HAVANASILKDOGS & CHOCOLATESILKDOGS HAVANESE
Palm Desert, CA 92260
havanasi
Natural rearing:
Natural Rearing Resources:
http://aunaturelk9s.com/about.html
http://www.nrbreedersassociation.org
http://www.canine-health-concern.org.uk/
Natural Rearing in it's most basic form means allowing and providing for Mother Nature to guide the nutrition, health, and overall welfare of Havana Silk Dogs Havanese. It means that when a Mother has puppies, she and her puppies get to decide when it's time to wean .....and some puppies need a little more "Mom" time while some puppies are ready to be on their own sooner. Puppies who wean when Nature decides are healthier, better adjusted, and easier to train than puppies who are just automatically pulled off their Dams at some arbitrary age like 6 weeks because "it's the 'accepted' way of doing it." Some of my puppies have stayed with their Moms for up to 10 weeks and during that time they are getting a huge education from Mom including housebreaking and bite inhibition along with the extra nutrition from Mother's milk.
Natural Rearing means following Nature's design of the anatomy of a canine to determine what they need to eat. Dogs are carnivores which is a scientific fact based on their sharp carnissial teeth, powerful jaws, exceptionally powerful stomach acids, and short intestines....traits shared with all carnivores, and NOT shared with either Omnivores (like humans and Bears) or Herbivores (like Deer, rabbits and Horses) Seriously, would you feed a horse or a rabbit a slab of steak? No? Well that's the type of logic that goes into commercial dog foods. Most commercial dog foods would be healthier for rabbits.
A Carnivore was designed to eat the meat of other animals in order to function at it's healthiest possible level. Commercial dog foods which contain mostly grains and fillers, and more recently, poisons, are not appropriate to maintain the optimum health of a carnivore. "In December 1995, the British Journal of Small Animal Practice published a paper contending that processed pet food suppresses the immune system and leads to liver, kidney, heart and other diseases. Dr. Kollath, of the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, headed a study done on animals. When young animals were fed cooked and processed foods they initially appeared to be healthy. However, as the animals reached adulthood, they began to age more quickly than normal and also developed chronic degenerative disease symptoms. A control group of animals raised on raw foods aged less quickly and were free of degenerative disease. " The AAFCO (American Association of Feeding Control Officials) feeding standards require as evidence of feedability that in a 26-week trial of at least eight dogs no more than two die. And in conclusion that constitutes their scientific support. There is no such thing as a good kibble. Why do we think the companies are always striving for a newer improved formula? They have no idea what they are doing. Please click on the following links to learn even more:
Pet Food - Our Pets are Dying for it
Jane Anderson's RawLearning.com
The Many Myths About Raw Feeding
Tom Lonsdale's Raw Meaty Bones Site
Dr. Ian Billinghurst, B.V.Sc.(Hons), BSc.Agr., Dip.Ed.
"The sad truth is that prepared pet foods help provide patients for vets."
"Raw chicken does of course carry bacteria, E.g. Salmonella. These are of absolutely no consequence to a healthy dog."
"As a veterinary student in the early seventies, I found it hard to understand why Aussie vets had fewer and simpler dog and cat diseases to deal with than the Americans. It seemed to make the Aussie vet somehow inferior. We did not need to be trained to the same high degree of complexity and sophistication. There was a simple explanation. At that time, more than seventy percent of Aussie dogs were still fed raw bones and scrapes. They were still pretty healthy. American dogs had been eating processed food and no bones for decades. They had developed a wide range of problems. Their vets had been forced to develop a complex set of diagnostic and therapeutic tools to deal with them. I need not have worried. Our dogs' disease problems are increasing on a par with their increasing consumption of processed and cooked foods. We Aussie vets now have to be as good as our American counterparts to deal with them. There are many reasons why the commercial pet foods have never been close to a dog's natural diet. Those reasons include the fact that they are based on grain, and that they are cooked."
Dr. Richard Pitcairn, DVM
"...When I began to suggest the feeding of raw meat I found animals becoming more healthy even without other treatment. Indeed, I have frequently had the report that people find their animals become healthy when they make this change and diseases for which they were hoping to have treatment (on a waiting list) have disappeared. Since that time, other veterinarians have told me similar things about the use of raw meat. I do not have numbers but I think the veterinarians recommending raw meat in the US are in the hundreds. My experience, albeit clinical and not based on studies, is that my patients have improved health on a raw diet. Furthermore, I have not seen significant parasite problems. Dogs and cats, being carnivores by nature, are meant to eat raw meat and do not have a problem doing so."
"Although we have come to accept commercial foods as being normal or natural ways to feed animals (and indeed ourselves), in fact they are not. They are simply what we've gotten used to in the last few decades. But nothing we can produce commercially ever can rival those mysteriously complex foods manufactured for eons by nature itself."
"All processed pet foods - whether sold in cans, bags, or frozen packages, in either giant supermarket chains or local health food stores - are missing something that seems to me to be one of the most important "nutrients" of all. This key ingredient is something nutritional scientists have practically ignored. But when it's there, you and I can know it and feel it. It is a quality found only in freshly grown, uncooked whole foods. It's life energy."
"The many objections we can make about the nutritional quality of animal convenience foods boil down to two basic types: these foods don't contain things we wish they did, and do contain things we wish they didn't... The two basic problems are linked together as an unhappy pair because the presence of various toxins and pollutants actually increases the body's needs for high quality nutrients necessary for combating or eliminating these contaminants. When the overall nutrition is already lower that it should be, we are inviting trouble."
Kymythy Schultze
"Salmonella has even been found in samples of commercial pet foods & treats. Bacteria is not a problem for a pet with a strong immune system, & a strong immune system is encouraged by eating species-appropriate raw food."
Christina Chambreau, DVM
"Meat should be raw. Cooking destroys enzymes and denatures the proteins rendering them less digestible to cats and dogs."
"Dogs and cats need raw meat to be really healthy and even the best processed foods cook their good ingredients, & most commercially available foods, even the expensive ones, use the cheapest ingredients (that means dead, diseased and decaying meat & by-products)."
Tom Lonsdale, DVM
"Raw meaty bones promote health."
"Dingoes and feral cats keep themselves healthy by eating whole carcasses. The closer you come to this ideal for pet dogs and cats the better."
"As the natural pet food industry increases, so the artificial industry, together with its harmful effects, should go into decline... No more slurping of canned stew, no more rattle of dry pellets; instead, the sounds of nature, the crunching of raw meaty bones."
Dr. Wendell O. Belfield, DVM
"Their pets may have diarrhoea, increased flatulence, a dull hair coat, intermittent vomiting or prolonged scratching. These are common symptoms associated with commercial pet foods." In 1981, as Martin Zucker and I wrote How to Have a Healthier Dog, we discovered the full extent of negative effects that commercial pet food has on animals. In February 1990, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer John Eckhouse went even further with an expose entitled "How Dogs and Cats Get Recycled into Pet Food".
William Pollak, DVM
"Health is an inevitable by-product of natural raw foods for our pets."
"Survival is insured by commercial food; nothing more; not health, not the robustness for life."
"The results of a clinical trial suggest that 74.7% of common diseases in dogs and 63% of common diseases in cats can be eliminated without medical intervention over a period of one year with proper diet modifications and an understanding of the healing process as exhibited through healing episodes. Approaching disease from the perspective of health is the most powerful means of eliminating disease. Poor fuel makes for little momentum in life. The commercial food we are feeding' is the disease we are treating - so treat on and on, curing one disease after another, again and again."
"In the wild, no one cooks for the coyote or wolf; no one brushes their teeth. Their foods are raw and unprocessed."
"Eating supermarket pet foods is like eating cardboard. Our pets just get by on them and the foods lack any real vitality for the flourishing of health. Life is designed to be lived in vitality; surviving is living a slow death even before departure from the body."
Dr. Randy Wysong, DVM
"The very best way to feed pets is to turn them loose to eat their natural prey."
Nutrition is serious health business. The public is not well served by exclusively feeding products from companies without any real commitment to health... or knowledge of how to even achieve that.
"Recent studies have shown processed foods to be a factor in increasing numbers of pets suffering from cancer, arthritis, obesity, dental disease and heart disease", comments Dr Wysong.
Dr. Charles E. Loops, DVM
"The best diet is a raw food diet."
"Science Diet & Hill's dog & cat food products are not good diets. They use chemical preservatives that have been shown to cause problems in some animals & they use by-products, which are words on the ingredient label that need to be avoided at all costs. This generally means food not utilized for human consumption."
Edward Howell, MD
"Among the many thousands of species of creatures living on this earth, only humans & some of their domesticated animals try to live without enzymes. And only these transgressors of nature's law are penalized with defective health. It is not surprising that dogs (and cats) have many human diseases since they are given only canned or packaged, heat treated, enzyme free food."
Dr. Alicia McWatters, Ph.D.
"Fresh, raw foods contain the highest level of enzymes and these enzymes assist in digestion. Cooked foods and dry convenient diets have been denatured and are devoid of enzymes: life-promoting elements. While they may maintain life they do not promote optimum health or longevity!"
T.J. Dunn, DVM
"Modern man has modified a number of characteristics of the canine. But there's one thing man has not altered... the basic nutrient requirements of the dog. Dogs need today essentially the same nutrients that their predecessors required eons ago. That is precisely why there has been so much notice given to the practice of feeding dogs (and cats, too!) raw meat and other unprocessed foods. There is ample proof that today's pet dogs and cats DO NOT thrive on cheap, packaged, corn-based pet foods. Dogs and cats are primarily meat eaters; to fill them up with grain-based processed dry foods that barely meet minimum daily nutrient requirements has proven to be a mistake. And the fact that some pet foods have artificial colors and flavors added simply reveals the trickery needed to coax dogs and cats into consuming such material."
Russell Swift, DVM
"Grains are NOT part of the natural diet of wild dogs and cats. Carnivores cannot maintain long term production of the quantity of amylase enzyme necessary to properly digest and utilize the carbohydrates."
From the British Journal of Small Animal Practice
"A growing number of vets state that processed pet food is the main cause of illness and premature death in the modern dog and cat. In December 1995, the British Journal of Small Animal Practice published a paper contending that processed pet food suppresses the immune system and leads to liver, kidney, heart and other diseases. This research, initially conducted by Dr. Tom Lonsdale, was researched further by the Australian Veterinary Association and proven to be correct."
Nick Thompson BSc.(Hons), BVM&S, VetMFHom, MRCVS
"Dogs should eat raw food - raw meat and bones, vegetables and fruit. If they were meant to eat processed, sterilized food, they would have evolved with tin openers instead of dew claws."
Dr. Donald Strombeck, Phd, DVM
Dr. Donald Strombeck, Phd, DVM, tells us "if salmonella really is a problem, then we should be just as concerned with processed pet food". He states that "Salmonellae has been found in commercial pet foods, something the public never learns."
Natural Rearing means that Natural Maturity is absolutely essential to the proper overall development and eventual adult SIZE of your Havanese puppy. Natural Maturity means allowing the puppy to stay intact until it reaches maturity. Spaying or neutering your puppy before it reaches it's full size can frequently result in oversize adults sometimes double the size of their parents when the hormones that tell the bone growth plates when to close are removed during surgery. Spaying or neutering a puppy under the age of one year contributes to other multiple conditions including Hip Displaysia, bone cancer, incontinence, and many other problems. Please visit the following VETERINARY researched documentation supporting keeping dogs intact until at least their first birthday:
http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf
http://www.akcchf.org/pdfs/whitepapers/3-23-08DiscoveriesArticle.pdf
http://www.showdogsupersite.com/kenlclub/breedvet/neutr.html
It is no longer medically justifiable to castrate dogs for prevention of cancer.
Castration predisposes to highly malignant prostatic cancer. Nearly all dogs afflicted with this nasty tumor are neutered individuals.
Spaying helps to reduce the incidence of mammary tumors, if performed before the first heat. It does not eliminate the possibility, but does statistically reduce the risk. So, however, does lactation, as in humans.
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/11/11/1434
Risk for bone sarcoma was significantly influenced by age at gonadectomy. Male and female dogs that underwent gonadectomy before 1 year of age had an approximate one in four lifetime risk for bone sarcoma and were significantly more likely to develop bone sarcoma than dogs that were sexually intact.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12578741
Puppies who get frequent puppy vaginitis or bladder infections and have an "Innie" vulva should NOT be spayed before their first heat.
http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/reprint/40/1/2-a.pdf
There is no indication to perform an ovariohysterectomy in healthy, nongravid
bitches. Since many of the complications seen with ovariohysterectomies can be attributed to the cervical stump and the transection of the broad ligament, many now advocate ovariectomy as the procedure of choice for the sterilization of female dogs.
More on Ovariectomy:
http://www.vetcontact.de/en/art.php?a=81&t=
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11439769&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum
Results suggest that the presence of circulating testosterone in aging sexually intact male dogs may slow the progression of cognitive impairment, at least among dogs that already have signs of mild impairment. Estrogens would be expected to have a similar protective role in sexually intact female dogs; unfortunately, too few sexually intact female dogs were available for inclusion in the study to test this hypothesis. There may be a need to evaluate possible methods for counteracting the effects of loss of sex hormones in gonadectomized dogs.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10844211&query_hl=4&itool=pubmed_docsum
Two studies suggest that risk of prostatic adenocarcinoma is increased in neutered, compared to intact male dogs.
http://www.aarda.org/hormone_art2.html
Infectious diseases, however, were more common in dogs that underwent prepubertal gonadectomy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14765797
Among female dogs, early-age gonadectomy was associated with increased rate of cystitis and decreasing age at gonadectomy was associated with increased rate of urinary incontinence. Among male and female dogs with early-age gonadectomy, hip dysplasia, noise phobias, and sexual behaviors were increased, whereas obesity, separation anxiety, escaping behaviors, inappropriate elimination when frightened, and relinquishment for any reason were decreased.
More on Hip Dysplasia risk: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9154197&query_hl=18&itool=pubmed_docsum
Onset of mineralization of the proximal femoral epiphyses and of the right proximal tibial epiphysis was significantly later in dysplastic than in radiographically normal puppies.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15284406
Urinary incontinence after spaying occurred in 9.7% of bitches. This incidence is approximately half that of spaying after the first oestrus. Urinary incontinence affected 12.5% of bitches that were of a large body weight (GT 20 kg body weight) and 5.1% of bitches that were of a small body weight (LT 20 kg body weight.
However, compared with late spaying the clinical signs of urinary incontinence were more distinct after early spaying.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11787153
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10225598
Tumors occurred with similar frequency in males and females, but the relative risk for spayed females was >4 times that for intact females. For HSA, spayed females had >5 times greater relative risk than did intact females. The risk for castrated males was slightly greater than that for intact males, which had 2.4 times the relative risk of intact females. Thus, neutering appeared to increase the risk of cardiac tumor in both sexes. Intact females were least likely to develop a cardiac tumor, whereas spayed females were most likely to develop a tumor.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8961524&query_hl=8&itool=pubmed_docsum
Incompetence of the urethral sphincter mechanism is uncommon in male dogs. This paper reviews 54 cases. As in the bitch, the condition can occur either as a congenital or as an acquired condition, in which neutering may play a part; larger breeds appear to be at greater risk.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8175472&query_hl=10&itool=pubmed_docsum
Neutering was determined to be the most significant gender-associated risk factor for development of hypothyroidism. Neutered male and spayed female dogs had a higher relative risk of developing hypothyroidism than did sexually intact females. Sexually intact females had a lower relative risk.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=2326799&query_hl=12&itool=pubmed_docsum
Sterilization of either gender increased the prevalence of anterior cruciate ligament injury, suggesting a potential effect of gonadal gender on prevalence of injury of this ligament.
http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/8722513
Our research nevertheless demonstrates that ovariohysterectomy decreases smooth muscle mass and connective tissue; it also elevates vascular plexus volumes in the urethra of spayed animals. Moreover, our results imply a general weakening of the urethral wall as a sequel to ovariohysterectomy, and this, in turn, could be seen to affect the closure mechanism of the urethra.
Please don't do invasive, major, health compromising surgeries on our pretty puppies while they are still growing.
Natural Rearing means letting Nature develop and sustain a healthy immune system rather than relying on injecting dangerous chemicals as disease preventatives.
Annual vaccination is not necessary, and potentially harmful – publicly stated by:
American Veterinary Medical Association
American Animal Hospital Association
Australian Veterinary Association
World Small Animal Veterinary Association
A number of vets in the UK have also spoken out to confirm this in a letter to the Veterinary Times
The American Veterinary Medical Association on boosters:
“No additional protection is provided”
“There is no scientific data to support label directions for re-administration of MLV vaccines annually”
“Vaccines are not harmless. Unnecessary side effects and adverse events can be minimised by avoiding unnecessary vaccinations”
The problems with vaccines
- All vaccine manufacturers state that only healthy animals should be vaccinated
- All vaccine manufacturers list a variety of reasons why and when their product should not be used
- Vaccines can cause the diseases they are designed to prevent
- Merck, one of the largest vaccine manufacturers, states that:
“those with known or suspected B and/or T cell immunodeficiency diseases (or from families with) should not be given live virus vaccines due to the risk of vaccine induced illness and severe or fatal infection”.
- Merck states that:
“features of B cell deficiencies include respiratory or food allergies”
“features of T cell deficiency include heart disease”
“features of combined B and T cell deficiencies include dermatitis, neurological deterioration, and eczema”
If your dog or his relatives have any of these conditions, he should not be vaccinated.
What your vet will tell you
Vet: ‘The routine vaccination of pets is the principle reason for low incidence of disease’
Comment: “No additional protection is provided by annual vaccination.” American Veterinary Medical Association, and other world veterinary authorities.
Vet: ‘Serious side effects are rare’
Comment: “There has been a significant increase in the frequency of autoimmune and allergic diseases in the pet population since the introduction of MLV vaccines,” Dr Jean W Dodds
Vet: ‘The Animal Health Trust (AHT) conducted a study to show that routine vaccination does not increase the frequency of illness’
Comment: This is contrary to research showing that vaccines can cause arthritis, epilepsy, cancer, autoimmune haemolytic anaemia, brain damage, and many other illnesses (for example, world veterinary bodies have stated publicly that vaccination is not without harm).
Vet: ‘Only healthy dogs should be vaccinated, but most vets would advise vaccinating (such as with heart disease), as there is no evidence that such animals are at greater risk’.
Comment: It is a licensing requirement that only healthy animals should be vaccinated. This is stipulated on all veterinary vaccine data sheets. The wording on vaccine data sheets is: “unhealthy animals should not be vaccinated due to the risk of severe or fatal infection”.
Vet: ‘Evidence supporting an alternate vaccination program is purely anecdotal and un-substantiated’
Comment: World veterinary bodies such as the American Animal Hospital Association, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, and so on, are hardly likely to publish data that is anecdotal and unscientific. Indeed, by calling to an end to annual vaccination, they know that their members will lose booster income. Why, then, should they make such pronouncements?
Vet: ‘Long-lasting immunity cannot be attained against the deadly bacteria Leptospirosis and therefore this needs to be boostered yearly’.
Comment: The leptospirosis vaccine gives only short-lived immunity – potentially not even a year. The vaccine covers less than a handful of the hundreds of strains of leptospirosis. The leptospirosis vaccine is the one most commonly associated with severe adverse reactions. World authorities, such as Ronald D Schultz, head of pathobiology at Wisconsin University, say the vaccine is dangerous and ineffective. Added to this, leptospirosis is a rare disease in dogs today.
Kennel Cough (Bordatella Vaccine)
Although uncomfortable, kennel cough is not life threatening unless contracted by an animal who is already in severe ill-health. The vaccine is known to be ineffective.
What about vaccinating when my dog goes into kennels?
It has always been the case that kennels are only asked to operate as per the licensing requirements of their individual council. It has never been law that they must ask for dogs (and cats) to be vaccinated. Some kennels accept homoeopathically treated animals and/or un-vaccinated dogs. Many dog owners use home boarding and/or dog sitting services that are becoming more and more popular these days.
Vaccines represent between 30% and 40% of veterinary practice income.
Here is an extremely thought provoking video that Margo Roman DVM has put together in which she interviews many veterinarians including Dr. Pitcairn, one of the most honored and respected vets in America. Scroll down the page and choose "video preview":
http://drdomore.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=36
This is a list of vaccine links that will help add to your knowledge of the protocols, here is an excellent link about Parvo:
http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/parvo.php
Article from the UK Vet Record proving immunity to Parvo for 15 years post vaccine:
http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/content/abstract/154/15/457
A Class Action Lawsuit for irresponsible vaccinating of pets:
http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/classaction.html
Another: http://www.critterchat.net/vaccs.htm
From a well known Vet:
http://www.drpitcairn.com/talks/looking_at_vaccines.html
Betty Lewis' page....very good with lots of additional links at the end: http://home.earthlink.net/~pawsreflect/vaccinosis.html
Where to report an adverse reaction to a dog vaccine. Good anecdotes about horrible reactions:
http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/
And this is one of the BEST ones:
http://www.whale.to/vaccine/driscoll1.html
If you read nothing else, please read this excellent, eye-opening article about both vaccines and heartworm meds by Barbara Andrews published in Show Sight Magazine:
http://www.thedogplace.org/Articles/DogCare/Vaccines/Andrews_More_Vaccine_Debate9908.htm
The above books are suggested reading to learn more about the dangers of vaccinating your beloved pets......
Palm Desert, CA 92260
havanasi