Latest / The Natural Dog Mum / Uncover the Perfect Nutrition Plan for Your Dog with Hair Analysis with Vet Nurse & Canine Nutritionist Ellie Gronkowski

Transcript

Uncover the Perfect Nutrition Plan for Your Dog with Hair Analysis with Vet Nurse & Canine Nutritionist Ellie Gronkowski · The Natural Dog Mum

0:00
Hi dog mums and dads, and welcome back to another edition
0:03
of the Natural Dog Mum. Today we're chatting with the
0:06
lovely Ellie. She is a holistic nutritionist
0:11
for dogs. She's also a vet nurse and she
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provides services in the area of holistic health and nutrition
0:19
through her brand Do Good, which is based on the Gold Coast.
0:23
So we're going to be talking about all things fresh feeding,
0:26
how to make sure your dogs are getting the direct balance of
0:31
nutrients in their diet. We're going to be learning more
0:34
about the process that happens when you book a consult, which
0:41
also includes pair mineral analysis.
0:44
Really, really interesting stuff.
0:46
And we're also going to be talking about leaky guts.
0:49
It's a term that's thrown around a lot, I know, but there are a
0:52
lot of dog mums and dads out there that get a little bit
0:55
confused and don't quite understand what it means or how
0:59
they can prevent it or if their dog has it, how they can go
1:02
about healing it. So we're going to get into all
1:05
of that and more in just a moment.
1:11
Hello, thanks for coming on. So happy to meet you finally.
1:16
Thank you. Hello, Sherry.
1:17
How are you today? Good, good.
1:20
I'll thank you for the call which we were just talking
1:22
about. Yes, thank you for having me.
1:25
It's such a pleasure. Anytime, anytime.
1:29
So did you want to start off by maybe telling us a little bit
1:32
about where you started and how it is that you came to be doing
1:38
what you do at the moment of? Course.
1:41
Yes, of course that was few years ago when my beautiful baby
1:46
got for baby got so sick and we lost her in three months time
1:51
unfortunately due to cancer, stomach cancer and my son was
1:57
devastated. So I started to look in look to
2:02
see what happened and I find out the foot she was eating affected
2:07
her guts and created the cancer unfortunately.
2:11
And that was just the basic online course and it opened my
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eyes. So I was, I was sitting with it,
2:19
couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. I was blaming myself that it's
2:22
all my fault. I'm looking after my boys,
2:25
cooking for them, everything. Why I wouldn't do it for my dog.
2:29
Then I decided I felt like it's my mission and I decided to do
2:33
proper study. I become a vet nurse
2:37
nutritionist, I've done diploma in canine nutritions and I
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decided to help others understand what's important when
2:46
it comes to dog feeding and how to help them get healthy and try
2:51
again. Absolutely.
2:52
It's such an important area. Now, the thing that I wanted to
2:56
talk about, which I found super interesting.
3:00
You kindly did an mineral analysis on one of my dogs,
3:05
Mila, based on a sample of her fur, and you found some really,
3:10
really interesting things. There were some issues with the
3:14
hormones, some toxins in her liver, really interesting stuff.
3:19
Can you talk a little more about how that testing process works?
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Of course when I get the when I contact customers or they
3:29
contact me I explain how the process with me works because I
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don't go blindly with creating menu or helping anyone.
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Because there is a lot of dogs with similar symptoms but they
3:41
have a different issues and unfortunately there is a lot of
3:44
misleading information around and most people they are
3:47
treating dogs with allergies and allergies.
3:51
It's not a issue. Allergies usually are symptoms
3:54
or bigger problem. A bigger problem can be
3:57
parasites. We are damaging the stomach,
3:59
damaging the digestive system, damaging liver or can be
4:04
hormonal imbalance which is causing issues or a lot of
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deficiencies. Even the dogs are in a cable
4:10
with some vitamins and minerals, they are artificial so they dog
4:15
can any dog cannot process it properly.
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So the deficiencies causing issues so and it shows as a
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allergy reaction to food and very often dogs they have a
4:27
inflammation or leaky gut or toxins in the liver.
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So I when I do the test, I know where is the bigger problem and
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when I look at the results and I know what came first because
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that's the higher reading. If we know there is a leaky gut,
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then I know the leaky gut started the issues and if there
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is a more toxins then I know we have to remove the toxins and
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then target the leaky gut. But we're doing step by step.
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The very helpful thing is to get the deficiency as well to see if
4:57
there is just amino acid deficiency or vitamins, minerals
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and then I know what to put in the meals.
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Honestly the biggest problem when I see even on a Facebook or
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Instagram people are talking about allergies and allergies,
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it's not a problem. Allergy is a symptom.
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And most of the time when you even target the allergy,
5:17
changing the diet, you're not targeting the problem, the root.
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So you don't target the toxins, you don't target the leaky gut
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or the hormonal imbalance. So it's like a vicious single.
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You're just doing things and it's not helping.
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And a lot of people are saying I changed the diet, I'm doing
5:35
everything, but they're not targeting the problem.
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So yeah, when I get the hair I can test it usually takes 3 to 4
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hours and I have a full preview and then I can sit and analyse
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and see what's the best way. Sometimes I use different
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powders for different dogs because they have a different
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needs. Sometimes it's spirulina,
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sometimes it's milk Thistle to target the issues in the Liba,
6:00
or it's just a leaky gut which we have to kill and then
6:05
everything comes into place and the dogs is thriving again.
6:11
Absolutely. And it, it's so important
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because I mean, there's a lot of people out there talking about,
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OK, well, you need to change them to a fresh food diet or a
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raw diet. That's all good in theory.
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But if you're buying, walking into a store and buying
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something off the shelf, it's a generic kind of product.
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I mean, it's yes, it might be completely balanced to provide
6:33
your average dog with their daily nutritional needs, but
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it's not targeted to your dog's specific needs and it's not
6:40
actually helping to support any existing deficiencies that they
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might have to bring them back up to that normal level.
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It's such an important point that often gets missed in these
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discussions. Yes.
6:53
And another thing, a lot of dog foods, they are in a shops, they
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have a lot of ingredients. If the dog has a problem with
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the leaky gut, we have to be very careful what we're given.
7:04
We cannot give spinach, we cannot give kale because the
7:07
stomach is very sensitive, The digestive system is very
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sensitive. So we have to avoid those
7:12
things. So like I said, depends on the
7:15
information I'm getting from the hair and I know what to do, what
7:18
to put in the meals. And I'm only always recommending
7:23
only do the meals for three weeks, three months.
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If you see the difference, you can use different meals.
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But if you happy, just keep going until the dog honestly
7:33
recovers completely because he's specialised and focused on a dog
7:38
need. Absolutely.
7:39
So we've mentioned leaky guts a couple of times, very, very
7:45
common problem, but something that I, I don't think a lot of
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pet parents really understand. Do you want to talk a little bit
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more about that, what it is, what causes it and what we
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should be doing about it? It's always because of the food,
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the dry food unfortunately, or the canned food, it's a lot of
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artificial ingredients and preservatives, a lot of
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artificial vitamins in minerals and they are damaging the
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digesting the lining of the stomach and creating digestive
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with issues. Very often it's the reason, but
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it usually comes with inflammation because of the
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liver. It's not processing properly and
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when the lining of the stomach is leaky, it's creating like a
8:31
allergy reaction because the bacteria goes into the
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bloodstream and it's causing the issue.
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That's why our dogs, they get an ear infection, they get an
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itchiness, they get in the raw pulse.
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Yes, because the bacteria is in the body.
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That's why they get in antibiotics just to kill the
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bacteria. But the bacteria will be killed
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for a little bit and will come back again, unfortunately.
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So to get we have to take care of the leaky gut and focus on
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the proper nutrition and heal the gut and avoid the artificial
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ingredients and preservatives and yeah, the dog, it takes
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time. It unfortunately takes time.
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It won't be like at what 2 weeks, 3 weeks job takes three
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to six months. So people don't understand very
9:16
often they saying oh, you didn't help me because they didn't give
9:20
enough time. If it took it takes like 3 or 6
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months or even 2 years for the dog to get the issues.
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We cannot cure it the natural way in two or three weeks.
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So absolutely not. And that's the other thing that
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a lot of people don't realise as well.
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I think when you're talking about gut problems, what starts
9:42
in the gut? I mean, we've talked about
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allergies and and skin issues and those sorts of things, but
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it leads to all sorts of diseases and issues because 70%
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of their immune system is inside the gut.
9:55
Yes, yes, definitely. But they, they think that
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itchiness is caused only by allergies, but it's honestly,
10:02
it's from the the leaky gut or the toxins.
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And the leaky gut has to be addressed because whatever
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you're going to do, whatever you're going to put in the dog,
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it will be the same outcome. Antibiotics and steroids.
10:14
Antibiotic and steroids, yeah. Yeah, you definitely need to be
10:19
healing the gut because if you're not healing that lining,
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if you're not getting the balance of good and bad bacteria
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back to where it needs to be, anything you put in, not only
10:29
are they not going to get the benefits and absorb nutrients
10:31
properly, but the symptoms are going to continue.
10:34
Yeah. Because it's triggering the
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issues. Yeah, yeah.
10:40
So what are some, what are some of the things that you recommend
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when you see dogs that have leaky gut that are having
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symptoms? Obviously there's not one size
10:52
fits all, but can you give us an example or two of some of the
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sorts of things that people might do to show improvement?
11:00
To be honest, it's hard to give like overall help or advice
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because like you mentioned, it has to be addressed properly.
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Some leaky gut comes with the inflammation, some comes with
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the toxins, some comes with just the deficiency.
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But the main thing is just to focus on a proper diet.
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Avoid preservatives, additives, MSN powder.
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Start introducing probiotic. Just don't jump on a probiotic
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straight away. Start slowly introduced yoghurt.
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The best yoghurt is coconut, so give like 1 teaspoon.
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If the dog is big, start with one teaspoon, then increase
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after a few days to one tablespoon.
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If the dog is OK, it's tolerating, doesn't have a
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diarrhoea, then you can introduce the probiotic, the
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powder. Be careful which probiotic you
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give to your dog because there is a lot.
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And if there is a mix of a lot of probiotics, they won't do a
12:00
good job because that dog's digestive system is very short
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and they don't need that many probiotics.
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They just need one or two and they will build up the rest.
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But if they can get natural one like a yoghurt, like a fermented
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veggies, it will help them a lot.
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Even if they don't have a leaky gut, it will help them with the
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digestion and will protect them from leaky gut.
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So yeah, MSN powder, probiotic, but gentle probiotic, fermented
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veggies, proper meat, proper ofols and some veggies.
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Don't get too crazy about veggies, but some just for the
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fibre it's good to have. Yep.
12:40
So you mentioned MSM, Can you talk a little, a little bit
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about that? MSN powder is a very magical
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powder, I have to admit it helps with a lot of things.
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It's not well known because it's very cheap.
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It's like $40 or $50 per kilo and helps with the digestion,
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helps with the skin, helps with the infections, helps with leaky
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gut as well with high blood pressure.
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I use it for myself for vision as well.
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It's a powder we can use for dogs and for humans but helps
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overall with our body. Used to be in a garden in a soil
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but because the gardens are unfortunately depleted it's
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missing and there is beautiful company.
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They are in sunshine coves and they have a natural source of
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the MSN powder. It's not man made it's from
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Natural natural 1. So I highly recommend anyone can
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jump on my website there is a lot of information about MSN.
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That's the first product I got in love with and whatever I do,
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I always recommend MSN powder. Excellent.
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Now you mentioned inflammation moment ago.
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Some of the sorts of things I would assume you be recommending
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would be things like your hemp seed oil or your flaxseed oil,
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or your. Omega 3.
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Information. Good quality omega-3, not the
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one you can get in a store with artificial vitamin E, but good
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quality. I'm talking about the Zinzeno or
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Nordic. They are two companies.
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They have a inner liquid form. There is no artificial
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ingredients is in a of those and start the day for the dog with
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one teaspoon or tablespoon depends on the size of the dog.
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With the omega-3, it's a game changer.
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The skin will improve, the digestion will improve and if
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there is no because that's a balanced one.
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It's omega-3, Omega 6 and Omega 9 there.
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If there is imbalance, the inflammation starts and if there
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is inflammation then the leaky gut starts, the indigestion
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starts and all those things. And unfortunately meals that a
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lot of people that use kibble and kibble doesn't have the
15:01
Omega. Well, not not only that, but so
15:04
many, particularly of the cheaper kibbles so high in
15:08
carbohydrates. That in itself causes so much
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inflammation in the body as well.
15:13
Yes, yes, yes, yes, that's right.
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And what worries me the most people are just looking on a
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meals when I offering them the meals and they saying it's too
15:24
expensive to prepare but they don't.
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And they saying I spent like $20 a week for the dog meal.
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Yes, but how much do you spend on a vet down the track?
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So when you calculate it all together, it's better to invest
15:38
in a proper meals and good quality meals which they can
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prepare. Because when I do the report, as
15:44
you remember, I'm breaking down the meat of false, how much
15:48
bones and how much veggies, and I'm picking up the veggies they
15:52
needed for the dog so they know exactly what to do.
15:56
So yeah, if I could, I would do every meal for every dog just to
16:01
make sure they're going to be happy and healthy.
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But a lot of my customers, they're Interstate.
16:07
So I unfortunately I can't prepare.
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Yeah, for my locals I do just to make sure they they recovering
16:16
and doing wells. Yeah, but it's, it just makes it
16:20
so easy. I mean, you've got the report,
16:24
you can tell them exactly where there are deficiencies and how
16:27
to meet their needs. So it might be a case of adding
16:30
some herbs. You mentioned milk Thistle, it
16:32
might be adding MSM. It might be, you know, that they
16:35
need a good probiotic and then and even if they're not local,
16:40
you're then giving them the exact breakdown of the different
16:43
components in the meal and you're even giving them recipes
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and a bone broth recipe as well. So it doesn't get a whole lot
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easier than that. I hope so.
16:53
I hope so. I'm trying to make it as easy as
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I can because I know it can be overwhelming and for me it's
17:00
easy because I have the knowledge and if someone comes
17:04
from the street they don't know as much as I do, so I'm trying
17:07
to break it down for them. Yeah, absolutely.
17:12
So if you could, if you could think of one or it can be two
17:18
things if you like that you really want more pet parents to
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know, is there one or a couple of things that really jump to
17:26
mind? Yes, there is few things but the
17:28
most important allergies. I'm not sure why there is a
17:32
misinformation and misleading programmes to get the allergy
17:39
testing. Allergy testing will show what a
17:42
dog is allergic to, but it's not relevant and it won't help us
17:48
much because if the dog has a leaky gut, the dog can be
17:52
allergic to everything, every protein, every veggie and
17:56
everything because the gut doesn't process it properly.
17:59
So please always before you start the allergy our
18:04
elimination diet sit and I created a book like a self piece
18:11
health assessment book. It's on my website.
18:15
Everyone can download it for free and they can sit and
18:19
analyse what's if the dog has an issue and what can cause.
18:23
And it's easier for them if they don't want to do consultation.
18:26
But they have written down every possible issue like for the
18:30
toxins, for the leaky gut, for deficiencies and they can do it
18:35
themselves. But please don't be mislead that
18:38
the dog has an allergy for lamp, for kangaroo or for anything.
18:43
If there is a leaky gut, the dog will have an allergy for
18:46
everything. Even I heard the dog is the dog
18:49
has an allergy for protein and shouldn't eat meat.
18:53
It's not true. Yeah, as we know.
18:56
I've heard that as well. But I mean, that's, that's the
18:59
thing. And you're absolutely right.
19:01
That's the thing that so many people don't understand.
19:04
I mean, look, maybe there is a sensitivity issue there, but
19:08
you're never really going to know unless you fix the gut 1st
19:11
until you fix the gut as you said, they're in a reactor.
19:14
So many different things anyway because they're not able to
19:18
process them. If you get that gut good and
19:20
healthy, you heal the leaky gut. You make sure that everything in
19:25
that respect is at least good. Then if you want to do allergy
19:29
testing, do your allergy testing.
19:30
But that's right, doing it prior to that point is useless.
19:34
It's not not going to give you it.
19:35
Is it's wasting money? Yeah it's wasting money, wasting
19:39
time and wasting the time the dog can heal.
19:43
Another thing is chicken. Avoid chicken.
19:47
Honestly spend more money and get Turkey or get even lamp.
19:51
Lately has been an issue with the dogs.
19:54
Yeah. But kangaroo duck, there is a
19:59
lot of options but chicken shouldn't be given to the dogs
20:02
so. Many of them have have problems
20:06
with it. I'm lucky that mine can tolerate
20:09
chicken so I can give them some but I would never feed anyone
20:13
protein exclusively. But Turkey is a really really
20:16
good one. Especially if you do have a dog
20:18
that's that's having issues because it's a cool protein so
20:22
it doesn't tend to trigger them. Yeah, but you feed your dogs raw
20:27
so they wouldn't have a leaky gut and there was no issue with
20:31
a leaky gut with your dogs. They were little different
20:34
things, but nothing major. So you can see the benefit of
20:39
healthy eating. It's not only us and it's for
20:42
the dogs. Couple years ago I heard
20:45
something like you are what you eat.
20:48
It's not only about people, it's the same about the dogs.
20:52
If you feed them properly, they will be with you long time and
20:56
you won't be worried. You won't be crying at night
20:59
that the dog is itchy or the dog is upset or there is a lot of
21:04
issues because they're gonna thrive.
21:06
So yeah, the the main message is just look up the diet and please
21:11
don't get misled that the allergy, it's the main issue.
21:15
The allergy is a symptom or a bigger.
21:19
So true. I mean, as you know, I formulate
21:23
skin care specifically for sensitive dogs.
21:26
And so much of the time when they contact me to ask questions
21:30
about which products should they use, they have this idea that
21:35
using a topical product is going to fix the problem.
21:38
And they're always shocked and horrified when the symptoms
21:41
return. I'm not well, you are only
21:43
treating the symptom. What you really need to look at
21:46
is what you're feeding and what the state of your dog's gut is
21:50
or none of this is is going to go away.
21:52
I can give you something that will certainly support healthy
21:57
skin and colour, so I can give you something that will help
22:00
with the itching, etcetera. But if you're feeding them all
22:03
the wrong things, I can't help you with that.
22:06
Yeah, yeah. I've been recommending your
22:08
products. And when people are getting my,
22:11
my, my meals, my recommendation with the meals and your
22:15
products, they're getting incredible results because we're
22:19
trading from inside and outside. So yeah.
22:22
No, I agree. I mean, that's on that.
22:24
That's part of the reason why I embarked on studying nutrition
22:28
myself. I mean, I mainly only sell
22:30
topical products, but because there's such an important link
22:35
with the gut and with skin problems, I wanted to be able to
22:39
answer more of people's questions when they asked about
22:43
these sorts of things. Oh, I have to look at diet.
22:45
Why? You know, I figured the more
22:48
that I knew, the more I would potentially be able to help, or
22:53
at least know enough to answer basic questions and then refer
22:56
them to someone who has more qualifications than I do.
23:01
Yeah, yeah, amazing, amazing. But our jobs are very important.
23:11
Yeah, I think. So.
23:12
Yeah, I wouldn't want to do. I wouldn't want to do anything
23:15
else. The only thing I'm dying to do
23:17
that I haven't had time to yet is I'm actually working on a
23:21
product range for cats that I'm hoping to bring out towards the
23:27
end of the year. And when I first started
23:30
studying my herbalism certification and started making
23:34
making remedies on the farm, I was treating problems in horses
23:39
as well, not just dogs and cats. At some point, I don't know
23:45
when, because that's a a whole other, a whole other kettle of
23:48
fish and a whole other level of expertise.
23:51
I would love to do a horse range at some point as well.
23:54
There are a lot of similarities. A lot of the basic principles
23:57
are the same. But then there there are again,
24:00
a lot of other things because they are a different species of
24:03
animal. Yeah.
24:05
You know, things don't work in the same way.
24:08
They're not a carnival. And there are certain herbs and
24:11
certain ingredients, you know, that are really great with
24:15
horses that you can't use with dogs, vice versa.
24:18
So there are a few differences there at no, I love my giant
24:23
puppies just as much. I'd love to do something more
24:25
with them as well. Yeah, I feel like it's my
24:29
mission to do it. I'm honestly, I'm so happy when
24:33
I'm getting messages from my customers.
24:36
He stopped scratching. Thank you.
24:38
I love what you're doing. Thank you.
24:40
Thank you for helping. Well, that's what makes all the
24:43
work worthwhile. When when you know when the
24:46
owner is feeling relieved, when the dog is happy and feeling
24:50
better. That's all I need to hear.
24:52
Yes, that's right. And I feel like I'm able to
24:55
detect the issues, not like vets they just putting everything in
25:00
the same bag, given antibiotics, giving steroids, doing the same,
25:04
giving Prime 100, saying that's going to help, not looking into
25:09
the roots. And I feel honestly so good that
25:12
I'm able to do it and pinpoint the issues and help them out.
25:17
Yeah, absolutely. Like, no, it's, it's, it's well
25:21
worthwhile and it's, it's always nice spoiling your fur babies
25:25
and. Yes.
25:28
And somebody so happy because their fur babies happy.
25:31
I mean, I love that. And and I love when I get to
25:35
catch up face to face with people and their dogs as well,
25:38
because I, I feel like they're, I'm auntie and they're kind of
25:41
my little baby nieces and nephews.
25:43
They're all kind of part of the pack, you know?
25:45
And it's good stuff, Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I feel like it's my
25:49
gank. Absolutely.
25:51
Yeah, absolutely. Sure.
25:54
Well, thank you so much for making the time.
25:56
It's been so lovely chatting with you.
25:59
We definitely need to get you back because there's so much
26:02
more to talk about that we can fit in 1/2 an hour slot.
26:06
So we'll work on some ideas and and get you back again when we
26:10
can. Sounds good, beautiful.
26:13
Thank you so much and I'll talk to you soon.