now my Sammi is well over 16 years old, very healthy, beautiful skin and coat, clear eyes, and still full of energy.
Your dog’s diet does have a direct result on your dog’s behavior, skin and coat, and general well being. If you spend just a little while learning about proper nutrition for dogs you’ll be amazed at how much healthier your dog will be (and how much smaller your vet bills will be).
As always I look forward to your comments.
All the best,
Eric
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States and has been training dogs for over 20 years, teaching regular, average, every-day owners all over the world how to get the training results they want as fast as possible. Eric is also the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Improve Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
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Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training "hacks" that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
I absolutely agree.
We had alot of problems with my min pin back in the day, and we found she was also getting sick easily as the food wasn’t providing her with enough nutrients.
She was also getting sick beacuse of the large amount of corn meal in the food.
Which isn’t very good for the poor girl.
Now, fly is a happy little girl, haven’t had as many colds or other sicknesses and shes alot more active.
Nutrition certainly seems to be the missing link (and that goes for humans as well as dogs!).
I’ve found that it can be extremely difficult to find good, solid information on nutrition, and it appears that most vets, like most M.D.s, are clueless. After all, their profession depends on poor health.
Thanks for the references, Eric. I’ve been wanting to get my min pin, Henry, on a better diet, but I’ve had a hard time figuring out where to begin.
Do you feed Raw?