Don't let your help be harmful to your dog

I was doing some research today and noticed a paid google advertisement entitled "how I helped my aging dog".  The website name it went to had nothing to do with dogs.  Curious, I clicked on it.

It wasn't a canine health related site.  A woman who sells Shaklee (R) products created a blog, (nothing wrong with that obviously), and the Google ad went straight to a blog post about her aging dog, who had lost quite a bit of weight, so she started making meals for it.  She detailed how she cooked up sweet potato, rice, and turkey, and the dog gobbled it up.  Well, dogs will gobble up chocolate too, splintered chicken bones, and rat poison, but that doesn't mean any of it's good for them.  The woman included how she gave her dog Shaklee Alfalfa supplement and Shaklee Joint Health supplement.  Both of these items are manufactured and designed for humans, not dogs.

The dog is a 15 plus year old black lab - the woman should be applauded for caring so much for her aging dog.  But it caused me concern that the article portrays the idea that it's acceptable to just throw together a meal from the fridge for your dog, without realizing dogs need a balanced diet.  As well she pushes giving supplements specifically formulated for human consumption, to dogs, in this case Shaklee supplements, which she is selling on her website.

 Where's the Vet advice in all this?  Dogs are not humans. Shaklee distributors are not experts in canine nutrition.  

 The possible things that can go wrong with not researching and making sure you are supplying a balanced species appropriate dog food, are very expertly detailed by Holistic DVM Dr. Karen Becker via Mercola Healthy Pets, here.  I also have a copy of her article in the DoggieResearch.com   in the Document Library, Dog Diets and Food Category, entitled 13 Pet Foods - Ranked from Great to Disastrous.

It would be a shame to accidentally reduce the golden years of your special canine friend, because of imbalanced nutrition.  Dr. Becker has a cookbook for homemade dog food with a lot of recipes.  You can find it on Amazon, here.  I bought a copy and recommend the book.  On page 17 of the edition I own, she says:

"You will not find rice, barley, oats or any high-carbohydrate foods in our program (except for small amounts of sweet potatoes and squash)."
"A starchy diet is a pro-inflammatory diet."

Another favorite, homeopathic DVM Dr. Charles Loops has a free recipe available on his website, here.  I have also created a copy of it and listed it in the DoggieResearch.com Document Library, Dog Diets and Food Category.

P.S.  I did find "Vet advice" as I called it, concerning giving dogs Alfalfa, in Dr. Becker's Dog Food book.  She lists out 9 super green foods, one of which is alfalfa, on page129 of my edition of her cook book (Amazon link above) and then says:  "In our previous version we advised against the use of kelp and alfalfa.  This was because we've known many animals that developed allergies to these fine foods by eating them every day."  In the next paragraph, she says "We recommend rotating through them all, switching products every time you run out to avoid any allergic reactions..."  I strongly urge getting the book for the full info, or, seeing if your Public Library has a copy.