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Fleas and dogs are like bread and butter, Morecombe and Wise, pigs in sh*t; they were just meant to be together – always have been and always will be. But are they a problem that requires pharmaceuticals every month? Every quarter? If you need to keep on top of fleas, are there alternatives to pills, ‘chews’, collars and drops-ons?  Fleas and Dogs There are over 2,500 relatives of the dog and cat flea, you know. They live on mammals and birds the world over. These six-legged wonders are impressively adapted to living on our pets, with flattened bodies, enormous resistance to being squished and an ability to jump 50 times their own body length to find new hosts. Awesome.  Dogs and fleas have been living together forever. In the ideal situation, they are few and far between and rarely cause a problem and don’t build up in the house. But in the modern scenario, they can reproduce all year to proliferate everywhere.  Many people buy cheap flea products from the pet shop, put them on the dog and hope for the best. Often this is fruitless because they don’t realise that the adult fleas they see on the dog are only half the story. I always say to clients, ‘for every flea you see on the dog, there are 20 others, along with larvae, in the carpet and bedding. That usually cheers them up.  Do We Need to Treat? If you find fleas, it’s best to treat. Not necessarily with drugs, but worth getting on top of them. They will only get worse. In the old days, all fleas were wiped out in the winter, but central heating has made them able to survive all year round; much to the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s delight, of course.  How to Treat Naturally You don’t need to start treatment with drug products unless you have a terrible infestation or your dog is sensitive (allergic) to ANY, even one, fleas at all.  Flea Allergic Dermatitis (FAD) is a thing. It’s quite common and means that if you have an FAD dog, you have to be really on-it for fleas. You still don’t necessarily need to use drugs, but you have to be meticulous. If the FAD dog starts to itch, you have to always be suspicious of our jumping friends.  My initial approach is to use non-drug methods against fleas first, aggressively. If they don’t work, then revert to the drugs. If treating the dog, you MUST also treat the house. Otherwise, it’s like mopping the floor because the bath’s running over, but not turning off the taps.  For treating dogs, my favourite products are Insect Defence Spray by Dermadog and Cedarcide Original spray. The former contains Lemongrass, Rose Geranium and Cedarwood oils, the latter, Cedarwood, non-GMO soybean oil and Diatomaceous Earth (DE). There’s a nice powder, too, called DeNeem made of Neem and Diatomaceous Earth.  For treating the house, and remember, it’s pointless treating the dog if you’re not going to do the dog’s environment, I use Diatomaceous Earth (food grade), or bicarbonate of soda. With both, you just sprinkle them everywhere. Leave it to sit for a good few hours. Try to dust soft furnishings, carpets, curtains, floorboard cracks and every nook and cranny the dog has access to. Come home, hoover. Repeat weekly/monthly as necessary. The reason I’m keen to avoid drugs is that they can cause side effects, harming the health of the dog, the health of everyone in the house and the viability of essential insect life in the environment.   How to Treat Using Drugs If you’ve tried hard with the natural treatments and not been successful, you have to go to drugs promptly. Using essential oils and physical treatments like DE, you’ll reduce your dependence on these necessary drug evils, so reducing the lifetime toxic load, but sometimes you need to play tough to avoid being overwhelmed by visitors.  Your vet will guide you on flea medications. Get the tried and tested licensed products.  Please note: I don’t like using flea products if the dog hasn’t got fleas. Why would you? Many vet practices have ‘clubs’ where they give you flea products as part of the ‘health package’. Why dose the dog with a pharmaceutical just because you can, even if they don’t have fleas and it’s the middle of winter?  It’s up to you, but I can’t see the point in taking an Anadin unless you’ve actually got a headache.  I’m not too fond of Bravecto, but you’ll have to discuss this with your vet. I try to go for products that are inert unless activated in the flea. Again, your vet will guide you. I don’t want to advertise for drug corporations.  Summary All in all, keep your eyes open. If you see fleas, go in heavy with the natural treatments if you’re able. If that’s no good, go, lightly, with the drugs. Good luck!  About the author Nick Thompson is a vet. He has been fighting for responsible, species-appropriate raw food feeding for pets for 25 years. His tireless drive for healthy pets from birth to graceful old age brought him to raw feeding in the mid-1990s.Nick is Founding President of the international Raw Feeding Veterinary Society (www.rfvs.info) and has co-authored a pioneering worldwide survey of 79 vets and their experiences feeding raw food. He has co-organised international raw food conferences for the RFVS since 2012.In 1999, Nick established his specialist practice, Holisticvet (www.holisticvet.co.uk). Now based in Corsham, near Bath, he offers homeopathy, natural nutrition and herbal medicine and a lot of good old-fashioned common sense for dogs and horses.His pet topics are gastroenterology and the microbiome and the misuse of pharmaceuticals in medicine. He loves researching all aspects of human and animal nutrition.Nick also shares his passion for raw feeding with a nutritional consultancy service to the premier raw pet food companies in the UK and Europe. He has lectured and consulted in Raw Food, Nutrition and Medicine throughout the UK, Eire, Northern Ireland, Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands.Nick is embracing Social Media to spread his message: Facebook: Holisticvet Ltd; FB Public Figure: Dr Nick Thompson; Instagram: holisticvetuk.Nick is married to Elly and has two children, Arthur and Ophelia, and lives in Wiltshire, UK with chickens a Snowshoe cat called Ziggy and a Whippet-Italian Greyhound cross (mongrel), Bluebell.When not trying to convert the world to a species-appropriate diet, Nick runs barefoot, swims and eating real food. Not all at the same time.

Everyone is a bit squeamish about worms. The thought of the dog having them is less than appetising. The thought of us humans having them makes most peoples skin crawl. Drug manufacturers play on this sense of ‘yuck’ to sell worming treatments for dogs. Fear sells product, of course.  Adult dogs and Worms Most adult dogs don’t have worms, and it’s not because most dogs are wormed (over-wormed, actually). It’s because Mother Nature has got it covered. She made us and our dogs develop immunity when we’re young so that we’re more resistant to worm infection when we grow up. Genius.  At my practice, we use Mother Nature to our advantage. I ask clients to send a stool sample every 3-6 months to wormcount.com for testing. 19 out of 20 of them come back clear. You need to collect poos for three days running. We have to pick up anyway, so we might as well put it to some good use! Sometimes we see Fox Lungworm (that we’d otherwise be none the wiser), a critter called Crenosoma. It only causes a mild cough in some dogs. It is not in the slightest bit dangerous. It’s exotic French cousin, Angyostrongylus, is the nasty one. It’s not common, but you need to know if you’ve got it. Wormcount.com test for it. Job done.  If you find Angyostrongylus vasorum worms, French Lungworm, talk to your vet. I use fenbendazole liquid daily for 3-7d, usually.  Puppies and Worms  Worming bitches in the last part of pregnancy to avoid mum passing worms to the pups is a waste of time. It makes no difference to bitch-pup transmission. If you’re concerned, the time to worm her is after whelping. Worm puppies from about 4w of age. You can either use drugs, your vet will help you with this, or you can use the natural methods we’re going to describe below.  Pups are traditionally wormed with drugs every 2w or so until they are 12w and then monthly until six months of age.  You can use natural methods with pups, including worm count testing, but it’s a little more tricky and should be done in conjunction with a holistic or herb vet for the safety of the pups.  Natural Worming Products There are quite a few about. I’ve only had experience with Verm-X. It is not a licenced product. Therefore it is not described as a wormer. However, I’m very happy using it in conjunction with faecal egg counts. It’s essential to use both product and test in combination. Again, I think using herbs will reduce total lifetime load of pharmaceuticals.  Summary Prevention is better than cure where parasites are concerned, but if we can use herbal or strategic testing to reduce our dogs’ exposure to potentially toxic drugs, I think this is an excellent choice for everyone’s health. For alternative worming treatments for dogs. About the author Nick Thompson is a vet. He has been fighting for responsible, species-appropriate raw food feeding for pets for 25 years. His tireless drive for healthy pets from birth to graceful old age brought him to raw feeding in the mid-1990s.Nick is Founding President of the international Raw Feeding Veterinary Society (www.rfvs.info) and has co-authored a pioneering worldwide survey of 79 vets and their experiences feeding raw food. He has co-organised international raw food conferences for the RFVS since 2012.In 1999, Nick established his specialist practice, Holisticvet (www.holisticvet.co.uk). Now based in Corsham, near Bath, he offers homeopathy, natural nutrition and herbal medicine and a lot of good old-fashioned common sense for dogs and horses.His pet topics are gastroenterology and the microbiome and the misuse of pharmaceuticals in medicine. He loves researching all aspects of human and animal nutrition.Nick also shares his passion for raw feeding with a nutritional consultancy service to the premier raw pet food companies in the UK and Europe. He has lectured and consulted in Raw Food, Nutrition and Medicine throughout the UK, Eire, Northern Ireland, Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands.Nick is embracing Social Media to spread his message: Facebook: Holisticvet Ltd; FB Public Figure: Dr Nick Thompson; Instagram: holisticvetuk.Nick is married to Elly and has two children, Arthur and Ophelia, and lives in Wiltshire, UK with chickens a Snowshoe cat called Ziggy and a Whippet-Italian Greyhound cross (mongrel), Bluebell.When not trying to convert the world to a species-appropriate diet, Nick runs barefoot, swims and eating real food. Not all at the same time.

Pet Food Bad Reactions Food Sensitivity in Dogs Depending on who you talk to, food sensitivity (some call them ‘hypersensitivities’), where a dog develops an ”issue” with food over time, usually occurs the first few years of life. It often happens after antibiotics. I find that even if dogs test negative to food sensitivities/allergies, their level of itch can often be helped, even a little, on a really good raw diet, rich in omega-3 fatty acids.  Why is food sensitivity level so high in dogs? It’s due to disruption of the microbiome. A paper written in 2020, by Dr Allesio Fasano in Boston, Massachusetts, goes so far as to say that ”All disease begins in the (leaky) gut”. It goes on to link, in humans, Leaky Gut syndrome to ageing, ankylosis spondylitis, ADHD, IBS, multiple sclerosis, obesity and schizophrenia. Phew. Scary stuff.  Tight Junctions How does the wrong food get implicated in all these diseases? It’s all to do with gut tight-junctions and the leaking of food and bacterial protein into the intestinal wall and the bloodstream.  Gut permeability is essential because we all need to absorb goodness from our food, but keep bugs and toxins in the gut to be eliminated—a tricky process at the best of times. When the gut biome is in good shape, it goes a long way to keeping this permeability balancing act in balance and food sensitivities in dogs at bay.  Gut Bugs So it comes down to anything that disrupts the gut bugs, the microbiome, can lead to all manner of nightmarish things happening in the gut, skin and beyond. Disruptors come in the shape of antibiotics, obviously. Less noticeable are the pesticides we put on dogs for fleas and ticks, the anthelmintics we use for worming dogs (most adult dogs don’t have worms – you only have to do a worm count to tell!), and of course the food we feed.  Ultra-Processed Food There is not a human nutritionist on the planet who would recommend ultra-processed food (read dry kibble and tinned pet foods here) to maintain and encourage a good microbiome. And yet, the food corporations extol us to feed precisely this to our dog for their entire lives. Is it any wonder that 70% of dogs are overweight or obese? Is it any wonder that diabetes, autoimmune disease and bladder stones are rising and have been for thirty years?  Summary In a way, food sensitivity, even though it is most complex of our three food ”issues”, is, at its heart, the most simple. There’s one rule: maintain a good microbiome (with species-appropriate raw food!) and avoid disruptors like pharmaceuticals where possible.  Do this, and the body is much better able to look after itself. You are, after all, what you eat.  Next, we’ll look at food intolerances in our pets.    About the author Nick Thompson is a vet. He has been fighting for responsible, species-appropriate raw food feeding for pets for 25 years. His tireless drive for healthy pets from birth to graceful old age brought him to raw feeding in the mid-1990s.Nick is Founding President of the international Raw Feeding Veterinary Society (www.rfvs.info) and has co-authored a pioneering worldwide survey of 79 vets and their experiences feeding raw food. He has co-organised international raw food conferences for the RFVS since 2012.In 1999, Nick established his specialist practice, Holisticvet (www.holisticvet.co.uk). Now based in Corsham, near Bath, he offers homeopathy, natural nutrition and herbal medicine and a lot of good old-fashioned common sense for dogs and horses.His pet topics are gastroenterology and the microbiome and the misuse of pharmaceuticals in medicine. He loves researching all aspects of human and animal nutrition.Nick also shares his passion for raw feeding with a nutritional consultancy service to the premier raw pet food companies in the UK and Europe. He has lectured and consulted in Raw Food, Nutrition and Medicine throughout the UK, Eire, Northern Ireland, Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands.Nick is embracing Social Media to spread his message: Facebook: Holisticvet Ltd; FB Public Figure: Dr Nick Thompson; Instagram: holisticvetuk.Nick is married to Elly and has two children, Arthur and Ophelia, and lives in Wiltshire, UK with chickens a Snowshoe cat called Ziggy and a Whippet-Italian Greyhound cross (mongrel), Bluebell.When not trying to convert the world to a species-appropriate diet, Nick runs barefoot, swims and eating real food. Not all at the same time.

Pet Food Bad Reactions In our first blog, we looked at dog food and allergies and what can happen to dogs when they react to food. We saw three types of reaction; allergy, sensitivity and intolerance. Allergy is an immediate response like a bee sting. Sensitivity is a delayed response like bloating or diarrhoea after 24-48 hours. Food intolerance can look similar to a delayed response but doesn’t involve the immune system as much. All affect either the skin (and/or ears, rears and feet) or the gut or both. All include disruption of the gut bugs, the intestinal microbiome.  Human Food Allergy Today we’ll dive deeper into allergy, the most dramatic and potentially fatal unwanted reaction to foods or additives we feed to our pets.  In humans, food allergy (think peanuts on a plane, or wheat gluten in coeliac disease) runs at 1-2% of all UK adults, and 5-8% of children. These figures are unknown for dogs and cats (we have no central NHS database).  Rates of allergy are increasing in people, especially in industrialised societies like the UK and US. Interestingly, they are more likely in built-up urban areas than in country folk in these countries. People moving from low allergy countries like Japan and Indonesia have even higher rates of allergy than their new neighbours when moving to first world countries.  In us humans, the reason for worsening allergy numbers is not known. Increased hygiene, lack of vitamin D and lack of exposure to foods at weaning might be to blame.  Dog Food and Allergies The figures for pets vary widely. In the general dog population, it might be about 2%, the same as in adult humans, which makes sense. But among itchy animals, allergy can be as much as one in four!  Milk, eggs, peanuts, nuts (walnuts, almonds, brazil’s etc.), sesame, fish and shellfish are the top allergens in humans. In pets, we don’t see these as allergens as problems, thank goodness. We see good old wheat, beef and chicken at the top of the list, and as any meat protein becomes rarer, the lower it is on the list. So alligator meat, that I have actually seen, really is low on the allergen list. Why? Because wheat beef and chicken have been used by food corporations since the ’50s and ’60s in their tinned and kibbled ultra-processed food offerings. ‘Top breeders recommend it because it’s solid nourishment’, remember that one?  So we don’t really know how much allergy there is, and we can’t do much to avoid it. What can we do? Well, if we look at the potential causes of allergies in humans, we can work on that.  Raw food contains bugs, good bugs as well as low, immunising levels, of harmful bugs. This is a good thing as far as the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ of allergy goes. And our experience bears this out because raw dogs usually show fewer allergies than kibble dogs. Raw food contains good levels of vitamin D if liver and fish oils are used. It seems wise to expose pups to a variety of food, in blocks of about a week or so, for their first six months. This practice educates their gut immunity on real proteins to reduce food reactivity later in life.  Raw foods, I find, tend to be generally less allergenic than kibbles and tins. They provoke less microbiome disruption and reduce the likelihood of Leaky Gut issues.  I can’t see why more people don’t move over to a well-balanced range of raw complete food. About the author Nick Thompson is a vet. He has been fighting for responsible, species-appropriate raw food feeding for pets for 25 years. His tireless drive for healthy pets from birth to graceful old age brought him to raw feeding in the mid-1990s.Nick is Founding President of the international Raw Feeding Veterinary Society (www.rfvs.info) and has co-authored a pioneering worldwide survey of 79 vets and their experiences feeding raw food. He has co-organised international raw food conferences for the RFVS since 2012.In 1999, Nick established his specialist practice, Holisticvet (www.holisticvet.co.uk). Now based in Corsham, near Bath, he offers homeopathy, natural nutrition and herbal medicine and a lot of good old-fashioned common sense for dogs and horses.His pet topics are gastroenterology and the microbiome and the misuse of pharmaceuticals in medicine. He loves researching all aspects of human and animal nutrition.Nick also shares his passion for raw feeding with a nutritional consultancy service to the premier raw pet food companies in the UK and Europe. He has lectured and consulted in Raw Food, Nutrition and Medicine throughout the UK, Eire, Northern Ireland, Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands.Nick is embracing Social Media to spread his message: Facebook: Holisticvet Ltd; FB Public Figure: Dr Nick Thompson; Instagram: holisticvetuk.Nick is married to Elly and has two children, Arthur and Ophelia, and lives in Wiltshire, UK with chickens a Snowshoe cat called Ziggy and a Whippet-Italian Greyhound cross (mongrel), Bluebell.When not trying to convert the world to a species-appropriate diet, Nick runs barefoot, swims and eating real food. Not all at the same time.

In our first blog, we looked at what can happen to dogs when they react to food. We saw three types of reaction; allergy, sensitivity and intolerance. Allergy is an immediate response like a bee sting. Sensitivity is a delayed response like bloating or diarrhoea after 24-48 hours. Intolerance can look similar to a delayed response but doesn’t involve the immune system as much. All three affect either the skin (and/or ears, rears and feet) or the gut or both. All involve disruption of the gut bugs, the intestinal microbiome. Food Intolerances in Humans and Animals  I used to think food intolerances were the poor cousin in the allergy-sensitivity-intolerance trio of food issues, but lately, I’m thinking the research in this field is pulling its weight.  I now discover there are layers and layers of intolerance! Here’s a list to keep things simple:   1. Non-allergic food intolerances, including FODMAP*, wheat, lactose, histamine, food additives and bioactive chemical sensitivities.   2. Genetic food intolerances, in people, these include intolerance of sugar and starch because of digestive enzyme deficiencies.  1. Non-allergic Food Intolerances To hit the nail on the head, these issues don’t involve the immune system, like classic chicken or beef sensitivity/hypersensitivities, where the body’s reaction to food is the problem. But the physical results are similar.  I see it as food entering the gut and then disrupting the happy bug equilibrium. The changed microbiome then has less ability to cope with the sugars and fibre going through the gut.  Wheat protein reactions go in the ‘sensitivity’ bracket (in my other article) because they are immune-mediated. Fermentation and maldigestion of wheat go in the ‘microbiome disruptor’ category. This is the same for lactose, milk sugar; it ferments, upsets bugs, creating bloating, pain and wind.  Histamine laden foods like dried meats and fish (!), all cheeses, avocado, sauerkraut, spinach, tomatoes and vinegars (including apple cider vinegar, I’m afraid) can overwhelm the gut with inflammatory signals, causing chronic IBS and itchy skin diseases in humans and dogs.  Food additives are some of the antioxidants, colours, nitrates and sulphites we add to human and animal foods, unfortunately. Raw complete foods usually contain none of these.  Bioactive chemicals are molecules in food that exert and effect on the eater. They disrupt the microbiome. Mundane items like cheese, banana, ham and fish, tomatoes and apples are full of them. Biochemists have identified some as amines (Cheese and chocolate), glutamates (tomatoes) and salicylates (apples and tomatoes).   2. Genetic issues Leading to Food Intolerances Simply put, these are where you’re born without the gene for a digestive enzyme, so you can’t eat certain foods. They are well studied in people, but less so in vet med.  In people, the most common is called a sucrase-isomaltase deficiency. These are two enzymes that digest sugars in humans, and if you’ve not got them, you get uncomfortable when you eat certain foods. You’ll hear people say “Oh, I can’t eat watermelon, but mangoes are fine”, for example.  Summary Don’t get bogged down in detail. If your dog can ‘eat everything’, you can disregard all of the above. If your dog has got food issues unresponsive to a simple elimination diet, then it’s worth printing this article out and taking it to the vets to discuss food intolerances.  Alternatively, you can start systematically eliminating non-protein food items from the diet, one week at a time, sequentially. It’s laborious, but it’s worth it!   *FODMAP defined as ‘Fermentable oligo-,di-,mono-saccharides and polyols’. Simply speaking, they’re types of sugars that cause over-fermentation and gas, or draw moisture into the gut by osmosis, causing ‘osmotic diarrhoea’.   About the author Nick Thompson is a vet. He has been fighting for responsible, species-appropriate raw food feeding for pets for 25 years. His tireless drive for healthy pets from birth to graceful old age brought him to raw feeding in the mid-1990s.Nick is Founding President of the international Raw Feeding Veterinary Society (www.rfvs.info) and has co-authored a pioneering worldwide survey of 79 vets and their experiences feeding raw food. He has co-organised international raw food conferences for the RFVS since 2012.In 1999, Nick established his specialist practice, Holisticvet (www.holisticvet.co.uk). Now based in Corsham, near Bath, he offers homeopathy, natural nutrition and herbal medicine and a lot of good old-fashioned common sense for dogs and horses.His pet topics are gastroenterology and the microbiome and the misuse of pharmaceuticals in medicine. He loves researching all aspects of human and animal nutrition.Nick also shares his passion for raw feeding with a nutritional consultancy service to the premier raw pet food companies in the UK and Europe. He has lectured and consulted in Raw Food, Nutrition and Medicine throughout the UK, Eire, Northern Ireland, Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands.Nick is embracing Social Media to spread his message: Facebook: Holisticvet Ltd; FB Public Figure: Dr Nick Thompson; Instagram: holisticvetuk.Nick is married to Elly and has two children, Arthur and Ophelia, and lives in Wiltshire, UK with chickens a Snowshoe cat called Ziggy and a Whippet-Italian Greyhound cross (mongrel), Bluebell.When not trying to convert the world to a species-appropriate diet, Nick runs barefoot, swims and eating real food. Not all at the same time.

Every meal is an opportunity for enrichment. Turn your dog’s dinner into a game with these easy, mentally stimulating ideas! Scent work– This is a great way to make meal times more exciting! Hide your dog’s food around the house and/or garden, and ask them to sniff it out. Alternatively, put the food in cardboard boxes, under cups, or wrap it in fabric. Snuffle mats are perfect for this! Puzzle toys– Every pet shop will have a selection of fun puzzles to challenge your dog’s brain. If you’re on a budget, a quick internet search will give you endless DIY ideas. Stuffed toys– Stuffed toys such as Kongs can be filled with dry kibble, and wet food. Chewing, and trying to empty these toys will keep your dog occupied for ages! Again, a quick internet search will bring up ideas for all sorts of tasty fillings. Training– Occasionally using your dog’s food as a reward during a training session not only strengthens the bond between you, it can also be the perfect time-saver. When your schedule is full to the brim, why wouldn’t you want to kill two birds with one stone? About the author My name is Jenny Hunter, and I am the resident dog trainer at Home From Home Boarding Kennels and Cattery. I began working with dogs during my year as a Masters student but soon realised that I wanted to spend my life learning about these extraordinary animals, and helping others to learn too. I believe that magical things can happen when humans truly listen to their dogs, and take the time to understand them as individuals. After all, the best relationships are built on a foundation of love and respect.

I’ve never met a puppy who doesn’t nip! This is completely normal behaviour from a young dog who is still exploring the world, and learning how to play nicely with others. The problem is, those needle teeth hurt! As a puppy owner, the best thing you can do to help teach them not to bite is to recognise why your puppy is biting in the first place. Physical exercise – Is your puppy getting the right balance between high stimulation exercise (eg. play, chase) and low stimulation (eg. sniff walks, swimming)? Make sure to consult your vet about what exercise is suitable for your puppy’s age and breed. Mental stimulation – Is your puppy bored? Don’t forget how important it is to give your puppy mental stimulation (eg. sniffing, training, shredding). Teething – It’s always handy to give your puppy appropriate objects to chew on. This helps with teething pain, and a gives them an outlet which won’t leave you having to buy a new set of dining chairs! Over tired – Give your puppy plenty of opportunities for undisturbed sleep throughout the day. We all get cranky when we’re tired! Over aroused – Playing too roughly or for too long produces lots of adrenaline which causes puppies to bite. When this happens, switch to mental enrichment games or allow your puppy to nap. Defensive biting- It can be easy for owners to miss those subtle bits of body language which dogs exhibit when they are uncomfortable. This can lead to defensive biting if the puppy feels like it is being ignored and people are continuing to pester or touch it. Why not do a bit of research about dog body language so you know what to look for? About the author My name is Jenny Hunter, and I am the resident dog trainer at Home From Home Boarding Kennels and Cattery. I began working with dogs during my year as a Masters student but soon realised that I wanted to spend my life learning about these extraordinary animals, and helping others to learn too. I believe that magical things can happen when humans truly listen to their dogs, and take the time to understand them as individuals. After all, the best relationships are built on a foundation of love and respect.

We’ve all had bad days. Days when nothing seems to go your way. You sleep through your alarm, spill your coffee, a stranger steals your parking space, the printer at work keeps jamming. We all know what it feels like to carry stress that has accumulate over a day. Now imaging that you’ve made it back home, and your pan of pasta boils over. It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. You’re absolutely seething. You might shout, cry, slam doors, or just simply give up and go to bed. To anyone else, it seems like a disproportionate reaction. This, my friends, is called ‘Trigger Stacking’, and our dogs experience it too. The only difference is that our dog’s triggers are unlikely to be the same as ours. If the batteries in my toothbrush die, then I can’t find the shoes I want, then I receive a tersely worded email, my morning is ruined. If Sam, my Retriever, isn’t given his breakfast at the usual time, is taken for a routine check-up at the vet, then a lorry drives closely past us out on a walk, his morning is ruined. All of these triggers are experienced either simultaneously or in quick succession, thus building tension in our dogs. Once our dogs experience too many of these triggers, they pass their psychological and emotional threshold. Remember our reaction to spilled pasta water? It seemed silly to everyone else who wasn’t as stressed as us or whose triggers are different to ours. A dog which has been surprised by a cyclist, barked at by other dogs, patted by a stranger, all during one walk might be teetering at its emotional threshold. All it takes is for a driver to honk his horn and we see what looks like an overreaction from our dog. If you find that your dog is ‘overreacting’ or shutting down when exposed to new things, slow to recover from exciting events, constantly desperate to get to or away from things out on walks, then your dog may be being exposed to too many triggers, and his threshold is being crossed. Some dogs have a naturally low trigger threshold, and different dogs are stressed by different things- just like humans. However, there are things you can do to help. Never punish your dog for displaying these behaviours. They can’t help it! Instead, reward them for calm behaviour. Learn your dog’s triggers and pre-empt them out on walks. Try not to keep exposing them to their triggers. Forcing them to ‘deal with’ scary situations or saying that ‘they’re going to have to learn’ doesn’t work. Think about what you like doing to relieve the tension of the day. Yoga? Cooking? Netflix binge? Then think about what your dog likes doing. Activities might include sniffing, foraging, playing, digging, followed by lots of rest. If in doubt, consult a qualified, force-free trainer.

People talk a lot about the concept of a ‘sociable’ dog, or their desire to ‘socialise’ their newpuppy. But what does this idea actually mean? Say the word ‘socialisation’ and most peoplethink about their desire to have their dog play with, and to greet other dogs. However, it is amuch more complex than that. Socialisation means exposing your puppy to as many differentenvironments as possible in a way which creates positive associations for them. The key is toequip the puppy with essential life skills to be able to cope with the world around them, andthe ability to communicate effectively in situations they may encounter in later life. Therein lies the rub. Many dog owners reduce ‘socialisation’ to the act of playing,and are so determined that their dog should ‘say hello’ to every stranger that they place theirpuppy (and sometimes the puppies they encounter) in extremely uncomfortable situations.Letting a load of puppies off-lead together in your local park may sound like a great idea butwhat if one of them spends the whole time hiding? Are they going to have positiveassociations with other dogs they encounter in the future? Alternatively, what about thepuppy who is crashing into its playmates, and not returning when their owner is trying to callthem away from rough play? What are they learning? Socialising your puppy is the process of creating a functional, emotionally roundedadult dog. This includes desensitising them to veterinary equipment, getting them used tobeing handled, teaching them how to settle in the car etc. Crucially, it is also about lettingthem know that they don’t have to interact with everything that crosses their path. They canchoose when to interact, and when to keep on walking.

The treatment of fleas doesn't have to involve chemicals and nasty unnatural products. In fact, there are a number of excellent products on the market that provide pet mums and dads with alternative, natural flea treatments for dogs and cats.   Unfortunately, cats and dogs from small to large breads are all excellent hosts to those wonderful six-legged pesky fleas and their little friends ticks and mites. It's also around this time of year - well from March to September that they come out to play.   Fleas' in particular have the ability to host hope with insane ease. Their flat body and their ability to live within fur and then jump 50 times their own size make them difficult to catch, see and deal with. So, flea treatments are the best way to prevent a flea infestation.   Why is treating Fleas so hard?  Small and large dogs and cats are particular breeding grounds along with carpets and pet bedding. So, prevention is the best solution all round. The last thing you want is to deal with not only your pet but pest control. Let’s just take a look at the flea life cycle in more detail.   Flea Life Cycle. Adult fleas' lay eggs that hatch into larvae. This little white worm like pest then spins a cocoon and becomes a wonderful, little pupae where the adult flea then emerges from.   For a flea larva to survive they need a warm moist environment (70 degrees F/21 degrees C) so your fury friends are the ideal host and in the perfect condition’s eggs will hatch in about 12 days from being laid. This gestation period, if you like, is what can make ridding your pet of fleas very difficult as the majority of flea treatments kill the adult but not the flea eggs.   Here is a scary little fact for you - in a flea population half are eggs and about 5 percent are in fact adults. The adult also only lays eggs once it has eaten and they lay about 30 eggs at a time and 500 in an adult’s lifetime!  The flea eggs are smooth and because of this they have the ability to come off their host and lay in bedding and carpets and floor cracks. Here's a really disgusting fact - the black specks you see on flea infested animals and their bedding is in fact little bits of dried blood and flea droppings and the larvae feed of this detritus along with skin cells. Had enough yet?   What about Mites and Ticks   So, what about mites. Well left untreated this can lead a very nasty and contagious condition in dogs called Sarcoptic mange?which is also known as?canine scabies. The spider like mite’s burrow into your pets’ skin where they lay their eggs which then hatch in 3 to 10 days.   Again, like fleas' their eggs turn into larvae that then grow into adults and the unfortunate cycle repeats itself. Unlike ticks which are bigger than and live on plants and live hosts - Mites live on plants, animals and non-living hosts.   And then there are ticks which, like mites have a spider-like appearance but these little pesky pest suck blood from fury hosts filling their little body until it swells in size and changes a dark red colour. Ticks however are particularly sedentary! Unlike fleas, they don't fly or jump.   They climb or drop onto your pet’s coat when they brush past or sit in long grasses. Whilst most ticks’ bites are harmless, they can carry harmful germs that cause Lyme disease in humans.  How to treat and prevent fleas, ticks and mites naturally  So, let's take a look at some effective flea treatments for dogs and cats that kills fleas, mites and ticks. Treatments can come in a variety of applications, spot on solution which can be applied to the neck of your pet, powders that you sprinkle on your pet’s food and flea spray on liquids or flea tablets.   What we want to look at in more detail is the effectiveness of natural alternatives which in all honesty is safer and better for your pet as you are not using toxic chemicals on your pets to rid them of or prevent an infestation of fleas, ticks or mites.  Natural flea treatments for dogs and cats and products use natural occurring essential oils from plants and herbs like Mint, Lemon Balm, Fenugreek, Seaweed and Neem Leaves which are used in CSJ - Billy No Mates which don’t kill but do a very effective job of repelling dog fleas and ticks. A natural defence spray Like DermaDog natural Defence Spray carefully combines a blend of essential oils to create an aromatic blend that not only deodorises your dog from ‘woofy’ dog odours but also deters those pesky bugs. Here’s a wicked little tip for you. If you dilute your DermaDog Natural Defence Spray with 50% water you can use this spray on yourself as a natural insect repellent and it smells pretty good too.   Tick Removal  The most effective way to treat your pet for ticks is to prevent them in the first place, but should you encounter that odd little lump when you stock your pet and it turns out to be blood sucking tick there is an effective and safe way to manually remove and dispose of it.   Step one - Use a fine tipped pair of tweezers to get hold of the tick as to your pets’ skin as possible  Step two - Pull upwards with steady and even pressure. Don’t jerk or twist; a nice, steady pressure straight up will remove the tick.  Step three - clean the area and never rush the tick with your fingers. Dispose of the tick outside.   Step four - If in doubt consult your local pet store or your vet for further advice and help.   Alternatively, if you don't fancy using your tweezers because, let’s face it, they should be for personal use - The Dermadog Tick Pick provides a safe and easy way to remove ticks from your pets and should you need to also you! Tick Pick comes in three handy sizes, which can be washed and reused again and again.  If you do have an invasion  Unfortunately, if your pet or home has an invasion of fleas then you will have to call pest control to have them chemically removed. Going forward look to healthy prevention methods like DermaDog Natural Defence spray or CSJ Billy No Mates.   Always on hand to help our furry friends  If you have been using chemical-based flea treatment and want to understand more about natural alternatives our team here at My Pet HQ are on hand to help give you advice and talk to you about any concerns you may have. You can ask us on Facebook or Instagram or give us a call at our My Pet HQ Morpeth store by calling us on: 01670 512 895. 

Jenny Hunter spent two years studying for a Phd at a local university and the unremitting pressure to succeed, to strive for perfection in a sector with too many applicants per job, lead to a never-ending cycle of chronic self-doubt, comparison, criticism, and toxic mental health. The worst part about all of this is that it was considered completely normal. In fact, it was an unspoken expectation that if students didn’t experience some stress-induced illness, the implication was that they just weren’t trying hard enough or that students didn’t really care. Jenny Hunter Dog Trainer Last week was mental health awareness week and whilst it is ever more important for us humans to understand and support those who suffer with mental health issues, we wanted to shine a light on our pet’s mental wellbeing by asking Jenny the question; do dogs suffer with mental health? In fact, Jenny’s own experience of study induced stress and anxiety has enabled her to make parallels in the world of dog training which we wanted to explore further with her. Over the past several years Jenny has been encountering stressed, anxious dogs daily and we felt this was the perfect time to explore why this is the case in more detail. ‘Owners usually come to me with a specific issue eg. barking, jumping up, lunging at cars. However, 99.9% of the time, these are symptoms of a more fundamental underlying problem. These dogs live in a state of overwhelm. Through my work with animals and their human counterparts I have come to realise that as humans we have normalised chronic stress and accepted it as part of our existence.” Explains Jenny. Our hectic, erratic, and busy lifestyles and those nagging voices that drive us to achieve, push ourselves and compare ourselves to others make us more susceptible to stress and anxiety. If we stop for a moment, if we fall short of expectation, it’s a cause of deep shame and this is where Jenny has noticed similar behaviour patterns in our dogs! As Jenny goes onto explain further “It’s no wonder that we push this lifestyle of constant activity onto our dogs! We do it to ourselves! We look at the dog over the road who is walking to heel, and automictically wish our dogs did the same. We take our dogs for hours of physical exercise a day, send them to day care, dog parks, throw balls for them to chase, walk them up busy high streets, take them to agility - the list goes on!”  The questions we should be answering are: When do we ever just let ourselves ‘be’? When do we let our dogs ‘be’? More importantly, how often do we and our dogs just ‘be’ together? None of the activities outlined above are bad in themselves. Fun, fast, engaging play is for a lot of dogs’ great for their wellness. However, we need to seriously consider how much rest, and recuperation we give our dogs. Do they have the time and space to heal, physically and mentally from a busy, potentially stressful day? “I think that human and canine mental wellness go hand-in-paw. Once we learn to take care of ourselves, and to stop accepting burnout as a normal state of existence, we will do the same with our dogs.” Said Jenny.  If you are asking yourself does my dog suffer with stress and anxiety? Here are some awesome tips from Jenny:  Tips for Reducing Stress and Anxiety in Dogs Give your dog passive calming activities to facilitate calmness. This is anything which encourages licking, sniffing, or chewing. Think snuffle mats, licki mats, yaker sticks etc. We often accidently reward hyperactive behaviour with our attention eg. pushing them down when they jump up, picking them up when they dig our flowerbeds, chasing after them when they’ve stolen a shoe! Instead, reward the behaviour we want. Imagine your dog has taken itself off for a lie down. Just drop a couple of treats on their bed as a reward. If they run up to you and don’t jump up, give then loads of praise! Engage with them if they pick up one of their toys rather than ignoring them, and then chasing them if they steal something.  Dogs need so much more sleep than a lot of people realise. Puppies can sleep 18-20 hours per day. Adolescents’ cycadean rhythms change so they may sleep at different times, but they don’t need that much less than when they were puppies.  Almost daily, I see people with high-energy dogs who think that they have to give them hours of physical exercise a day, and they tell me that their dog still isn’t tired afterwards. The more a dog (or human for that matter) exercises, the more exercise they need because they become fitter and more energetic. This, in turn, means you need to exercise them even more because you’re building an athlete! It also increases overall levels of adrenaline, and reactivity. Physical activity should be balanced with slow-paced mental stimulation (see ‘passive calming’ activities above), and plenty of rest.  If you would like to learn from Jenny you can follower on her Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/jhunterdogtraining/ Alternatively one of our team of experts will always be on hand in your Morpeth Pet store to give help, advice and guidance

Vet Dr Nick Thompson talks us through his view on Neutering In the 1980s I started vet school in 1986. At college in Edinburgh, like all the vet schools at the time, we were taught that neutering (castrating male dogs and cats and spaying females) was sensible, safe and kept the kitten and puppy population down.  This may have been true in the 1980s, but the world has moved on, and I’m not so sure that our perception of neutering has kept up. Neutering in Europe For example, in Germany and Sweden, it is now illegal, or at the very least frowned upon, to neuter any male or female dog unless there is a medical necessity.   Whenever I go to France or Spain, I see entire male dogs left, right and centre!  Then and Now In the 1980s, roads were less busy, and the pace of life in towns all over the UK was arguably a little less frenetic. Suppose you go back to the 1950s, even more so. In those days, we commonly saw dogs wandering about.  Nowadays, one rarely sees stray dogs. No, I’m not saying they don’t stray anymore, but we live more insular, controlled lives where our neighbours, whom we may not know, would be only too happy to dob us in for allowing our dog to wander the streets.  Neutering was more of a necessity then than it is now because of this more closed, controlled world in which we now live.  Early Neutering  In this blog, we’re not talking about the early-neutering of rescue animals and certain breeds, sometimes as young as six weeks. That is an entirely separate issue, but I’ll give you a spoiler alert – I think it’s wrong. We’re also not going to discuss laparoscopic neutering of females (it’s good) or ovary-sparing spaying of females (also a good thing, but you need to do your homework). Those are for another blog, another day.  Advantages of Neutering in the First 1-2 Years The advantages of neutering females at this time are that it reduces the chance of getting mammary tumours, eliminates the risk of pyometra, and stops them from having puppies or kittens and usually (not always!) gives you a more placid pet.  Queens are usually neutered in the first 6m of life. Bitches are best neutered between the first and second season if you decide to do it.  The advantage of neutering (castrating) males is it eliminates the problem of testicular cancer (pretty rare), reduces the chance of prostate problems in later life (pretty common), usually (!) makes for a less challenging dog and usually eliminates dangerous (running under buses in search of bitches in season) or annoying (humping your leg) behaviours.  Disadvantages of Neutering in the first 1-2 Years  Females Some females dogs (about 15%) may get mild to severe urinary incontinence (dribbling) at some point after spaying. Often it’s in later life but can be two weeks after the spay. Many spayed bitches put on weight after spaying, and it can be challenging to control for life. Female dogs are more prone to immune-mediated disorders like atopic dermatitis, autoimmune haemolytic anaemia, Addison’s Disease, hypothyroidism, immune-mediated thrombocytopenia and IBD.   Males  Weight gain is the main problem with male cats and dogs. It doesn’t happen with all, but most, and you can be creating a problem for life.  Problems Post Neutering with Both Sexes Being overweight can predispose to cruciate ligament rupture, hip dysplasia, diabetes and hypothyroidism. Joint disorders in dogs neutered under 12 month of age can increase by up to four times.  Neutering German Shepherd Dogs can increase the chance of hip dysplasia, cruciate disease and elbow dysplasia by up to three times entire dogs.  Neutering increases the chance of getting osteosarcoma bone cancer in large dogs, especially Rotties and reduces longevity in this breed. It increases the chance of getting a number of cancers in a number of breeds.  Conclusion  It’s all a bit confusing, really.  If you want my overview of the whole picture, then I’ll say these points:  You don’t have to neuter all dogs and bitches no matter what anymore. The world has changed. It would seem there might be a slight advantage to neutering female dogs between the first and second season but see the caveats above.  It would seem there might be a slight advantage to leaving male dogs entire unless their behaviour is a problem.  Neutering is not a guarantee to calm a nervous, anxious or aggressive dog. It can make them worse.  We tend to neuter most of our cats still at about six months of age.  Overall, we must consider breed, intended use, financial considerations, and life situation when deciding on neutering decisions.  For an individually owned animal living in a home, decisions should be based primarily on factors that impact that animal’s individual health and the health and wellbeing of that household, and secondarily on population control.  About the author Nick Thompson is a vet. He has been fighting for responsible, species-appropriate raw food feeding for pets for 25 years. His tireless drive for healthy pets from birth to graceful old age brought him to raw feeding in the mid-1990s.Nick is Founding President of the international Raw Feeding Veterinary Society (www.rfvs.info) and has co-authored a pioneering worldwide survey of 79 vets and their experiences feeding raw food. He has co-organised international raw food conferences for the RFVS since 2012.In 1999, Nick established his specialist practice, Holisticvet (www.holisticvet.co.uk). Now based in Corsham, near Bath, he offers homeopathy, natural nutrition and herbal medicine and a lot of good old-fashioned common sense for dogs and horses.His pet topics are gastroenterology and the microbiome and the misuse of pharmaceuticals in medicine. He loves researching all aspects of human and animal nutrition.Nick also shares his passion for raw feeding with a nutritional consultancy service to the premier raw pet food companies in the UK and Europe. He has lectured and consulted in Raw Food, Nutrition and Medicine throughout the UK, Eire, Northern Ireland, Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands.Nick is embracing Social Media to spread his message: Facebook: Holisticvet Ltd; FB Public Figure: Dr Nick Thompson; Instagram: holisticvetuk.Nick is married to Elly and has two children, Arthur and Ophelia, and lives in Wiltshire, UK with chickens a Snowshoe cat called Ziggy and a Whippet-Italian Greyhound cross (mongrel), Bluebell.When not trying to convert the world to a species-appropriate diet, Nick runs barefoot, swims and eating real food. Not all at the same time.

Dog firework anxiety – it’s real! Party Season and Anxious dogs and cats go together! Yes sadly this is a real thing and many pet parents in the lead up to Halloween (which is scarily just round the corner), Guy Fawkes Night and the Christmas and New Year party season, will be starting to think about their pets, who suffer with anxiety which is  triggered by loud bangs, flashing lights. Fireworks Night is one of the year’s biggest events. Village firework displays. Friends gathering together as they whoop and cheer at the big bangs and flashing lights. And while the tradition of celebrating Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night and New Year’s Eve may be fun for us, for some pets it can be a night of terror induced anxiety. Hiding behind sofas or crawling under the bed to protect themselves are just a couple of the ways they have found to cope with it. Barking, shaking, drooling, panting, putting their tail between their legs and even aggressive behaviour are also signs that they are trying to deal with their fear. In this blog we provide you with some Top Tips for helping your dog cope with the sound of fireworks and the anxiety caused by those loud explosions and extravagant light shows and gathering of people as they celebrate at parties. No 1: Keep your dog inside and establish a safe place Avoid letting your dog out when the fireworks start. We know that this is often easier said than done, especially as there seem to be fireworks going off almost every night for at least a week around Guy Fawkes Night – like a mini fireworks season. But now is the time to start making slight adjustments to your dog’s routine. For instance, you might need to bring their evening walk and mealtime forward a little so that it doesn’t clash with the local display. It’s also a good idea to create a safe place in the house. A cage or a table draped with a cloth make great retreats for your dog. But don’t lock them in – let them pace, or snuggle up to you, or hide under the sofa. Whatever makes them feel safe. No 2: Don’t change your behaviour Dogs are perceptive. They will notice if your behaviour changes and this could add to their anxiety. Don’t be overly attentive. Don’t overly fuss. It’s okay to cuddle them and stroke them if that helps them relax, but above all, simply stay calm and carry on as you would usually do. And certainly, don’t get frustrated with them if they are acting strangely as this could make them even more anxious.  Remember, this is their idea of hell, so if they can see that fireworks have no effect on you, it may alleviate their anxiety. They just need to be reassured that they are in a safe space. No 3: Muffle the sound There are a number of ways to muffle the sound and reduce the impact of what’s going on outside. Close the curtains and the leave the lights on inside. Not only does this help with the loud noises, but it means your dog won’t be able to see the flashes of light quite so easily. And why not pop the television on, or the radio, and turn it up a little louder than usual? Maybe now would be a good time to do the hoovering. Essentially, any tactic to reduce the sound will go some way to minimising your dog’s fears. No 4: Secure the garden First of all, make sure all the doors and windows are securely closed. If possible, don’t let your dog have access to any rooms which have doors leading to the outside. And let everybody in the house know how important it is to be extra vigilant with when it comes to opening and closing doors. In the event that your dog does make a run for it, it’s important to secure any potential escape routes in your garden. Make sure your dog is microchipped and that the details are up to date. If your beloved pet does bolt out of the front door, being microchipped makes it a lot easier for you to be reunited. As does a clear telephone number on the collar tag. No 5: Take their mind of the fireworks Keeping your dog busy can take their mind off what’s going on outside. Now would be a good time to play some games or embark on a few reward-based training exercises. If it’s a little late to be teaching your dog new tricks, a toy stuffed with treats could work wonders and keep them occupied for a while. We hope that this helps you with your dog during the fireworks. It seems that whatever the celebration – bonfire night, New Year’s Eve, weddings, birthdays, even the fourth of July – we want fireworks, so these top tips should help your dog feel safe and secure. We do offer a range of calming products designed to help your dog with anxiety, or if your dog remains anxious, it may be sensible to consult a vet or a qualified behaviourist. It’s also worth mentioning that it’s not just dogs that are scared of fireworks. Most animals will be left feeling scared when the loud bangs and flashing light shows begin. And while we’re not saying you should bring all your pets into the house, some of these tips can be adapted to stop them feeling quite so scared. -true-hemp-dental-sticks-calming-100g-81001087-1600 True-Hemp-Calming-Dog-Treat-50g calming spray Calming_callouts_600x About the author My Pet HQ is a Morpeth based Pet Shop which specialises in quality, raw pet foods and pet accessories for your furry friends. Establish by Caroline and Diane Coppen in 2015 to provide pet mums and dads with the best products and advice on pet health, nutrition and wellness. The My Pet HQ blog is a knowledge centre where you can find anything out about pet care and if you are still unsure Caroline and Diane and their team of experts are always on hand to help. Just give us a call to talk all things pets!

Dr Nick Thompson talks us through he ‘Funny’ subject of bacteria.  When you say there are bacteria in ALL raw food, the raw feeding world parts down the middle into those who are scared and those who say, ‘Of course there are!’.  Actually, I think it should be more surprising that pets can survive on mostly sterile kibble and tins for years on end!  Let’s look into this to see which has more bacterial and other contamination, raw or kibble and tins.  Most people new to raw food are concerned about bacterial contamination of their pet or themselves.  On Apr 5th 2021, safe pet food campaigner Susan Thixton wrote an article called ‘Is Kibble #1’ on her fantastic blog ‘Truth About Pet Food‘. She compares pet food recalls (for bacterial or other contamination) relative to market share between 2012 and 2020 in the USA. Thixton says that kibble makes up 67% of pet food sales in this eight year period, but a whopping 68.4% of recalls in this time.  Wet/canned food is 30% of all pet food sales and a consistent 30.7% of recalls for the same period.  So that would suggest that the more market share you have, the more recalls you’re going to get – it makes sense as no food production process is perfect. But are some more perfect than others?  Raw Food Recalls During these eight years, raw food (refrigerated and frozen foods) says Susan Thixton was two per cent of total sales.  But remarkably, raw only represented 0.6% of recalls. Unlike kibble and cans recalls, this represents only a quarter of raw’s market share.  Susan Thixton’s work suggests raw food is four times safer than kibble and tinned food feeding. And that’s using the figures from US Food and Drug Administration Enforcement Report records, not just talking to one side of the industry or the other, but talking to the people who referee food quality over the whole country.  What About Real Dogs in the Real World?  Anna Hielm-Bjorkmann is the lead researcher for DogRisk, a group of PhD academics studying the health and safety aspects of raw food. Based at the University of Helsinki, they have loads of data and are working their way through it all to interpret it to reveal its secrets.  In 2019, they published data from a survey of 16,475 households. Thirty-nine households (0.2 per cent) reported having had a transmission of a pathogen from the raw pet food to a human family member during the time that raw feeding had been used.  On investigation of those 39 cases, in only three of those households, the same pathogen found in the human sample was analysed and confirmed to be in the raw pet food. These three cases represent just 0.02% of all the dogs in the survey. The humans could have contaminated the dogs, of course.  Interestingly, the survey showed you were more than twice as likely to catch pathogenic bacteria from children at nursery school than from feeding your dog raw food!  And finally, they found that feeding turkey and salmon, using more than 50% raw in of the diet and feeding dogs with shared human kitchen space and utensils actually reduced the chance of infection from food/dog to people.  Conclusion So, there you have it; two completely different ways of analysing the contamination risks from raw food by two completely different official bodies; one the FDA, the other a university department in Europe. Both concluded that feeding raw is safer than many other common practices (like having young children in the house!). I hope this short blog goes a long way to reassure you not to believe the nay-sayers who try to scare you with stories of doom if you so much as talk about feeding raw to your dog.  Feed your dog raw! Talk to your local raw stockist and be guided by them or your local raw-minded vet. It’s as safe as many things we take for granted in our lives and safer than feeding kibble and tins in the USA!  About the author Nick Thompson is a vet. He has been fighting for responsible, species-appropriate raw food feeding for pets for 25 years. His tireless drive for healthy pets from birth to graceful old age brought him to raw feeding in the mid-1990s.Nick is Founding President of the international Raw Feeding Veterinary Society (www.rfvs.info) and has co-authored a pioneering worldwide survey of 79 vets and their experiences feeding raw food. He has co-organised international raw food conferences for the RFVS since 2012.In 1999, Nick established his specialist practice, Holisticvet (www.holisticvet.co.uk). Now based in Corsham, near Bath, he offers homeopathy, natural nutrition and herbal medicine and a lot of good old-fashioned common sense for dogs and horses.His pet topics are gastroenterology and the microbiome and the misuse of pharmaceuticals in medicine. He loves researching all aspects of human and animal nutrition.Nick also shares his passion for raw feeding with a nutritional consultancy service to the premier raw pet food companies in the UK and Europe. He has lectured and consulted in Raw Food, Nutrition and Medicine throughout the UK, Eire, Northern Ireland, Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands.Nick is embracing Social Media to spread his message: Facebook: Holisticvet Ltd; FB Public Figure: Dr Nick Thompson; Instagram: holisticvetuk.Nick is married to Elly and has two children, Arthur and Ophelia, and lives in Wiltshire, UK with chickens a Snowshoe cat called Ziggy and a Whippet-Italian Greyhound cross (mongrel), Bluebell.When not trying to convert the world to a species-appropriate diet, Nick runs barefoot, swims and eating real food. Not all at the same time.