Kim Barnett, a well-renowned dog trainer from England, had the opportunity to evaluate Halo Spot’s Stew after we made a significant donation to two shelters that benefit from her services – Adopt a Boxer Rescue, and Save Our Strays. Kim, lead behaviorist of Follow My Lead UK, believes that feeding a quality, natural diet improves behavior and strengthens the human/animal bond.

By Kim Barnett, Follow My Lead IACP

Working as a dog trainer and behaviour consultant for several rescue organizations as well as having private clients, I get to see a broad spectrum of dogs, many of whom are suffering from anxiety based issues to various forms of aggression, and everything in between. In as much as it’s possible with a rescue dog, we like to see them provided with the best possible nutrition for both physical and mental well being. Many rescue dogs have been fed poor diets, and due to either neglect or because they are strays, some have been fed little or nothing and are found literally with just days left to live. In these cases it’s clear to see why the most nutritious and easy to digest diet would help these dogs get back to physical health as fast as possible, but how does it help their mental health you might wonder.

Just as good quality food and a balanced diet helps a person to feel at their emotional best, the same is true of our pets. The old saying You are what you eat is as relevant to our dogs and cats as it is to ourselves. If I’m working with a behaviorally challenged dog, I find that good food, free of unnecessary preservatives and additives helps the dog to achieve emotional well being. Foods that are high in sugars or contain cheap grains and other carbohydrates will not help my anxious or hyperactive dog to be calm and may not give him the quality protein that he needs.

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Q: My dog Raven is a 16 month old Black Lab who has severe allergies. He is constantly itching, scratching, licking himself and gets yeast infections in his ears. I have been able to control his ear infections by cleaning his ears daily to keep them dry. The vet also wants to put him on Prednisone but I just don’t like the idea of having my pets on strong medications like this.

Right now I am switching Raven to [a leading super premium] dry food as it is hypoallergenic. But I don’t feel very comfortable with the idea of giving him that food as the company who makes this food was involved in the 2007 big pet food recall. Do you have a dry food for dogs that can help relieve symptoms of allergies? I do feed Raven green beans, blue berries, carrots and apple pieces (without the seeds) for snacks and he loves them. Should I stop giving him the fruit and veggies?

Sorry I am bombarding you with these questions, I have heard lots of good things about Spot’s Stew (I am a member of Dogchannel and we chat about dog foods a lot and have heard praises on your line of food). I’d really appreciate any recommendations if possible.

A: Sorry to hear about Raven’s allergic tendencies. The very first thing I recommend is to put these dogs on a high quality NATURAL diet–one that does not include artificial dyes/colors, flavors, inferior by-products or any meat meals (for example, “chicken meal”). “Meals” are created by the process of rendering–which often creates a very poor quality protein source. Many times these dogs are not reacting to an actual meat protein but to the quality of the protein or additives/preservatives in a food. Next, I would recommend the addition of a fatty acid supplement to Raven’s food. The complement of fatty acids found in Halo’s Dream Coat are anti-inflammatory. Research has proven fatty acids to be beneficial in a number of skin conditions by providing anti-inflammatory properties. I do not think you need to stop giving Raven the fruits and veggies you described. If none of this seems to help, you may need to do a food trial (to assess for true food allergies) or some skin testing (to assess for inhaled allergies-called atopy) to get to the bottom of Raven’s problem so you can begin specific therapy if necessary. Read my article Allergies in Dogs to learn more about allergies in dogs.

Hope this helps. Good Luck and keep us posted!
Dr. Donna Spector

We were thrilled to win Animal Wellness Magazine’s Seal of Approval for our Healthsome Treats. We were even more thrilled when the highly regarded natural-focus publication featured us throughout the most recent issue.

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Dr. Donna Spector will be on the My Buddy Butch radio show today (Thursday, August 20) at 7:40 PM ET. She’ll continue on the topic what constitutes a “complete and balanced” diet for dogs, as well as how to properly make (and supplement) home cooked pet meals.

She’ll even point listeners to Halo’s free holistic pet recipes at www.halopets.com/recipes!

Click here to listen in!

Ellen DeGeneres asked her 2.9 million Twitter followers, “How come kitties are so soft, but their tongues are so rough?” Well I didn’t know either! So we consulted Ellen’s favorite veterinarian Dr. Donna Spector (who has appeared with Ellen on TV multiple times). Sure enough, Dr. Donna knows.

Here’s her answer.