July/August 2010 - Dogs Naturally Magazine

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Volume 1 

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Dogs...Naturally! 

On the Cover: 

Volume 1 Number 4 July/August 2010 

Stephanie and ‘Cooper’ 

Contents 

Editor in Chief: Erika Phillips 

erika@dogsnaturallymagazine.com 

Associate Editor: Dana Scott 

dana@dogsnaturallymagazine.com 

Publisher: Intuition 

dana@dogsnaturallymagazine.com 

Advertising Inquiries: 

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Contents of this publication are copyrighted 

and may be reproduced only with 

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the writers and advertisers do not necessarily 

reflect those of the publisher. 

Contributions in the form of articles, 

artwork or financial support are always 

welcome. We do not pay money for 

artwork or articles: these are considered 

to be contributed gratis for publication. 

We reserve the right to edit articles, but it 

is our policy to make as few changes as 

possible in the material that is sent to us. 

In sending an article for publication, the 

author represents that he/she is the sole 

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and ownership of articles submitted 

remain with the author, except we would 

like to retain the first magazine publication 

rights for both print and electronic 

publication. 

The deadline for submission for the next 

issue of Dogs...Naturally is August 23, 

2010. 

Photography by Karen Delong 

www.kdelongphotography.com 

info@kdelongphotography.com 

Columns 

4 Editorials 

6 Ten Minute Trainer 

Confinement Training 

7 Secret Garden 

Juniper 

8 Show & Tell 

Susan Jenkins 

11 The Apothecary 

Pulsatilla 

16 Oversees 

Catherine O’Driscoll 

60 Teacher Dogs 

Features 

12 POTCAKES IN PARADISE 

by Ellen Kohn 

15 SHAMPOO: READ THE LABEL FIRST 

by Laura Boston 

20 RESOURCE GUARDING IN PUPPIES 

by Jean Donaldson 

22 PET HEALTH: WHAT WE EAT AND FEED THEM PART II 

by Dr. Michael W. Fox B Vet Med PhD DSc MRCVS 

26 CONSEQUENCES AND CONTROL: GETTING BEHAVIORS 

by Dana Scott 

28 KICKING THE KIBBLE HABIT: PART II 

by Lucy Postins 

30 DOGS, PARKS AND POLITICS 

by Julie Walsh 

32 MEAT FACTS AND DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS 

by Erika Phillips 

34 MOST DOGS DO WELL ON RIMADYL 

EXCEPT THE ONES THAT DIE 

by Chris Adams 

37 REIKI AND DOG RESCUE: 

FINDING HEALING THROUGH BALANCE 

by Kathleen Prasad 

40 HEARTWORM MEDICATION 

by Jan Rasmussen 

46 PILED HIGH: 

STACKING THE DECK AGAINST RAW FEEDING 

by Lynne Parker 

48 INTERVIEW WITH DR. JOHN VIRAPEN 

50 BORDATELLA: FRAUD AND FALLACY 

by Dr. Patricia Jordan DVM 

52 ASCORBIC ACID IS NOT VITAMIN C 

by Tim O’Shea DC 

60 IS MY DOG TRYING TO DOMINATE ME? 

by Leonard Cecil 

www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com l 

July/August 2010 | 3

Editorials 

Well, the dog days of summer are here! As I type, I am sitting with my dogs huddled up in my 

office, all of us jostling for the spot closest to the air conditioner. Spending less time outdoors 

during this heat streak means spending more time with the magazine and that is a good thing. 

Erika and I have some very big plans that we are putting into place. 

First, we are going to offer an online learning centre where we will offer courses, chats, lectures 

and webinars on everything dog. We hope that we can launch this shortly after the release of the 

July issue. 

We are also working hard on The PACK Society. One of the reasons we produce this magazine is 

to bring Natural Health Care to the forefront. This is not an easy task because there is so much 

power and money behind allopathic medicine and of course, they are reluctant to give up a piece 

of their pie. The PACK Society is an organization that will bring us together into a unified front so 

that we fight power with power. We hope that through education, support and unity, pet owners 

will put more and more pressure on veterinarians to make alternative medicine more accessible. 

Our voices need to be heard now more than ever and we speak the loudest when we speak with our pocketbooks. Please support 

The PACK in any way you can and please let your veterinarian know that we are consumers and that we are free to purchase 

whatever services we deem fit for our dogs. 

In the meantime, stay cool and enjoy the July issue. 

Dana Scott 

Associate Editor/Publisher 

Summer has come and brought some scorching heat along with it for you eastern 

and southern folks. We on the other hand have had some unusually cold and 

wet weather for Montana. My dogs are loving it and feel truly grateful for the extended 

walks and hikes that normally at this time of the year would have them 

sprawled out throughout the house in front of fans and the A/C. The farm animals 

are thankful as well. 

Time is traveling at break neck speeds and before we know it fall will be here and 

My family and I will be back on home land in Canada. After 5 fantastic years in 

Montana, it is daunting to pack up again but deep down we are super excited. The 

kids and dogs have had some fantastic experiences living in the 'hills'. Being born in 

Newfoundland, I am thankful for the small community mentality and the friendly, stress free attitude that our little town has 

but sadly it doesn't offer much for the development of an international project. The behind the scenes work is in place and 

now it's time to pound the pavement. If we are going to make this publication available to those that really need the information 

to help make better decisions for themselves and their pets then we need to be proactive. On my journey back to 

Canada, I am looking forward to the plans that Dana and I have put into play. We will be promoting The PACK Society ( People 

for the Alternative Care of K-9s) by way of Conferences, Seminars and other education venues. We will working of getting 

Dogs Naturally Magazine into print. We will also be working on a series of books that will compliment the topics in the 

magazine. 

We truly appreciate the support of our subscribers and we look forward to walking the road of change with each and every 

one of you! We do encourage all of you to express your opinions and pass along your comments. Without our readers, we 

are but ink on paper! 

I would like to congratulate my beautiful baby boy on his high school graduation. I am so proud of you Tanner! 

Erika Phillips 

Editor-in-Chief 

Dogs...Naturally! July/August 2010

www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com July/August 2010 | 5

Confinement and Crate 

Training 

By: Jean Donaldson 

SFSPCA 

Owners are often unsure whether they need to 

crate-train their puppies or newly adopted dogs 

or whether to simply confine them in a dogproofed 

area during the early weeks or months 

following adoption. Here is some information to 

help you decide if crate training is for you. 

Crate training helps with the following: 

1. Housetraining: prompts the dog to hold bladder 

and bowels when unsupervised to expedite 

housetraining 

2. Chew-training: prevents the dog from chewing 

furniture, walls and anything else except the 

chew toys he is crated with so good habits automatically 

form 

3. Settling down: patterns dog to be inactive 

when alone 

4. Owner as good guy: by decimating housetraining 

and chew-training mistakes, dog partially "self 

-trains," reducing amount of reprimanding and 

bad-guy stuff for owner 

5. Preparation for possible close confinement: 

dogs that are used to close confinement are less 

likely to be stressed when caged during a hospital 

stay or travel. 

Chewing and activity management could be accomplished 

with a well dog-proofed room or an 

ex-pen and these are alternatives if the dog is 

solid in his elimination habits. If the dog is shaky 

on housetraining, however, you're better off 

crate-training him as the close confinement will 

inhibit urination and defecation. To get the crating 

effect, the crate should be only large enough 

for the dog to stand up and turn around in. An expen, 

dog-proofed room or too-large crate allows 

the dog to use one end as bathroom area and the 

other end as bed. 

How To Get Him Used to His Crate 

You can't just throw the dog in the crate and 

expect him to adjust. That would be traumatic. 

Early association is important and, often, indelible. 

Make the crate comfy with a nice crate pad 

or blanket*, situate it in a high traffic area like the 

kitchen and, whenever the dog isn't looking, drop 

a couple of treats at the back. Don't point these 

out to him, rather let him discover them on his 

own. Feed him meals in there, always with the 

door open. Using heavy string, tie an attractive 

stuffed chew-toy to the rear inside so that the 

dog must lie in the crate in order to chew on it. 

After a few days of this, start teaching the dog to 

enter and exit on command. Say "into bed" or 

"into the crate," throw in a treat, praise as the 

dog goes in and eats the treat and then order him 

out with the command of your choice. Encourage 

him to come out and, when he does, praise him 

(no food treat for exiting). Repeat this a few 

times and then change the order of events 

slightly: instead of throwing the treat into the 

crate after you say "into bed," wait for him to go 

in on his own before dropping in the treat. 

If the dog doesn't enter on command, simply 

wait. Do not command him a second time and do 

not crack and throw the treat in. You can encourage 

him in with hand gestures but even this is 

riskier than simply waiting. If he doesn't go in, 

end the training session without comment. Try 

another session in a little while, still withholding 

the reward until the dog goes in on his own. 

When he does (and they all do eventually so hang 

in there), give him a double or triple reward, do a 

few more rewarded reps and then end the session. 

Always leave the dog wanting more. 

When the dog is going in and out on command, 

you are ready to try the first lock-in. Play the in/ 

out of the crate game, only now close the door 

after he has gone in and feed him treats through 

the grate for a minute or two before opening the 

door. Do this several times. Then practice walking 

around the crate and around the room while he is 

locked inside, pitching treats at him occasionally 

and then, after a couple of minutes, opening the 

door and letting him out. Make the whole thing a 

positive experience for him. The next step is to 

add some real duration. Rent yourself a favorite 

video and stuff a couple of chew-toys with something 

extra-special. Set the crate up right next to 

your comfy movie chair and, just before you sit 

down to enjoy the movie, order the dog into the 

crate. When he goes in, give him the chew toys, 

close the crate door and start the 

movie. Leave a few times to get popcorn, 

a drink, but always come back 

within a minute or so. 

The first experience being locked in 

the crate for this length of time must 

be an overwhelmingly easy and good 

one. Any noise, agitation or tantrum 

from the dog should be ignored. At 

the end of the movie, if the dog is 

quiet and settled in the crate, simply 

open the door and order him out. 

Under no circumstances will you open 

the door to the crate if the dog is 

misbehaving, otherwise you are conditioning 

that behavior. If you do not 

like it, do not reward it. When you do 

open the door, don't gush and hug the dog. Make 

the exit an anticlimax. Behave very neutrally. All 

the good stuff should happen while he's IN the 

crate, behaving nicely. Once he's out, order him 

right back in for a food treat or two without closing 

the door before you finish your training/ 

movie session. If he refuses to go in, do whatever 

it takes to get him in, reward him and get your in/ 

out exercise polished up again. 

Now spend a few days locking the dog in the 

crate when you're at home, going about your 

usual business. Ignore or reprimand any noise 

and provide interesting crate puzzles (i.e., chew 

toys) each time. When the dog is going in without 

fuss and no longer distress vocalizing, you may 

start leaving the house. Leave for one to ten seconds 

over and over for the first "leaving home" 

session. Then, over the next few sessions, gradually 

extend the time you are gone, from a minute 

to five minutes to ten, fifteen, thirty, an hour, 

two, three and four hours. Throw in some short 

ones (5 to 60 seconds) in between to mix it up. 

Depart and arrive without any fanfare. Tire the 

dog out with vigorous exercise and training before 

the longest absences. 

It is important to gradually condition the dog to 

being in the crate this way before using it in your 

day to day life. Later on, if you discover your dog 

is soiling his crate, the first thing to try is removing 

the pad or blanket for a week - the porous 

material may be triggering elimination. Be sure, 

also, that you are not stretching the dog too long 

between bathroom trips and forcing him to eliminate 

in his crate. Keep both the dog and the crate 

scrupulously clean. It would be prudent to have 

him checked for a bladder infection if he is urinating 

really often. Finally, a minority of dog are just 

not inhibited from eliminating by crates or have 

lost their cleanliness instinct by being confined 

continuously. 


y: Erika Phillips 

Juniper 

Common Juniper – Juniperus communis, also known as Geneva. 

This small shrub like tree can be found throughout 

North America, Europe, Asia, southern Artic, the Himalayas, 

Atlas and Caucasus mountains. 

Native Americans used juniper for it’s childbearing properties 

as Juniper berries promotes uterine recovery after 

childbirth. Native Americans also used it to treat infections 

and for arthritis. 

It was also found by early Americans to be useful for congestive 

heart failure, eczema and psoriasis. As a tincture it 

was used to treat, although disputed, gonorrhea, bladder 

and kidney infections, and other genitourinary problems. 

Today Juniper is used effectively as an antiseptic, for bladder 

infections, arthritis, intestinal cramps and gout. 

Of course the largest use for juniper is the drink “Gin”. Discovered 

by the Dutch in the 17 th century, the word Gin 

comes from the word Geniver, the Dutch word for Juniper. 

Juniper’s aromatic oil contains the diuretic chemical Terpinenforol, 

this oil increases the fluid filtering rate of the 

kidneys. 

Juniper is effective in reducing blood pressure but should 

be done under medical supervision because of potentially 

harmful side effects. 

In animal studies, juniper stimulates uterine contractions 

and can be used to replace Oxytocin to expel retained placentas 

as well as to aid in uterine inertia confirming what 

early Americans believed. 

Because Juniper is a diuretic, it helps reduce bloating and 

premenstrual difficulties. 

There are side effects to be aware with juniper. They include, 

in high doses, kidney damage, irritation and impairment. 

Juniper should not be taken for longer than 6 weeks 

at a time.. 

Overdose symptoms include diarrhea, protein in the urine, 

pain in the kidney region, elevated blood pressure, purple 

urine, blood in the urine, intestinal cramps. Stop using it 

right away if you notice any of these symptoms. 

It is important to note that Juniper has over 60 species belonging 

to this species and it is possible to mistake the common 

juniper to the highly toxic Juniper Sabin L. However 

the berries are different in shape. 

The most effective way to use Juniper is as an infusion of 

dried or fresh crushed berries. 1 cup boiling water to 1 tsp 

of the berries. 


Show and Tell 

 

 

Waltona Labradors and 

Papps Dog Training 

How did you get involved in obedience? 

I was getting ready to show saddleseat 

and happened to stop at a Collie specialty 

at the local fairgrounds. What 

caught my attention was the Utility 

class. I went home and told my husband, 

Lew, that I didn't want to show 

horses but wanted a purebred dog to 

compete with. Lew was working with a 

lady who had titled a dog to a Companion 

Dog Excellent title and introduced 

me to my first trainer (who we later 

bought the business from!) 

Tell us about your first dog(s) 

I have had dogs all my life but my first 

obedience dog was Becca, a field bred 

black Lab. She was amazing: before she 

was three years old she had her AKC 

Utility Dog title and was ranked in the 

top 20 in Utility for both placements 

and scores. She was spayed right at six 

months and ended up totally blowing 

her ACL and had to have re-constructive 

surgery on her knee. I still question if 

having her spayed so early contributed 

to her pain. 

Tell us about your current dogs 

I currently have two Labradors: a seven 

year old yellow, Caleb, and a two year 

old black, Micah. I am currently working 

on completing Caleb's AKC Obedience 

Trial Championship. Caleb and I 

have had so many firsts together: my 

first High in Trial (he has almost 20), 

my first High Combined (almost a 

dozen), my first Utility Dog Excellent, 

and he will be my first OTCh. He's also 

been the first dog I've gone to a tournament 

with: The All-Star Performance 

Dog Championship where we have 

placed multiple times. He's also been 

the first dog I've shown in breed, earn- 

ing his UKC Grand-Championship and is 

pointed towards his AKC Championship 

with a Best of Breed over Specials. 

Caleb also has his U-CDX, his Canadian 

OTCh/UD and numbers Rally 

titles. 

Micah is my silly happy go-lucky boy 

(where Caleb is Mr. Serious). Micah has 

just started his career and has completed 

his AKC Rally Advanced Excellent 

and will be making his debut at the All- 

Star Performance Dog Championship 

this August in Super Rally. I keep telling 

Micah that he has some big paws to 

fill. Micah is third generation weaned to 

raw, with minimum vaccines. Boy is 

that nice! 

Why Labradors? 

My husband did not grow up with dogs 

in the house, and was not really sure he 

wanted dogs, but after a huge fight and 

my telling him that I would never have 

married a man who would not have 

dogs, we began our search. Since I had 

all ready been to an obedience trial I 

knew I wanted to compete so I wanted 

something that I could show. Before I 

got married I had gotten a mixed Lab 

that stayed with my Mom and I 

had already fallen in love with 

the Lab temperament. We narrowed 

our search to Labs and 

Goldens and went to meet a 

Golden breeder. As it turned 

out it was a show breeder and 

when he brought his dogs out 

for us to see, they had tons and 

tons of long, beautiful coat. We 

got in the car and Lew said we 

were getting a Lab, which was 

what I really wanted all along. 

Why did you decide to feed 

raw? 

As most pet owners I wanted to 

do the best for my dogs. Becca 

ate premium food all her life 

but she was the type of dog that 

could have eaten trash and still 

be healthy. We got our second 

purebred Lab, and things 

changed. Tobie started with 

anal gland problems and 

through a long process we dis- 

covered an allergy to rawhides (during 

this time I found out they were a product 

of the tanning industry not a food 

producing industry), wheat and corn, 

and I actually had to cook for him. He 

was my first Lab on a totally wheat and 

corn free diet. Then Caleb came and he 

had chronic ear infections and then he 

was diagnosed with Pano. A lady that I 

was training with handed me Billinghurst's 

second book and told me just 

to read it. As I read it I was 

hooked! Even Lew said feeding raw 

makes perfect sense. That was over 

seven years ago and now I even travel 

with raw food for my boys. 

Do you vaccinate? 

Not anymore. I grew up being taught 

that MD's and DVM's were almost like 

gods and one must follow everything 

they say and never question. Becca developed 

tumors at what I realize now to 

be the injection site . Tobie had tons 

and tons of health issues. My vet at the 

time told me I needed to keep vaccinating, 

even though Becca was now 16 

years old. Really?! 

Dogs...Naturally! July/August 2010 

Susan with Caleb and Micah

Susan with Caleb 

I realize a lot of Caleb's early health issues 

were due to being vaccinated while 

having ear infections. He was almost 3 

when I finally got in with a holistic vet 

that helped me rebuild his immune system. 

One of the reasons I began looking 

into Micah's breeder was because she 

weaned to raw and did minimum vaccines. 

It was one of the hardest steps I 

have ever taken. It is so against my 

"teaching" about health care for my 

pets. But I had already eliminated vaccines 

from my personal life so why 

would I vaccinate my dogs? 

What is your greatest accomplishment? 

Some would say almost having my Obedience 

Trial Championship would be 

the greatest accomplishment since I 

own a training center and actively compete. 

But, I must say my greatest accomplishment 

is Caleb's. He sired a 

littler of puppies for Leader Dog for the 

Blind and now has dogs in harness. One 

of the puppies that did not make it as a 

Leader Dog is helping abused children 

talk about their abuse and will actually 

sit in the witness stand as they testify 

against their abusers. They want Caleb 

back for another donation and plan on 

including Micah in the program once his 

OFA's are done. 

What are your goals for the future? 

Once Caleb finishes his OTCh I want 

to get back into tracking. I have 

never gotten a TD and would like 

one on both of the boys. This fall 

Micah should be making his AKC 

Novice debut. I have been amazed 

at this boy. The lady I train with 

thinks he will be able to go right 

through all three titles and be very 

competitive at the top levels of obedience--and 

not just the Labradors, 

but all obedience. He has been a 

challenge for me but oh do I love 

that boy! I also know with Caleb 

being over seven now I am facing 

his retirement which breaks my 

heart, but knowing that he's raw fed 

and minimum vaccines I do expect 

him to be healthy enough to keep 

competing for a while. 

What advice would you give to people 

starting out with Natural Rearing? 

The thing that helped me the most was 

having a good mentor who didn't 

"push things down my throat" but let 

me read and learn for myself and 

then was there for me when I had 

questions. I think now at the training 

center most of the regular people 

are feeding raw now and doing minimum 

vaccinating. Also find a good 

vet that you can work with and talk 

to. I left a vet because he told me 

that people who fed raw are killing 

their dogs and that the next thing 

that happens is that they stop vaccinating. 

I calmly told him that I had 

been feeding Caleb raw since he was 

six months old. That was my last 

visit there. About five years later I 

had a client come in and ask me 

about feeding raw and that her vet 

told her it is a good way to go if you 

have a good mentor. I thought, 

"Wow!" and asked who her vet was: 

it was the one who had told me I was 

killing my dog by feeding raw! My 

how things change! 

What advice would you give to 

people wanting to get involved 

with obedience? 

Find someone who has trained to advanced 

levels and has trained multiple 

dogs. Ask anyone who trains, what 

might work for one dog might not work 

for another. You want someone who 

has multiple tools in the their tool belt. 

Most importantly it must be fun for you 

and your dog. If you and your dog are 

not having fun (and yes we all have bad 

days) something has to change. For my 

boys it's all about having fun, we play in 

our work.. They fight to get to be the 

one who gets to "work" first and the 

other moans and whines waiting their 

turn. They love to work! 

Finally, be able to laugh at yourself and 

your dog. Have fun! I love obedience. 

I've done some agility but my 

heart is obedience. It's only boring if 

you make it boring! I'm blessed to be 

able to train myself under one of the top 

instructors in the nation. When I 

started you had to be invited to come to 

their classes. So that means I am still 

being challenged to grow as a trainer 

which makes me continue to grow as an 

instructor. 

www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com July/August 2010 | 9 

Susan with Michah

I’d like to tell you about a major campaign 

that’s taking place over here in the UK. I use 

the word ‘major’ – but this is more hope than 

reality at the moment, since it relies upon the 

support and action of those of us who know 

what vaccines are doing to our dogs. 

So … why the campaign? Although we have 

bodies such as the WSAVA and AAHA saying 

we don’t need to vaccinate every year, most 

vets in practice – in the UK at least - are still 

vaccinating against all the diseases on an annual 

basis. Even though there are vaccines 

licensed for boosting 3 to 4 years later, they 

are still using the one-year shots. And of 

course we all know that even the 3-4 year 

shots are unnecessary. 

There are some dog lovers who have wised-up 

and who won’t allow their vets to vaccinate 

their friends every year; there are even some 

ethical vets. But there are still too many people 

who are taking it all on trust, and then 

getting shocked, angry and catapulted into 

grief when their dogs (and cats, horses, rabbits..) 

get a vaccine-associated illness or die. 

So back in February, we wrote to the British 

licensing authority, the Veterinary Medicines 

Directorate, calling for them to take one-year 

MLV core vaccines off the market. At the same 

time, Canine Health Concern members wrote 

to their political representatives to exert pressure 

on the VMD. 

The VMD responded the DAY BEFORE a general 

election was called in the UK, a minute 

before everyone went home for the day. Parliament 

was dissolved, and we were without 

an acting government until the election was 

over. Essentially, we were in a position of having 

to start again with regards to our political 

system. 

The VMD’s response was a ‘position paper on 

canine vaccination schedules’. It was literally a 

position paper: “This is how it is, now naff 

off.” They had totally ignored our call. Therefore, 

with government blessing, annual vaccination 

continues in the UK (and all over the 

world, of course). 

There is some background to this which may 

interest you. The head of the VMD is a vet 

called Steve Dean. If you’ve read my book, 

‘What Vets Don’t Tell You About Vaccines’, 

you’ll know that the book starts with a column 

written by Steve Dean in one of the UK dog 

papers. This was back in the early 90s, and 

Steve was mocking the people who spoke of 

vaccine reactions in their dogs, and mocking 

anyone who said we don’t need to vaccinate 

every year. Then they made him the head of 

the government vaccine licensing body. 

Not only that, but it turns out that Steve Dean 

spent 17 years as a marketing man within the 

pharmaceutical industry, and then went on to 

be a pharmaceutical industry consultant. The 

government knew about his background when 

they made him head of the official body in the 

UK that monitors vaccine reactions, licenses 

vaccine products, and advises government on 

these matters. 

Further digging revealed that Steve Dean doesn’t 

have a hands off approach with the multibillion 

industry he legislates. Rather, he speaks 

at pharmaceutical company seminars and 

helps them with their press launches. He’s an 

industry man. On top of this, half of the people 

at the VMD have consultancy, research grants 

and shares with the pharmaceutical industry. 

Turns out that the Veterinary Medicines Directorate 

was set up following recommendations 

from the chief executive if ICI Pharmaceuticals. 

It reflected government policy under Margaret 

Thatcher to effectively deregulate the pharmaceutical 

industry and help it to get wealthier. 

This policy has been continued ever since. 

And this explains why the British government 

has successively ignored our calls to halt overvaccination. 

I’m pretty sure that the same 

scenario applies in most countries of the world. 

For example, in Denmark, dog owners are 

forced by law to vaccinate their dogs against 

everything EVERY SIX MONTHS. This isn’t 

about the science of vaccination – it must be 

because they can get away with it, or else they 

are experimenting on our dogs. Apparently 

the WHO passed a resolution to experiment 

with vaccines on dogs some years ago. 

So it seems to me that you and I can keep plugging 

on, year after year, mopping up the casualties 

and hugging the people who grieve the 

death of their dogs, but nothing much will 

change – unless we make the whole corrupt 

system more visible. 

People need to know that they are being manipulated 

by governments that don’t care 

about them and their dogs, but do care about 

industry, commerce, profits and power. We 

need to make the REASON why our dogs are 

being over-vaccinated more visible. 

People need to know that their vets are also 

being manipulated. They are educated in col- 

leges that take money from pharmaceutical 

companies. They are stalked by the pharmaceutical 

industry both in college and out of 

college. The pharmaceutical industry is throwing 

money everywhere. Pet charities, veterinary 

further education, vet seminars, political 

parties …. Everywhere that helps them sell 

more unnecessary product. 

There will be many on this list who understand 

that apathy is our greatest enemy. You will 

talk to dog owners and tell them the truth 

about vaccines and pet food, and their eyes 

will glaze over and they won’t hear you. We 

need to somehow find a way to turn apathy 

into action. 

I need you to go up to this website – 

www.petvaccine.weebly.com – and download 

the 369-page report I’ve written. Read it. It 

explains the science of vaccine damage, and it 

explains why annual vaccination continues. 

This is, in effect, a free book. Use the knowledge 

in the two-part report to open up the 

minds of dog lovers whose minds are currently 

closed. 

Importantly, if you are in the UK, please write 

to your MP. If you are outside the UK, please 

write to the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer. We 

have put letter templates on the site, plus the 

addresses of the people you need to write to. 

Make it clear to the British government that 

the world is watching, and the world knows 

what is happening. Let them know that we 

don’t appreciate them selling our pets out. 

So – please go to the site and help expose the 

truth. I for one am fed up banging the drum 

day after day, year after year, with very little 

changing. It’s time to nail this one for good. 

Maybe if we are successful in the UK, then the 

light of truth will shine around the world. 

Typically, in any appeal, one person in a hundred 

will act. Let’s change this. Do something. 

Share this information with every dog lover 

you know, and on every list you are on. 

(There is a 10-page summary of the report that 

you can forward on to your dog-loving friends 

– it’s up on www.petvaccine.weebly.com. You 

can also forward the actual report, or the link, 

to your vets, dog-loving friends and anyone 

else you think might be interested. There’s a 

press release up there, too – so if you have 

contacts with any of the dog magazines, 

please feel free to send it on.) 

Lots of love...Catherine O’Driscoll 


the 

PULSATILLA 

~ Wind Flower or Prairie Crocus 

by: Erika Phillips 

The mind, personality, disposition and mental state are the 

chief guiding symptoms to the selection of Pulsatilla. It is generally 

a female remedy as is Nux Vomica for men but should 

not be ruled out in male children or animal patients, especially 

for mild, gentle, yielding dispositions. 

Sad, crying readily; weeps when talking; Dogs that whine and 

want to be with you at all times. Does not want to be alone. 

Separation anxiety. Another interesting aspect of Pulsatilla is 

that the symptoms are changeable and contradictory. The patient 

seeks the open air; always feels better there, even 

though he/she is chilly. Mucous membranes are all affected. 

Discharges thick, bland, and yellowish-green. Often indicated 

after abuse of Iron tonics, and after badly managed measles. 

Symptoms are ever changing. thirstless, peevish and chilly. 

When first serious impairment of health is noted at the age of 

puberty. Great sensitivity. Wants the head held high. Lies with 

hands above head, outstretched, Dogs lie with forearms extended 

above the head or outstretched and stiff. It is very 

good for mothers who reject their newborns at birth, failing to 

nurse. An excellent remedy to be considered for the early 

stages of pyometra when the discharge is white/yellow and 

even green and when the bitch is clingy and depressed. Also 

useful for false pregnancy and split seasons. 

Stool can change between being bland and watery to slimy 

green, yellow, white “No two stools are alike”. 

Better with open air, motion, cold applications, cold food and 

drinks, though not thirsty, walking slowly, elevating feet when 

lying down. 

Worse from heat, rich fat food, after eating, towards evening, 

warm room, lying on left or on painless side, when allowing 

feet to hang down, does not tolerate eggs, thunderstorms, 

pregnancy, sun, twilight. Flannel and wool clothing. 

Complementary: Coffee; Chamomile, Nux Vomica. 

Higher potency seems to work more effectively than lower 

potency and that could be simply because of the strong psychology 

and mental picture of the remedy. 

SUMMARY 

Diarrhea can change between being white to Green or Yellow 

Discharge is bland, clear to greenish yellow 

Whiny, weepy, clingy (separation anxiety) 

Fear of thunderstorms 

Better with cold air, aggravated by heat 

Pains travel from one location to the next 

Irritability 

Irregular menstruation, false pregnancy, split seasons 

Cramping 

Irritation to flannel/wool 

Dry mouth with no thirst 

Constipation – large hard to pass stool 

Kennel cough—Upper respiratory infections 

Depression 

Measles 

Backache, headache, earaches 


It began in 2002 with a trip to Grand Bahama 

Island in the Bahamas. 

The backdrop was dreamy: turquoise 

waters, balmy weather and lush tropical 

beaches with white sand and gorgeous 

vegetation. To top it off, the quick 30 

minute plane ride to Freeport from Florida 

landed me in a foreign country! Re- 

minders of the formal British colony 

were everywhere, including driving on 

the left side of the road. What fun it was! 

As we drove west from Freeport to West 

End, a boaters’ and fisherman’s haven, 

these beautiful visuals were quickly interrupted 

by scenes of third world type poverty. 

Broken down homes, old cars, rub- 

by: Ellen Kohn 

bish and a lack of cleanliness were all 

around. Children dressed in school uniforms 

ambled about the streets, returning 

home to sparsely furnished rooms 

overflowing with many siblings and relatives. 

The situation was abysmal for the animals. 

Roaming the streets searching for 


scraps of food, the street dogs were everywhere. 

These potcakes, named after 

the leftover rice cake from the traditional 

Bahamian peas and rice dish, were starving, 

sick and abandoned. Litters of puppies 

lived under the houses, and were 

left completely on their own. 

Never had I seen so many starving, sick 

and abandoned dogs and cats in my life. 

Every time I rode a bike or walked into 

the village, I saw feral strays digging in 

the trash or cruising dangerously next to 

the road. Puppies were everywhere, 

and they also ventured near the cars. 

Many were killed, only to be left there 

to rot. 

The facts relating to animal control on 

Grand Bahama are sobering. There is 

no animal control agency; the only organization 

that deals with feral potcakes 

is The Humane Society of Grand 

Bahama in Freeport. It is difficult to get 

a van to leave Freeport and drive all the 

way out to West End to take the dogs to 

the shelter. Moreover, many feral potcakes 

are so wild that they can never 

trust a human, or be rehabilitated. 

The last, chilling fact about Grand Bahamas' 

animals was that the shelter was a 

high-kill facility, with a 95% euthanasia 

rate. The advent of the hurricanes aggravated 

an existing problem; by 2005 

more animals than ever were put to 

sleep. 

Deeply moved to do something, I contacted 

the Manager of the Humane 

Society of Grand Bahama, Tip Burrows. 

I explained that I wanted to help, that 

visiting her country with its animal 

problems was emotionally draining for 

me. I felt a sense of urgency to give 

back to these gentle canines, and ease 

their plight. 

The good news was that I had already 

started a 501(c) (3) non-profit in Colorado 

to help West End youth with college 

funding two years earlier in 2002. 

That enabled me to wrap the animal 

welfare efforts into an existing organization: 

The Kohn Foundation. We called 

our new offspring BARC for the Bahamian 

Animal Rescue Committee. 

This was the beginning of a very powerful 

partnership with The Kohn Foundation/BARC 

and The Humane Society. 

Now our animal welfare efforts had an 

official title and role in the non-profit. It 

was a bit daunting to start completely 

from scratch, but the effort garnered its 

own momentum. 

I asked everyone I knew to send them 

money. Little by little funds came in and 

then it began to explode. Our grassroots 

organization was making progress. We 

were making a difference in the lives of 

Grand Bahamas' potcakes, and it felt 

great. 

In 2007, The Kohn Foundation helped 

raise money for the first major spay/ 

neuter initiative on Grand Bahama. Over 

18 veterinarians and techs paid their way 

and donated their vacation time to perform 

surgery. The result was more than 

300 sterilizations in a week, with additional 

amputations and emergency surgeries. 


Since 2007, The Kohn Foundation has 

helped fund four more spay/neuter clinics. 

Each time, we have been able to pay 

for all of the medical and surgical supplies 

needed to perform these clinics, 

now being held even in the more rural 

areas of Grand Bahama. The overpopulation 

problem has definitely been curbed. 

In spite of the tremendous success of 

these clinics, the overpopulation problem 

still has a foothold in Bahamian society 

due to the belief system inherent in 

their culture. Because they really do not 

support spay/neuter, education still remains 

a challenge in our process. But we 

are determined to continue the work in 

spite of the roadblocks. 

Another huge part of our work on Grand 

Bahama involves raising money to fund 

puppy lifts from the Freeport Humane 

Society shelter to the U.S. In April, 2010, 

88 dogs and puppies were airlifted via a 

cargo flight to Ft. Lauderdale, and then 

rerouted to other no-kill shelters in Florida, 

Washington, D.C., Ithaca, New York 

City, Albuquerque, Denver, and Boston. 

With the cooperation of Delta Airlines, all 

of the dogs arrived safely and in great 

condition. All of them have already found 

their forever homes across the country. 

Looking back at the last seven years, establishing 

The Kohn Foundation was one 

of the most exciting adventures I have 

ever embarked on. In my wildest 

dreams, I would not have imagined that 

rescuing Bahamian potcakes would bring 

deep satisfaction in my life and nourishment 

for my soul. 

This journey has enabled me to look 

deeper into another culture. When given 

the opportunity, I have explained to 

young people that there is nothing merciful 

about euthanizing healthy puppies, 

and that it is preventable!! 

Explaining that dogs need to eat nutritiously 

to maintain proper health is another 

surprise to the Bahamians. The 

youth are open to learning, and many of 

them have departed from the ways of 

old, now caring deeply for their pets. 

Would I do it again? You bet. It has 

changed my life forever, introducing me 

to people who would give their last dollar 

to save a life. It is worth all of the anguish 

and sadness that I felt in the beginning 

to know that one person can make a 

difference in this world. Most of all, it 

demonstrates to all of us that we are 

connected, that each time we give, we 

receive and that even the smallest effort 

can blossom into a beautiful outcome. 

Ellen Kohn is an Interspecies Communicator, 

Healing Touch for Animals Certified Practitioner 

(HTACP), Reiki Master-Teacher, Meridian 

Practitioner and Spiritual Counselor. 

She frequently uses Bach Flower and Alaskan 

Gem essences for her clients. She is also a 

certified aroma therapist and uses crystal 

energy for her healing work. She is the founder 

of The Kohn Foundation, a Colorado 501 

(c) (3) non-profit which helps children and 

animals on Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas. 

Visit Ellen on the web: 

www.EnlightenedAnimals.com. 


y: Laura Boston 

This article appeared in Barkleigh/Canadian Groomer 

Magazine. This article is copyright and may not be 

reproduced without permission by Laura Boston 

Shampoo is one of the key tools of a professional dog 

groomer. They expect shampoos to clean the dogs and 

leave them smelling nice. The key cleaning action in 

shampoos is done by surfactants. Surfactants, or 

surface active agents, can be of synthetic origin, an 

example being sodium lauryl sulfate; animal origin, 

such as tallow; or natural plant origin, like coconut oil 

or palm kernel oil. Shampoos may contain a blend of 

surfactants to create various properties such as lathering 

and cleansing. The molecules in the surfactants 

contain two chemical groups; one group is attracted to 

soils and the other to water. In simple terms the molecules 

work together to break down dirt from the surface 

of the hair shaft and scalp and remove it. 

Many of the chemical surfactants in dog shampoos are 

petroleum based and are known carcinogens, substances 

known to cause cancer. Some carcinogens 

may cause cancer only after prolonged high levels of 

exposure. If groomers don’t wear gloves these chemicals 

are ingested through their skin every time they 

shampoo a dog. A better option is to choose a shampoo 

that uses natural surfactants and non-toxic, natural 

ingredients. 

Different shampoo formulations can have different 

results on a dog’s coat. Shampoos are marketed as anti 

-itch, brightening, tearless, conditioning, anti-dandruff, 

flea and tick, medicated, hypoallergenic, and so on. 

Many shampoos contain harsh detergents that actually 

strip all of the coat’s oils leaving a fluffy looking coat. 

Other shampoos that claim to be “moisturizing” may 

contain chemical additives such as propylene glycol, 

which is a cosmetic form of mineral oil and works as a 

humescent, which creates retention of moisture. This 

chemical is also a skin irritant, can cause liver and 

kidney damage and is also found in paint, wallpaper 

removers and de-greasers. “Tar” which is in tar-based 

dandruff shampoos, is one of the first known human 

carcinogens. As tar is also found in all artificial colors, 

flavors and odors, it is best to stay away from using any 

shampoo containing artificial dyes or fragrances. Many 

perfumes that are added to shampoos are made with 

ethyl alcohol and synthetic chemicals. Perfumes can 

dry out the coat and trigger allergies in both dogs as 

well as humans. Some groomers even use dish detergent 

to wash their client’s dogs. These detergents are 

labeled as “mild” yet when you do a little research and 

read the “material safety data”, the specifics say, 

“Avoid skin contact as this strong skin irritant can 

cause dryness, is an eye irritant and if spilled on 

clothes, change clothes”. Many “tearless” shampoos 

use chemicals to counter-act and reduce irritation 

caused by other chemical ingredients, but these too 

may be carcinogenic in nature. 

Ultimately you simply want a shampoo that gently 

cleans without stripping the coat’s natural sedum but 

for special needs there are good, healthy alternatives. 

A good, basic all-purpose dog shampoo should be ph 

balanced for a dog’s coat, be made with natural and 

organic ingredients, have low lather and smell great. 

Look for shampoos that use essential oils. Essential oils 

nourish the dog’s coat leaving it clean and shiny and 

come in a wonderful variety of scents such as lavender, 

tea tree, rosehip, lemon and geranium. 

There are plenty of dog shampoos on the market now 

that offer skin treatments using natural ingredients. If 

a dog’s coat needs special treatment for dryness or 

itching, a natural shampoo containing oatmeal and 

aloe vera may be used; shampoos containing essential 

oils of rosemary, neem and tea tree help prevent 

dandruff; tea tree and pennyroyal shampoos are good 

anti-bacterial and flea repellants; lavender and calendula 

calm and sooth the skin. Natural oils such as 

jojoba, macadamia oil or safflower oil all naturally 

condition the dog’s coat leaving it soft and silky. These 

treatment shampoos are best left on the coat for up to 

ten minutes in order to allow the ingredients to penetrate 

thoroughly. 

Allergies have become quite common in dogs. An 

allergy is “ a hypersensitivity acquired through exposure 

to a particular substance (allergen)”. Pollen, 

foods, and chemicals can trigger allergic reactions in 

dogs. The body reacts by releasing chemicals that 

result in allergic symptoms such as rashes and dry, 

itchy skin. Dogs absorb a lot of allergens through their 

skin. One way to alleviate allergy symptoms is to wash 

the dog frequently with a hypoallergenic shampoo. 

These shampoos are specifically formulated with ingredients 

that have little likelihood of causing an allergic 

reaction. This does not mean that the dogs will not 

react to these shampoos whether or not they are 

made with all natural ingredients or chemical based 

ingredients. Ingredients that are likely to cause allergic 

reactions that may be listed in hypoallergenic (and 

other) shampoos are mineral oil, methyl paraben and 

propyl paraben. These ingredients can cause hypersensitivity 

and are linked to long-term health problems. 

My favourite way to apply dog shampoo is with a 

squeeze bottle that fits comfortably into the hand. This 

method is fast, easy and allows the shampoo to penetrate 

close to the skin. Mix your favorite professional 

concentrate shampoo with lukewarm water. Start at 

the base of head and neck and squirt the shampoo 

mixture into the dog’s coat. As you work your way 

down the back and the rest of the body, your other 

hand is free to massage the shampoo into the dog’s 

coat. 

When choosing your shampoo remember to read the 

ingredients. Familiarize yourself with ingredients that 

are known to cause serious health problems in humans. 

Choosing a shampoo with healthy, natural and 

organic ingredients may cost a little more but in the 

long run the benefits are worth it for you and the dogs! 

Laura Boston is President of Animal Sense Pet Products 

Inc., a privately owned Canadian pet product 

company specializing in organic pet foods and ecofriendly 

pet products. Heavenly Organic is a line of 

100% chemical free dog shampoos and spa products 

that that are now available for your four legged and 

furry-faced friends. 

www.animalsensepetproducts.com 

laura@animalsensepetproducts.com 

905-886-6975 


Here is a picture of Edward O’Driscoll, 

with little Georgie in the background. 

The photo was taken in June, the day 

before Edward passed over to the 

Great Mystery. As they say, every picture 

tells a story. Here is Edward’s 

story and, later, Georgie’s story. 

Edward was the most perfect dog in 

the whole universe. I don’t want to 

start a fight here, but it’s true: Edward 

was the perfect companion and the 

perfect teacher. There simply couldn’t 

be a greater dog. 

Edward came into my life thirteen 

years ago, and he lost no time in alerting 

me to the fact that he was a Master 

Dog. He did this, perversely, by peeing 

on all the dog beds in the house, and 

escalating the campaign to my own 

bed. In those days I didn’t know I could 

communicate with animals, so I telephoned 

a medical intuitive friend to 

ask why he was doing that, and what I 

could do about it (I have never really 

followed the conventional training 

norm). 

“He’s upset because you haven’t acknowledged 

that he’s a Master,” my 

intuitive friend said. I did of course 

know his status; I just hadn’t thought 

to tell him I knew. So I went to Edward 

and apologised. He never peed on the 

beds again. 

I shouted at Edward once. He was still 

a puppy at the time, and he adored old 

Chappie. He used to sit in front of 

Chaps and suck up to him so Chappie 

would bark loudly and tell 

him to go away. One evening I couldn’t 

hear myself speak on the phone, so I 

shouted at Edward in exasperation. 

Edward went into the garden and 

stayed there for two hours until I went 

out and apologised. I never shouted at 

him again. I never actually needed to – 

he was the perfect companion. If using 

Edward as a measure, everyone would 

have believed that I was the most talented 

dog trainer in the world. The 

thing is, he was intelligent and he was 

happy to live in harmony. His perfection 

had very little to do with me. 

Edward was introduced to chicken 

wings far earlier than I had intended – 

on the day I brought him home from 

the breeder’s. She had insisted that I 

change him over to raw gradually, for 

fear of upsetting his stomach. So, dutifully, 

I mixed the Eukanuba with 

scrambled eggs and took it into the 

beautifully sunny garden for him. He, 

being a Master, naturally turned his 

nose up and refused to eat it. 

A little later, I took the older dogs’ 

chicken wings out for them. (For anyone 

who thinks we are in charge of the 

dogs, consider this: who is the one who 

works to buy the food and then does 

the washing up afterwards?) Anyhow, 

Edward jumped into Chappie’s bowl 

and wolfed down five whole chicken 

wings. I could not stop him, and I was 

slightly alarmed. 

That night, my tiny little puppy lay on 

the bed panting so frantically that the 

entire bed shook. I thought that perhaps 

I had killed my puppy with all 

those bones. But we went to the garden 

and Edward peed, and then we 

went back to bed and back to sleep. 

From that day onwards, Edward was 

often called ‘Mr Bones’, and he grew 

into a strong and handsome man. Before 

the vet helped Edward to leave 

last week, we took him for a walk and 

gave him his last five wings. He loved 

his food to the end. 


‘Intelligence’, ‘enthusiasm’ and 

‘companion’ are words which sum Edward 

up. We talked with each other all 

of the time; he was one of those dogs 

who was everywhere we were, in the 

middle of the action and directing 

events. One of his specialities was in 

dealing with people who didn’t like 

dogs. He had a way of demonstrating 

to them that dogs aren’t just dogs – 

they are people. He also had a way of 

showing them that they weren’t just 

humans – they were beings of light 

who were worthy of great love. 

“There is a deep wisdom in the 

animal kingdom that you can 

tune into if you have the humility 

to listen. If you think they’re 

just animals who ought to follow 

our commands, think again. If 

you listen to a dog, they can tell 

you how to grow and evolve as a 

human being. “ 

When my husband Rob and I got together, 

Edward quickly showed him 

that Golden Retrievers are just as wonderful 

as the German Shepherds that 

Rob was used to. Edward soon became 

Rob’s best friend, and accompanied 

him into the garden to play football and 

to help Rob with the gardening. Edward 

was the sort of dog who thought 

everything was fun; he’d turn the mundane 

into the happiest adventure. 

Rob and I were on our way home from 

teaching an Animal Communicating 

and EFT course a few summers ago, 

when we had a call from Rob’s Mum. 

Mum had been doggie sitting for us. So 

we were driving home, and the cell 

phone rang. Mum had fallen in the garden 

and knocked herself out. She was 

naturally shaken, but she was also in 

awe. Apparently, she was lying unconscious 

on the lawn and, as she came 

round, she felt Edward licking her face. 

There was blood everywhere, and Edward 

was cleaning her up and resuscitating 

her. 

Too frightened to stand up lest she lose 

her balance again, Mum got herself 

back indoors by shuffling on her bot- 

tom. Edward went with her all the 

way, keeping her going, tending to her 

lovingly, kissing her face. 

Mum sent Edward a thank you card. It 

may not have meant much to him – 

dogs don’t read cards after all – but it 

meant the world to Mum. She felt that 

Edward had saved her life. He may 

have been ‘just a dog’ but I’m certain 

that he felt the love and gratitude coming 

his way. 

I read somewhere that a dog’s memory 

extends to only ten minutes. I don’t 

know the name of the twit who wrote 

that, but he was surely wrong. During 

our next weekend trip, Edward refused 

to go into the garden unless Mum was 

with him, and when she did go out, he 

escorted her at every step. He was a 

kind and loving dog, a healer, and his 

will was set upon ensuring Mum’s 

safety. 

I also had deep respect for the way Edward 

dealt with other dogs. Rob, Edward 

and I had a hard year last year. 

Dannie and Gwinnie died, and we were 

all heartbroken. So we decided to 

bring someone else into the house who 

we could love and care for. This was 

Georgie, a tiny Papillion who, we were 

told, didn’t like men and who bit. It 

soon became apparent that this wasn’t 

a behavioural problem, though. Georgie 

has a form of epilepsy. The world is 

a confusing place for him, so if you put 

your hand out to him or touch him, he 

trips into a spin and snarls and attacks 

himself. I feel so sorry for the people 

who rehomed him, who just thought he 

was a bad boy. He is, in reality, an absolute 

joy, and incredibly worthy of 

love. 

For the first weeks of living with Georgie, 

we wondered what on earth we 

were going to do. We couldn’t touch 

him. We couldn’t cuddle or stroke him; 

we couldn’t get a lead on without triggering 

an episode. 

If we did get it on, we couldn’t get it off. 

How were we going to care for him? 

How could we expect a vet to sew up a 

cut paw, or take blood, or feel him for 

lumps? 

But Edward didn’t mind. He treated 

Georgie like a normal dog, and made 

him feel safe. He wasn’t frightened of 

being bitten, either. He just went in 

there and let George know it was safe 

to be near him, and he ignored it if the 

little man went into a spin. Edward 

also stood and shared our emotions 

Freddie and Ruby 


when, for the first time – after weeks of 

gentle reassurance and gradual incremental 

improvements - Rob was able 

to sit down next to Georgie and brush 

him and stroke him. Rob and I had 

tears running down our cheeks, watching 

this little man enjoying being 

touched in what must have been the 

first time in years. 

Georgie, a tiny little fellow, was vaccinated 

annually until he was five, before 

he came to us. At the same time he was 

wormed and given a topical flea treatment. 

The shots he received were the 

exact same dose as might be given to a 

Pyrenean Mountain Dog. Vaccines can 

cause brain damage, and they can 

cause epilepsy, and studies indicate 

that little dogs fare the worse than big 

dogs from unnecessary shots. And his 

owners thought they were doing the 

right thing for him. 

We treated Georgie for vaccine damage. 

He had the canine combination 

nosode and a variety of homoeopathic 

remedies for epilepsy. He was changed 

to the raw diet, and fish oils (which 

improve brain function) were given 

daily. 

So when the new puppies arrived just a 

few weeks ago, we saw with relief that 

our worries were unfounded. Georgie 

loves the pups and wants to be with 

them, so long as they refrain from 

jumping on him. Every morning, now 

Edward is gone, Georgie goes downstairs 

to where the puppies sleep until 

they’re housetrained, and checks that 

they’re OK. Wherever they are, he 

wants to be with them. When he first 

came to us, he was a frightened little 

man, but because we were aware of the 

effects of unnecessary vaccines, we 

were able to treat him appropriately 

and help him back. 

Edward, before he left, had a few 

weeks to teach the puppies Freddie 

and Ruby how to behave with other 

dogs. He taught them about boundaries. 

He waited until Rob and I were 

set up again with puppies to love, and 

then he succumbed to the grief that 

had caused his broken heart, and went 

off to be with Gwinnie and Dannie 

again. 

Edward was thirteen years old, too 

young to die. He had never been vaccinated, 

he ate raw food, and he was 

never subjected to conventional drugs. 

Until a year ago, he was the healthiest 

of dogs. He was never ill. Never. 

It seems to me that we mortal humans 

can do everything right. We can give 

our dogs the very best food and protect 

them from the very worst pharmaceuticals 

and chemicals. But we are not 

God, and our dogs have their own 

agendas. They, like us, come to this 

earth with missions to accomplish, and 

when the mission is completed, they, of 

their own choice, decide when to depart. 

I have a feeling that Edward has 

just gone for a little while. He’s departed 

briefly so he can come back in a 

new body. I hope so, anyway. 

Unless you’ve had a relationship with a 

dog, you can be forgiven for thinking 

that they’re just hairy things with 

waggy tails. They jump around and 

bark a lot – but they’re just animals, 

you might think, and they leave muddy 

footprints on the carpet and hairs on 

the sofa. 

Yet many of the most poignant and tender 

moments in my life, the most 

meaningful and spiritual moments, 

have been with dogs. If you doubt this, 

wait until you hold your friend’s paw 

as they die, and they thank you. 

There is a deep wisdom in the animal 

kingdom that you can tune into if you 

have the humility to listen. If you 

think they’re just animals who ought 

to follow our commands, think again. 

If you listen to a dog, they can tell you 

how to grow and evolve as a human 

being. 

Our dogs are concerned with our 

physical wellbeing, our emotional 

wellbeing, and our spiritual wellbeing. 

They can teach us how to love oneanother, 

respect one-another, and 

cherish one-another. They can teach 

us about boundaries. They can teach 

us how to have fun. They can teach us 

that human beings are not superior to 

them; just different. They give us humility, 

and they can fill our 

hearts with gratitude and joy. 

They can also break our hearts when 

they leave – but I think they know that, 

if we can find a way to heal our broken 

hearts, love will become a conscious 

act rather than an indulgent feeling. 

They can set our feet upon the healer’s 

path, which is born of sorrow and the 

search for truth and life. 

Catherine O’Driscoll has been running 

Canine Health Concern since 1994. In 

June this year, she spearheaded a campaign 

to forcefully persuade the British 

government to put an end to the normal 

practice of annually vaccinating dogs in 

the UK. To support this campaign, she 

has written a 369-page response to the 

UK’s licensing body, the Veterinary Medicines 

Directorate. This report is available 

free by logging onto 

www.petvaccine.weebly.com. It contains 

the science to explain why vaccines cause 

so many diverse adverse effects in our 

dogs, and also explains why governments 

around the world will not legislate to halt 

unnecessary vaccination. Catherine also 

asks her fellow dog lovers to write to the 

British government to lend their voices to 

the campaign. Contacts and template 

letters for you to send are also carried on 

the site. 


Catherine and Edward

y: Jean Donaldson 

Dear Jean, 

I just got a new nine week-old Rottie puppy. He’s 

stunning, smart and generally friendly but 

growls and snaps if I go near him while he’s eating. 

He also does this to my adult Rotties. I’ve 

never seen this in a puppy so young. Is he some 

sort of lemon? Is he a dominant dog? Is there 

anything I can do? Help! 

It is indeed alarming for most people to see frank aggression in 

puppies. In the case of resource guarding – food, bone, bed 

etc. possessiveness – there is good news and bad news. The 

good news is you can start addressing it in a young, hopefully 

plastic, spongy puppy with weak jaws. The bad news is that 

there is some sentiment out there among trainers that aggression 

in puppies is an insidious sign of the problem having Deep 

Genetic Roots and therefore fruitless to tackle. I’m going to 

explore the whole nature-nurture debate later but for now will 

simply say that there doesn’t seem to be any overwhelmingly 

tidy correlation between behavior problems that are thought 

to have a strong genetic component and their susceptibility (or 

lack thereof) to behavior modification. 

I recently had a similar case, in my own foster puppy. Buffy, a 

stray six week-old Chow, presented with object and food 

guarding against people and dogs. I elected to not touch the 

dog-dog issues, which is a relatively common approach. Her 

socialization and play skills were coming along nicely and she 

was developing good acquired bite inhibition. The guarding 

against people, however, needed to be actively resolved. The 

following is a summary of Buffy’s food guarding exercise regime. 

Incidentally, Buffy also presented with socialization deficits 

and severe body handling problems, which were also addressed, 

as was her object guarding. The key to good hierarchy 

design is small enough incremental steps that at no point do 

you see the original guarding problem. In the case of a puppy, 

such as this, there may actually be more aggressive increment 

jumps. I did a few other things in the can’t-hurt-might-help 

category. These included impulse control (stay, off and wait) 

and extra soft-mouth training. 

Baseline 

When approached while eating 

from her dish, Buffy would freeze 

and, if approach continued, growl briefly and then lunge and 

snap. If touched while eating, she would growl simultaneous 

to whirling and biting. Due to the independent body-handling 

problem, this had to be partly resolved prior to combining it 

with food bowl exercises. Buffy did not guard an empty dish. 

Hierarchy 

Step 1 (day 1): Installment feeding of canned food. I sat on the 

floor next to Buffy’s dish and spooned in one mouthful. Once 

she had swallowed, I spooned the next mouthful into her dish. 

By the end of the second meal, she demonstrated a clear 

happy anticipatory orientation to my spoon hand after each 

swallow. 

Step 2 (day 1-2): Overlap. This was essentially the same as Step 

1 except that I added the next spoonful to her dish while she 

was still consuming, always a much dicier proposition. We did 

this for three meals without evidence of guarding seen. 

Step 3 (day 2-3): Approach overlap. I was now standing. I 

spooned larger installments, withdrew two paces, reapproached 

and added the next spoonful while Buffy was still 

consuming. So, this combined approach with the overlap exercise. 

We stuck with this for three meals, at end of which time a 

Conditioned Emotional Response (CER) had become evident – 

Buffy wagged and looked up on approach. We then repeated 

the exercise for one more day (5 small meals) with larger withdrawal 

distances and intervals. 

Step 4 (day 4): Trumping. Now I spooned her entire puppysized 

ration into her bowl. I withdrew five paces, paused 15 

seconds, approached and added a (hidden) marble-sized dollop 

of goat cheese. I had pre-auditioned the goat cheese out of 

context and ascertained it to be in Buffy’s Top Five All Time 

Foods. I withdrew to six paces and waited for Buffy to continue 

to consume – this was not immediate (typical of trumping – 

dog orients to handler rather than back to dish) – then repeated. 

On the third trial I got a clear CER– withdrawal from 

bowl on approach, orientation to me and tail wag. Clever little 

thing. 

Step 5 (day 4-6): Covering High Value Base. To up the ante, I 

tried some approaches while she was consuming a top food 

(bowl of treats), rather than normal meal ration level food. I 

trumped it with higher value stuff (gorgonzola). In two trials, I 


once again saw her happy anticipatory CER, a 

very rapid curve indeed. 

Step 6 (day 4 onward): Cold Trials. To better 

simulate real life, I initiated random trumping. 

At least once per meal, from a random direction, 

at a random time and with one of Buffy’s top 

foods, I approached and added the bonus. Better 

than 80% of the time, I got an evident 

“yippee” CER. At no point did she guard. 

Step 7 (day 8 onward): Generalization. I recruited 

my husband, colleagues in my office and 

a neighbor to do some random trumps, with 

careful monitoring for any evidence of regression, 

including the absence of “yippee” CERs to 

their approach. Had this been an adult dog, the 

hierarchy – and, notably, a much more gradual 

one too – would have been recommenced at the 

beginning by each new recruit, with likely accelerated 

progress rate for each successive person. 

Step 8 (day 15 onward): Body Handling. It was 

only here that I commenced patting, grabbing or 

pushing her around while she was eating. In 

most cases this would come earlier (prior to cold 

trails), however with Buffy it took me this long 

to get the independent body-handling problem 

up to speed. The handling during eating exercise 

consisted of the body touch (later handling) followed 

by a trumping addition, repeated until the 

body touch/handling elicited the “yippee” CER. 

Buffy’s CER consisted of a wag as well as orientation 

to my hand. If I stored the bonus in my 

other hand behind my back or my pocket and 

reached with a blank hand, she would wag and 

orient to my face. 

Buffy is now on maintenance with a cold trumping 

or body handling trial usually once per meal 

and use of other people whenever an opportunity 

presents itself. I ended up adopting her. 

You can throw in bowl removals if you like, rather than sticking 

with approaches and body handling. The principles are the 

same. Good luck with your Rottie! 

© Jean Donaldson, all rights reserved 

Vic Neumann 

Jean Donaldson is a native of Montreal, Canada. A graduate of McGill, 

Jean holds degrees in Music and Comparative Psychology. 

In 1996 James & Kenneth Publishers published Jean's first book, The 

Culture Clash, which has won numerous awards, including The Dog 

Writer's Association of America's Maxwell Award for the best training 

and behavior book of the year. Since its publication, The Culture Clash 

has been the number one recommendation for dog trainers of The 

Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) each year it has had a recom 

mended reading list. Her other books include the multiple award- 

winning MINE! A Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs, Fight! A Guide 

to Dog-Dog Aggression, and the newly released Oh Behave! Dogs From 

Pavlov to Premack to Pinker. She has also recently authored a DVD on 

basic obedience, Perfect Paws in Five Days. 

In 1999 she founded The Academy for Dog Trainers at The San Francisco 

SPCA, which has gained a reputation as the Harvard for dog 

trainers. Jean is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Evolutionary 

Biology. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her Chow, Buffy, 

adopted from The San Francisco SPCA in 2002, and currently the only 

Chow registered with the North American Flyball Association. 


By: Michael W. Fox 

BVetMed, PhD, DSc, MRCVS 

PART II 

Herbicides and Digestive System 

Bacterial Health 

It is not widely understood that the digestive 

tract is not simply an organ system 

designed for the assimilation of food. It is 

our primary organ of defence against potentially 

harmful food and water-born toxins, 

viruses, bacteria, and other potentially 

harmful organisms. Integral to this lymphatic-intestinal 

defence system is the 

population of intestinal ‘flora’---bacteria 

and other micro organisms -- that are symbiotic, 

having a symbiogenetic relationship 

with the cells of the gut that recognize 

them immunologically as eubiotic enteric 

residents (i.e. helpful resident organisms). 

This is an adaptive response because these 

enteric bacteria act as a defence against 

invasive organisms, and provide the cells 

with various nutrients essential to the 

health and functional integrity of the rest 

of the body, much as the mycorrhyza do 

around the roots of plants. 

Agrichemicals, especially the herbicide 

residues in GM crops and their even more 

toxic breakdown products, when digested 

by humans and their pets, could cause a 

host of health problems if the normal gut 

flora is harmed. If this healthy, disease- 

preventing, nutrition-providing, and immune 

system-supporting population of 

symbiotic bacteria in the intestines is disrupted, 

nutritional deficiencies, overwhelm- 

ing bacterial infection (Clostridia in dogs, 

for example), increased susceptibility to 

‘allergies’, and other neuroendocrine and 

metabolic changes may ensue. These health 

problems have been linked in recent research 

to imbalances in the intestinal bacterial 

population where some species of bacteria 

come to dominate. 

This condition of dysbiosis is compounded 

by the over-prescribing by doctors of antibiotics 

and their wholesale use in livestock 

feed. What we have done to our digestive 

system bacterial flora and to that of our 

companion animals mirrors what we have 

done to the life of the soil. 

The most widely used herbicides sprayed 

on GM (genetically modified or engineered) 

herbicide-resistant cotton, corn, 

soybean and canola, such as Monsanto’s 

Roundup (glyphosate) and Bayer’s Ignite 

(glufosinate), can also have toxic effects on 

the body. Glyphosate may be an endocrine 

disruptor, and in test animals has caused 

elevation of some liver enzymes and calcium 

oxalate crystals to form in the urine, 

along with inflammatory changes in the 

kidneys and lower urinary tract. Glufosinate 

can inhibit glutamine uptake. Deficiency 

of this amino acid is linked with 

bowel/digestive problems, impaired immune 

function, and possibly obesity due to 

increased appetite. It may be no coincidence 

that glutamine is widely prescribed 

for pets with ‘leaky gut’ syndrome and inflammatory 

bowel disease, and probiotics 

and prebiotics (like inulin and oligofructose) 

prescribed to help animals with allergies 

and other related health problems. 

Dysfunctional Agriculture, Hazardous 

Foods 

We should not be surprised that there are 

so many nutrition-related health problems 

when we look at the soil that is used to 

produce food commodities that are not 

organically certified. As one California 

farmer told me some thirty years ago, 

‘Farmers today just use the soil to prop up 

their plants. Then they pour on the 

chemical fertilizers that they must, because 

they killed the soil with pesticides.” Petrochemical-based 

agriculture has made our 

life-sustaining soil deficient in micro organisms 

that provide vital nutrients to the 

plants---and so our staple foods are also 

nutrient-deficient, especially in essential 

trace minerals and antioxidants like magnesium, 

zinc, and selenium. 

Dead soil means no food without chemical 

fertilizers, herbicides, nematodicides, fungicides, 

insecticides, agricultural biotechnology’s 

genetically engineered, cloned, and 

patented ‘improved’ varieties of crops and 

animals, with a frosting of USDA- & FDAregulated 

food irradiation. While denying 

that Mad Cow Disease could be an endemic 

problem in US cattle, it is notable 

that the FDA prohibited the inclusion of 

brain and spinal chord in pet foods (the 

primary source of prions responsible for 

this neurological disease in cattle, pets and 

people), soon after the exposé of ‘downer 

cow’ cruelty at a California cattle handling 

and slaughter plant in early 2008. 

Studies have shown that crops from organically 

certified producers, along with the 


meat and milk from farmed animals fed 

organic feed and allowed to graze on organically 

improved soils, contain far more 

essential nutrients than conventionally 

produced foods**. And they suffer from 

far fewer viral and bacterial diseases which 

pose a serious public health concern today 

because of the intensive, concentrated 

animal production systems of the poultry, 

dairy and meat industry’s ‘factory farms.’ 

The billions of pounds of offal that is recycled 

into pet food and farm animal feed is 

the bedrock of the main stream pet food 

industry. But it is a hazardous waste. Bacterial 

contamination, as with Salmonella, can 

be so difficult to control that Mars Pet care 

decided to permanently close one of its pet 

food manufacturing facilities in Everson, 

Pa in 2008 because the entire plant could 

not be effectively sanitized. There had been 

repeated recalls of contaminated dry dog 

and cat food, associated with nearly 80 

reported cases of human illness. 

Another form of offal is termed "byproducts" 

which are presumed heavily 

contaminated with harmful bacteria, and is 

therefore subjected to high temperature 

and pressure sterilization and then slow 

cooking to evaporate off all moisture. The 

resultant solid is ground into a meal of 

essentially heat-denatured protein of little 

nutritive value. It loses more amino acids 

by evaporation, and others by cross- 

linkage into an indigestible product. Beef 

by-products have less protein than chicken 

by-products, and the actual digestible protein 

is significantly lower than the calculated 

‘protein’ content of the manufactured 

foods. 

Time for Change 

There is already a rush-to-market special 

and expensive, prescribed diets to help 

obese pets lose weight, along with an approved 

prescription-only diet pill for obese 

pets. Many veterinarians see this as a legitimate, 

profit-making business. There is a 

plethora of special prescription diets to 

help pets with a host of illnesses, such as 

allergies and digestive and urinary tract 

problems. But compared to simply transitioning 

cats and dogs onto a more biologically 

appropriate, whole-food diet with 

specific supplements and health restoring 

nutraceuticals as needed, these costly 

manufactured diets are of very limited 

value. Their scientific validity and medical 

efficacy are also questionable, especially the 

low-cal, high fiber weight loss formulations. 

The veterinary profession is as yet behind, 

rather than leading, as it ought, the human 

medical profession, in addressing a host of 

health problems arising from manufactured 

pet foods, in part because of its ties to industry 

as an organized profession, colleges 

of which a richly endowed by the pet food 

industry: and in part because of indoctrination 

as students, that manufactured pet 

foods are scientifically formulated, animal 

tested, and provide complete and balanced 

nutrition for the health and maintenance of 

cats and dogs. There is much more to the 

basic ingredients and misleading terminology 

on the bag and can labels of these 

mainstream, main-street pet foods that the 

public trusts, no thanks to professional dog 

and cat performance events and other dog 

and cat shows, local, national, and international, 

that the pet food industry helps 

underwrite ! 

Commercial pet foods that people buy are 

a major factor in this obesity epidemic as 

well as a host of other health problems that 

are in part due to ignorance, overfeeding, 

and sheer convenience; and to the belief, 

shared, it would seem, by many veterinarians, 

that high cereal diets are not a significant 

contributing factor. Yet once informed, 

many pet owners will readily even 

cook home-prepared, wholesome, biologically 

appropriate meals for their animal 

companions, and attest to the almost immediate 

benefits observed in their animals’ 

demeanor and vitality. Fortunately, new 

approaches and solutions are on the hori- 

“The billions of pounds 

of offal that is recycled 

into pet food and farm 

animal feed is 

the bedrock of the main 

stream pet food industry. 

But it is a hazardous 

waste.” 

zon. This necessitates an understanding of 

how nutrients act and interact at the molecular 

level. Accordingly, nutrition research 

has shifted from epidemiology and 

physiology to molecular biology and genetics. 

Diets for animals should be designed 

and tailored to the genetic profile of individuals 

in order to optimize physiological 

homeostasis, disease prevention and treatment, 

and promote desired athletic, obedience 

or reproductive performances. 

For example, a series of specialized semimoist 

canned pet food formulas containing 

all human grade and organic food ingredients 

is now in clinical trials in Italy. These 

diets act as cleansing foods for the bowel 

and specific organs (e.g. liver and kidney) 

of pets with sub-acute and chronic illnesses. 

The specific needs of these animals 

are determined by applying the principle of 

nutrigenomics, where optimal nutrition can 

be designed based on an individual’s 

unique genetic makeup or genotype. The 

resulting food formula is termed the 

“molecular dietary signature”, and is 

formulated to restore the animal to health. 

The Codes of Practice for the Welfare of 

Cats and of Dogs established by the UK 

Government’s DEFRA (Department of 

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) 

opens up pet owners to prosecution under 

the Animal Welfare Act (potentially 

facing up to 12 months in jail and a fine of 

up to 20,000 pounds sterling) if they 

allow their animals to become overweight/ 

obese. 


This may help veterinarians and pets' caregivers 

to work together to solve the problem 

of feline and canine obesity--- 

DEFRA's Cat document clearly states cats 

are carnivores. This should mean that cereal-based 

cat foods will soon be off the 

shelves. So I would heartily endorse similar 

animal welfare legislation in the US and 

other countries that indirectly induces the 

public to be more responsible and support 

better farming methods and more nutritious 

prepared and convenience foods for 

their pets and for themselves. 

It is time for a revolution in agriculture and 

consumer choices and habits. According to 

Business Week (August, 2008), two thirds 

of adult Americans are either overweight or 

obese, along with 23 million children. 

This food health crisis cannot be denied 

any longer by those who claim to regulate 

agriculture, the food and beverage industries, 

and allow the mass poisoning of 

people and their pets with erroneously 

considered safe and nutritious basic ingredients, 

like corn, wheat, soy, dairy products 

and by-products. In these basic food commodities 

are metabolism and endocrinedisrupting 

ingredients, like corn fructose 

syrup, wheat and soy gluten, and certain 

cow milk immune-system disrupting glycoproteins. 

The public heavily subsidizes this 

agribusiness food industry with billions of 

dollars in government subsidies and price 

supports, indirectly underwriting its own 

demise---and nemesis. 

Conclusions 

The above documented concerns about 

manufactured pet foods are not meant to 

imply that all manufacturers do not care 

enough about dogs and cats to really become 

part of the solution. By ‘solution’, I 

mean becoming a creative participant in 

the food and agriculture revolution like 

those ‘green’ pet food companies and other 

pet product manufacturers and suppliers 

profiled by the author. 

It is no coincidence that the Western diet, 

based on highly processed components of 

corn, soy, and cereal grains, and on the 

dairy, meat and poultry products from 

animals fed these food commodities, 

should result in several recently identified, 

endemic health problems that are mirrored 

by cats and dogs fed the by-products of 

this diet. The pork, poultry, egg, dairy, and 

beef industries, along with the prepared 

foods, beverage, and candy industries, use 

companion animals as highly profitable 

waste-recyclers. The irony is inescapable, 

considering the fact that these sectors of 

agriculture receive the greatest government 

support in subsidies and incentives, all 

at taxpayers’ expense since these are public 

funds. But they are not being spent on the 

public good when we calculate the enormous 

health and environmental costs of 

the Western diet; and not to forget the 

horrendous existence of the animals down 

on the factory farm and feedlot. 

Consumers and health-care providers alike 

are more widely realizing the connection 

between diet and the prevention and alleviation 

of a host of complex, so called 

degenerative, auto-immune, and idiopathic 

diseases that are in turn recognized as 

being brought on by other factors in addition 

to nutrition, or lack thereof. The so 

called pluri-causal, multifactor nature of 

such diseases makes it challenging to identify 

and control causal agents. But as evidence-based 

medicine affirms, often most 

effective treatment comes through attention 

to dietary factors. 

With a burgeoning human population and 

growing social unrest with shortages of 

food, water, land and fuel, such a revolution---that 

includes the adoption of organic, 

low-input, sustainable farming methods 

and a reduction in meat production 

and consumption by many -- is as vital to 

global food security as it is to national security 

and progress in public health. 

The more that pet food companies obtain 

food ingredients from organic and alternative, 

sustainable sources rather than from 

conventional ones that rely on pesticides, 

cruel livestock and poultry confinement 

systems, and ‘cheaper’ imported crop and 

food-products and supplements, the more 

‘green’ they become. It is enlightened selfinterest 

for pet owners to support this food 

and agriculture revolution in their market 

choices for their pets and for themselves. 

POSTSCRIPT 

Eat grain and suffer the consequences: 

http://wideturn.com/Holdingdirectory/ 

CarbEating/fatthincarbs.htm 

Michael W. Fox, BVetMed, PhD, DSC, 

MRCVS is a member of the British 

Veterinary Association and an Honor 

Roll Member of the American Veterinary 

Medical Association. He has doctoral 

degrees in ethology/animal behavior 

and medicine from the University 

of London, graduating from the 

Royal Veterinary College London in 

1962. In 1961 he was awarded the gold 

medal and Fellowship of the Royal 

Veterinary College Medical Association 

for his report on the effects of poor 

nutrition on the health of working 

sheepdogs, (published in the J. Small 

Animal Pract., 5:183-192, 1964). Spending 

most of his professional life in the 

US as an advocate for animal health, 

welfare and rights under the flag of One 

Medicine, One Earth, he has published 

over 40 books and writes the syndicated 

newspaper column Animal 

Doctor. 

For more details, visit 

www.twobitdog.com and 

www.doctormwfox.org 


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Part 3 Getting Behavior 

Dogs are always behaving. Your job as a trainer is to convince 

your dog to do the behaviors you like by reinforcing 

the behaviors you like. The problem is, you have to get that 

behaviour in the first place! Fortunately, there are several 

ways to set your dog up to start doing the behaviors you 

want, although some are much more effective than others. 

© K Delong Photography 

Luring 

Luring would involve having the dog follow a cookie or toy 

in order to produce the behaviour you want. An example of 

this would be putting a cookie on his nose to entice him to 

sit or holding it up to your face to get eye contact. There are 

definite limitations with luring. The first problem is the 

timeline: you are putting the reinforcer before the intended 

behavior. You learned in Part 1 that consequences drive 

behaviour. If you intend to teach your dog to look at you by 

luring him with a cookie, then you must be aware of what 

he is doing when you pull that cookie out of your pocket 

because you will be reinforcing that behavior. This is a 

problem with luring: the trainer can inadvertently reward 

an unwanted behavior. If your dog looks away and you 

then pull out a cookie to lure him to look at your face, you 

are rewarding looking away because it is that precise behavior 

that makes the cookie appear. 

This brings us to the second problem with luring: it rewards 

passivity. Clicker trainers love behavior: the more 

behaviors a dog can give you, the faster and better we can 

teach him which ones you want. Trainers normally bring 

out lures when the dog is doing nothing and the dog quickly 

learns to do nothing because that is exactly what earns him 

reinforcement. 

The third problem with luring is that the dog is not actively 

involved in the learning process. If you lure the dog into a 

sit with a cookie, the dog is not thinking about the sit, he is 

thinking about following the cookie. The sit just happens 

and there is little learning occurring. Once again, the dog is 

passive in the process. 

Finally, luring can be very reinforcing for the trainer because 

the dog actually does the desired behavior very 

quickly. The problem is, you want the dog to learn, not just 

behave. The dog will be a lot more reliable if he is actively 

learning, not just following cookies. 

Prompting 

Prompting is similar to luring although you would use body 

language to persuade your dog to do the things you 

want. You might blow in your dog's face to teach him to 

wave or start running to teach him to come when 

called. Prompts have the same limitations as lures. 

Capturing 

Capturing would be waiting for the dog to offer the behavior 

himself and reinforcing it when you get it. If you wanted 


by: Dana Scott

to teach your dog down, you might sit on the couch with a 

clicker and cookies and wait for him to lie on his bed and 

reinforce that. 

On the up side, capturing actively engages the dog in the 

learning process. When the dog lies down and hears the 

click, he will eagerly engage in other behaviors, trying to 

make you click again. He might sit, spin, lift a paw, and finally 

lie down - Click! It may take you a bit longer to get the 

down this way, but because the dog is actively deciphering 

what earns him reinforcement, he will easily remember and 

repeat it willingly, unlike a dog who is prompted or lured. 

The draw back of capturing is that your dog may not feel like 

lying down at the moment you want to train. Although capturing 

promotes better understanding in your dog, it can be 

very inefficient to have to wait for him to offer desired behaviors. 

To speed the process up, you can use shaping. 

Shaping 

Shaping is the process of successive approximations. If you 

want your dog to lie down and he is not freely offering it, 

then you can start with a muscle movement that would precede 

lying down. To shape a down, you might first click your 

dog for standing still. Then when you have that, you might 

look for the next step to a down like a movement of the head 

toward the ground or even a sit or a bow. You can split the 

behavior down into very small sums and ask for those one by 

one, until you get the complete behavior, the down. Another 

example would be to teach your dog to spin. You would first 

click for any head movement, then a head movement to the 

side, then moving one foot to the side, then two feet, then 

curling his spine, then a half a turn, then finally a full 

turn. This seems like a lot of work but dogs who are clicker 

savvy learn to offer a lot of behaviors very quickly and become 

very engaged in the learning process. They will keep 

moving and trying new things in order to get you to click and 

once your dog is freely offering behaviors (in other words, 

the dog is operant), you can shape even complicated behaviors 

in minutes. Unlike luring, because the dog is actively 

involved in the process, the motivation and reliability for the 

desire behaviour are built in and the behavior will be very 

strong for a very long time. 

Let's make the difference between Luring/Prompting 

and Capturing/Shaping more clear. Let's assume you 

are in a strange city and need directions from your 

hotel to the dog show site. Fortunately, there are dog 

people staying at your hotel and they say you can follow 

them to the show site. You climb into your car 

and follow the bumper in front of you, playing with 

your radio and singing to your dogs as you drive 

there. You arrive in just ten minutes and haven't 

made any wrong turns: the "driving to the show site" 

behavior would appear to be strong. Now let's say the 

next morning you have to return to the show site. You 

go down to the parking lot and look around and your 

dog friends are gone. You get in your car and try to find your 

way back to the show site. It suddenly dawns on you that 

you really don't know how to get there, even though you did 

it just yesterday. 

Now assume that there were no people going to the show the 

first day so you bought a map. You got in your car and 

maybe had to pull over once or twice to get to the show site 

and it took you fifteen minutes instead of ten. The following 

morning when you are ready to go back to the show, your 

efforts will have paid off. You have retained the street 

names, landmarks and turns because you were actively looking 

for them the previous day. You get to the show site the 

second day with almost no hesitation. 

Luring and Prompting are the same as mindlessly following a 

bumper. You will quickly get the behavior you want but 

when you try to repeat it, you will have difficulty because 

you were not actively involved in the learning process. Capturing 

and Shaping are like following a map. Map following 

may be slower than bumper following in the initial steps, 

but retention is much greater and subsequent efforts are 

easier and faster. 

So what methods do clicker trainers use? To be honest, they 

use all four. Although shaping and capturing create the best 

environment for learning, they can be a bit slower in the initial 

stages. It is OK to use a lure or a prompt to get the ball 

rolling but if you do so, it is important to begin shaping as 

soon as possible. An important rule of thumb is this: if you 

must use prompts or lures, use them only three or four 

times, then move to shaping. This will get you maximum 

learning in minimum time. 

Now you are well on your way to getting the behaviors you 

want. The next step is to put the behaviours on cue and we 

will look at this important step in Part 4. 

The owner of WatchMe! dog training, Dana Scott has a degree 

in animal behavior and has titled her dogs in obedience, rally, 

conformation and in the field. Dana breeds Labrador Retrievers 

under the Fallriver prefix. She can be reached at 

www.fallriverlabs.com 

© K Delong Photography 


y: Lucy Postins 

Part II: Embarking On A Home- 

Made Diet For Your Dog 

If you’ve fed a kibble diet for a long pe- 

riod of time, it can be a daunting prospect 

to make the switch to fresh fare. 

Some animal guardians are especially 

intimidated by switching to 100% raw 

foods and there are some concerns 

about combining kibble and raw food 

together since they digest at different 

rates and this can increase the risk of 

illness from bacterial contamination. 

One option is to begin combining some 

fresh vegetables and fruits plus lightly 

cooked meats, organs and fish as well as 

plain yogurt or cottage cheese, with your 

dog’s regular food. Several companies 

provide premixes or ‘base diets’ or supplements 

to be used as the base of a 

homemade diet and these can be helpful 

in making the transition as well as ensuring 

an adequate array of nutritional components 

to the diet. 

Following is a list of suggested ingredi- 

ents to include in your dog’s homemade 

meals, or to combine with a premix as 

you gradually make the move away from 

kibble, to a varied healthy diet: 

Ground meat such as chicken, turkey, 

beef, and buffalo, which can be 

served raw or cooked depending on 

what you’re comfortable with. 

Raw Meaty Bones such as chicken 

necks or backs. It’s a good idea to grind 

bones to begin with, to allow your dog to 

get used to them. Your butcher may be 

able to do this for you, or you could invest 

in a good quality meat-grinder capable 

of grinding bone. Never feed cooked 

bones! 

Raw (or lightly cooked) organs and 

other muscle meats. 

Raw or lightly cooked white fish such 

as cod, sole and haddock as well as oily 

fish like salmon, sardines and herring 

(salmon should be cooked because of the 

possible risk of parasitic infestation in 

raw salmon) as well as low sodium 

canned fish. 

Root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, 

yams, pumpkin, parsnips (these 

vegetables should be lightly steamed or 

pulped to aid digestibility), plus other 

fresh vegetables such as zucchini, green 

beans, kale and celery. 

Plain yogurt, cottage cheese, kefir 

and eggs – these can be lightly scrambled 

if preferred but are perfectly acceptable 

raw for most dogs. Some raw feeders 

also include the finely ground shell as a 

great natural source of calcium. 

Fresh or dried fruits like melon, blueberries, 

cranberries & pitted peaches. 

Fresh herbs such as parsley, nettles, 

watercress and dandelion leaves. 

Ground nuts such as almonds and seeds 

like shelled sunflower, pumpkin or 

ground flax, also make an interesting 

addition. 

Ingredients to Avoid 

Chocolate 

Grapes 

Raisins 

Macadamia Nuts 

Onions 

What are the challenges of preparing 

your pet’s food, yourself? 

It takes some homework to prepare 

balanced, nutritional meals but it's not 

much more difficult than providing ourselves 

or our human children with wholesome 

& healthy nutrition, when a broad 

array of foods is offered throughout the 

week. 

Homemade meals can be time consuming 

to prepare, and messy as well. 

Some regimens for homemade food re 


quire the acquisition of a meat grinder 

capable or pulverizing bones, which can 

add to the initial start-up costs. 

Some vets advise against homemade 

meals and if this causes a conflict, it may 

be necessary to locate an alternative or 

holistic vet who will support and assist 

you with your decision. 

If you have larger animals or a multi-pet 

household, the ingredients storage can 

become an issue – a dedicated chest 

freezer might be a wise investment, so 

you can store raw ingredients and finished 

meals. 

Here are two tasty recipes you might like 

to prepare at home and offer as a treat 

or accompaniment to your dog’s regular 

food – and a first step in getting off the 

kibble bandwagon: 

Liver Loaf Treats 

This delicious recipe is nutritious and 

delicious, and can be sliced up into any 

size to make training treats suitable for 

your individual pet. The added bonus is 

that this treat is completely wheat-free. 

Ingredients 

1 lb fresh raw organic beef liver 

3 free range eggs 

¼ cup canola or other vegetable oil 

1 clove fresh garlic, crushed 

2 cups instant oats 

1 tbsp applesauce 

2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional) 

3 tbsp powdered kelp (optional) 

Filtered water sufficient to make a batter 

What To Do 

Process the liver in a blender or food 

processor, until completely pureed. 

Beat the eggs in a bowl and pour in the 

oil. Add the liver. Mix in the dry ingredients 

slowly, so they are thoroughly combined. 

Add water gradually, until you 

have a ‘batter’ consistency. Pour into a 

loaf tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. 

Cool in the tin then gently turn the 

loaf out onto a rack and refrigerate to 

cool completely. Slice with a sharp knife 

and dice into bite sized pieces appropriate 

for your pet. 

Salmon & Peach Cooler 

This recipe is super-simple to prepare 

makes a refreshing recipe to beat the 

summer heat. Be sure to use cooked 

boneless salmon only. 

Ingredients 

1 cup very lightly cooked boneless 

salmon fillet with skin. 

2 diced fresh peaches, stones removed 

1 cup roughly chopped watercress 

¼ cup diced cucumber 

¼ cup flaked almonds 

½ cup plain yogurt 

3 tbsp honey (optional) 

2 tbsp olive oil 

1 sprig fresh basil to garnish 

What To Do 

Combine the first seven ingredients in a 

bowl so they are thoroughly mixed. 

Spoon into a serving dish or use to top 

your dog's regular food. 

Add the mango on top and finish with 

the fresh basil. 

Serve for your dog in moderate portions, 

once cooled. Store in a refrigerator and 

serve a little each day, or freeze in individual 

portions for later use. 

Once you understand and witness the 

benefits of serving fresh, healthy, home 

prepared food that’s been created with 

your own hands – and infused with love 

and good intent – the habit will likely 

become a part of your routine. Even if 

it’s just a more occasional treat, the fun 

of making (and sometimes actually sharing) 

the food that your dog eats, is novel 

and rewarding for everyone! 

Lucy Postins is a companion animal 

nutritionist and founder of The Honest 

Kitchen, a natural pet food company 

in San Diego, CA. More nutritional 

resources are available on 

www.thehonestkitchen.com 

or (866) 437 9729. 


Victor neumann 

DOGS, PARKS AND POLITICS 

by: Julie Walsh 

The verdict is in. Off-leash play is not only good for dogs, but 

for their people too! Off-leash advocates have successfully made 

this case over and over again, prompting cities and towns all 

across the country to establish “dog parks” or off-leash areas. 

These parks are not only found in heavily populated places such 

as Virginia and New York City, but also in rural states such as 

Montana, Wyoming and Iowa. Indeed, Eco-Animal now lists 

over 1,500 places nationally in its online “Dog Park Directory.” 

A Sampling of Benefits 

Given the social nature of dogs, it is not too surprising that the 

opportunity to play and interact with others benefits them. Dogs 

are pack animals, who delight in the company of canine friends. 

Off-leash areas additionally provide room for dogs to exercise 

vigorously, an essential need for many breeds and almost all 

young dogs. Studies show that well-exercised and properly socialized 

dogs are less likely to be aggressive and/or destructive. Humans 

certainly benefit from that fact alone, but there is more! 

It is not just the dogs who have fun at these parks. Humans enjoy 

watching their dogs play and often bond with the other human 

observers. They build friendships and communities. At our 

local park, the humans threw a baby shower for a father-to-be, 

who walks his golden retriever regularly, and his wife. They also 

had a party for a long-time walker who decided to move away 

after his dog had died the previous year. At both events, several 

people spoke about how meaningful these friendships were in 

their lives. When people have had to confront their dogs’ deaths, 

the outpouring of love and support has been extraordinary and 

perhaps the surest indication of the strength of this particular 

community. Clearly, via the creation of these human connections, 

these spaces contribute to psychological health, which, according 

to more and more studies, yields physical benefits as well. Indeed, 

the mere act of walking provides beneficial exercise for the 

humans. 

Dog Parks or Dogs at the Park 

Typically, off-leash areas are fenced, single-use spaces set aside 

from the rest of the park. In many cases, they have been established 

because dog walkers, shut out of common areas via the 

enforcement of leash laws, have battled for some space to exercise 

their dogs. Multiple factors account for this dynamic, including 

suburban sprawl, increases in population, and a general decline 

in community. These factors and others have led to greater 

competition for less park space, with dogs finding themselves on 

the short end of the stick. Dog parks compensate for this loss 

and are thus a positive development that helps to fulfill a need. 

However, they are not enough! 

It is also necessary to retain some access to multi-use areas for off 

-leash dogs. For example, a multi-use area might be a hiking trail 

or a wide open field or a beach, all of which are used by non-dog 

walkers. Given the growing demand for off-leash areas, singleuse, 

fenced spaces cannot possibly accommodate it on their own. 

Indeed, the more outlets for off-leash recreation, the less likely 

that there will be problems at any one location. Overcrowding or 

“too many dogs” is the oft-cited complaint of other users, one 


which should be remedied with more (not fewer) places for this 

activity. Hours restrictions can help to balance the needs of other 

users with dog walkers as well. 

Because authorities in so many places have cracked down on offleash 

walking, multi-use places are increasingly rare gems: and 

gems they are! Arguably, multi-use areas multiply the already 

considerable benefits of dog parks. It is much more likely that 

humans will exercise at such places via walking or running than 

they would in a fenced area. Given the need to share the space 

with other users, it is imperative that humans develop a good 

relationship with their dog(s). That requirement tends to lead to 

better trained dogs. For their part, the dogs have even more opportunity 

in such places to be “dogs,” chasing squirrels, investigating 

scents, and using their minds. 

A Human Pack for the Dogs 

Multi-use places have more often than not formed “naturally,” 

perhaps due to a lack of enforcement of a leash law or the lack of 

such a law altogether. As the number of places allowing for offleash 

activity shrinks, such gems become more attractive to dog 

walkers, who sometimes travel to get to them. A growing number 

of visitors can trigger complaints from other users and calls 

for a leash law. The political fight can then be a formidable one, 

which it would obviously be better to avoid. 

While that goal is much easier said than done, there are some 

steps to take if you enjoy such a place with your dog. Be proactive. 

Do not wait passively until there are complaints and an 

organized attempt to enact a leash law. If there is a community of 

dog walkers at the location, organize them into an association and 

dedicate it partly to the service of public ends. For example, such 

an organization can educate people about proper etiquette with 

other users. The group can invite local dog trainers to speak or 

give a demonstration, which would give the trainers free advertising 

and help to encourage people to seek training for their dog. 

On this matter of training, members of the dog-walking community 

can additionally help one another out with tips. That is more 

Vic Neumann 

likely to happen with an organization that might, for example, 

have an online discussion group. Importantly, the group could 

identify stewardship of the land as one of its public priorities and 

sponsor clean-up days. 

Be aware that it is not always easy to organize people in the absence 

of a threat to their interests. A few dog walkers might have 

to take the initiative and convince others of the need for this. It 

helps if you make the endeavor fun, not all bitter medicine. Our 

group had meetings to discuss our goals, develop our website, and 

plan activities. We all brought goodies to the meetings and conversation 

was not all business. In short, they were enjoyable 

events that strengthened friendships already developed at the 

park. We also capitalized on the individual talents of our membership. 

For example, some were artistic and they created our 

business card; others were computer savvy and they developed 

our website. People were very generous with their time and talents 

after they bought into the idea of the group. 

Once organized into such a group, it becomes possible for dog 

walkers to reach out to other users at the park. It is amazing how 

beneficial this can be. At our park, the mere fact that a group of 

us were trying to encourage good etiquette won over some individuals 

who had previously advocated a leash law. In some cases, 

people want simply to be heard and to have their concerns validated. 

Too often, dog walkers are defined by an irresponsible few 

who are arrogant and combative. Do not let such individuals 

define you! Let the non-dog owners who use the area see the 

humanity of the dog walkers and know that most are just as upset 

with irresponsible behavior as they. In attempting to eradicate 

that behavior via education, dog walkers are identified on the 

same side as the other users. They are a part of the community, 

not a group in need of segregation. 

Sadly, even with these efforts, there is simply no guarantee that a 

multi-use area will not be threatened with a leash law. In that 

unwanted event, be mindful of appearances. Raw displays of 

anger are not helpful. Use your association to mobilize all who 

walk their dogs at the park. Learn the precise steps in the political 

process, which can vary widely from jurisdiction to 

jurisdiction, and focus on prevailing in them. Although 

elected officials tend to take notice when confronted 

with a fully mobilized group, dog walkers are 

unfortunately still in the situation of convincing officeholders 

and citizens about the legitimacy of offleash 

walking and play. Dog walkers must explain 

how passionate they are about it and must do so in 

terms that non-dog lovers can understand. Remember 

that many people have not heard the case for this 

activity, let alone the verdict on it! 

Julie Walsh lives in Bloomfield, Connecticut with dogs 

Devin and Sadie. 


y: Erika Phillips 

We are what we eat. Raw feeders take this simple statement 

very seriously and eschew kibble for its dubious origins and 

questionable ingredients. We rightly feel more comfortable 

feeding foods to our dogs with known origins: we like to know 

not only what foods are going into our dogs but where they 

came from. Unfortunately, we might not know as much about 

the origin of feed animals as we should. 

The Times They are A-Changing ~Bob Dylan 

For generations our food has been raised on soils rich in nutrients. 

Cows ate grass, sheep ate grass. Chickens ranged and 

ate worms and frogs and other meaty morsels rich with protein 

necessary to produce wonderfully nutritious eggs. Pigs 

received 80% of their nutritional requirements from rich and 

living soil. Life was simpler and life was in our nutrient-dense 

leaner and lower in calories, and higher in omega-3 fatty acids 

food. Sadly, this does not ring true today: cows are now grain 

and vitamin E. Grass-fed dairy products also have five times 

fed with many of them never seeing a blade of grass, chickens 

the levels of conjugated linoleum acid (CLA) than their grain- 

are grain fed and factory raised without sunshine and never 

fed counterparts. Grass fed cows also convert Chlorophyll that 

seeing a bug or a worm, pigs are raised in concrete buildings 

they get from grass into Vitamin D that they get from the sun 

and sheep are normally pastured but too expensive to eat. 

which in turn produces vitamin A found in the liver and other 

The ramifications of industrialized farming have very real 

health implications for us and for our dogs. 

organs. Without grass Cow’s are not worth eating! 

On factory beef farms the staple of the cow’s diet is corn and 

soy which are not well digested by cows. In fact, cattle can 

The cow is nothing but a machine which makes grass fit for us develop severe health problems from grains, some of which 

people to eat. ~John McNulty 

include liver abscesses and sudden death syndrome. For filler, 

Cows are ruminants, and ruminants are designed by nature to 

digest grass and only grass. They digest it first by eating it raw 

and then by regurgitating it and eating it again in a partially 

digested form known as cud. As ruminants, cows have four 

chambers in their stomachs, and as a cow digests, the food 

moves slowly from one chamber to the next. 

factory farms will also add animal by-products to industrial 

cattle feed, and these additions can transmit diseases like mad 

cow to both animals and humans. Grains ferment in the stomach 

and create serious bacteria overloads including salmonella 

and e-coli. In large production facilities where the animals 

stand and sleep in their feces, the bacterium is spread 

throughout the herd and when the time comes for slaughter 

Raising cattle on pasture not only makes sense for their diges- the feces/bacteria often remain in the meat unless bleached. 

tive systems, but makes sense for humans too, by turning On top of that, run-off from factory farms and feedlots can 

something we can’t eat (grass) into something we can (meat) contaminate surrounding crops with salmonella and e-coli and 

and dairy products. Cattle raised on grass provide meat that is this has resulted in numerous illnesses and recalls. 


Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to 

build a cathedral. ~Frank Lloyd Wright 

Factory farmed chickens fare no better than cows . Millions of 

tons of meat and bone meal from post-slaughter animal waste 

are recycled back into animal feed each year, and poultry and 

hog producers are the main purchasers of these products. On 

industrial poultry farms, a range of antibiotics and additives 

are also added to the birds’ feed and water and are necessary 

to combat the ill effects of poor quality feed and lack of sunshine 

and fresh air. Factory farmed chickens are regularly fed 

arsenic (and sometimes turkeys and pigs) to encourage weight 

gain and create the appearance of healthy color in the meat. 

If the chicken is eating arsenic, your dog is eating arsenic and 

the insidious effect of this low level exposure mimics many 

chronic diseases. Arsenic exposure leads to cancer, nerve 

damage, diabetes and cognitive dysfunction. Like e-coli, arsenic 

is not only found in the meat but in the feces which eventually 

pollute surrounding water supplies. 

The Dark Side Of The Other White Meat 

According to the Sustainable table, “In some states, garbage 

can legally be fed to pigs, and if this garbage includes rotten 

meat, pigs are at risk for diseases such as hog cholera, Foot 

and Mouth Disease, African swine fever, and swine vesicular 

disease. Other pathogens of concern are Salmonella, Campylobacter, 

Trichinella, and Toxoplasma. These diseases may 

be spread to other livestock or humans if hogs eat contaminated 

meat in improperly treated food waste. 

Pigs have a completely different digestive system than cows 

and unlike cows, can digest soil and dirt. As a matter of fact 

most pigs can get 80% of their daily food ration from soil 

alone. They eat grasses, legumes, ground cover, standing 

plants and are about the easiest animal to raise on pasture 

without the worry of supplementation. Unfortunately, this 

is not the practice that is employed by large pig operations. 

What does this all mean for ourselves and our pets? With- 

out the nutrients that are normally found in healthy soil and in 

turn the plants that soils contain, our companion animals are 

at critical risk for disease and insufficiencies. 

If you knew how meat was made, you'd probably lose your 

lunch. ~k.d. lang 

As much as possible, ensure that your meat comes from local 

farmers who raise their animals as naturally as possible. If you 

are forced to feed grain-fed animals, then you might want to 

supplement a prey-model diet to replace the nutrients erased 

by factory farming and to boost your dog‘s immune system to 

fight the ill effects from additives such as hormones, antibiotics 

and arsenic. Although the full extent of the dog’s ability to 

digest plant matter is largely unknown, all of the deficiencies 

in vitamins and minerals are readily available in herbs. Unless 

you are able to feed exclusively organic, grass-fed animals, the 

benefits of feeding plant matter to dogs likely outweighs the 

risks of feeding deficient meats which have joined the 

alarmingly large and growing list of products contaminated 

by increasingly powerful industries. 

Erika Phillips is the Editor in Chief of Dogs Naturally Magazine 

and the proprietor of The Controversial Canine. 

She can be reached for consultations in Homeopathy/Herbs/ 

Behaviour/Nutrition at www.controversialcanine.com 


y: Chris Adams 

Staff Reporter The Wall Street Journal 

With the aid of slick commercials featuring once-lame dogs 

bounding happily about, Rimadyl changed the way veterinarians 

treated dogs. ""Clients would walk in and say, 'What about this 

Rimadyl?' "" says George Siemering, who practices in Springfield, 

VA. 

Today, those TV spots are gone. The reason has to do with dogs 

like Montana. A six-year-old Siberian husky with stiff back legs, 

Montana hobbled out of a vet's office in Brooklyn, N.Y., six 

months ago accompanied by his human, Angela Giglio, and a 

supply of Rimadyl pills. At first, the drug appeared to work. But 

then Montana lost his appetite. He went limp, wobbling instead 

of walking. Finally he didn't walk at all. He ate leaves, vomited, 

had seizures and, eventually, was put to sleep. An autopsy showed 

the sort of liver damage associated with a bad drug reaction. 

Pet drugs are big business -- an estimated $3 billion world-wide -- 

and Rimadyl is one of the bestsellers. It has been given to more 

than four million dogs in the U.S. and more abroad, brought 

Pfizer Inc. tens of millions of dollars in sales, and pleased many 

veterinarians and dog owners. But the drug has also stirred a controversy, 

with other pet owners complaining that nobody warned 

them of its risks. 

Montana's owner, Ms. Giglio, is among them. After she informed 

Pfizer and the Food and Drug Administration of her relatively 

youthful dog's death, Pfizer offered her $440 ""as a gesture of 

good will"" and to cover part of the medical costs. Insulted by the 

offer and a stipulation that she agree to tell no one about the payment 

except her tax preparer, she refused to sign and didn't take 

the money. ""There's just no way in my conscience or heart I can 

release them from blame,"" she says. 

After reports of bad reactions and deaths started streaming in to 

the FDA, the agency suggested that Pfizer mention ""death"" as a 

possible side effect in a warning letter to vets, on labels and in TV 

ads. Pfizer eventually did use the word with vets and on labels, 

but when given an ultimatum about the commercials -- mention 

""death"" in the audio or end the ads -- Pfizer chose to drop 

them. 

Pfizer's director of animal-products technical services, Edward W. 

Kanara, says that when reports started coming in, ""we acted extremely 

promptly based on the information we had."" Pfizer 

points out that reported adverse events involve less than 1% of 

treated dogs. 

Since Rimadyl's 1997 launch, the FDA has received reports of 

about 1,000 dogs that died or were put to sleep and 7,000 more 

that had bad reactions after taking the drug, records and official 

estimates indicate. The FDA says such events are significantly 

underreported. 

While the numbers include cases ""possibly"" related to Rimadyl, 

it is hard to be sure. Many dogs given the arthritis drug 

are older, and few are autopsied after they die. Pfizer says it analyzed 

cases of Rimadyl treated dogs that died in 1998 and found 

a link to Rimadyl to be ""likely"" in 12% of cases and ""not 

likely"" in 22%; it says there was too little information for a 

judgment about the others. 

Still Approved 

Despite these problems, the FDA says Rimadyl deserves to be 

on the market, provided vets take the proper precautions. These 

include advising dog owners what bad reactions to watch for 

and periodically doing liver-function or other lab tests. 

Within a few weeks, Pfizer will begin affixing a safety sheet directly 

to packages of Rimadyl pills. It is the first time either FDA 

officials or Pfizer can recall such a step being taken in the world 

of animal drugs. 


Rimadyl -- generically carprofen -- is an anti-inflammatory medicine. 

Developer Roche Laboratories expected to market it for 

people in 1988 and received FDA approval, but shelved the plan 

after concluding the market for such drugs was too crowded. In 

addition, some outside experts expressed concerns; a commentary 

in a pharmaceutical journal noted unusual liver-function 

readings in 14% to 20% of test subjects and opined that ""until 

additional data on carprofen are available, older compounds 

should probably be tried initially."" 

The idea of switching the product to the animal-drug track soon 

arose. A couple of corporate transactions later, it ended up in 

the hands of Pfizer's animal-drug unit. 

There, it was treated to the kind of sophisticated marketing 

Pfizer does well. A survey of 885 dog owners was done. Besides 

shedding light on favorite dog names (Jake, Ginger, Lady), the 

poll revealed that one-fifth of dog owners would be willing to 

spend ""whatever it took"" to buy an aging dog an extra year or 

two of life. No fewer than 53% agreed that ""my dog is a better 

companion than other members of my family."" 

“The FDA had received just over 3,000 

animal-drug bad-reaction reports in 1996, 

the year before Rimadyl's launch; in 1998, 

the drug's first full year, Rimadyl alone 

produced more than that many. “ 

The FDA requires safety and efficacy testing for animal drugs just 

as for human ones, but animal-drug tests are smaller. Pfizer says 

about 500 dogs got Rimadyl in various trials, which is no more 

than a fifth of the number of subjects in comparable human-drug 

trials. Some dogs showed unusual liver-function readings and one 

young beagle on a high dose died, but for the most part, the FDA 

and Pfizer didn't find side effects alarming. The drug was approved 

for an early-1997 launch. 

That same year, the FDA made it easier to market drugs directly to 

consumers on TV. Soon, Pfizer was running commercials in which 

a once-stiff yellow Labrador retriever named Lady bounded over a 

fallen tree as she fetched tennis balls beside a lake. In another ad, a 

dog leapt through a window and slid down a banister. 

There were also full-page magazine ads and a public-relations campaign, 

whose results, the PR firm later said, included 1,785 print 

stories, 856 radio reports and 245 TV news reports ""generating 

25.5 million positive impressions on the product."" 

Early on, vets were floored by the drug's effects. ""The results in 

some cases have been pretty darn close to miraculous,"" says David 

Whitten of the Hilldale Veterinary Hospital in Southfield, Mich. 

""I'm using this drug on my own dog. It has been effective. But as 

with all medications, side effects are certainly a problem."" 

The First Complaints 

Indeed, within months of the launch, vets at Colorado State University 

in Fort Collins noticed troubling reactions. Labrador retrievers 

seemed particularly affected. Since the safety studies for 

Rimadyl had emphasized testing on young beagles, Pfizer went 

back to conduct another, small test just on Labs; it says that test 

showed no particular problem. 

Bill Keller, an FDA veterinary-medicine official, notes that ""any 

time you take a product from the investigation and put it into actual 

practice, you're going to see things you didn't expect."" But 

reports about Rimadyl came in by the hundreds. The FDA had 

received just over 3,000 animal-drug bad-reaction reports in 1996, 

the year before Rimadyl's launch; in 1998, the drug's first full year, 

Rimadyl alone produced more than that many. 

They swamped the FDA's tiny Center for Veterinary Medicine in 

Rockville, MD. Pfizer was scrambling as well. ""Basically, their 

response,"" says Dr. Keller, ""was 'Tell us what you want us to do. 

We love the fact that it's selling so well, but we don't know what to 

do with all these adverse reactions.' "" 

The FDA and Pfizer discussed a ""Dear Doctor"" letter to be sent 

to vets. FDA records show the agency found parts of an early 

Pfizer draft ""unacceptable as they are promotional in tone... ."" It 

was revised. 

The records also show Pfizer disagreed with the FDA's suggestion 

that the letter cite ""death"" as a possible side effect. To get the 

letter out, the FDA told Pfizer it was ""agreeing to your exclusion 

of the 'death' syndrome from the letter at this time. However, we 

will revisit the 'death' syndrome issue and other potential side effects 

for possible inclusion in labelling at a later date."" So the term 

didn't appear in the first warning Pfizer sent, in mid-1997. 


Clear Benefits 

Meanwhile, dog owners were asking for Rimadyl. ""It was their 

advertising that sold me on the drug,"" says Michelle Walsh, a 

Phoenix woman who says her miniature schnauzer was given it 

and later died. 

Not that vets needed much convincing. They saw clear benefits 

from the drug. On top of that, they could get points from Pfizer 

for each Rimadyl purchase they made; points were redeemable for 

PalmPilots, Zip drives for PCs and other equipment. 

Although Pfizer's letter told vets to explain to owners the signs of 

a bad reaction to Rimadyl, such as vomiting, lethargy or diarrhea, 

it is evident that a great many didn't. The FDA's Dr. Keller says, 

"There are a lot of veterinarians who don't think they need to take 

the time, or who forget, or for whatever reason are not providing 

animal owners with this information." 

Donna Allen, whose chow-mix, Maggie, started on Rimadyl last 

summer, says, ""All my vet did was give me this little bag of pills, 

with no information."" She says ""Maggie didn't want to take it, 

but I made her."" 

After four weeks, Maggie began to vomit violently, Ms. Allen 

says. The dog vanished from their home outside Birmingham, 

AL, and later was found lying in a ditch. Ms. Allen loaded her into 

a truck and sped 35 miles to a veterinary clinic, but the five-yearold 

dog died. Her vet wouldn't implicate Rimadyl in the death 

until Ms. Allen urged him to send the dog's internal organs to the 

University of Illinois vet school, where an examination showed 

liver toxicity. 

Maggie was buried under a marker adorned with the figure of an 

angel. Ms. Allen took to the streets, delivering a letter to all the 

vets in the area urging them to ""understand that Rimadyl helps 

certain dogs, but it is poison to other dogs."" 

The D-Word 

As the complaints poured in, the FDA told Pfizer it would have 

to revisit the label issue. Pfizer had referred to ""fatal outcomes"" 

on the label as a possible effect of the drug class to which Rimadyl 

belonged, but not specifically of this drug. Now the agency 

asked that Pfizer cite ""death"" prominently as a possible side 

effect of the drug. Describing the back and forth with Pfizer, the 

FDA's Dr. Keller says, ""They did it. They weren't enthusiastic 

about it, but they have always been cooperative. And that's part of 

the nature of the game we play with industry."" 

But the FDA also wanted the word ""death"" in the audio of 

commercials. Pfizer indicated this ""would be devastating to the 

product,"" FDA minutes of a February 1999 meeting show. A 

company spokesman says that ""putting 'death' on a 30-second 

commercial and in proper context was something we didn't think 

was possible."" Rather than do so, Pfizer eventually pulled the 

commercials. 

Pfizer says it now will do traditional marketing to vets, making 

sure they know the proper way to use the drug. Another ""Dear 

Doctor"" letter will soon go out, and the company will start attaching 

a safety sheet to pill packages. 

Pfizer acknowledges it has a perception problem with some dog 

owners; a consumer group, for instance, has mounted a campaign 

dubbed BARKS, for Be Aware of Rimadyl's Known Side-effects. 

The company is contacting dog owners who have told their stories 

on the Internet, and it is offering to pay medical and diagnostic 

expenses for some dogs who may have been harmed by Rimadyl. 

But Pfizer stands firmly behind the value of the drug, of which it 

says sales have continued to grow. Most vets also remain strongly 

behind Rimadyl. Owners, too, generally say they think the drug is 

important -- they just want to know the risks. 

Atlantan Roger Williams gave his mixed-breed terrier, William, 

Rimadyl for more than a year and believes it contributed to the 

dog's death. ""But if I had to do it all over, I would give my dog 

Rimadyl again,"" he says. ""The difference is I would have known 

what to expect. Without Rimadyl, William was miserable. And 

what's the point of living another three years if you're miserable?"" 


The shelter dog had clearly been neglected in his past. His coat 

was dull, and his eyes stared blankly into space as he barked 

continuously. The staff asked me to please try to help calm 

him, since he had been hysterically barking since he had arrived. 

I sat quietly outside his kennel, put in my earplugs and 

took a deep breath. I imagined the energy of the earth flowing 

up through my body, grounding and centering me, and mentally 

offered the dog some healing energy, if he chose to connect 

with me. I closed my eyes and inside my mind imagined 

myself in a quiet, beautiful place. Peace, safety and harmony: I 

held these three words in my heart. I imagined how the dog 

looked when he was calm and perfectly relaxed. I imagined I 

could embrace him with love from my heart. Sure enough, as 

I’ve seen in so many Reiki treatments, after a few moments 

the dog stopped barking and stared intently at me. A few more 

moments passed and he lay down in the kennel, took a deep 

breath and rested his head on his front paws. Silence had 

never felt so golden. 

Reiki, a system that creates relaxation and stress-relief, is a 

wonderful way to support the healing journey of rescued dogs 

and to support ourselves as we walk this path with them. The 

name Reiki, pronounced “ray-key,” comes from the Japanese 

words “rei” meaning spirit and “ki” meaning energy. It is usually 

translated as “universal life energy.” Reiki is about being 

able to hold a space of balance within ourselves—even in the 

midst of a chaotic or troublesome situation. If we can practice 

maintaining this kind of inner balance and calm in our own 

lives, we will see a ripple effect in all that we do. In working 

with rescued dogs, we can see them responding to our inner 

state of balance in a positive way, becoming calmer and more 

peaceful. We can also see our relationship with them going 

much deeper. 

The Five Precepts 

Reiki as a healing modality is a meditative art. It is simply 

about focusing one’s compassionate intention to support another 

being. When using Reiki to heal a dog, for example, the 

practitioner simply sets an intention to facilitate the healing 

process of the dog and then allows Reiki to flow in whatever 

amount the dog wishes to receive and for whatever he or she 

needs most. 

 

by: Kathleen Prasad 

Reiki is ideal for use with animals because effectiveness is not 

dependent upon physical contact. The animal controls the 

treatment, accepting Reiki in the ways that are most comfortable, 

either hands-on or from a distance, or a combination of 

the two. Easy for anyone to learn and use, Reiki can do no 

harm, even when used by the most novice practitioner. It always 

goes to the deepest source of the problem and always 

supports a path toward balance and harmony. Since we often 

don’t know a rescued animal’s past, with Reiki we can simply 

allow the energy to flow where it will, knowing that a healing 

shift toward balance will occur. 

The five Reiki precepts for balanced living, taught by the founder 

of the system, Mikao Usui, are as follows: 

Just for today … 

Do not anger. 

Do not worry. 

Be humble. 

Be honest in your work. 

Be compassionate to yourself and others. 

These precepts are not only the foundation for self-healing in 

the system of Reiki, but can also be used as guides when working 

with rescued animals. 

1. Just for today do not anger. Working with rescued dogs can 

be very difficult when we see the results of past abuse or neglect. 

We can begin to feel ourselves becoming very angry 

about how the dog was treated, what he had to go through 

and so on. This anger at the dog’s situation can spiral into anger 

about the world as a whole and anger toward humanity’s 

treatment of dogs in general. Pretty soon we can find ourselves 

encompassed in a bubble of anger. This anger will 

merely distract us from our primary goal, which is to help the 

dog. If we are angry, the dog will sense that and not want to 

connect with us. If we can focus instead on our desire to help 

the dog, our anger can be mitigated by our compassion. 

It can also help us to see the dog with our heart instead of our 

eyes. If we can see deeper into the very essence and spirit of 

the dog—see that shining star just waiting to brighten our 

life—it will be easier to work through any difficulties we face 

with patience and calm. When we approach our rescued dog 


with this kind of inner peace, everything will flow toward healing 

much more easily. 

2. Just for today do not worry. When working with a rescued 

dog, we can find ourselves dealing with many health problems. 

We might rescue a dog suffering with Parvo, kennel cough or 

some physical injury from past abuse or neglect. As we nurture 

the dog toward healing, we may find ourselves worrying: worrying 

about other problems that might manifest, about how 

and if the dog will be able to fully heal from illness and injury 

and so on. We also might worry about our rescued dog being 

able to fit into our family, especially if we know the dog has 

faced difficult and traumatic events in the past. Worrying and 

fretting about things beyond our control is not helpful for us or 

the dog. 

If we can again look deeper into the heart and spirit of the dog 

to see him as already healed, we can help our dog find the 

hope and courage to get better. We can, for example, see how 

shiny their coat must have once been, how they would look 

with proper weight on their bones. We can imagine they are 

breathing freely and running with strength and vigor across 

our yard. When we begin to look at our dog for who he really 

is, he, too, will see us for who we really are, and the relationship 

can deepen. And in that deepening of trust, the healing of 

the heart begins. This is where it all starts for the rescued 

dog—with healing of the heart. 

3. Be humble. Working with a rescued dog can bring us back 

into humility. We might have thought initially we were the one 

doing the “rescuing”—and yet as we create a new and loving 

relationship with this dog, we might find that our lives are forever 

changed for the better. We may find our hearts opening 

more than we had ever thought possible. In working through 

the healing journey of our rescued dog, me may learn about 

ourselves and in so doing, find that we are better people for it. 

And so one day we may realize that it is we who were rescued 

by this dog. We find ourselves humbled by their capacity to 

heal and forgive, to let go of the past, and to move forward 

into a new future with courage, joy and selfless devotion. If 

only we could learn to live our lives as a rescued dog lives his. 

4. Be honest in your work. Going through our lives, how often 

do we ask ourselves, what is our life’s work? When we work 

with a rescued dog, we are helping him to heal, nurturing him 

physically and emotionally, providing exercise, food and attention, 

and helping him to build a new beginning as a part of our 

family. We can realize that it is in this daily practice with him, 

where we devote ourselves single-mindedly to our task, that 

we find our heart’s true calling. In helping this dog to heal 

from the past and live his life surrounded in love, we suddenly 

find that it is in this place that we are being truly honest in our 

work. 


5. Be compassionate to yourself and others. Helping a rescued 

dog is a very compassionate action, which I believe has a 

ripple effect out into the world. By working with rescued dogs 

in your life, you are not only helping that individual dog, but 

also making the world a better place by being a model for others. 

So first and foremost, be kind and gentle to yourself. In 

following your heart for the dogs who need you, you will develop 

and nurture the compassionate spirit within you. 

Using Reiki in Animal Rescue 

If you are a trained professional or volunteer involved in animal 

rescue, you may find yourself in unexpected situations 

with extreme stress and sometimes even danger. This can take 

a toll on your body, mind, emotions and spirit. Images and 

memories of what you have seen may stay with you long after 

you have left the scene. Here are some ways Reiki can help 

support rescuers’ health and the animals being rescued: 

Preparing to go to the scene of the rescue and arriving on the 

scene: Breathe. Picture a calm and peaceful place in your 

mind. Keep this place with you in your heart as you go about 

your work. 

Rescuing animals from the scene: Whatever issues the animals 

are manifesting, stay positive. Find affirmations to hold in 

your mind and heart depending on the animal. For example, 

for a very fearful dog, you might use the affirmation courage. 

For a dog that has been neglected, you might use the affirmation 

love. 

After the rescue: Imagine you can breathe earth energy up 

from ground and into your heart. As you speak to the dog and 

spend time with him, see him with your heart—see through to 

his spirit and imagine he is already healed. 

Many of us aren’t professional rescue workers, but choose 

instead to support rescue efforts by opening our homes to 

these animals and asking them to join our families. Here are 

some ways Reiki can support adopters and the rescued animals 

in their new homes: 

Preparing to go to a shelter or rescue to adopt an animal: Set 

your intention that your heart is open to connect to the perfect 

animal for your home and family. Breathe earth energy 

into your heart to help you to stay grounded and centered. Try 

to listen to your heart as you meet each animal. Feel for that 

special heart connection—that animal will be your rescuer! 

Bringing your new dog home: Your role will be to assist your 

new dog in healing old wounds and creating new beginnings. 

Use affirmations to help the energy stay positive and supportive 

as your dog adjusts and begins his new life. Remember to 

always see your dog as you know he is at his very essence—as 

perfectly in balance. Anything outwardly out of balance 

(illness, injury, behavior problems and so on) is simply a manifestation 

of wounds which you will help him to heal. In seeing 

and believing in his healing potential, you will help him to 

reach it. 

Reiki teaches us that our role in dog rescue is not only an outward 

physical “doing” of the rescue. We can also nurture the 

healing of the dog’s body, mind and spirit in focusing our compassionate 

intention in a positive direction. Through the Reiki 

techniques of staying mindful of the precepts, remembering to 

connect to the earth and ground ourselves, using affirmations 

and seeing with our hearts, we are better able to stay in balance. 

And when we ourselves are in balance, we are better 

able to help our dogs. 

Kathleen Prasad is an Animal Reiki Teacher, founder of Animal 

Reiki Source and President of The Shelter Animal Reiki Association. 

Kathleen is a student of classical Japanese Reiki methods, 

training with internationally recognized Reiki researchers Frans 

and Bronwen Stiene of the International House of Reiki. She is 

a registered practitioner with the Shibumi International Reiki 

Association (www.shibumireiki.org). She has co-authored The 

Animal Reiki Handbook (Lulu, 2009), Animal Reiki (Ulysses 

Press, 2006) and edited and contributed to the books Tails 

from the Source and Animal Reiki Tails, Volume 2. She has written 

many educational articles on animals and Reiki for holistic 

publications around the world. Kathleen has taught Reiki to the 

staff of organizations such as The San Francisco SPCA, The East 

Bay SPCA, The Humane Society of Silicon Valley, BrightHaven 

Healing Arts Center for Animals, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and 

The Elephant Sanctuary. She has also authored The Animal 

Reiki Practitioner Code of Ethics, which has been published 

in professional Reiki publications and adopted by practitioners 

around the world. In addition to offering an extensive animal 

Reiki training program and worldwide practitioner directory on 

her website, she self-publishes a free e-newsletter on Reiki and 

animals. Kathleen enjoys life in beautiful Marin County, California 

with her husband, daughter, and two horses. Visit Kathleen 

online at www.animalreikisource.com. 


y: Jan Rasmussen 

TRUTHS, OMISSIONS AND PROFITS 

It’s getting warmer outside — time for 

sellers of heartworm medications to 

start scaring you to death. Television 

and print ads, which used to push meds 

only during warm summer months, 

now urge you to keep your dog on 

medication year round. The question is: 

why the change? 

Drs. David Knight and James Lok of the 

University of Pennsylvania School of 

Veterinary Medicine, addressing recommendations 

for year round meds, 

warned: “The practice of some veterinarians 

to continuously prescribe 

monthly chemoprophylaxis exaggerates 

the actual risk of heartworm transmission 

in most parts of the country and 

unnecessarily increases the cost of protection 

to their clients.” 

So, is the change to year round meds all 

about money? Or is there more to this 

story? 

Heartworm “prevention” is a major 

health decision for pet parents and 

multi-billion dollar Big Business 

for drug companies, veterinarians, testing 

laboratories and on-line sellers of 

medication. When health intersects 

money, there’s a lot of room for conflict 

of interest. Only by understanding the 

business aspects and the truth about 

heartworm transmission can you make 

an informed decision about if, how and 

when to protect your dog with commercial 

products. 

While everyone agrees that heartworm 

infestations can be life-threatening, infestation 

is far from inevitable nor is it 

the immutable death sentence advertisers 

would have you believe. 

(Otherwise, all dogs and cats not on 

meds would die of infestation. But they 

don’t.) 

Every holistic vet I’ve consulted had 

concerns about the long-term safety of 

heartworm medications. Well-known 

vet, author and columnist Martin Goldstein 

wrote in his wonderful book The 

Nature of Animal Healing that he sees 

heartworms as less epidemic than the 

“disease-causing toxicity” of heartworm 

medicine. 

Dr. Jeff Levy, vet and homeopath, concluded 

“that it was not the heartworms 

that caused disease, but the other factors 

that damaged the dogs’ health to 

the point that they could no longer 

compensate for an otherwise tolerable 

parasite load.” Those factors include, “… 

being vaccinated yearly, eating commercial 

dog food, and getting suppressive 

drug treatment for other symptoms….” 

Heartworm meds do not, by the way, 

prevent heartworms. They are poisons 

that kill heartworm larvae (called microfilariae) 

contracted during the previous 

30-45 days (and maybe longer due 

to what is call the Reach Back Effect). 

The heartworm industry authority, The 

American Heartworm Society (and their 

cat heartworm site) offers a wealth of 

information. Their website is a public 

service but also a marketing tool aimed 

at buyers and resellers of heartworm 

meds. Sponsors of this website are a 

Who’s Who of drug companies. Fort 

Dodge Animal Health (Wyeth), Merial 

and Pfizer are “Platinum Sponsors.” 

Bayer merits Silver. Novartis, Schering- 

Plough, Virbac and Eli Lilly get Bronze. 

Most of these 

companies have sales reps that regularly 

call on vets and show them how to 

sell you heartworm meds. With any 

purchase of any drug, we recommend 

you ask for information regarding possible 

adverse effects, the necessity for 

taking this drug and available alternatives. 

How Heartworms Infect Dogs: It’s 

Not Easy! 

Well, now that we’ve looked behind the 

scenes of the heartworm industry, let’s 

take a look at how the heartworms 

themselves (called Dirofilaria immitis) 

do business. Seven steps must be completed 

to give your dog a dangerous 

heartworm infestation: 

Step 1: To infect your dog, you need 

mosquitoes (so you need warm temperatures 

and standing water). More 

specifically, you need a hungry female 

mosquito of an appropriate species. Female 

mosquitoes act as airborne incubators 

for premature baby heartworms 

(called microfilariae). Without the 

proper mosquito, dogs can’t get heartworms. 

Period. 

That means dogs can’t “catch” heartworms 

from other dogs or mammals or 

from dog park lawns. Puppies can’t 

“catch” heartworms from their mothers 

and moms can’t pass heartworm immunity 

to pups. 

Step 2: Our hungry mosquito needs access 

to a dog already infected with sexually 

mature male and female heartworms 

that have produced babies. 

Step 3: The heartworm babies must be 

at the L1 stage of development when 


the mosquito bites the dog and withdraws 

blood. 

Step 4: Ten to fourteen days later — if 

the temperature is right –the microfilariae 

mature inside the mosquito to 

the infective L3 stage then migrate to 

the mosquito’s mouth. (Yum!) 

Step 5: Madame mosquito transmits 

the L3’s to your dog’s skin with a bite. 

Then, if all conditions are right, the L3’s 

develop in the skin for three to four 

months (to the L5 stage) before making 

their way into your dog’s blood. But 

your dog still isn’t doomed. 

Step 6: Only if the dog’s immune system 

doesn’t rid the dog of these worms 

do the heartworms develop to adulthood. 

Step 7: It takes approximately six 

months for the surviving larvae to 

achieve maturity. At this point, the 

adult heartworms may produce babies 

if there are both males and females, but 

the kiddies will die unless a mosquito 

carrying L3’s intervenes. Otherwise, 

the adults will live several years then 

die. 

In summation, a particular species of 

mosquito must bite a dog infected with 

circulating L1 heartworm babies, must 

carry the babies to stage L3 and then 

must bite your dog . The adult worms 

and babies will eventually die off in the 

dog unless your dog is bitten 

again! Oh, and one more thing: heartworms 

Development Requires Sustained 

Day & Night Weather Above 

57˚F 

In Step 4 above I wrote that heartworm 

larvae develop “if the temperature is 

right.” 

The University of Pennsylvania vet 

school (in a study funded by Merial) 

found: “Development in the mosquito 

is temperature dependent, requiring 

approximately two weeks of temperature 

at or above 27C (80F). Below a 

threshold temperature of 14C (57F), 

development cannot occur, and the 

cycle will be halted. As a result, transmission 

is limited to warm months, and 

duration of the transmission season 

varies geographically.” 

Knight and Lok agree: “In regions 

where average daily temperatures remain 

at or below about 62˚F (17˚ C) 

from late fall to early spring, insufficient 

heat accumulates to allow maturation 

of infective larvae in the intermediate 

host [the mosquito], precluding 

transmission of the parasite.” 

The Washington State University vet 

school reports that laboratory studies 

show that maturation of the 

worms requires “the equivalent of a 

steady 24-hour daily temperature in 

excess of 64°F (18°C) for approximately 

one month.” In other words, it 

has to be warm day AND night or development 

is retarded even if the average 

temperature is sufficiently warm. 

They add, that at 80° F, “10 to 14 days 

are required for development of microfilariae 

to the infective stage.” 

Jerold Theis, DVM, PhD, says, “If the 

mean monthly temperature is only a 

few degrees above 14 degrees centigrade 

[57 degrees F] it can take so 

many days for infective larvae to develop 

that the likelihood of the female 

mosquito living that long is remote.” 

I have never found this temperaturedependent 

information on a website 

promoting “preventatives,” but only in 

more scholarly works not easily accessed 

by the public. There is, as far as 

I can find, only one mention of temperature 

on the Heartworm and 

none in the Merck/Merial Veterinary 

Manual site or Merial’s heartworm 

video — even though Merial 

funded the UPenn study. 

The Society also reports, “Factors affecting 

the level of risk of heartworm 

infection include the climate 

(temperature, humidity), the species of 

mosquitoes in the area, presence of 

mosquito breeding areas and presence 

of animal reservoirs (such as infected 

dogs or coyotes).” 

OPTIONS TO FEAR BASED RECOM- 

MENDATIONS 

A Heartworm Society news release 

states: “By giving heartworm prevention 

every month, forgetful pet owners 

will have their pets protected when 

they need it most.” But doesn’t that 

also mean they get it when they need it 

least? Or need it not at all? Are you a 

“forgetful” owner? 

In this part of my heartworm series, 

we’ll discusses informed decisionmaking, 

and suggests ways, if you want 

them, to limit or eliminate heartworm 

drugs. I am a researcher and holistic 

health advocate, not a vet. Please learn 

the facts then discuss with your vet the 

appropriate course given your dog’s 

location, lifestyle, travel schedule, 

health, climate and the time of 

year. Expect an open-mind and respect 

from your vet, or find another vet. Just 

as with vaccination, “one size fits all” is 

outdated, profit-driven, lazy medicine. 


Take a look at the map above, courtesy 

of the Heartworm Society. As expected, 

dark areas of the map, which 

show the most heartworm cases per 

clinic, are found in the hot, humid 

Southeastern US, especially the Atlantic 

and Gulf coasts and Mississippi Delta. 

Don’t let the map scare you. If published 

seasonally, map colors would 

pale significantly during cool months. 

Also remember that you’re seeing generalities, 

not specifics. A clinic near a 

rural pond will likely have many cases 

while an urban clinic 15 miles 

away may have a much lower incidence. 

Maps are general. Determine 

your own microclimate. Ask your vet 

how many cases of heartworm infection 

he/she treated in the past 

year. Also ask if he/she treats all positive 

cases, or just those with advanced 

infestation. If the vet doesn’t keep detailed 

records, that should tell you 

something. 

Conservative start/stop maps from 

heartworm researchers Drs. David 

Knight and James Lok (in “Seasonality 

of Heartworm Infections and Implications 

for Chemoprophylaxis”) show 

only two areas requiring year round 

heartworm meds: the southernmost 

areas of Florida and Texas. Houston, 

New Orleans and similar areas are 

shown requiring meds for 9 

months. Other states range from 3-7 

months. The Drs. wrote: “For nearly 

80% of the states, the potential for 

heartworm transmission is limited to 6 

months or less.” 

The Heartworm Society warns that 

heartworm infections are getting 

worse. DVM Magazine, a magazine for 

vets, reports that recent results do 

show a rise in the number of positive 

cases per clinic in 31 states. 

DMV reports: “The reasons likely are 

multifactorial, including increased 

heartworm testing, increased client 

base per clinic or even climate trends.” 

Does Year Round Medicating Bring 

Extra Protection? 

Applying sunscreen at night is useless. 

So is taking heartworm medication 

when climate conditions prevent 

transmission. Only a small percentage 

of climates permit year-round transmission. 

Everyone else is unnecessarily 

subsidizing drug companies and 

“preventatives” sellers and, more im- 

portantly, exposing their dog to unnecessary 

risks. 

Two exceptions: 1) “Forgetful” and irresponsible 

pet parents who won’t begin 

the medication on time or build 

their dog’s natural immunity might 

want to medicate year round, although 

that means they have to remember to 

give meds every month. 2) If your dog 

contracts heartworms within a few 

years of beginning medication … and 

you can show you gave meds year 

round … and your dog had the required 

blood tests (2 or 3), you may benefit a 

little financially because drug companies 

will pay for dog’s treatment. 

Are Heartworm Preventatives Safe? 

You’ve seen those scary photos of 

worm-strangled hearts, 

right? Shouldn’t you give meds year 

round just in case? Isn’t safe better 

than sorry? 

But is that harmless little pill or yummie 

medical “brownie” really safe? No 

drug is completely free of risk and adverse 

reactions. I can find no long-term 

studies regarding cancer risks and or- 


gan damage for dogs receiving heartworm 

insecticides year round (or even 

for a few months). Such a study would 

be difficult to conduct and very expensive. 

Who would fund such a study – or 

publish any negative findings? 

One clue to the possibility of adverse 

reactions should be label warnings: call 

your doctor immediately if ingested; keep 

away from children; wash your hands 

immediately after use…. How 

can medication be good for dogs but so 

dangerous for you? 

Another question: is your dog healthy 

enough for these medications? The 

“Heartworm Prevention” page of the 

American Animal Hospital Association 

states: “Healthy kidneys and normal 

liver functions are essential in metabolizing 

most medications.” Many dogs, 

including my Jiggy, do not have healthy 

organ function. I wonder how 

many unhealthy animals are nevertheless 

on meds? 

A touching and informative account of the 

benefits and obstacles to creating safe and 

social environments for off-leash dogs. By 

Julie Walsh. 

Release date: January 2011 

Adverse Reactions to Heartworm 

Medications 

With any drug, study FDA and manufacturer 

information before medicating. 

These adverse reactions have been reported 

to the FDA by manufacturers. 

(Click the links for more information; 

write or call manufacturers with 

any questions). Terms you might not 

understand include ataxia (gross lack of 

coordination of muscle movements), 

pruritus (itchy dermatologic condition), 

urticaria (hives), mydriasis (excessive 

pupil dilation), and erythema (skin redness). 

Other terms should be selfexplanatory. 

HEARTGARD and TriHeartPlus 

(ivermectin): Depression/lethargy, 

vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, mydriasis, 

ataxia staggering, convulsions and hypersalivation. 

INTERCEPTOR 

(milbemycin oxime) reports the above 

reactions plus weakness. Sentinel 

(milbemycin oxime) reports vomiting, 

depression/lethargy, pruritus, urticaria, 

diarrhea, anorexia, skin congestion, 

ataxia, convulsions, hypersalivation and 

weakness. 

REVOLUTION® (selamectin), Topical 

Parasiticide For Dogs and Cats: preapproval 

reactions of vomiting, loose 

stool or diarrhea with or without blood, 

anorexia, lethargy, salivation, tachypnea, 

and muscle tremors. Post-approval 

experience included the above plus pruritis, 

urticaria, erythema, ataxia, fever, 

and rare reports of death and seizures 

in dogs. 

Proheart 6 : severe allergic reactions 

(anaphylaxis): facial swelling, itching, 

difficulty breathing, collapse; lethargy 

(sluggishness); not eating or losing interest 

in food; any change in activity 

level; seizures; vomiting and/or diarrhea 

(with and without blood); weight 

loss; pale gums, increased thirst or urination, 

weakness, bleeding, bruising; 

rare instances of death. This product 

was voluntarily withdrawn from the 

market in 2004 because of deaths but 

has been reintroduced. 

For any other brand, research the prod- 

uct or its active ingredient before even 

thinking of administering it. 

Also, never give any meds without first 

learning if any vitamins, minerals, 

herbal products or drugs interact negatively 

with the medication. Note age 

restrictions. Most importantly, learn 

what symptoms alert you to a reaction. 

Important note: Collies, Australian 

Shepherds and related breeds have a 

sensitivity to Ivermectin (Heartgard and 

others). 

Beware any website or person professing 

the absolute safety of any medication. 

I’d like adverse reactions for pet 

medications to be included in all TV ads, 

as they are for meds for humans — but I 

don’t expect it. 

Reporting Adverse Events: Call your 

veterinarian immediately if you suspect 

a reaction to this or any other drug. 

Discuss alternatives and treatment and 

make sure the reaction is recorded in 

your dog’s file. The AVMA says : “… notify 

the US Food and Drug Administration 

(FDA) by contacting the manufacturer. 

The FDA requires that manufacturers 

of FDA-approved drugs forward 

adverse event reports to the agency.” 

Is the fox is guarding the hen house? 

Ask your vet to report the reaction, 

then follow up and make sure your vet 

did it. Under-reporting is common. (An 

estimated 99% of adverse reactions go 

unreported according to the FDA.) 

Tests for Heartworm Infection 

Heartworms can, and should, be detected 

by a simple blood test before administering 

medication. The antigen 

test detects an adult female worms at 

least 5-8 months old. The Merck Veterinary 

Manual says: “The antigen detection 

test is the preferred diagnostic 

method for asymptomatic dogs or when 

seeking verification of a suspected HW 

infection.” 

Microfilariae (babies) in the blood are 

detected by a different blood test. 

These show exposure, but do not detect 

female adults (potential breeders). 

Antibody tests (as opposed to anti- 


Specializing in 

Homeopathy 

Herbs 

Nutrition 

Clicker training 

Behaviour problems 

gen tests) are not preferred because they 

indicate only that the dog has been exposed 

to heartworms at some time in his 

or her life, even if the worms subsequently 

died. 

If you plan to give “preventatives,” test 

before beginning medication, preferably 

within a month of when daily temperatures 

consistently climb above 57˚ F. 

If you’re not going to use meds, homeopathic 

veterinarian Jeff Feinman wrote 

me that he advises semi-annual testing 

when not using preventatives. My own 

vet, Tamara Hebbler, agrees. Testing 

twice yearly helps you catch disease 

early when it’s easier to treat. Dr. Martin 

Goldstein in The Nature Of Animal Healing 

says: “Only a small percentage of 

dogs who get heartworm die of it, especially 

if they’re routinely tested twice 

yearly for early detection. Even in untreated 

dogs, after a period of uncomfortable 

symptoms, the adult worms 

die….” 

Did you know that the latest canine 

movie star “Benji” was found in a shelter, 

infected with heartworms? Benji was 

treated successfully and went onto canine 

fame and a healthy life. 

Starting this fall 

Group class 

Online learning 

Seminars 

Conferences 

Consultations available by phone or in person. 

We do not use aversive methods. 

www.controversialcanine.com 

Heartworms, like other parasites, don’t 

become life threatening quickly or inevitably. 

It takes at least 5 months, and 

more often 7-8 months, for a baby to 

grow to a reproducing adult — presuming 

the dog’s immune system doesn’t 

intervene. Also, adult males and females 

must both survive to breed. 

Important Note: If your dog’s antigen 

test comes back positive, holistic 

vet Tamara Hebbler suggests that before 

you rush into treatment with harsh, poisonous 

drugs, you should get a cardiac 

ultrasound to determine the extent of 

the infestation. Heartworms, like other 

parasites, often live with their hosts 

without ever causing a dangerous problem. 

It’s quite common for animals in 

the wild to live entire lives with heartworms. 

(If worms always killed dogs, 

they’d soon run out of hosts.) Unless 

heartworms are re-introduced by another 

infected mosquito, the adults and 

their babies will eventually die off. 

When Should You Start Administering 

Meds — If You’re Going To? 

Remember, you kill heartworm babies 

after the fact. You can only “prevent” 

them by avoiding mosquitoes. (You can 

also kill them with a healthy immune 

system.) This means starting meds 30- 

45 after the weather warms and mosquitoes 

appear. Also, Washington State University 

warns, “If your pet travels to 

heartworm areas, prevention needs to 

be administered within 30 days of exposure 

to infected mosquitoes. Adult dogs 

(older than 6 mos.) need to be tested 

before starting preventative.” 

Dr. Margo Roman, an integrative vet 

from in Massachusetts, documentary 

film maker and Founder of the firstever 

Integrative Health Pet Expo, tells 

me she begins medication six weeks after 

sees mosquitoes. This allows 2 weeks 

for the microfilariae (baby heartworms) 

to mature inside a mosquito to the infective 

stage and be transferred to a dog, 

plus 30 days additional days covered by 

the medication working backwards to 

kill those babies. 

When Should You Stop Heartworm 

“Preventatives”? 

Dr. Roman recommends stopping meds 

after the first frost for people living in an 

area with cold winters. In other areas, 

vets recommend stopping 30-45 days 

after weather is consistently below 57 

F degrees and you see no mosquitoes. 

See Part 1 of this article, and the start/ 

stop maps, for more details. 

What Brand Should You Use? 

Consumers often think that “preventing” 

as many parasites as possible with 

one product is a bargain — and ultimately 

safer for the dog. But why expose 

your dog to additional, unnecessary 

toxins? Most holistic vets will tell 

you to protect against only those pests 

(and diseases) your dog is likely to encounter. 

. 

More than a decade ago — on June 4, 

1998 — the FDA approved a 1/5 dose 

version of Interceptor heartworm medication, 

a product called Safeheart. This 

expensive field trial was conducted and 

the dosage approved — but inexplicably 

the product was never marketed in the 

U.S. 


To duplicate the Safeheart heartworm 

“prevention” method — which you 

can’t buy — you have split the Interceptor 

dose into quarters. Check with Interceptor 

first, and ask your pharmacist 

or vet how to do this accurately. The 

recommended once-a-month dosage 

is 0.1 mg of milbemycin oxime per kg of 

body weight (0.05 mg/lb). 

(Interceptor’s regular dose of dosage is 

0.5 mg milbemycin oxime per kg of 

body weight.) Print the FDA’s Safeheart 

report and take it to your vet for your 

prescription and additional instructions. 

Note: At this dose, only heartworms will 

be treated with the Safeheart method, 

not other worms or fleas. 

How Often Should You Give Meds? 

In his important book Homeopathic 

Care For Cats and Dogs, veterinarian 

Don Hamilton says of heartworm: “In 

dogs the “monthly” preventives are effective 

if given at six week intervals, 

and possibly even at seven- or eight 

week intervals….” Author/ 

veterinarians Richard Pitcairn and Allen 

Schoen told us essentially the same 

thing when we were researching our 

book Scared Poopless. If you opt for 

this “less is more” treatment with 

“preventatives,” mark dosing dates on 

your calendar and don’t miss them. 

The vets at Holistic Vet Center say: “… 

monthly heartworm preventatives are 

actually 100% effective if given every 

45 days and 99% effective if given 

every 60 days.” 

I presume that the monthly schedule 

was designed for the ease of remembering 

when to give meds. However 

… giving meds monthly rather than 

every 45 days requires more doses – 

and offers more opportunities for adverse 

reactions. For someone medicating 

year-round, that’s 4 fewer doses per 

year. 

Are There Natural Heartworm Preventatives? 

Mosquito control is the ultimate natural 

preventative. No mosquitoes, no heart- 

worms. Control mosquitoes by eliminating 

standing water and staying indoors 

at dusk and dawn. Use bug spray 

(marked safe and non-toxic for animals 

and children). Buy bug zappers. (All 

these are good ideas for human protection 

from mosquito-borne diseases as 

well.) 

Is mosquito control 100% effective? No, 

but Mosquito.org has some great tips. 

(Note: one study showed that a full 

moon increased mosquito activity by 

500%.) Find more information on controlling 

mosquitoes in this University of 

California report. 

What do I do? Well, for me, the choice 

was easy. I live in So. California. I rarely 

see mosquitoes. My dogs spend most of 

their time indoors. Nights are invariably 

cool. 

With the advice of two local vets, I decided 

to protect my own dogs (both of 

whom have health challenges) against 

the toxicity of heartworm 

“preventatives” rather than protect 

against an unlikely infection. I use nontoxic 

alternatives like mosquito control, 

an excellent diet and no drugs unless 

they’re absolutely unavoidable. I increase 

safety by testing blood 

twice yearly. I haven’t used 

“preventatives” for five or six years and 

my dogs remain heartworm free. This is 

my personal decision. I am not a vet. 

If I lived in a mosquito-heavy 

area, however, I might do much the 

same. I would determine local risks and 

would consult a local holistic vet to get 

help preventing heartworms naturally. 

I would control mosquitoes and 

test blood twice or more yearly. Someone 

who had “outside dogs,” and who 

was the nervous about heartworms, 

might also use heartworm meds or the 

Safeheart method during the peak 

heartworm months of July and August, 

but only if their dogs had healthy kidneys 

and livers. They should make any 

decision with a knowledgeable vet. 

Dr. Will Falconer, a holistic vet certified 

in acupuncture and homeopathy, has 

written an e-book called “Drug-Free 

Heartworm Prevention Program.” This 

9-page, well-written e-book (currently 

$9.95) is delivered electronically. I do 

not profit from sales of this book. Drs. 

Richard Pitcairn and Martin Goldstein 

have also written about this in their 

books. 

Please leave us a comment and let us 

know how you liked this article. Tell us 

about your concerns and decisions. If 

we have made any errors, please let us 

know so we can rectify them. And, 

please, tell your friends the facts behind 

heartworm transmission. 

Most importantly, do not make decisions 

out of fear. Don’t let anyone, even 

your vet, intimidate or ridicule you. Be 

an educated consumer and a rabid advocate 

for your dog’s health. 

Disclaimer: The information provided 

here is for educational purposes only. Do 

not rely on this information without doing 

your own research including consultation 

with your own veterinarian. Do 

not buy or fail a product for treating 

heartworm without evaluating it carefully. 

Jan Rasmusen is a former computer 

industry executive and a life long dog 

lover and equestrian. She has written 

four books, two of which are hidden 

in her closet. She shares her life 

with 2 gorgeous Maltese dogs. One of 

which wrote the book "Scared 

Poopless: The Straight Scoop on dog 

Care". Jan has a very informative 

blog that host all kinds of information 

on the dangers of vaccines and 

medications. www.dogs4dogs.com 

and www.truth4dogs.com She can e 

reached at dogs4dogs@aol.com 


y: Lynne Parker 

Monetary interests are working to stack the deck against raw feeding 

and they are building quite a pile. One glaring example of this is the 

recent proclamation by the Delta Society, a non-profit organization 

in Bellevue, Washington. According to their website, 

“We help people throughout the world become healthier and happier 

by incorporating therapy, service and companion animals into 

their lives.” Therapy dogs are welcome—unless those animals are 

raw fed. 

Delta’s board of directors recently voted to preclude animals eating 

raw protein foods from participating in their Pet Partners program. 

They claim that scientific evidence backs up their concerns over raw 

fed pets shedding significant amounts of pathogenic bacteria. According 

to the board members, “The use of raw animal proteins to 

promote animal health has not been based on proven or known 

scientific facts, only anecdotal incidents.” Dr. Tom Lonsdale would 

be surprised to hear this. Dr. Tom Lonsdale’s book Raw Meaty Bones: 

Promote Health—first published in 2001—includes a 20 page bibliography 

citing studies that back up his assertion that raw feeding promotes 

health. 

Questioning the validity of health claims from raw feeding is merely 

a side issue. The main show is the increasing response to raw feeding 

by those who are heavily invested in maintaining the status quo. 

The Delta Society’s website carries this entry: 

What was the role of pet food manufacturers in the adoption of the Raw 

Protein Diet Policy? 

No pet food manufacturer representatives contacted, encouraged, lobbied, or 

influenced the Delta Society Medical Advisory Group in recommending to 

the board that they approve a Raw Protein Diet Policy. 

They didn’t have to—they have a pet food representative on their 

board of directors! Delta Society Secretary Brenda Bax is the Marketing 

Director for Purina. On Delta Society’s home page is the 

note “Thank you to our incredible partner, the passionate pet lovers 

at Purina” atop the Purina logo. It would certainly not be in the 

Purina corporation’s interests to support raw feeding, would it? 

Bax is not the only board member with a conflict of interest pertaining 

to this issue. Board member Rebecca Johnson is the Director 

of the Research Center for Human Animal Interaction at the 

Missouri University College of Veterinary Medicine. The center’s 

last conference was sponsored by Mars, Purina, Hill’s, and Bayer 

Healthcare. 

Board member Laird Goodman is the owner and Director of the 

Murrayhill Veterinary Hospital. Goodman is a guest speaker/ 

educator for the Pfizer corporation. He has served on the Veterinary 

Advisory Board for The Heska Corporation since 2001. The 

Heska Corporation is heavily invested in products such as vaccines 

and heartworm preventatives. Goodman has also served since 2003 

on the Veterinary Advisory Board for The Intervet Corporation. 

The Intervet Corporation: Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health 

is a global, research-driven company that develops, manufactures 

and markets a broad range of veterinary medicines and services. 

Raw feeding threatens not only the pet food manufacturers but also 

the pharmaceutical industry as well. Healthy dogs require far fewer 

“medicines” for the illnesses caused by kibble fed diets. Those pet 

owners who choose to raw feed frequently eschew pest control 

chemicals as well. Conventionally trained vets continue to push the 

kibble and chemicals, however, despite mounting evidence that 

both are harmful to pets. 

In their book Whole Health for Happy Dogs: A Natural Health Handbook 

for Dogs and Their Owners, authors Jill Elliot and Kim Bloomer 

write, “While a raw diet has long been a common practice in 

Europe and other countries, it is still not readily accepted in the 

United States. European veterinarians commonly recommend a raw 

diet for dogs, while American veterinarians commonly recommend 

feeding kibble. The fear of feeding raw meat in the United States is 

usually due to concern over salmonella, e. coli, and parasites. As we 

stated earlier, dogs are bacteria machines, and their digestive systems 

are designed to handle raw meat. They are much more likely to 

get parasites or bacteria from sources such as another dog’s feces or 

dirt rather than the human-grade meat you’ll provide for them.” 

One motivation for the Delta Society’s decision may be based on 

fear. On their Raw Protein Diet Policy page they include this sentence: 

“Also, your veterinarian is not assuming legal responsibility 

for you and your pet, Delta Society is.” Board member Chuck 

Granoski is an attorney and owner of The Law Offices of Betzendorfer 

& Granoski. One of the areas of practice listed on their website 

is Animal Injuries. The fear of a lawsuit is probably uppermost 

in his mind. 

One can only speculate on the pressures that donors may place on 

the board as well but it is hard to know for certain. According to the 

Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) Delta Society has a 

written donor privacy policy. 

The Delta Society is not responding directly to questions about their 

decision. I sent an email to them on June 2, asking, “What studies 

back up your claim that raw fed dogs are any more dangerous than 

kibble fed dogs?” and received the following form letter email: 

“Thank you for your question, comment or concern regarding the 

Raw Protein diet policy, all will be reviewed and addressed through 

global FAQ and the Delta Society's website.—Medical Advisory 

Group” Their initial statement of policy was apparently not researched 

enough to answer a simple question. 


Recent developments raise some disturbing questions about the 

true motivations behind the decision. In a June 4 th post for Truth- 

AboutPetFood.com, Susan Thixton exposes the patent application 

by Brenda Bax, the Delta board member and Purina representative. 

The goal of the patent is to control marketing of products 

through animal welfare organizations. Thixton writes in her 

post: 

“I am confused and concerned. Why would Purina Pet Food 

want to patent a marketing method associated with an Animal 

Welfare Organization? Is this patent application a concern to 

all Animal Welfare Organizations that do not currently work 

with Purina Pet Food? Does this patent provide Purina Pet 

Food control over all other corporations working with/ 

donating to an Animal Welfare Organization? 

Is/was Delta Society their first test market and the "wherein the 

animal welfare organization must meet a specified requirement to be a part 

of the marketing program" was the ban of pets fed a raw diet?” 

The full patent application can be read at http://www.faqs.org/ 

patents/app/20090254418 

The implications are frightening to consider and do not bode well 

for animals or the people who love them. How will the animals 

truly be served if the welfare and rescue groups are turned into 

marketing tools for the pet food industry? 

Pet owners who have been raw feeding for decades are, as one 

put it, “just plain tired of this debate”. Unfortunately, the battle 

between pet food corporations and enlightened pet owners is 

only in the beginning phase. Decisions made by animal welfare 

and rescue groups will continue to be impacted by pressure and 

donations from these corporations. All we can do is continue to 

care for our pets in the healthiest, most natural way possible. Our 

pets’ health will speak volumes. 

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, 

then you win.”—Mahatma Gandhi 

Lynne Parker has worked as the advertising and design 

manager for a University press for 10 years. What free time 

she has is devoted to her dogs and learning more natural, 

healthy ways to care for them. 

DAWGS - Through the Eyes of Our Dogs, is the first volume in a series of books dedicated to the wonder of dogs. We can never be sure of 

what they're thinking or feeling, but if we look more closely into their eyes we can begin to get a glimpse. 

DAWGS - Unconditional Love, photographically portrays the special kinship between people and dogs. This is the second volume in the 

DAWGS series. The photographs in this volume illustrate the strong bond that exists between pet lovers and their companions and can 

only begin to tell the story of this unique partnership. The reader who understands will have a special awareness of this symbiotic relationship. 

A beautiful pictorial portrayal of dogs and the people who love them from acclaimed photographer Vic Neumann. 

Available now for a special early bird price at www.blurb.com. Offer expires September 2010. 


DN: How did you discover that pets were targeted by 

the Pharmaceutical companies? 

John Virapen: Although I was primarily involved in this for 

children, I had met a homeopath who owned two Yorkshire 

Terriers. As I observed her relationship with her dogs, I 

understood that people could become as close knit to their 

dogs as to their children. The common thread is life; and 

Pharma, with the help of the government, is destroying it. 

DN: How has pet insurance changed veterinary care? 

John Virapen: Expensive new diagnostic and surgical gadgets 

are primarily designed to screw the insurance companies. 

Vets and doctors are both very well paid to use these 

fancy tools and the pet owners pay the price in higher 

fees. There are numerous opportunities for Pharma to 

corrupt the marketing of animal medicine because nobody 

really checks them. These people make a lot of money because 

nobody questions them and the animals get the short 

end of the stick. Vets can do whatever they want without 

fear of malpractice suits because dogs are property and their 

value is insufficient to be much of a threat. Last year they 

released a new anti-depressant for dogs and this is just 

crookery. The pharmaceutical companies have a strong 

hold on the veterinary business and they are incapable of 

being honest. In the end, the individual vets and their associations 

must be the ones to stop the madness. 

DN: Why are dogs targeted so heavily? 

John Virapen: With all of the debates going on regarding 

vaccination primarily, the animals get short changed because 

government makes people believe it is for granted 

that if we, as humans, get vaccinations then animals should 

as well. They depict dogs and cats as nasty carriers of 

bugs. This is why in North America, dogs aren’t allowed in 

markets, stores or restaurants. It is discrimination 

really. The bottom line is money and the Pharmaceutical 

companies are fleecing people of their money. Pet owners 

must purchase licenses which should give them rights but 

does the opposite because we all no that dogs have no 

Interview with Dr. John Virapen 

Pharmaceutical insider Dr. John Virapen has worked more than 35 years in the pharmaceutical 

industry. In Sweden he was general manager of Eli Lilly & Company and was 

involved in the market launch of several drugs, all with massive side effects. 

John Virapen published his first book under the pseudonym “John Rengen in 

2006. “Rubio Talks – A Story From A Pharma-Insider” is about his activity as a manager 

in the pharmaceutical industry. In 2008 his new book “Side Effects: Death” was published 

and is currently a best-seller in Europe. 

John Virapen is now dedicated to expose and create awareness on how the pharmaceutical 

industry is operating with their own best interest as their primary goal. 

John’s website is http://www.john-virapen.com 

rights. Pretty soon we will need to get permission to deal 

with our kids too. In Leipzig, there is a push for mandatory 

psychiatric evaluation of infants and soon, mothers will lose 

control of their children. 

DN: Why are animal vaccinations more problematic 

than human vaccinations? 

John Virapen: The pharmaceutical companies use vaccinations 

and drugs they can’t dispense for humans on 

dogs. This includes expired lots as well as products not 

approved for human use. They then use fear mongering to 

market it. 

I recruited the General Manager of animal product in Scandinavia 

and we had frequent conversations. He warned me 

of the many issues with the animal products. For example, 

while the company was still trying to get approval for Human 

Growth Hormone for animals, they were already injecting 

it into pigs and cows. They didn’t care that the 

HGH was contaminated: they were mostly waste from the 

human market although humans would be consuming these 

animals in the end. 

DN: How are these products marketed? 

John Virapen: The media now works so closely with 

Pharma that it is called seeding. For example the press 

might claim that women with big bums are protected from 

diabetes. Soon thereafter, the media will feature a doctor 

talking about these findings then a few months later the 

press will announce “we are close to a breakthrough for 

diabetes”. This build up is meticulously designed to scare 

people because Pharma knows that people still run to their 

doctor when the government or media reports any new 

virus or disease. 

Marketing strategies are planned years ahead. If a new 

product is on the way, the Pharmaceutical companies will 

do the market research first and based on that, lay down 

strategies in terms of time and method. This is normally 

done with a five year projection before launch. Their ploys 


include personal letters to vets and doctors with large practices, 

targeting specific sections of medicine (dogs, cats), 

gathering information on how many animals can be target, 

who owns them (and they get information from licenses so 

the government is in on it). It is a well kept secret that government 

gets their piece of the cake too. When this information 

is all in place, the pharmaceutical companies then 

need contacts so they go to the professional associations 

such as the AVMA and pick out a guy who is willing to accept 

bribes and goodies in return for solicitation. They also 

look to government. When politicians wear out, they are 

not put to pasture, they are picked up by Pharma. They 

work as consultants so that Pharma has a government connection 

and they are impossible to convict because they are 

all glued together. 

The WHO is also entwined into one group controlled by 

Pharma as they work together to create pandemics and then 

go to industrial sections such as food companies and tell 

them what to do and what to sell. 

Marketing is the single highest cost for pharmaceutical 

companies, not research 

DN: What can people do about it? 

John Virapen: My aim is to get people to understand that 

Eggs, Eggs, Wonderful Eggs 

Fresh eggs provide important brain, eye and body 

nutrients in natural, unprocessed forms. They 

should be a part of every dog's diet, especially pregnant 

bitches. There are four parts to an egg. Only 3 

are necessary. Whites, yolks and the membranes on 

the inside of the shell but not the shell itself. Egg 

whites are an excellent source of protein and provide 

riboflavin, magnesium, potassium, selenium and 

Zinc. The yolk contains essential fats including: 

conjugated linoleic acid, phospholipids, choline, lutein, 

Vitamin D and (along with Sardines) a full 

range of natural Vitamin E compounds, including 

they need to take their own lives into account. I have been 

mislabelled as a conspiracy theorist but they will learn they 

are messing with the wrong guy because everything I say I 

have evidence for and the documents are safely in a vault. 

Vets want to be accepted as doctors and they like the title 

and power. The title doesn’t make you God or an expert, it 

only depicts a level of education. Unfortunately, vets and 

doctors are behaving like Pharma trains them to behave. 

Unless you are hospitalized you are not a patient. When 

you visit a Doctor or a Veterinarian you are a consumer and 

you pay for the medicine and you must remember they are 

not demi-gods. 

If a car’s brakes don’t work every time, if the windshield 

falls out when it is driven over 40 kph, or if it’s exhaust 

fumes are channelled into the inside of the car, it wouldn’t 

make it onto the market. Medicines with equally dangerous 

side effects do. Why are consumers better protected against 

defective cars than against what happens to their bodies, to 

their health or to their lives? 

Of course, not the entire pharmaceutical industry is bad. I 

can’t judge them all since I don’t know all of the companies. 

But the search for an ethically pure company can be 

equated with searching for a needle in a haystack. 

the cancer fighting gamma tocopheral and the tocotrienols. 

Egg membranes contain nutrients that 

can help relieve joint pain. While eggshells provide a 

source of calcium when properly prepared ( washed 

and finely ground), we do not need to use the shells 

with the ABC day plans. See what Steve's ABC plan 

is in his book Unlocking the canine ancestral diet 

available through Dogwise. 


Bordatella or Kennel Cough is commonly 

required by boarding kennels 

and veterinary hospitals. These vaccinations 

are delivered to a staggeringly 

large percentage of dogs and the reason 

is not to protect your dog: the reason 

is to protect these facilities against 

liability. 

The proprietors who push for these 

vaccines may be assuming more liability 

than they can handle and the stakes 

are very high. The truth is, the vaccines 

are not only ineffective but they 

are far from safe. Yet they are routinely 

given to combat a self limiting 

disease that amounts to as much danger 

to your dog as the common 

cold does to you. 

What is interesting is that when you 

bring your dog to the vet for his Bordatella 

vaccination, he will have al- 

by Dr. Patricia Jordan DVM 

ready been exposed to the natural 

flora: all animals are exposed to both 

Bordatella and Parainfluenza prior to 

vaccination. It makes little sense to 

vaccinate an animal for something he 

has already been exposed to. 

There are at least forty agents capable 

of initiating Bordatella so vaccination 

might appear to be prudent if it weren’t 

for the fact that only two of these 

agents are contained in the intranasal 

vaccine. This poor percentage truly 

makes the Bordatella vaccine a shot in 

the dark. The lack of efficacy is well 

summarized by noted immunologist 

Dr. Ronald Schultz: “Kennel Cough is 

not a vaccinatable disease”. 

Despite the lack of any real effectiveness, 

the Bordatella vaccine is routinely 

given and touted as safe, especially 

in the intranasal form. Make no 

mistake however: the dangers and 

misinformation surrounding this seemingly 

innocuous spray are just as tangible 

and frightening as any other vaccination. 

A major problem with the Bordatella 

vaccine is that it is part of a combination 

vaccine. Unbeknownst to most 

pet owners, the Bordatella intranasal 

spray also contains Parainfluenza (the 

vaccine for which is not surprisingly, 

just as ineffective as Bordatella). The 

problems with the Parainfluenza portion 

are threefold. 

First, there is a real danger of dangerous 

immunological overload when vaccinations 

are offered in combination. 

Second, like Bordatella, most dogs have 

already been exposed to Parainfluenza, 

making the necessity of vaccination 

questionable. 

Third, the Parainfluenza vaccine is just 

as ineffective as the Bordatella vaccine 


ecause the vaccine does not provide 

antibody against Parainfluenza where 

it is most needed: on the mucosal surfaces. 

Other dangers associated with the Bordatella 

vaccine are obviously not far 

removed from the dangers associated 

with any other vaccination. Although 

Bordatella is a bacterial vaccine, we 

now know that bacterial vaccines present 

the same threat as Modified Live 

Vaccines. Modified Live Viruses from 

human vaccines are now known to become 

incorporated in the genes of the 

host and can shuffle, reassert, and reactivate 

thirty or more years after vaccination. 

Bacterial genes are capable of 

the same activity, lurking in the genetic 

makeup, waiting to replicate and 

awaken. 

The intranasal Bordatella vaccine has 

been known to activate a previously 

asymptomatic collapsing trachea and 

disrupt phagocytic activity which can 

progress to pneumonia. The toxins 

from the vaccine will also kill the ciliated 

lining of the trachea, creating a 

denuded area susceptible to anything 

coming down the windpipe. Perhaps 

collapsing trachea, irritable tracheas 

and pneumonias are all complications 

of Bordatella and the Bordatella vaccine. 

“Kennel Cough is not a 

vaccinatable disease”. 

Vaccination of any sort also elevates 

histamine which can promote cancer, 

chronic inflammation and loss of tolerance. 

In general, all vaccination creates 

immune dysregulation and is responsible 

for a vast array of pathology. 

The Bordatella vaccine can wreak 

havoc outside the body as well. Bordatella 

will shed from a vaccinated host 

for seven weeks while Parainfluenza 

will shed for a week. This means that 

every vaccinated dog is a walking dispenser 

of potentially damaging bacteria. 

While the risk to other dogs is obvious, 

it should be of little concern to 

healthy dogs because Bordatella is generally 

a self limiting disease. What you 

might find surprising is that the shed 

bacteria is a risk to other animals…and 

to people. 

The reason we now have a feline Bordatella 

(and not surprisingly, a feline 

Bordatella vaccine), is likely thanks to 

the widespread use and subsequent 

shedding of Bordatella from vaccinated 

dogs to cats sharing the household. 

If this seems hard to imagine, consider 

how dogs first fell victim to Canine Influenza. 

Canine Influenza was initially 

documented in racing greyhounds. It is 

worth noting that many of these dogs 

shared tracks with race horses: race 

horses who are routinely vaccinated 

with Equine Influenza. 

It is not a stretch to predict Bordatella 

will infect gerbils, hamsters and rabbits 

in the near future and it is with certainty 

that the vaccine manufacturers 

will be well rewarded with the continued 

fruits of their canine Bordatella 

vaccine. 

Not surprisingly, humans are not left 

out of the equation. Ruth Berkelman 

MD (Former Assistant Surgeon General, 

US Public Health Service) writes: 

“The potential for both exposure and 

for adverse consequences secondary to 

exposure to veterinary vaccines in humans 

is growing. Enhanced efforts are 

needed to recognize and to prevent 

human illness associated with the use 

of veterinary vaccines”. 

Dr. Berkelman noted that pertussiswhooping 

cough-like complaints in 

children followed exposure to Bordatella 

bronchiseptica from the Bordatella 

vaccine and it is no coincidence 

that Bordatella bronchiseptica and 

whooping cough pertussis are very 

closely related. Interestingly, the rate 

of whooping cough is highest in highly 

vaccinated populations. 

Immunocompromised humans and 

animals are at an elevated risk of infection 

from these canine vaccines. There 

is a recently reported case of Bordatella 

bronchiseptica pneumonia in a 

kidney and pancreas transplant patient 

who had to board and subsequently 

vaccinate her dogs at a veterinary clinic 

while she was hospitalized. 

Vaccines contain contaminating agents 

including mycoplasmas which are also 

very communicable to humans and 

other mammals. 

In the end, vaccination for Bordatella is 

at best fruitless and at worst, apathetic 

fraudulence at the hands of veterinarians 

and vaccine manufacturers. It is up 

to you whether or not your dog receives 

this vaccination and that is not 

overstating the obvious. Sadly, most 

pet owners are aware of this but 

choose vaccination because they feel 

they are at the mercy of boarding kennels, 

training schools and veterinarians. 

Patricia Monahan Jordan is a graduate 

of the North Carolina College of Veterinary 

Medicine. She practiced conventional 

veterinary medicine for twenty 

years and founded six different veterinary 

facilities in North Carolina. Dr. 

Jordan has traced the paths of immunopathology 

to vaccine administration 

and uncovered the cycle of disease 

and the endless cycle of disease management 

that results from vaccine administration. 

Dr. Jordan can be reached at 

www.dr-jordan.com 


y: Tim O’Shea DC 

Without further ado, here’s the kernel: ascorbic acid is not 

vitamin C. Alpha tocopherol is not vitamin E. Retinoic acid is 

not vitamin A. And so on through the other vitamins. Vast 

sums of money have been expended to make these myths 

part of Conventional Wisdom. If you have several college 

degrees and all this is news to you, don’t feel bad. Unless 

you think your education ended at Commencement. Which 

is generally true. 

WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS 

Vitamins are not individual molecular compounds. Vitamins 

are biological complexes. They are multi-step biochemical 

interactions whose action is dependent upon a number of 

variables within the biological terrain. Vitamin activity only 

takes place when all conditions are met within that environment, 

and when all co-factors and components of the entire 

vitamin complex are present and working together. Vitamin 

activity is even more than the sum of all those parts; it also 

involves timing. 

Vitamins cannot be isolated from their complexes and still 

perform their specific life functions within the cells. When 

isolated into artificial commercial forms, like ascorbic acid, 

these purified synthetics act as drugs in the body. They are 

no longer vitamins, and to call them such is inaccurate. 

A vitamin is “a working process consisting of the nutrient, 

enzymes, coenzymes, antioxidants, and trace minerals activators.” 

FORGOTTEN TRAILBLAZER 

Dr. Royal Lee was the pioneer researcher in the field of 

whole food vitamins. For decades he documented the basic 

facts summarized in this chapter. His work has never been 

scientifically refuted. Anyone who seriously undertakes the 

study of vitamins today corroborates Lee’s work. His story 

is a fascinating study in itself, a study of indomitable perseverance 

in the pursuit of true principles. Jensen tells us that 

Royal Lee’s work will not be appreciated until the next century. 

Hasn’t happened yet. 

Lee felt the full weight of organized drugs/medicine bearing 

down on him. Reading like something out of Schindler’s 

List, we learn that the FDA not only persecuted Lee for challenging 

the economics of synthetic vitamins, produced by 

giant drug companies, but that he was actually ordered by a 

court to burn all his research of the past 20 years! Burn his 

research! When has that ever happened in this country? 

They didn’t even do that to Larry Flynt. 

Going off on a tangent, ever wondered how the FDA attained 

its present position as attack dog for the drug companies 

and food manufacturers? It’s another whole story in 

itself. The precursor of the FDA was the Bureau of Chemistry. 

Up until 1912 the Bureau of Chemistry was headed up 

by a man named Dr. Harvey W. Wiley. Here’s a quote from 

Dr. Wiley that illustrates where his interests lay: 

“No food product in our country would have any trace of 

benzoic acid, sulfurous acid or sulfites or any alum or saccharin, 

save for medical purposes. No soft drink would contain 

caffeine or theobromine. No bleached flour would enter 

interstate commerce. Our foods and drugs would be wholly 

without any form of adulteration and misbranding. The 

health of our people would be vastly improved and the life 

greatly extended. The manufacturers of our food supply, 

and especially the millers, would devote their energies to 

improving the public health and promoting happiness in 

every home by the production of whole ground, unbolted 

cereal flours and meals.” -The History of a Crime Against the 

Pure Food Law, 1912 

Now obviously we can’t have a dangerous lunatic like this in 

charge of the public nutrition, can we? Dr. Wiley actually 

filed suit against the Coca-Cola company in an attempt to 

keep their artificial product out of interstate commerce, and 

off the market. Fortunately Wiley was eventually replaced 


y a saner individual, more attuned to the real nutritional 

needs of the American people, as determined by the experts 

who knew what was best for us: the food manufacturers. 

This was Dr. Elmer Nelson, and in his words we get an idea 

of the change in philosophy that marked the transformation 

of the Bureau of Chemistry into the FDA: 

“It is wholly unscientific to state that a well-fed body is 

more able to resist disease than a poorly-fed body. My overall 

opinion is that there hasn’t been enough experimentation 

to prove that dietary deficiencies make one susceptible 

to disease.” - Elmer Nelson MD Washington Post 26 Oct 49 

Bernard Jensen illustrates how the tobacco industry and the 

food giants like Coke were indirectly behind the legal persecution 

of Royal Lee. Cigarette ads in the 40s and 50s 

showed medical doctors promoting the digestive benefits of 

smoking Camels. Or the advertising of Coke and other refined 

sugar foods stating that “science has shown how sugar 

can help keep your appetite and weight under control.” 

(Empty Harvest) 

During this same period, Royal Lee was kept in courts for 

years, fighting to keep the right to advertise his vitamin 

products, because he was a threat to the food manufacturers. 

Lee knew they were poisoning the American public. He 

proved that refined sugars and devitalized, bleached flours 

were destroying the arteries and the digestive system, causing 

heart disease and cancer. 

WHOLE VS. FRACTIONATED 

OK, natural vs. synthetic. Let’s start with Vitamin C. Most 

sources equate vitamin C with ascorbic acid, as though they 

were the same thing. They’re not. Ascorbic acid is an isolate, 

a fraction, a distillate of naturally occurring vitamin C. In 

addition to ascorbic acid, vitamin C must include rutin, 

bioflavonoids, Factor K, Factor J, Factor P, Tyrosinase, 

Ascorbinogen, and other components as shown in the figure 

below: 

_____________________A s c o r b i c A c i d______________________ 

ascorbinogen 

bioflavonoids 

rutin 

tyrosinase 

Factor J 

Factor K 

Factor P 

__________________________________________________________________ 

In addition, mineral co-factors must be available in proper 

amounts. 

If any of these parts are missing, there is no vitamin C, no 

vitamin activity. When some of them are present, the body 

will draw on its own stores to make up the differences, so 

that the whole vitamin may be present. Only then will vitamin 

activity take place, provided that all other conditions 

and co-factors are present. Ascorbic acid is described 

merely as the “antioxidant wrapper” portion of vitamin C; 

ascorbic acid protects the functional parts of the vitamin 

from rapid oxidation or breakdown. 

Over 90% of ascorbic acid in this country is manufactured 

at a facility in Nutley, New Jersey, owned by Hoffman- 

LaRoche, one of the world’s biggest drug manufacturers. 

Here ascorbic acid is made from a process involving cornstarch 

and volatile acids. Most U.S. vitamin companies then 

buy the bulk ascorbic acid from this single facility. After 

that, marketing takes over. Each company makes its own 

labels, its own claims, and its own formulations, each one 

claiming to have the superior form of vitamin C, even 

though it all came from the same place, and it’s really not 

vitamin C at all. 

FRACTIONATED = SYNTHETIC = CRYSTALLINE = FAKE 

The word synthetic means two things: 

– manmade 

– occurs nowhere in nature 

From the outset, it is crucial to understand the difference 

between vitamins and vitamin activity. The vitamin is the 

biochemical complex. Vitamin activity means the actual biological 

and cellular changes that take place when the stage 

is set for the vitamin complex to act. 

Think of it like gas and a car. Pumping the gas into the tank 

doesn’t necessarily mean the car is going anywhere. Other 

conditions and factors must be also present, in order for 

Activity to occur. The gas line to the carburetor must be 

clear, the carburetor jets must be set, there must be an exact 

mixture of air flow, the ignition must be turned on, the 

spark plugs must be clean, the exact amount of gas must 

reach each spark plug right before it fires, no gas must be 

left over in the cylinder after the plug fires. Getting the idea? 

If any of this stuff is missing, there’s no Activity: the car 

doesn’t run, or at least not very well. 

Amazing as it may sound if you’re hearing this for the first 

time, vitamins are more than the synthetic fractions we are 

commonly taught they are. The ascorbic acid you buy at the 

grocery store every few weeks, thinking you are buying 

Vitamin C, is just a chemical copy of naturally occurring 

ascorbic acid, which itself is still only a fraction of the actual 

Vitamin C. Real vitamin C is part of something living, and as 

such, can impart life. Your synthetic, fractionated chemical 

ascorbic acid never grew in the ground, never saw the light 

of day, never was alive or part of anything alive. It’s a 

chemical, a cornstarch derivative, a sulfuric acid byproduct. 

In your body it’s just another drug. Synthetic vitamins 

have toxic effects from mega-doses and actually can 


increase the white blood cell count. Vitamins are only necessary 

in minute quantities on a daily basis. Whole food vitamins, 

by contrast, are not toxic since the vitamin is complexed 

in its integral working form, and requires nothing 

from the body, and triggers no immune response. 

DEFICIENCY 

Scurvy is a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency. Scurvy is 

characterized by bleeding gums, slow wound healing, softening 

bones, loose teeth, ulcerations of the mouth and digestive 

tract, general weight loss and fatigue. From 1650 to 1850 

half of all seamen on transoceanic voyages died of scurvy. It 

was discovered by ship surgeon Thomas Lind in the early 

1800s that British sailors were spared the disease altogether 

simply by a diet rich in citrus fruits. Since limes travelled 

well, they were the common choice during the early years, 

and thus the expression “limeys” was coined to describe British 

sailors. It was later found both at sea and in prison fare 

that potatoes were equally successful in preventing scurvy, 

and much cheaper to obtain. (Lancet. 1842) 

We find that there is less than 20 mg of ascorbic acid in a 

potato. Yet this small amount, since it is complexed in a food 

source, is all the body needs not only to prevent scurvy, but 

also to cure it, even in its advanced state. Such a remedy is 

described in detail in Richard Dana’s amazing journal Two 

Years Before the Mast, written in 1840. 

Whole food vitamin C as found in potatoes, onions, and citrus 

fruits is able to quickly cure any case of scurvy. By contrast, 

the fractionated chemical ascorbic acid has been shown to be 

insufficient in resolving a scurvy condition, simply because it 

does not act as a nutrient. (Lancet 1842) 

Ascorbic acid simply cannot confer vitamin activity, as taught 

by the discoverer of vitamin C himself, another Nobel Prize 

laureate, Dr. Albert Szent-Georgi. 

Szent-Georgi discovered vitamin C in 1937. In all his research 

however, Szent-Georgi found that he could never cure 

scurvy with the isolated ascorbic acid itself. Realizing that he 

could always cure scurvy with the “impure” vitamin C found 

in simple foods, Szent-Georgi discovered that other factors 

had to be at work in order for vitamin activity to take place. 

So he returned to the laboratory and eventually made the 

discovery of another member of the vitamin C complex, as 

shown in the diagram above: rutin. All the factors in the complex, 

as Royal Lee and Dr. Szent-Georgi both came to understand, 

ascorbic acid, rutin, and the other factors, were synergists: 

co-factors which together sparked the “functional interdependence 

of biologically related nutrient factors.” The 

term “wheels within wheels” was used to describe the interplay 

of co-factors. 

Each of the other synergists in the C complex has a separate 

function: 

P factors for blood vessel strength 

J factors for oxygen-carrying capacity of red cells 

tyrosinase as an essential enzyme for enhancing white 

blood cell effectiveness 

Ascorbic acid is just the antioxidant outer shell – the protector 

of all these other synergists so that they will be able to 

perform their individual functions. 

Now I can hear you asking, what about Linus Pauling, double 

Nobel Prize laureate, and his lifetime espousal of megadosing 

on ascorbic acid – up to 10 grams per day. He lived to be 93. 

Are we saying that he took a synthetic vitamin all that time? 

Yes, that’s exactly right. Bernard Jensen suggests that ascorbic 

acid has an acidifying effect in part of the digestive tract, 

making an unfriendly environment for viruses, Candida, and 

pathogenic bacteria. Pauling’s good health was not the result 

of synthetic vitamin activity. Good genetics and maintaining 

an internal bioterrain not conducive to inflammation are 

likely what brought longevity to Linus Pauling. He eventually 

died of cancer at 93, but then who wants to live forever? 


Dr. Royal Lee’s phrase “biological wheels within wheels” always 

comes up in any discussion of whole food vitamins. 

Essentially it means that individual synergists cannot function 

as a vitamin in a chemically isolated form, like ascorbic 

acid. Vitamins are living complexes which contribute to other 

higher living complexes – like cell repair, collagen manufacture, 

and maintenance of blood circulation. Ascorbic acid is 

not a living complex. It is a copy of a part of a living complex 

known as vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is a fractionated, crystalline 

isolate of vitamin C. 

Why are you a high school graduate or a college graduate or 

a doctor, and you don’t know this? Because drug manufacturers 

like things clean and simple and cheap to produce. To this 

simple fact add the politics which always comes into play 

when anyone mentions the word “billions,” and you are beginning 

to get the idea about where to begin your investigation. 

Burned his research??? 

DIETARY SOURCES 

Most vitamins cannot be made by the body. They must be 

taken in as food. The best sources then are obviously whole 

foods, rich in vitamins. Because of soil depletion, mineral 

depletion, pesticides, air pollution, and erosion, it is common 

knowledge that foods grown in American soil today have 

only a fraction of the nutrient value of 50 years ago. That 

means a fraction of the vitamins and minerals necessary for 

normal human cell function. Royal Lee described the American 

diet as the cultivation and production of “devitalized 

foods.” Dr. Weston Price describes these empty products as 

the “foods of commerce.” Think it’s gotten better or worse 

since their time? Thus the necessity for supplementation. 

Vitamins and minerals are not functionally separable. They 

make each other work. Example: vitamin D is necessary for 

the body to absorb calcium. Copper is necessary for vitamin 

C activity. And so on. Mineral deficiencies can cause vitamin 

deficiencies, and vice versa. Epidemic mineral deficiency in 

America is a well-documented result of systematic soil depletion. 

So that is the other prime difference between whole food 

vitamins and synthetics: whole food vitamins contain within 

them many essential trace minerals necessary for their synergistic 

operation. Synthetic vitamins contain no trace minerals, 

relying on, and depleting, the body’s own mineral reserves. 

FUNNY FARMS 

Following the German agricultural methods of Von Leibig in 

the mid-1800s, American farmers found that NPK (nitrogen, 

phosphorus, and potassium) was all that was necessary for 

crops to look good. As long as NPK is added to the soil, crops 

can be produced and sold year after year from the same soil. 

They look OK. But the trace minerals vital for human nutrition 

are virtually absent from most American soil after all 

these years. Many of these minerals, such as zinc, copper, and 

magnesium, are necessary co-factors of vitamin activity. Depleted 

topsoil is one simple, widespread mechanism of both 

vitamin and mineral deficiency in American produce today. 

This doesn’t even take into account the tons of poisonous 

herbicides and pesticides dumped on crops. According to the 

UN, two million tons of pesticides are used worldwide annually. 

American agri-business has one motive: profit. Such a focus 

has resulted in an output of empty produce and a nation of 

unhealthy people. The earth’s immune system is its soil. To 

be vital and capable of growing vital foods, soil must be rich 

in both minerals and soil-based organisms – life forms. 

Healthy produce naturally resists insects. Insects are like bad 

bacteria in the body: they are attracted to diseased tissue, 

though they do not cause it. 

THE FOODS OF COMMERCE 

And we’re still only talking about people who actually eat 

raw fruits and vegetables, which is a minority. Processed 

food composes the majority of what most Americans eat. The 

only nutrients in most processed foods are “enriched” and 

“fortified” as described below. 

When a doctor says that food supplements are all unnecessary 

because we can get everything we need from our food, 

that doctor is lacking basic information published and agreed 

upon by his own peers. Whether or not we need supplementation 

is no longer an issue, except for one who is totally out 

of touch. The issue is what kind and how much. Vitamin and 

mineral deficiency can be tagged to practically ANY disease 

syndrome known to man. DW Cavanaugh, MD of Cornell University 

actually concluded that “There is only one major disease, 

and that is malnutrition.” 

Malnutrition of the affluent is the natural result of the foods 

of commerce. 

WEB SURFING 

The best vitamins are called whole food vitamins. It will be 

difficult finding this out on the Internet, however, because 

the Web is dominated by mainstream nutritional theory, 

which means pharmaceutical underwriting. In the area of 

vitamins, the Internet is 99% marketing; 1% actual information. 

But then again, this isn’t Mission Difficult. This is Mission 

Impossible, Mr Hunt. 

There are about 110 companies who sell vitamins in the US. 

Less than 5 of them use whole food vitamins. The reason is 


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simple: whole food vitamins are expensive to make. A few 

of the largest pharmaceutical firms in the world mass produce 

synthetic vitamins for the vast majority of these 110 

“vitamin” companies, who then put their own label on them, 

and every company claims theirs is the best! It’s ridiculous! 

Americans spend over $9 billion per year for synthetic vitamins. 

Whole food vitamins are obtained by taking a vitamin-rich 

plant, removing the water and the fiber in a cold vacuum 

process, free of chemicals, and then packaging for stability. 

The entire vitamin complex in this way can be captured 

intact, retaining its “functional and nutritional integrity.” 

Upon ingestion, the body is not required to draw on its own 

reserves in order to complete any missing elements from 

the vitamin complex. 

Mainstream marketing of vitamins and minerals has successfully 

created the myth that vitamins and minerals may 

be isolated from each other, that correct amounts may be 

measured out, and then we can derive total benefit from 

taking these fractionated chemical creations. Nothing could 

be farther from the truth. Vitamins and minerals, and also 

enzymes, work closely together as co-factors for each 

other’s efficacy. If one part is missing, or in the wrong form 

or the wrong amount, entire chains of metabolic processes 

will not proceed normally. Result: downward spiralling of 

health, probably imperceptible for long periods of time. 

MARKETING AND 

PROMOTION 

What is the marketing philosophy behind the prevalence of 

the type of synthetic vitamins available in the supermarket 

and mall vitamin stores? Simple: profit above all else. Once 

the public is shown that vitamin supplementation is necessary, 

the rest is marketing. Marketing is the art of persuading 

by suspending logic and twisting data into junk science. 

Example: what’s the actual difference in composition between 

Wheaties and Total, two cereals put out by the same 

company? Total is advertised as being much more nutrientrich 

than “ordinary” Wheaties. Look at the labels. What justifies 

the extra $1.30 for a box of Total? Answer: 1.5¢ worth 

of synthetic vitamins sprayed over the Wheaties. That’s it! 

That’s what “vitamin enriched” always means. The other 

trick word is “fortified.” Generally that means that the food 

itself is devoid of nutrients or enzymes, so they tried to 

pump it up a little with some “vitamins.” Cheap synthetic 

vitamin sprays are all that is required for the manufacturer 

to use labels like “enriched” and “fortified.” These words are 

red flags – if a food needs to be fortified or enriched, you 

can bet it was already dead. 

The mega-vitamin theory doesn’t really hold when it comes 

to synthetics: If A Little Is Good, More Is Better. Macro doses 

of vitamin E, and also vitamin D have been shown to decrease 

immune function significantly. It stands to reason. 

Vitamins by definition are necessary in phenomenally small 

doses. The discoverer of thiamine, a B vitamin, and the man 

who came up with the word vitamin, Dr. Casimir Funk, has 

this to say about synthetics: 

“Synthetic vitamins: these are highly inferior to vitamins 

from natural sources, also the synthetic product is well 

known to be far more toxic.” 

Nutrition authority DeCava describes it: 

“Natural food-source vitamins are enzymatically alive. Manmade 

synthetic vitamins are dead chemicals.” - The Real 

Truth About Vitamins p 209 

The marketing of fractionated crystalline synthetic vitamins 

has been so successful that most nutritionists and doctors 

are unaware that there is something missing from these 

“vitamins.” Vitamin manufacturers compete for customers 

with identical products – they all bought their synthetic 

vitamins from the same couple of drug companies. To differentiate 

their product, each makes claims of “high potency.” 

Our vitamins are higher potency than theirs, etc. The 

point is, the higher the potency, the more the drug like effects 

are present. Natural whole food vitamins are very low 

potency. Remember the 20mg of vitamin C in a potato that 

was able to cure a patient of scurvy? That was low potency. 


Low potency is all we need. Low potency is enough to bring 

about vitamin activity. High potency overshoots the mark – 

the chemical is very pure and refined, like the difference 

between white sugar and the type of sugar that’s in an apple. 

THE MILLIGRAM GAME 

Generally speaking, if milligrams are being discussed at 

length, the author has no clue about vitamins. Synthetic vitamins 

are refined, high potency chemicals, and therefore 

may be accurately measured in milligrams, just like drugs. 

This has nothing to do with vitamin activity or nutrition, 

except in a negative way. 

HALF THE STORY 

The same type of incomplete action can be seen with any 

synthetic vitamin. Let’s take beta carotene for a minute, 

which the body can turn into vitamin A. Now you’ll remember 

that vitamin A is necessary for good eyesight, DNA synthesis, 

and protects cells from free radicals. A study reported 

in Apr 94 in the NEJM of some 30,000 Finnish subjects 

showed conclusively that synthetic vitamin A had no 

antioxidant effect whatsoever. A true antioxidant helps to 

protect heart muscle, lungs, and artery surfaces from breaking 

down prematurely. In this study, the subjects who received 

the synthetic beta carotene actually had an 8% 

higher incidence of fatal heart attacks, strokes, and lung 

cancer than those who got the placebo (sugar pill). Stands 

to reason: the synthetic brought no vitamin activity to the 

tissues that needed it. As a dead, purified chemical introduced 

into the body, the synthetic further stressed the immune 

system, the liver, and the kidneys which all had to try 

to break down this odd chemical and remove it from the 

body. It would be bad enough if they were harmless, but 

synthetic vitamins actually have a net negative effect. 

VITAMIN A 

was first discovered in 1919. By 1924, it had been broken 

down and separated from its natural whole food complex: 

“purified.” By 1931, LaRoche – one of the largest pharmaceutical 

companies in the world, even today – had succeeded 

in “synthesizing” vitamin A. That means they had 

created a purely chemical copy of a fraction of naturally 

occurring vitamin A. Naturally occurring vitamin A is found 

associated with an entire group of other components: 

– Retinols 

– Retinoids 

– Retinal 

– Carotenoids 

– Carotenes 

– Fatty acids 

- Vitamin C 

- Vitamin E 

- Vitamin B 

– Vitamin D 

– Enzymes 

– Minerals 

Isolated from these other factors, vitamin A is a fraction 

which cannot perform its biological functions. Taken as a 

synthetic, it must then draw on this list of resources already 

in the body in order to complete its make-up. Whole food 

vitamin A, by contrast, is already complete and ready to go. 

Most synthetic vitamin A consists only of retinal, retinol, or 

retinoic acid. The well-publicized potential for toxicity with 

mega doses of vitamin A involves one of these three. Vitamin 

A toxicity, known as hypervitaminosis, always results 

from an excess of synthetic, “purified” vitamin A, and never 

from whole food vitamin A. Effects of vitamin A toxicity 

include: 

– tumor enhancement 

– joint disorders 

– osteoporosis 

– extreme dryness of eyes, mouth and skin, 

– enlargement of liver and spleen 

– immune depression 

– birth defects 

BETA CAROTENE 

is a precursor the body can convert to vitamin A. Unfortunately, 

as a supplement, synthetic beta carotene is usually 

“stabilized” in refined vegetable oils. In this trans fatty acid 

form, oxidation occurs and the chemically “pure” beta carotene 

can no longer act as a nutrient, because it was changed. 

Almost all synthetic beta carotene is produced by the Swiss 

drug giant Hoffman-LaRoche. This form can no longer be 

converted to vitamin A. The best it can be is worthless, and 

the worst is toxic. 

Natural vitamin A and beta carotene are well known as immune 

boosters and cancer fighters, in their role as antioxidants. 

Synthetic vitamin A by contrast has actually brought 

about significant increases in cancer. The same Finnish 

study we saw above provided smokers with large doses of 

synthetic beta carotene. Lung cancer incidence increased 

18%! (NEJM Apr 94 “The Alpha Tocopherol Beta Carotene 

Cancer Prevention Study Group”) 


These findings were corroborated two years later in another 

study written up in Lancet. Pharmacologic doses of 

synthetic beta carotenes were found to block the antioxidant 

activity of the other 50 naturally occurring carotenoids 

in the diet. Anti-cancer activity was thus blocked by the synthetic. 

(Lancet 1996) 

With the vast outpouring of wrong information about vitamins 

A and C, the findings of a 1991 article in Health Counselor 

are no surprise: 50% of Americans are deficient in 

vitamin A and 41% are deficient in vitamin C. 

Synthetic vitamins cannot prevent deficiencies. 

FAKE VITAMIN B 

In one experiment, synthetic vitamin B (thiamine) was 

shown to render 100% of a group of pigs sterile! 100% 

would be considered a significant finding. (Dr. Barnett Sure, 

Journ Natr 1939) Perhaps the fact that synthetic vitamin B 

comes from coal tar, maybe that has something to do with 

it, you think? Then there’s vitamin B12, which comes from 

activated sewage sludge. Been shooting blanks since you 

started on those multi’s? 

For the licensed dieticians and clinical nutritionists reading 

this in disbelief because it is too “unscientific,” consider the 

way Theron Randolph MD delineated between natural and 

synthetic: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


“A synthetically derived substance may cause a reaction in a 

chemically susceptible person when the same material of 

natural origin is tolerated, despite the two substances having 

identical chemical structures. The point is illustrated by the 

frequency of clinical reactions to synthetic vitamins – especially 

vitamin B1 and C – when the [same] naturally occurring 

vitamins are tolerated.” 

Always keep this idea in mind when confronted with the 

marketing hook “bio-identical.” 

IRRADIATION 

According to Los Angeles naturopath, Dr. Jack Singh, all commercial 

lecithins in supplements, as well as most vitamin D, 

comes from irradiated vegetable oils. That’s rancid, oxidizing 

trans fatty acids! A birthday party of free radicals. This is the 

precise mechanism for arterial wall breakdown prior to 

plaque deposits, then arteriosclerosis, then heart disease. I 

thought we were supposed to be taking vitamins to stay 

healthy! 

LOST HORIZON 

Why is this information so difficult to find? It’s in none of the 

“alternative” health ‘zines, or any of the mainstream media. 

Alternative-Lite guru Julian Whittaker, in his summer 1998 

newsletter actually had the temerity to state outright 

“Synthetic vitamins and whole food vitamins are identical.” 

I’m sure his synthetic vitamin company and all its retailers 

were reassured by this incredibly arrogant and flagrantly 

inaccurate pronouncement. But who is objecting? Only those 

clients of the 5 companies who know enough to take whole 

food vitamins, because they have become educated to realize 

the difference. These are the vast minority, having no control 

of the media. 

Royal Lee and Harvey Wiley lost. Nobody knows who they 

are today, except we few. This is no accident. What everybody 

does know is Pepsi and Viagra and Wonder Bread and 

prednisone and Double Whoppers with Cheese and Zantac 

and Baskin-Robbins and Long’s Drug Store. And grocery 

store vitamins: synthetic vitamins. That’s America, today as 

the product of yesterday. Control of information in America 

today is one of the most sophisticated systems of influence 

ever devised. The simple ideas contained in this chapter are 

simply not available to the mass consciousness. The documentation 

is out there, but you really gotta dig. 

100 years ago if a medical doctor saw a case of cancer he 

would call all his colleagues to come and have a look, telling 

them it was unlikely they would see another case, as cancer 

was so rare. People rarely died of heart attacks; in fact the 

term heart attack itself didn’t even exist. There was no incidence 

at all of atherosclerosis. Diabetes was practically un 

heard of. What did they eat? Fruits, vegetables, meat, butter, 

and lard. But none of it was processed with drugs and chemicals. 

Today one in three dies of cancer. One in two dies of heart 

disease. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the 

U.S. (Vital Statistics) For anyone born after 2003, there is a 

one in 3 chance of Type 2 diabetes. Is that progress? If you 

are a food manufacturer it is, and especially if you are a drug 

manufacturer. In 2007 the WHO ranked the US as #39 in the 

world in infant mortality. Male sperm count is less than 20% 

of what it was in 1929. (1981 University of Florida report, 

Natural vs. Synthetic) Infant mortality is up; birth defects are 

up. We spend $1.5 trillion per year for health care, most of 

which goes for administration and executive salaries. Who 

are the largest advertisers for TV and the printed media? 

Right: drug companies and food manufacturers. Do they 

want to keep the ball rolling? You bet. Will they kill you to do 

it? You bet. Do they want people to take charge of their own 

health by natural inexpensive foods and supplements? Negative. 

A cure for cancer has been “right around the corner” 

since Nixon. People are starting to ask questions; they’re less 

inclined to believe the slick ads coming every 10 minutes on 

TV and in Newsweek. 

Perhaps Hippocrates did not envision doctors as detail men 

or drug reps. He most likely thought like Henry Bieler, MD: 

“Nature, if given the opportunity is always the greatest 

healer. It is the physician’s role to assist in this healing, to 

play a supporting role.” 

– Finding the Right Cure for You 

So what do you do? Well, you may now have some insight 

that your vitamin needs are not being met by the Walgreen’s 

generics. Wallach used to talk about expensive urine from 

these unmetabolized grocery store synthetic placebos. 

The water soluble vitamins are best obtained through organic 

produce grown in mineral-rich soil. The best supplements 

in this category are the top-shelf green foods, like 

David Sandoval’s Best of Greens, and its equivalents. 

The fat soluble vitamins, A, E, and D are best obtained 

through fish, raw dairy, avocado, raw nuts, raw coconut, and 

clean meats. High end supplements like Udo’s Choice, MOR, 

and Nordic Naturals can round out your EFA requirements 

Beyond this it’s MLM marketing roulette, and if you can’t 

spot the mark in the first 5 minutes, baby, it’s you. 

Dr. Tim O'Shea is the author of the book The Sanctity of 

Human Blood : Vaccination is Not Immunization. 


y: Leonard Cecil 

Two of the questions you have to ask before answering that one 

are: 

Why would my dog want to dominate me? 

What's in it for her that she doesn't already have? 

These three questions are actually quite intertwined, so let's 

look at the situation with her - oops, I mean OUR pack: 

She gets 2 squares a day. And that doesn't count all the treats 

for doing tricks, coming back on recall and such. Would she 

somehow get MORE to eat if she were to win domination over 

me? Maybe a better quality? Are you inferring, that what she 

gets now is of inferior quality and that by dominating me, she 

would get better food? Or more? 

She gets all the water she can drink, both from her water dish, 

but also on walks from the various fountains and water troughs. 

Now if she were to dominate me, would she somehow demand 

and get more and better liquid refreshment? German white 

wine, French red wine? Maybe a real Czech Pilsner beer. Single- 

Malt Scotch (from my collection?)? 

If she were to win domination over me, would she then get to 

leave the house before me? Maybe. But it's very possible she 

wouldn't live very long, charging out the door in front of me into 

the street. But then I'd just have to get another dog to dominate 

me. And another. And another. And then where would she want 

to go? Can't go shopping with no money. She's not crazy about 

the movies unless they're animal films. 

If she were trying to dominate me, what would she have to gain 

by walking in front of me. Well, for one thing she would have to 

STAY in front of me. What a drag, if there was a lovely piece of 

cow dung behind me or to the side of me. She'd have to make 

that hard choice between cementing her domination over me by 

staying out in front of me and perhaps losing her domination by 

falling behind to savor that dead bird. Choices, choices and the 

RESPONSIBILITIES attached to them. What's a dog to do? 

And of course, she'd have to choose the route to take, determining 

where we are to go. Fine. And if there's no food or water 

there when we get there, is she supposed to force me to provide 

it for her wherever we end up? Now try this with your dog, just 

what I tried today. My dog was sniffing dominantly 10-20 yards 

in front of me. We came to a fork in the road. She headed down 

the right fork and I, being the rebellious soul I am, purposely 

took the left path. I would have thought, her being the dominant 

wanna-be, that she would have insisted, that I come to her, but 

no, low and behold, without me even calling to her, she not only 

was suddenly running past me up the left road, but when I then 

decided to go on the right road, she then bounded on by me and 

up the right road. Well, ok, I see your point. What a cunning little 

cur. She actually TRICKED me into thinking I was dominating her 

by going on the left road, when she knew, that I would eventually 

see it her way and go on the right path, which she'd originally 

been on. Sometime you don't have to dominate with force, 

you can do it by cunning and treachery. 

Now, when I come home, it's obvious who is the dominant one 

in the house. As soon as my key hits the door, she is at the door, 

demanding my attention. It's quite clear, that if my wife were 

actually the leader of the pack (for what husband is EVER the 

leader of the pack?), she would come right to the door, beating 

my dog by a nose to greet me at the door, I would then give her 

a big smacker, a bunch of roses and a bottle of champagne. Or 


something. But it's apparent, that my dog has banned my wife 

to the kitchen, in order that she can take over this dominant 

function. This has caused countless "discussions" between my 

wife and I - and tears. But we have been able to strike a compromise. 

I will not kiss my dog on the mouth any more and will 

wash my hands and face before kissing my wife. I try ignoring 

my dog when I come home, but that simply doesn't work. She 

just follows me everywhere I go, sometimes running up ahead 

of me, for example on the stairs. The more I tried to keep her 

behind me, the more excited she becomes. And of course my 

wife hollers down "If you would ignore the dog, maybe she'd 

stop pestering you. And why should you deal with her before 

even saying hello to me?" So I had a choice. Either keep peace 

with my wife and ignore my dog in her attempt to dominate me 

or accept the fact that she'd already dominated my wife and 

ignore that in favor of trying to first greet my dominated wife, 

thus not allowing my dog to dominate me. These dogs can put 

you in an untenable position. I guess that's part of their plan. 

“Her seemingly sweet demeanor and wagging 

Retriever tail is obviously just a ruse for 

a plotting, scheming canine version of the 

next military K9 junta, just waiting to lay 

claim to the leadership of our pack. “ 

One aspect where my dog has completed her move to take over 

domination of her humans is how she will lay down on our feet, 

taking over our space, claiming her rule-of-dog. Now she doesn't 

do this all the time, but does whenever the fancy strikes her, 

whether we want this or not. We've of course given in lock, 

stock and barrel to this overt domination, so much so that we 

do not wear slippers any more in the winter, knowing that may 

dog will claim her rightful spot on our feet. Frankly, this doesn't 

really bother us much, especially in the winter in the kitchen/ 

dining area where we have stone floors. But it is of course the 

idea of allowing her to dominate us and claim a piece of our 

space that needs to be noticed here. 

I'm sure, if our furniture were more comfortable for her, she 

would try to show her dominance over us in this respect also, 

but she's never shown any inclination to get up on the sofa, my 

office chair, the dining room chairs or the junk-chair (I suppose 

you have one too, a chair that just seems to fill up with all sorts 

of junk that has no other place in the house) by the door. She 

also has never shown any inclination to counter-surf or beg at 

the table. I suppose that's because in order to fulfill her domination 

over us, we see that she has her own place by the ta- 

ble or the sofa near us at all times which she can use to keep a 

watchful eye on us. To appease her dominating character, we 

will occasionally give her a pig's ear or ostrich tendon while 

we're eating and that seems to give us a break from her ironpawed 

rule of the house. Strangely enough, when we're on 

trips, she's never tried to claim a spot on the hotel bed. Maybe 

she'd prefer sheets and blankets to the usual Nordic bed coverings? 

We count ourselves lucky here. 

She has shown however some cracks and inconsistencies in her 

drive to take over the alpha of our pack. One such area is playtime. 

There seems to be no pattern to when she wants to play 

and when she doesn't. In fact, she's always up for a long game 

of tug. I suppose if we always gave in to her she'd try to expand 

this dominating behavior to Checkers, Monopoly (what would 

be more natural for practicing the domination of the world except 

for Sim City?) or even Chess. We did see a film of one lady 

who taught her dogs to play chess with her dogs, but we've 

been warned not to even entertain the idea of this, in as much 

as chess is THE game for aspiring socially upwardly mobile dogs, 

looking for any way to take over control. We've also only ever 

played poker, cribbage and (yes, I admit it) Masters of the Universe 

when she's been asleep in her bed in her room (well, it's 

actually the stair well next to my office, but we call it her room). 

We have been able to hold her blatant dominating scheming in 

this area at bay. So it's a small price to pay, to play tug with her 

sock - used to be my sock, but she claims them, when they get 

holes in them. I wonder how the holes get in them …. 

As you can see, we're fighting an up-hill battle on all fronts with 

my dog. Her seemingly sweet demeanor and wagging Retriever 

tail is obviously just a ruse for a plotting, scheming canine version 

of the next military K9 junta, just waiting to lay claim to the 

leadership of our pack. We've been able to work out our compromises, 

but we feel we need help to reclaim our house and 

family. 

Born 1952, Swindon GB, raised in San Francisco, living in Switzerland 

since 1977. After escaping high school in San Francisco, 

he completed a Bachelors of Music Education. He's now an IT- 

Geek at the University of Zürich. 

Although he grew up with dogs, the first dog he really trained 

(Luna, a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog mix) was in Switzerland, 

using "balanced" methods. His present dog, Vela (a Flat-Coated 

Retriever) changed his life due to her reactivity. After tossing 

everything he thought he knew about dog training and starting 

anew in order to help her, he is now enrolled at James O'Heare's 

CASI and is preparing to do dog training and behavior modification 

when he retires in 3-4 years. 


Teacher Dogs 

Teacher Dogs is dedicated to the dogs that have brought 

us to this point in our lives, the turning point to natural 

rearing and raising of our beloved pets. These pets may 

have been with us only a short period but the lessons 

they brought last a lifetime. We want your stories. We 

will feature a special story in each edition of our 

Dogs...Naturally! 

Close Call 

by Vic Neumann 

Prologue 

My friends told me that my wife is eventually going to find 

out anyway (they always do) so I might as well get it out in 

the open. The last time something almost as serious as this 

happened with one of our Leos and myself while on one of 

our long hikes - aka "adventures" - was about fifteen years 

ago when Bogey and I together slid down a steep incline on 

an icy cliff face. Clinging to his tail as we picked up speed 

heading to a hundred foot drop off, the only way I got us to 

survive that one was by throwing out my leg and catching a 

well placed hemlock twenty feet from the edge. It took us 

about four hours to get back up to safe ground and five 

years to get up the nerve to tell Joan. Well, Saturday's adventure 

was witnessed by three of our friends and their 

dogs and already by Sunday morning emails were coming in 

asking how Cassie, Lincoln and I were doing... 

The Close Call 

It was an afternoon like any other when we set out Saturday 

for the Farmington River in the northwestern part of Connecticut. 

It's almost a daily ritual to join up with friends and 

their canine companions about a mile from our house as we 

find shade and cool sparkling water to play in. This time 

however it had been raining felines and canines all week 

and the river was running brown, high and fast. That has 

never deterred us because Lincoln and Cassie are extremely 

strong swimmers and have been tested in all conditions. 

Their favorite game is fetching sticks that I throw in 

as they race to be the first one to retrieve it. Cassie knows 

that Lincoln feels it is his responsibility to always bring it 

back to me, which he usually does. She, however, enjoys 

aggravating her big brother and does so by taking the stick 

across the river to the other side, knowing that he will follow 

her every time to either grab the stick away from her or 

more often as is the case pull her all the way back through 

the hundred feet of water with her jaw firmly clenching her 

end. It is quite a spectacle that elicits cheers and encouragement 

from the kids and adults that understand the game 

and often pick their favorite to win. 

So on this day, Cassie had taken a stick across and as I 

watched her trying to elude Lincoln I was surprised that she 

had given up so quickly and was now preparing to swim 

back without the stick. However, she wasn't making any 

progress in her effort to return even though I could see her 

working her legs quite vigorously. "Oh, no!", I cried out, 

"she looks like she's stuck." As I watched her struggle, I 

realized her hind legs were caught up either in a vine or 


Vic Neumann

Vic Neumann 

roots that had been washed downstream. I did not want to 

wait to see if she could extricate herself, because if I waited 

too long she might go under. Throwing my cell phone and 

wallet up to my friend I headed into the rushing water determined 

to get to her before it was too late. 

It's been about a year since I had shoulder surgery to replace 

my right joint with titanium and this was going to be 

my first test to see what kind of strength I really had - but I 

wasn't thinking about that at the time. I knew that my arms 

already felt like rubber from the brush cutting I had been 

doing all day, but I felt certain that I could get across without 

too much difficulty. Boy, was I mistaken. As soon as I 

got near the middle of the river I knew I was in big trouble, 

as I underestimated the strength and speed of the rushing 

water. My friend, Roger, heard me exclaim, "Oh, 

(expletive)!" Then he dove in after me. The combination of 

the work boots and jean shorts that I was wearing started 

to drag me down as the river carried me away from Cassie 

and the shouts of people from where I started in. 

I didn't panic, but I knew I wasn't going to stay afloat much 

longer, regardless of how hard I stroked and kicked. It was 

one of those moments when the realization that "this could 

be it" comes into focus. And then as I reached out feebly for 

another stroke, my hand brushed against wet fur - a lot of 

wet fur. I turned my head and there was Lincoln, snorting 

water and pushing up against my side. I wrapped my arm 

around his back and cried out, " swim, Lincoln, swim!" He 

threw himself into another gear and struggled against the 

current with me grasping him for dear life. 

It felt like an eternity before we angled enough to reach 

some tree limbs that had fallen into the river from the opposite 

shore. Clutching the branches with my left arm and 

trying to help support Lincoln with the other I began to 

think about Cassie again. It was then, that Roger reached us 

and I grabbed his shirt before he was swept further downstream. 

As he struggled to catch his breath, he told me that 

a teenager had dove into the water and Michael Phelps-like, 

made it across to Cassie. What a relief! 

We had no idea how we were going to get back when suddenly 

we heard shouts that two kayakers were headed our 

way. They dropped each of us a line and paddling with all 

the effort they could muster pulled us back across, Roger 

behind one kayak and Lincoln and myself in tow following 

the other. When we finally were pulled out by our friends 

waiting on the river bank, there was Cassie with a look of 

puzzlement on her face, as if to say, "why did you guys swim 

without me?" 

They both got extra treats Saturday night before they curled 

up for a much needed sleep. Well, okay, Lincoln got two 

extra treats and a long hug and thank you.

July/August 2010 - Dogs Naturally Magazine

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