Episode 31
#31 Top 5 Expert Tips: How to Help Your Dog Live a Long and Healthy Life | With Dr Peter Dobias
The amazing DR Peter Dobias, Holistic Vet, is back on the Podcast to discuss something that is so important to anyone caring for any animal / human in their lives!
Key Moments:
- 00:01:33 - What’s in store this episode
- 00:06:26 - My guest: Dr Peter Dobias
- 00:08:51 - The world’s oldest dog, Bobi
- 00:19:02 - Coping when Bobi dies
- 00:21:15 - Fundraising for Bobi?
- 00:23:37 - Longevity in the world
- 00:24:00 - The benefits of pet freedom
- 00:36:27 - Nutrition challenges
- 00:40:04 - What is a “normal” age for a dog?
- 00:43:45 - Peter’s advice on diet and body condition
- 00:54:46 - Nutrition supplements
- 00:59:46 - The importance of spinal health
- 01:03:46 - Healthy teeth and immunisation
- 01:10:55 - Medication and exercise
- 01:13:31 - Final thoughts
Key Takeaways:
- Bobi, the world’s oldest dog, lives an incredible and happy, simple life and has made it to 31 years old! In this episode, we discuss many contributors as to why this may be.
- Freedom is so important for our animals’ physical and mental health. Note that some animals are genetically predisposed to certain behaviours, so in our modern society it’s our responsibility to exercise common sense when giving our dogs as much freedom as we can.
- Excessive control and restrictions lead to unhappy animals and people! It is possible to have organisation without control.
- There’s no hard and fast diet for all dogs - take Peter’s guideline and try a few things and see how they do on the different proportions.
- Intermittent fasting and meals can actually be easier and beneficial for some dogs (not puppies)! In the wild, they would not eat on a regular basis.
- I recommend checking out Peter’s dog food recipe maker!
- The spine is the highway of energy for the whole body, we need to take care of it!
- Everyday is a learning day - just keep doing your best and stay curious.
Episode Guest:
Peter has over 30 years of experience as a veterinarian. He has a background in both holistic and conventional veterinary medicine, animal homeopathy, and natural nutrition. In 2008, he sold his thriving holistic veterinary practice in North Vancouver, BC, Canada to pursue his passion for educating the public about disease prevention and natural treatment methods.
His goal is to help dog lovers create a healthy and long life for their canine friends naturally. His supplements and other products are made from all-natural, human-grade ingredients that are certified organic whenever possible.
You can learn more about Peter Dobias at:
Peter's Podcast: Not Just About Dogs.
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Disclaimer: The purpose of this podcast is to keep curious and keep free. The opinions of the guests do not necessarily represent the opinions of the host and vice versa - exploring different opinions is key to growth. The content in this podcast and on this website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical or veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified healthcare professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical or veterinary advice because of something you have heard on my podcast or website.
Transcript
In all honesty, I was thinking
Speaker:"please, please, please don't
Speaker:make him get worse"
Speaker:and really praying that he's not
Speaker:going to get worse after this
Speaker:stress. And, you know, some people
Speaker:actually question whether this dog
Speaker:is really 31.
Speaker:The most striking difference between
Speaker:the way all of us feed our dogs
Speaker:and he, is that he sources all his
Speaker:food from the village.
Speaker:I know that there's a combination of
Speaker:elements and factors why Bobi
Speaker:is as long living as he is.
Speaker:But you know, I cannot hide my
Speaker:emotions when I'm talking about
Speaker:because it's just like I don't want
Speaker:to hide them, but it's like it's
Speaker:been one of the most
Speaker:spiritual experiences of the past
Speaker:several years for sure.
Speaker:Like, we are not here to tell them
Speaker:you have to stay for us a little
Speaker:longer.
Speaker:And it's also not a failure if some
Speaker:some dogs live shorter lives than
Speaker:others.
Speaker:But obviously out of, you know, for
Speaker:selfish reasons, we want them to
Speaker:live long.
Speaker:You know, I started supplementing
Speaker:with other supplements that I felt
Speaker:that that we could do better.
Speaker:I was asked to do some
Speaker:to create a formula for minerals
Speaker:and amino acids for a pet food
Speaker:company in the early days.
Speaker:And then I started seeing these
Speaker:amazing changes.
Speaker:I've seen I've seen really kind
Speaker:of like beautiful recoveries from
Speaker:complex situations and conditions.
Speaker:And if we don't look after it, it's
Speaker:we are going to fail to maintain
Speaker:health.
Speaker:Hello. My name's Catherine Edwards,
Speaker:the host of the Live Love Learn
Speaker:podcast. And in today's episode,
Speaker:you are in for a real treat.
Speaker:Now, this is about
Speaker:dog owners and my guest, Dr. Peter
Speaker:Dobias, who's been on my channel
Speaker:before.
Speaker:He is one of the world leading
Speaker:holistic vets that has really
Speaker:devoted his life to educating
Speaker:all of us about how to help our
Speaker:dogs live a long, happy life.
Speaker:But this podcast isn't just for dog
Speaker:owners. REverything
Speaker:we talk about today can be applied
Speaker:to any animal in your life, and
Speaker:equally important to us
Speaker:are humans. Because never has it
Speaker:been more true that happy, human,
Speaker:healthy, human means healthy dog
Speaker:and vice versa.
Speaker:So let's all learn from each other.
Speaker:There's so much more than five tips
Speaker:in here. I promise you that every
Speaker:single person, regardless
Speaker:of whether you're a dog, parent or
Speaker:not, regardless of whether you've
Speaker:grown up with animals or they're new
Speaker:to you, or you just want to
Speaker:understand more about
Speaker:the decisions you make and the
Speaker:impact.
Speaker:So we discuss Bobi,
Speaker:the world's oldest dog, 31
Speaker:years old.
Speaker:The impact of social interaction
Speaker:and freedom of choice
Speaker:and not micromanaging too much
Speaker:in either your own life or your
Speaker:animal's life.
Speaker:Of course, diet, exercise,
Speaker:nutrition
Speaker:and chemicals in and out, detoxing
Speaker:the body, healthy teeth.
Speaker:There's so much in here for
Speaker:everyone.
Speaker:So please sit back,
Speaker:enjoy.
Speaker:Stay curious and let us
Speaker:know what you think in the comments
Speaker:below. Thanks for watching.
Speaker:I am really, really delighted
Speaker:to be back with one of my absolute
Speaker:favourite guests on my podcast, Dr.
Speaker:Pete Tobias.
Speaker:Now last time Peter
Speaker:was on my show.
Speaker:I will put the link to the video
Speaker:below. We had a really amazing
Speaker:conversation about how we could
Speaker:be the best dog parents.
Speaker:And Peter shared a lot of his
Speaker:personal story about how he's
Speaker:accumulated the vast array of
Speaker:knowledge that he has.
Speaker:And this time we're going to be
Speaker:discussing five
Speaker:tips on how to help your dogs
Speaker:live a long and healthy life.
Speaker:But even though we're going to be
Speaker:talking about dogs today, everything
Speaker:we talk about will apply to any
Speaker:other animals in your life and very
Speaker:importantly, yourselves.
Speaker:So don't forget to include
Speaker:yourself in it.
Speaker:I just wanted to say that today's
Speaker:episode is sponsored by
Speaker:ASEA redox signalling molecules.
Speaker:Now it comes in two forms
Speaker:the liquid and the gel.
Speaker:Plus there's a huge other product
Speaker:range for us.
Speaker:But why did I start taking
Speaker:ASEA and why is it now
Speaker:an integral part of something
Speaker:that my whole family, both four
Speaker:legged and two legged, take every
Speaker:single day?
Speaker:Plus also something that all the
Speaker:clients I work with again
Speaker:four legged and two legged, it's number one
Speaker:on my priority list.
Speaker:Well, part of what I do, what
Speaker:I'm passionate about is
Speaker:understanding the challenges that
Speaker:are affecting each and every one of
Speaker:us in today's modern living.
Speaker:The more you know, the more
Speaker:sometimes you wish you didn't know.
Speaker:But the pollution in the air,
Speaker:in the water, in the food,
Speaker:the control of our minds, the
Speaker:propaganda.
Speaker:But one of the things that we can do
Speaker:is take back responsibility
Speaker:for our own health.
Speaker:Now, every single cell of our body
Speaker:whether we're an animal, whether we're
Speaker:one of the dogs in the background!
Speaker:Or one of my plants, contain
Speaker:these redox signalling molecules
Speaker:and cellular health and cellular
Speaker:communication is absolutely key
Speaker:whether you want to get your body
Speaker:back in balance, whether you want
Speaker:to reverse the ageing process,
Speaker:whether you want to address any
Speaker:particular challenges that you've
Speaker:got physically, emotionally.
Speaker:It all starts with healthy
Speaker:cells. If your liver cells are
Speaker:healthy, your liver is healthy,
Speaker:If your brain cells are healthy,
Speaker:your brain is healthy.
Speaker:But just like a mobile phone, most
Speaker:of us have got mobile phones that we
Speaker:we use on a routine basis now.
Speaker:But that mobile phone, regardless of
Speaker:whether you've got the latest model,
Speaker:is completely useless without
Speaker:a signal.
Speaker:So what does this technology do?
Speaker:The gel is something that
Speaker:you can apply topically over
Speaker:particular areas of concern, whether
Speaker:you want your skin to look better,
Speaker:whether you've got cellulite,
Speaker:whether you've got an area that's
Speaker:causing you a challenge.
Speaker:The liquid is something you doing
Speaker:each and every day to top up
Speaker:what should be in your cells anyway.
Speaker:But when our bodies are stressed,
Speaker:diseased, challenged, or as we age,
Speaker:we make less of them.
Speaker:So personally, I wouldn't be without
Speaker:it. My sleep is better, my
Speaker:energy levels are better, my mood's
Speaker:better, my mobility is
Speaker:better. If you want to find out
Speaker:more, the details are below.
Speaker:But I'm so grateful that this came
Speaker:into my life and I'm so grateful
Speaker:I can share it with others.
Speaker:I hope you love it as much as I do.
Speaker:Let me know.
Speaker:Peter, before we get started,
Speaker:for those people that haven't
Speaker:watched your first interview, and I
Speaker:would really encourage people to go
Speaker:back and watch the link below to
Speaker:watch that, but you've inspired
Speaker:me for so long because you've got
Speaker:over 30 years of experience as
Speaker:a veterinarian, but in the
Speaker:background, both holistic and
Speaker:conventional veterinary medicine.
Speaker:So it's given you a really great
Speaker:perspective on the way
Speaker:that you approach health for
Speaker:yourself and for all animals,
Speaker:animal, homeopathy, natural
Speaker:nutrition.
Speaker:And you sold your thriving
Speaker:vet practice in
Speaker:Vancouver, Canada back in 2008
Speaker:to really pursue your passion for
Speaker:educating the public about disease
Speaker:prevention and natural treatments.
Speaker:And that's how I found out about
Speaker:you. And, you know, you're one
Speaker:of the main people that's really
Speaker:helping people do that and with
Speaker:your goal of helping dog
Speaker:lovers. But any animal parents
Speaker:really understand how we can
Speaker:help our dogs
Speaker:live long and healthy lives.
Speaker:So first and foremost, welcome.
Speaker:How are you doing?
Speaker:Thank you. I'm great.
Speaker:I'm really happy to be here.
Speaker:I've been so excited all morning.
Speaker:I was thinking, okay, we're going to
Speaker:talk to Catherine.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:when I'm listening to all I
Speaker:am kind of reminding myself, it's
Speaker:just about learning continuously.
Speaker:It's actually maybe we have a little
Speaker:bit of knowledge here.
Speaker:We gather more and we can make some
Speaker:difference, but the learning never
Speaker:stops. So, you know, I don't want
Speaker:it to sound too grand
Speaker:because really, like we're
Speaker:constant students, like
Speaker:perpetual students.
Speaker:And and it's humbling
Speaker:to know how much knowledge there is
Speaker:that we haven't discovered.
Speaker:And it's really exciting
Speaker:to actually hear the.
Speaker:Hear other people discovering new
Speaker:things and learning from each other
Speaker:and kind of being in a community
Speaker:of like minded people.
Speaker:That's really nice. So I'm really
Speaker:glad to be here.
Speaker:Thank you so much.
Speaker:And I agree with you.
Speaker:There's so much to learn.
Speaker:I mean, I've got my two dogs.
Speaker:We've got Indy on the sofa behind
Speaker:Lola's just at my feet here.
Speaker:And these two dogs have I've had
Speaker:dogs all my life.
Speaker:I'm so lucky. I've grown up with
Speaker:animals of all species, loads of
Speaker:species I'd like a lot more,
Speaker:but they've taught me so much
Speaker:and are continuing to because
Speaker:they've still got a few challenges
Speaker:that I haven't got to the bottom of
Speaker:yet. So, you know, every every
Speaker:person we interact with, every
Speaker:animal we interact with, there's so
Speaker:much we can learn from each other.
Speaker:And you had the most amazing
Speaker:experience. I saw you, Dr. Karen
Speaker:Becker, who is amazing,
Speaker:Rodney Habib who's amazing.
Speaker:You guys had the pleasure
Speaker:of meeting Bobi, the world's
Speaker:oldest verified recorded
Speaker:dog who is 31 years
Speaker:old. I mean, I was blown
Speaker:away by this, Peter, please talk
Speaker:us through that experience.
Speaker:My goodness.
Speaker:So, you know, I actually
Speaker:had planned something else on the
Speaker:weekend when the birthday was
Speaker:happening. And I called my friend
Speaker:who I supposed to visit
Speaker:in the UK and said, you know,
Speaker:I got this invite to see the oldest
Speaker:dog in the world, and would
Speaker:you mind if we just kind of changed
Speaker:the date? Because I'm really
Speaker:curious. So she graciously agreed
Speaker:it and I took my dog,
Speaker:Pax and I, and
Speaker:we flew to Portugal.
Speaker:For those people who don't know how
Speaker:I fly with my dog, I'm a
Speaker:sleepwalker. I sleepwalked through a
Speaker:glass door
Speaker:when I was in my twenties and almost
Speaker:died. So I actually have a service
Speaker:dog who can help
Speaker:me and prevent me from doing that
Speaker:again.
Speaker:So anyway, we flew to Portugal and
Speaker:we met Dr. Becker
Speaker:and Rodney. And
Speaker:the first evening we actually met
Speaker:the canine community in Lisbon
Speaker:and it was really great.
Speaker:Like I usually am not
Speaker:a big fan of big crowds
Speaker:and so on, but this was a really
Speaker:small group and they were just so
Speaker:nice and really excited, so
Speaker:exciting to to be there.
Speaker:What I noticed, the Portuguese
Speaker:people are really they're so
Speaker:full of kindness
Speaker:in their... They live
Speaker:with their heart. And so, the next
Speaker:morning we woke up and
Speaker:we drove to the birthday,
Speaker:a little- We actually were invited
Speaker:to lunch with Bobi and his family.
Speaker:And so we kind of got an
Speaker:insight into the simplicity
Speaker:of their life. So we drove into this
Speaker:little quiet village
Speaker:and, you know, there is a very small
Speaker:house with the garden beside it.
Speaker:Beautiful lush garden.
Speaker:I'm a gardener, so I noticed
Speaker:that immediately.
Speaker:And as we were walking through the
Speaker:half, through the through the main
Speaker:gate, Bobi
Speaker:was actually chased
Speaker:by this little girl who was trying
Speaker:to pet him all the time.
Speaker:And there was no... There are not
Speaker:many people. So it was very sweet to
Speaker:actually see this dog who
Speaker:looked more like he was
Speaker:15 ish,
Speaker:maybe 16, 17,
Speaker:and I couldn't really wrap my
Speaker:head around that, that it was
Speaker:actually a dog... It's a
Speaker:dog that is 31.
Speaker:So first,
Speaker:you know, there are so, so, so much
Speaker:to talk about.
Speaker:Obviously, we said hi to Bobi.
Speaker:And the interesting part is that he
Speaker:doesn't actually have grey hair and
Speaker:he does have this genetic
Speaker:predisposition to longevity
Speaker:and grey hair.
Speaker:So this dog doesn't really look 31.
Speaker:He doesn't... Well, on the outside,
Speaker:you know, he's a little chunky and
Speaker:so on. And some people would kind of
Speaker:comment, "oh, he's heavy, he's fat".
Speaker:He's 31 years!
Speaker:Exactly, exactly!
Speaker:So
Speaker:you know, Pax, my dog
Speaker:and then Bobi
Speaker:met and I
Speaker:was just kind of thinking maybe they
Speaker:kind of they kind of learn from each
Speaker:other. Maybe Pax can learn a few
Speaker:tricks.
Speaker:But, you know, the whole...
Speaker:Meal or the lunchtime was very
Speaker:simple. We got
Speaker:a dish of sardines and salad and
Speaker:fruit salad.
Speaker:And it was all just really
Speaker:simple in a tent-like setting.
Speaker:And one thing I noticed that
Speaker:on the ground, instead of basically
Speaker:having some sort of pavement, there
Speaker:was soil. And then on top of the
Speaker:soil, they actually put cut grass
Speaker:and rosemary.
Speaker:So everything smelt like rosemary.
Speaker:And so every time I smell
Speaker:rosemary, now I remember Bobi and
Speaker:the whole family.
Speaker:So, you know, again, just very
Speaker:simple environment
Speaker:and Leonel,
Speaker:the owner or guardian of Bobi.
Speaker:I'm not gonna call him owner.
Speaker:We're not owners of our dogs.
Speaker:He is
Speaker:actually the most strikingly
Speaker:intelligent, but also
Speaker:very simple person
Speaker:who has been thrown
Speaker:into this kind of like celebrity
Speaker:status a little bit.
Speaker:And it was actually his
Speaker:friend who had this
Speaker:idea that Bobi should be known to
Speaker:the world and he filed the
Speaker:application [to Guiness World Records] and
Speaker:then basically they did
Speaker:all the DNA testing and telomere
Speaker:testing to make sure that this is
Speaker:actually correct and that veterinary
Speaker:records testing and, you know,
Speaker:some people actually questioned
Speaker:whether this dog is really 31.
Speaker:I know that Leonel has made zero
Speaker:money from from this.
Speaker:He actually refused any
Speaker:donations or anything like that.
Speaker:And he just basically
Speaker:I trust him 100%.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Because that was...
Speaker:And, you know, talking to him.
Speaker:There was this chain...
Speaker:Kind of
Speaker:love that is beyond the
Speaker:love that I witness on a regular
Speaker:basis. Like it was just like a
Speaker:connection. Like he was six when
Speaker:Bobi was born in the little
Speaker:shed on the property
Speaker:and he even showed us the little
Speaker:shed where he was born.
Speaker:And they're just like twins,
Speaker:like it's almost like they're just
Speaker:like, so connected on a soul level
Speaker:that there's like, it's it was
Speaker:just so beautiful to watch and some
Speaker:of the interactions when they kind
Speaker:of connected and so on.
Speaker:And then Bobi was very willing
Speaker:in the afternoon there was about 25
Speaker:guests and 80 media, but
Speaker:the media were actually not
Speaker:too obnoxious because these days
Speaker:people have basically a small little
Speaker:camera and microphone at the most.
Speaker:And Bobi, actually, we could see...
Speaker:We were a little worried that Bobi-
Speaker:it's going to be too much for Bobi.
Speaker:But he
Speaker:kind of paced himself to a certain
Speaker:degree and he put himself away
Speaker:during the celebration.
Speaker:And then, you know, the villagers
Speaker:and the whole village came and they
Speaker:were dancing and Bobi was in the
Speaker:middle and
Speaker:it was just really sweet.
Speaker:Obviously, photo shoot and all that
Speaker:stuff was done.
Speaker:And I
Speaker:was really happy, actually, when the
Speaker:celebration was over.
Speaker:And the next day we came for
Speaker:a Facebook Live with Rodney
Speaker:and Karen, and Bobi
Speaker:was just kind of hanging out.
Speaker:He was resting. He was quite tired
Speaker:after that. And we were worried
Speaker:that, you know, that he overdid it.
Speaker:And in
Speaker:all honesty, I was thinking, please,
Speaker:please, please don't don't make him
Speaker:get worse. I was just really praying
Speaker:that he's not going to get worse
Speaker:after the stress.
Speaker:But he seemed to recover.
Speaker:And
Speaker:on that second day, we
Speaker:had a little bit of more connection
Speaker:with with Leonel.
Speaker:And he said,
Speaker:you know, I said, first-
Speaker:you inspired all of us because
Speaker:he was thanking us for, you know,
Speaker:advice and giving him some
Speaker:suggestions and so on.
Speaker:But I said, we're learning from you.
Speaker:It's not the other way around.
Speaker:Like we can give you some
Speaker:suggestions how to deal with certain
Speaker:issues, but we're learning from
Speaker:you and we want to know.
Speaker:And so we...
Speaker:Obviously we talked a little
Speaker:bit about his food and about his
Speaker:diet and so on.
Speaker:But the most striking difference
Speaker:between the way
Speaker:all of us feed our dogs and
Speaker:he that he sources all his food
Speaker:from the village.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:From meat to the vegetables
Speaker:and to the well water.
Speaker:But we can't really replicate this
Speaker:this kind of environment very
Speaker:easily. Most of us can't.
Speaker:But, you know, I could see the
Speaker:garden was just lush and
Speaker:rich, no chemicals, the
Speaker:well water. He was pointing to the
Speaker:well that it was in the back of the
Speaker:garden and they have the
Speaker:municipal water.
Speaker:But but Bobi was getting the well
Speaker:water.
Speaker:Bobi was eating
Speaker:the meat from the village
Speaker:where he would barter vegetables
Speaker:for meat and so on,
Speaker:or eggs. And so there's still this
Speaker:kind of like barter system.
Speaker:And
Speaker:I know that there's a combination
Speaker:of elements and factors why
Speaker:Bobi is as long living as
Speaker:he is. But, you know, if I could
Speaker:summarise, I think that it's
Speaker:really like.
Speaker:Great start and
Speaker:not much of an invasive therapy
Speaker:or veterinary care.
Speaker:I didn't ask him about the vaccines,
Speaker:but I doubt that he was getting
Speaker:anything beyond the
Speaker:initial ones.
Speaker:Definitely local chemical free
Speaker:foods, but there are some other
Speaker:things. Love. Definitely love
Speaker:in the care from the guardian, the
Speaker:connection. But Bobi also
Speaker:would every day at 4:00
Speaker:he would basically
Speaker:get up and he would go to see
Speaker:the village dogs.
Speaker:Yes!
Speaker:He would see this group, right?
Speaker:It's like, you know,
Speaker:I can only compare it to this group
Speaker:of old men that
Speaker:I see at a local village
Speaker:here in the Czech Republic when I
Speaker:when I go to swim.
Speaker:There's this this, this group of
Speaker:four guys, and they just kind of
Speaker:walk together with the canes.
Speaker:And they are really
Speaker:funny and they sometimes say, you
Speaker:know, something inappropriate, you
Speaker:know, like guys, right?
Speaker:And so I see Bobi doing
Speaker:the same thing- that he goes to see
Speaker:his!
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And socialise and
Speaker:social fitness is super important.
Speaker:He also has the
Speaker:other dogs around
Speaker:and he had a, his best friend
Speaker:was a cat that actually passed away
Speaker:this year, so that it was really
Speaker:hard for Bobi and
Speaker:he obviously was quite sad.
Speaker:He wanted to,
Speaker:he wanted to make connections with
Speaker:Pax quite a bit and you know,
Speaker:he definitely thrives on
Speaker:being with other dogs and with
Speaker:people.
Speaker:So that was it.
Speaker:You know, I could talk forever.
Speaker:But one more thing that I
Speaker:don't think I'll ever forget, and it
Speaker:was very humbling and also
Speaker:reassuring that we all are the same.
Speaker:Leonel and I talked
Speaker:about the time when
Speaker:Bobi is not going to be here, and
Speaker:he basically said,
Speaker:"you know, I am so unprepared.
Speaker:I have no idea what I'm going to do
Speaker:when he's not here because my
Speaker:life
Speaker:revolves around him".
Speaker:And he also cares for his mother.
Speaker:He actually lost a brother
Speaker:a few years back.
Speaker:So, you know, basically
Speaker:he was very honest about how
Speaker:unprepared he was.
Speaker:And as we were talking, I thought of
Speaker:us not really having a solution and
Speaker:there is no solution for dogs to
Speaker:even live longer.
Speaker:Obviously, we all would like them to
Speaker:live longer.
Speaker:You mentioned that dogs would
Speaker:eventually reach age of
Speaker:40 or 50.
Speaker:Let's say in science and research
Speaker:and whatever the future brings,
Speaker:then it will bring the problem
Speaker:of us not wanting to have a dog
Speaker:because we would have to leave them
Speaker:behind. So
Speaker:my my general sense is
Speaker:as long as possible.
Speaker:But for me, I would not
Speaker:want to leave my dog behind.
Speaker:So maybe
Speaker:with a little bit of practice and
Speaker:personal growth and development, I'd
Speaker:say, Hey, you know, I'm going to
Speaker:introduce you to other people who
Speaker:you will have fun with and be happy.
Speaker:But it would be difficult here.
Speaker:There is no simple solution,
Speaker:I think.
Speaker:Yeah. So I you know, I left we
Speaker:left Portugal with Pax and I
Speaker:came home and I couldn't stop
Speaker:thinking about Bobi.
Speaker:And, you know, we've
Speaker:we put him - actually, for mobility
Speaker:- we put him on some [...] For
Speaker:regeneration, put him on omega oils
Speaker:and heavy doses of that.
Speaker:And he's is doing really well.
Speaker:He's had a little bit of an ulcer on
Speaker:his bum.
Speaker:So I
Speaker:help Leonel to kind of
Speaker:taught him out to clean it and, and
Speaker:you know how to treat it.
Speaker:And that was that.
Speaker:It was really at least I could do
Speaker:a little bit. But really in summary,
Speaker:both Dr. Becker, Rodney
Speaker:and I, we all were
Speaker:thinking like, what an experience.
Speaker:What, what
Speaker:a treasure.
Speaker:You know, I can't even describe
Speaker:how much it impacted me
Speaker:on so many levels.
Speaker:And, and the other thing is, when
Speaker:we came back from Portugal,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I thought it ought to be just do
Speaker:a little bit of a fundraiser like,
Speaker:you know, nobody has given actually
Speaker:Leonel money for the party or
Speaker:anything.
Speaker:You know, some of the entities would
Speaker:ask for for a party
Speaker:and media would come and so on, but
Speaker:he would actually pay for it
Speaker:himself.
Speaker:And so I thought, why don't we just
Speaker:collect some money?
Speaker:And Dr. Becker
Speaker:and, and Rodney had already
Speaker:that conversation, and
Speaker:Leonel basically said, absolutely
Speaker:not. And I said, Well, I didn't have
Speaker:the conversation with him, so I can
Speaker:possibly organise the fundraiser and
Speaker:then I'll let him know and I hope
Speaker:that he'll be okay by then.
Speaker:So we actually started the
Speaker:fundraiser and I called
Speaker:him and I said, you know, I hope you
Speaker:don't mind, but we'd like to
Speaker:actually express our gratitude
Speaker:for Bobi.
Speaker:And I know that it'll be, you know,
Speaker:there will be veterinary expenses
Speaker:and other expenses down the road.
Speaker:So can we actually organise a
Speaker:fundraiser through the community?
Speaker:And he basically said, absolutely
Speaker:not. So we as soon as we
Speaker:organised it, we had to shut it down
Speaker:and returned the money that was
Speaker:donated.
Speaker:And so some people say that he,
Speaker:Leonel, did it for the money and
Speaker:I know for sure that he did not.
Speaker:And he basically- I
Speaker:think that one of the reasons why he
Speaker:didn't want to have anything to do
Speaker:with the fundraiser was that he
Speaker:didn't want people to think that he
Speaker:did it to get money.
Speaker:So it was, you know, on
Speaker:some level it was beautiful.
Speaker:It was also a little frustrating
Speaker:because I know that that, you
Speaker:know, we wanted to express our
Speaker:gratitude and
Speaker:the money could be used either for
Speaker:Bobi or for research or whatever.
Speaker:But, you know. I
Speaker:respect that decision.
Speaker:It was. It
Speaker:was touching.
Speaker:I trust that you can.
Speaker:I think, you know, I cannot hide
Speaker:my emotions when I'm talking about
Speaker:because it's just like and I don't
Speaker:want to hide them, but it's like
Speaker:it's been one of the most
Speaker:spiritual experiences of the past
Speaker:several years, for sure.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:I mean, when I saw, you know, Dr.
Speaker:Karen and yourself and Rodney
Speaker:out with him, it
Speaker:reminded me what came to my mind
Speaker:when I walk out in the forest and
Speaker:you see a really old tree
Speaker:and you just know that tree has
Speaker:seen so much and got so much
Speaker:wisdom to share.
Speaker:That's exactly how I felt when I
Speaker:saw Bobi, because I
Speaker:think you touched on so many
Speaker:important things which are- we'll
Speaker:go back over about the, you know,
Speaker:how we can help and what we can
Speaker:learn from these situations.
Speaker:But actually where I'd like to start
Speaker:is that- that almost lack of
Speaker:interference, you know, sort
Speaker:of being there to sort of be
Speaker:a good guardian for him, but
Speaker:allowing him also to make some
Speaker:choices and live his own life.
Speaker:And when I saw I think I
Speaker:saw Dr Karen talk about how he takes
Speaker:off for his little walk.
Speaker:And he's very rarely I think she
Speaker:was saying he's hardly ever on the
Speaker:lead. And, you know, even though
Speaker:I live in the middle of the
Speaker:countryside, I'm not in a position
Speaker:there because obviously the dogs
Speaker:could get run over or...
Speaker:And it made me really think
Speaker:about how much
Speaker:true love in our hearts we
Speaker:want. And because of the way we live
Speaker:now, we try and micromanage
Speaker:every aspect of our animals
Speaker:care. And I've just got to foster
Speaker:rabbits and I'm so
Speaker:happy because we've built this
Speaker:amazing, great big run for them.
Speaker:It's huge.
Speaker:And we've dug down and put wire
Speaker:underneath because we've got foxes
Speaker:and obviously they dig and my guinea
Speaker:pigs don't dig, so I've not had that
Speaker:problem and as soon as I
Speaker:put them out there... They've been
Speaker:out there less than a week and I
Speaker:swear to God, Peter, they're like
Speaker:different rabbits.
Speaker:All their instincts have come back
Speaker:like that. They're vibrant, they're
Speaker:jumping about like little spring
Speaker:bunnies. They're...
Speaker:They're digging, really digging,
Speaker:which, of course, bunnies should
Speaker:dig. And
Speaker:how as humans
Speaker:can get this. You know, we want to
Speaker:keep the animals safe,
Speaker:but we also-
Speaker:any animal needs to be allowed
Speaker:to live like that species
Speaker:lives. It's a really...
Speaker:It's a real dilemma, isn't it?
Speaker:You know
Speaker:in my mind, it's actually not a
Speaker:dilemma as much as the how do we
Speaker:practically apply it?
Speaker:This reminded me of a book that I'm
Speaker:just kind of reading.
Speaker:It's called "Trust and Inspire",
Speaker:I think?
Speaker:I would have to look on my phone.
Speaker:I can't remember exactly, but I know
Speaker:that there is Inspire in the title
Speaker:and it's by Stephen Covey, who
Speaker:everyone knows, so you can even look
Speaker:it up if you if you if
Speaker:you don't want to confuse people.
Speaker:But, you know, I think that
Speaker:with dogs, it should be exactly like
Speaker:that. So we need to lead
Speaker:them, but we need to inspire them to
Speaker:be independent and be kind of like
Speaker:give them the freedom.
Speaker:I, I get incredibly
Speaker:frustrated seeing how
Speaker:much kind of...
Speaker:Bossing around there is with dogs.
Speaker:And actually we don't necessarily do
Speaker:it out of
Speaker:bad intention.
Speaker:We just don't realise what we are
Speaker:doing and that these beings
Speaker:are at our mercy.
Speaker:They definitely don't have the
Speaker:freedom that we can exercise
Speaker:and then we put them on the lead
Speaker:and tug them around.
Speaker:You know, just the idea of a collar
Speaker:is, is, is crazy.
Speaker:If you think about it.
Speaker:People use these retractable leashes
Speaker:that damage a
Speaker:lot of the nerves and blood vessels
Speaker:and thyroid gland on the on the
Speaker:neck. So I'm a big proponent
Speaker:of harnesses but beyond that and
Speaker:and and
Speaker:it's really interesting for me to
Speaker:live in three different places.
Speaker:I basically am from the Czech
Speaker:Republic, where I spent quite a bit
Speaker:of time now. It's my heart place.
Speaker:Just amazing.
Speaker:It's also the most dog
Speaker:free country meaning that
Speaker:that people are people give
Speaker:their dogs freedom
Speaker:beyond what I've seen anywhere else.
Speaker:There's about 70%
Speaker:of dogs on the street
Speaker:in the city of Prague walking
Speaker:off leash and walking well.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:And this kind of
Speaker:made me realise when I started
Speaker:coming back here that
Speaker:dogs are fully capable
Speaker:of understanding the concept of
Speaker:of the sidewalk, of where they
Speaker:should walk and where they don't
Speaker:walk, but we don't give them the
Speaker:freedom.
Speaker:And if we don't train them enough,
Speaker:then they're out of control.
Speaker:And they don't respect cars, They
Speaker:don't really understand that.
Speaker:And there's differences between
Speaker:dogs. Of course we have to be
Speaker:mindful.
Speaker:And then there is,
Speaker:you know, Canada.
Speaker:And interestingly enough, with the
Speaker:freedom, there is less fear
Speaker:aggressions. In Prague, a lot
Speaker:of dogs
Speaker:are neutered, In Europe a lot of dogs are neutered. And
Speaker:they actually get along, most of
Speaker:them get along just fine.
Speaker:In Canada, there's
Speaker:great outdoor spaces,
Speaker:but the restrictions are much
Speaker:greater.
Speaker:You know, if you go on a walk, you
Speaker:have to put your dog and leaves
Speaker:here, take it off here.
Speaker:It's totally confusing, but even
Speaker:more so, dogs are
Speaker:not used to socialising together
Speaker:and they are so much more
Speaker:aggressive.
Speaker:Like... And maybe not aggressive.
Speaker:They're just anxious and they flip
Speaker:out because they just don't know
Speaker:how to behave.
Speaker:On top of that,
Speaker:there is still the recommendation
Speaker:that puppies should not be
Speaker:socialised until 4
Speaker:months of age, which is criminal.
Speaker:It's, you know, it's like telling
Speaker:parents you can't make
Speaker:your dog- or make your child
Speaker:see other children until they are
Speaker:six or ten years old.
Speaker:Right. So it just doesn't
Speaker:really work
Speaker:out.
Speaker:So I think there is more
Speaker:restriction, there is more
Speaker:behavioural issues.
Speaker:Yeah, and strangely enough,
Speaker:I see the same with people.
Speaker:The more rules there are, the more
Speaker:people act out and the more people
Speaker:are
Speaker:not not happy.
Speaker:And you know.
Speaker:Comparing, comparing
Speaker:Prague, Vancouver and then Maui.
Speaker:It's very interesting.
Speaker:The North American culture is much
Speaker:more prone to we are
Speaker:we're much more prone to tell people
Speaker:what to do.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:We're approached and "oh you shouldn't do that.
Speaker:And you shouldn't do that".
Speaker:Well, everyone breaks the rules
Speaker:sometimes.
Speaker:But people are so keen to tell
Speaker:others what to do, which almost
Speaker:never happens unless I run into
Speaker:a foreigner. And then I'll have to
Speaker:explain. You know, you're visiting
Speaker:here and it's our culture and
Speaker:we are really proud of it.
Speaker:So tough luck!
Speaker:So, it's just so interesting in
Speaker:Maui.
Speaker:Maui is somewhere between Vancouver
Speaker:and Prague. I would say that dogs
Speaker:are free, much more freedom, but
Speaker:then there will be people who are
Speaker:going to.
Speaker:I call it "flip out" with dogs,
Speaker:and some people have rightfully so,
Speaker:negative experiences around dogs.
Speaker:So I think I'm not saying that we
Speaker:should disrespect them,
Speaker:but I don't think that we should
Speaker:limit our dogs just because someone
Speaker:had a negative experience with the
Speaker:dog in the past.
Speaker:It's like if there is, you know,
Speaker:it's like punishing all people just
Speaker:because there are a few criminals.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And so I really think
Speaker:that we as a society need to evolve
Speaker:to respect
Speaker:dogs. We're going back to that
Speaker:freedom. And and
Speaker:and Bobi is a good example.
Speaker:Like, he almost I don't think
Speaker:that he's been on a leash in his lifetime.
Speaker:It's amazing.
Speaker:I agree. I think giving an animal
Speaker:of whatever species, human rabbit
Speaker:dog, some freedom,
Speaker:as much freedom as you possibly
Speaker:can... To me
Speaker:trumps a lot of the other things.
Speaker:Because you can
Speaker:make different decisions, it's
Speaker:interesting for me with my dogs,
Speaker:I've got at the moment...
Speaker:When I have my two Labradors, even
Speaker:though one of them was a rescue.
Speaker:Easiest dog's ever to train ever
Speaker:these two different matter.
Speaker:They they've come from a traumatised
Speaker:background and one
Speaker:of them has got fear aggression,
Speaker:which I've never had before.
Speaker:So it's really interesting to see
Speaker:how myself as her parent.
Speaker:I'm still on that learning curve
Speaker:about how to handle that, you know,
Speaker:because obviously I have a
Speaker:responsibility to keep other dogs
Speaker:safe.
Speaker:Equally, it's very difficult not to
Speaker:get into that vicious circle.
Speaker:So it's a
Speaker:steep learning curve, I must say.
Speaker:And, you know, I had a day out with
Speaker:a friend yesterday, Peter,
Speaker:and we were in a park just outside
Speaker:London. It's called Bushy Park, and
Speaker:it's a suburban park, but it's
Speaker:probably about 100 acres or so.
Speaker:So not that big, but big enough to
Speaker:be quite nice for people who live in
Speaker:London.
Speaker:And it's got loads of deer there and
Speaker:someone let their dog off the lead
Speaker:with all the deer who of course are
Speaker:having their fawns at the moment and
Speaker:it just causing carnage and chasing
Speaker:this poor deer everywhere.
Speaker:And this is the problem isn't it.
Speaker:Is like one stupid person
Speaker:can ruin it for everyone.
Speaker:And then you get this blanket
Speaker:and of course it wasn't the poor
Speaker:dogs fault because the dog
Speaker:was going to chase the deer because
Speaker:it hadn't been trained otherwise.
Speaker:It had no recall because the owner
Speaker:had... I mean, I watched it for an
Speaker:hour and they had no chance of
Speaker:getting it back.
Speaker:But freedom is so, so important
Speaker:because it crushes the spirit,
Speaker:doesn't it? And it crushes the soul.
Speaker:And if you don't let any
Speaker:being make some choices,
Speaker:it's like they've done a lot of
Speaker:studies, I think, with humans that
Speaker:when you don't have a purpose,
Speaker:you don't have choice in your life,
Speaker:then it's not a great
Speaker:outcome.
Speaker:So, you know, I definitely
Speaker:there's the other side of the of the
Speaker:coin where some dogs
Speaker:are even naturally genetically
Speaker:predisposed to be
Speaker:out of control and they just can't.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:There is poor breeding.
Speaker:There are certain
Speaker:breeds that are much more
Speaker:difficult to control.
Speaker:And so it's it's up to us to decide
Speaker:what degree of freedom
Speaker:is for our dogs.
Speaker:But, you know, our goal should be
Speaker:even if it's, let's say, in a
Speaker:backyard or in when
Speaker:visiting friends, that our
Speaker:dogs have friends.
Speaker:Our dogs, they
Speaker:socialise with others.
Speaker:That we show them that chickens
Speaker:and rabbits are not to chase.
Speaker:And some of us know that most dogs
Speaker:will understand it and some will
Speaker:not. And again, it's our
Speaker:responsibility.
Speaker:But you know, if we can kind of
Speaker:summarise having
Speaker:this excessive control
Speaker:doesn't lead to happy dogs,
Speaker:having this excessive control
Speaker:doesn't make you happy people.
Speaker:I, I really think that,
Speaker:you know, the society kind of cycles
Speaker:between
Speaker:anarchy and too much
Speaker:restrictions and I've seen that I
Speaker:grew up in the in the Eastern Bloc
Speaker:and then I went to Canada and and it
Speaker:was really great and free.
Speaker:And suddenly I just kind of started
Speaker:to see some signs of the
Speaker:freedoms and restrictions being
Speaker:being, you know, different.
Speaker:I would see
Speaker:police raiding, you
Speaker:know, young people's bags at the
Speaker:beach just in case they have alcohol
Speaker:and so on. And I was terrified.
Speaker:I was thinking, oh, my goodness,
Speaker:Like, this is this is this is
Speaker:communism starting all over again.
Speaker:And as as I you know, as
Speaker:time progressed, like obviously that
Speaker:has become more and more and now
Speaker:we almost can't have a
Speaker:different opinion than than the
Speaker:mainstream. And that's become
Speaker:a big contentious issue.
Speaker:And and obviously in our society,
Speaker:in politics.
Speaker:And and I think that for people to
Speaker:travel and see that there can be
Speaker:organised society without
Speaker:being controlled, there can be
Speaker:organised dog community without
Speaker:being excessive about
Speaker:having these dog park ghettos
Speaker:where, you know, it's, it's,
Speaker:it's really traumatic for many dogs
Speaker:and I don't believe in it.
Speaker:But at the same time and I just kind
Speaker:of.
Speaker:It's just...
Speaker:you know, it is so true that
Speaker:the level of development of society
Speaker:is reflected in
Speaker:how we treat animals overall.
Speaker:Very much so.
Speaker:Really, it's.
Speaker:And in the U.K., Catherine,
Speaker:you guys are in the forefront
Speaker:of being the
Speaker:dog lovers and animal lovers
Speaker:extraordinaire.
Speaker:Every time I end up in
Speaker:the U.K., I am blown
Speaker:away.
Speaker:How much more
Speaker:advance you are.
Speaker:And polite and respectful.
Speaker:Like I spent the weekend in the U.K.
Speaker:with my friend.
Speaker:And
Speaker:yeah, it was really nice.
Speaker:It was really nice to see.
Speaker:I think, you know, we do
Speaker:genuinely love animals,
Speaker:but I think, you know, the problem
Speaker:is, is there's a lot of lack of
Speaker:education now
Speaker:in terms of how to keep them,
Speaker:because a lot of people have lost
Speaker:that connection with nature in the
Speaker:land. And what.
Speaker:What you grew up with thinking it
Speaker:was just pretty common sense.
Speaker:Now unfortunately there's there's a
Speaker:lot of people that haven't had that
Speaker:and therefore they do need telling
Speaker:again which is really important.
Speaker:Which brings me to my next subject,
Speaker:which is the food.
Speaker:Now, food is something
Speaker:you've been teaching people
Speaker:about dog nutrition for a
Speaker:long while because you've seen both
Speaker:sides of the scale about what
Speaker:getting it wrong can have such
Speaker:disastrous effects, of course,
Speaker:for ourselves as well.
Speaker:And you know, the challenges now
Speaker:as a lot of people will go into
Speaker:their supermarket and most of it
Speaker:isn't real food.
Speaker:But you notice that Bobi was
Speaker:eating really locally and
Speaker:natural human food - not
Speaker:out of a can, not out of a bag...
Speaker:Yeah! So
Speaker:there were some moments actually
Speaker:when we learned what Bobi
Speaker:ate that were quite
Speaker:shocking because Bobi gets
Speaker:onions on a regular basis.
Speaker:Cooked onions and some stews
Speaker:and raw vegetables.
Speaker:So it's not all raw meat
Speaker:and it's more of a stew kind of
Speaker:diet with
Speaker:basically just everything thrown
Speaker:in it.
Speaker:And I think that he gets some table
Speaker:scraps as well.
Speaker:I know
Speaker:from the information
Speaker:that I got from the
Speaker:people around Bobi that
Speaker:there were some attempts to actually
Speaker:try quieten the owner to...
Speaker:That he doesn't feed kibble.
Speaker:But, you know, obviously that didn't
Speaker:happen. But I'm not going to get
Speaker:into the politics of it.
Speaker:But, you know, obviously
Speaker:learning that a dog that
Speaker:is 31 has never had kibble
Speaker:is not good for business.
Speaker:So
Speaker:I'm a big believer that truth always
Speaker:when you know, when the Velvet
Speaker:Revolution in the Czech Republic
Speaker:happened in 1989.
Speaker:Václav Havel, the first president,
Speaker:his motive was truth always wins
Speaker:and this is about medicine
Speaker:about health, like
Speaker:no matter what entity tries to
Speaker:kind of hide information or tries
Speaker:to convince us otherwise, the truth
Speaker:always seeps through.
Speaker:And it may not be through the
Speaker:professional circles.
Speaker:It may be through just us talking
Speaker:as a community.
Speaker:And I think that there is
Speaker:there's a lot of positive
Speaker:development and it doesn't need to
Speaker:be through nastiness
Speaker:or accusing each other.
Speaker:I know that those
Speaker:people who make let's say processed
Speaker:food, they they believe
Speaker:most, or at least some of them,
Speaker:believe that that's
Speaker:what is best for dogs.
Speaker:But on some level, it
Speaker:doesn't really make sense because I
Speaker:don't know any medical doctor that
Speaker:would tell their patients to
Speaker:eat a lot of processed food and the
Speaker:wholesome food would not be good,
Speaker:right. Like, you don't hear a doctor
Speaker:saying that. So there's a little bit
Speaker:of a discrepancy that is hard to
Speaker:hide, like sometimes
Speaker:with the politics
Speaker:of foods and diet.
Speaker:It is so blatantly wrong.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:If you try to hide it.
Speaker:But eventually you just got to start
Speaker:contradicting yourself because it
Speaker:just doesn't make sense.
Speaker:Right. So going back to Bobi,
Speaker:you know.
Speaker:His diet has been very, very simple
Speaker:but local. And I think that that's
Speaker:important and unprocessed
Speaker:and a
Speaker:combination of meat and vegetables,
Speaker:which we do.
Speaker:But it
Speaker:would be really nice to have more
Speaker:conversations with Leonel about his
Speaker:diet. And I definitely plan
Speaker:to do that.
Speaker:We've been in touch, and
Speaker:I'd like to learn as much as I can,
Speaker:but but there's another part,
Speaker:and that's the genes,
Speaker:which plays an important role.
Speaker:However, to say that.
Speaker:Leonel.
Speaker:Believes that having dogs over
Speaker:20 is normal.
Speaker:I wanted to get onto this, too,
Speaker:because this is our perception
Speaker:of what is normal you and I were
Speaker:talking off camera about women
Speaker:very similar age, and we were
Speaker:talking about, isn't it funny how
Speaker:the perception of what a 60
Speaker:year old person should be
Speaker:like? And our perception
Speaker:now when we speak to most parents
Speaker:is, you know, they'll think a 12
Speaker:year old lap is very old.
Speaker:It's this sort of brainwashing
Speaker:of what is
Speaker:the new normal, which I hate to use
Speaker:that phrase, but when
Speaker:you've got an attitude like Leonel,
Speaker:where because I notice that some of
Speaker:his other dogs quite had lived to
Speaker:over 20 as well.
Speaker:How important is that perception
Speaker:and that expectation?
Speaker:Because that must affect-
Speaker:I believe...
Speaker:You know, Catherine, obviously I
Speaker:can't really talk in absolutes here
Speaker:because nobody, nobody knows
Speaker:how the universe works.
Speaker:But I have
Speaker:been for long, for the longest time,
Speaker:I've been a big
Speaker:proponent of not really
Speaker:telling people what their dogs
Speaker:select expectancy is because I think
Speaker:that often if I if someone
Speaker:someone said to someone, your dog
Speaker:will live up to 13
Speaker:or 15, the dog basically
Speaker:dies at 13 or 15.
Speaker:And I notice that.
Speaker:So I don't give people
Speaker:a prognosis.
Speaker:Like I would say, prognosis is, you
Speaker:know, good or poor or
Speaker:not very good.
Speaker:But I would never give them a
Speaker:number, whether
Speaker:it comes to their disease diagnosis
Speaker:or whether it comes to just just
Speaker:life expectancy of a breed.
Speaker:And I do
Speaker:think that there is a lot to do...
Speaker:Like, perception matters.
Speaker:I do. You really think and ah, the
Speaker:level of our worry matters.
Speaker:You know, I love the saying a little
Speaker:bit of benign neglect
Speaker:is good for our dogs.
Speaker:It's good for our children.
Speaker:It's good for anyone.
Speaker:A little bit of benign neglect and
Speaker:love. A lot of love and a little
Speaker:bit of benign neglect for sure.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It doesn't mean not to take your dog
Speaker:for walks, but not to worry about
Speaker:them as much, not micromanage them,
Speaker:just kind of letting them be
Speaker:a bit trusting that
Speaker:that their ability to
Speaker:decide for themselves
Speaker:how long they'll be here
Speaker:is actually their own.
Speaker:Like we are not here to tell them
Speaker:you have to stay for us a little
Speaker:longer.
Speaker:And it's also not a failure if some
Speaker:some dogs live shorter lives than
Speaker:others.
Speaker:But obviously out of, you know, for
Speaker:selfish reasons, we want them to
Speaker:live long.
Speaker:But learning to be relaxed a
Speaker:little more about their
Speaker:senior years, learning
Speaker:to come to accept
Speaker:that they're not going to be here
Speaker:forever is super important.
Speaker:And I
Speaker:think part of the longevity plan as
Speaker:well.
Speaker:Yeah, I completely agree
Speaker:with you. And.
Speaker:You know, the great thing is, is the
Speaker:older any of us get the more we know
Speaker:what we want to do.
Speaker:The more ways to tune in with
Speaker:ourselves, we understand
Speaker:how much we can or can't push
Speaker:ourselves. And our dogs are exactly
Speaker:the same. And me, my dogs are
Speaker:coming up six now and they're really
Speaker:happily lying here, you know, fast
Speaker:asleep.
Speaker:But when they were younger, you
Speaker:know, they were a lot more playful.
Speaker:But they know that- dogs are so good
Speaker:at knowing when they need to rest,
Speaker:when they need to play, when
Speaker:they want to exercise, etc..
Speaker:It's fantastic to watch.
Speaker:I certainly learn a lot from them.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Going back to the diet just because
Speaker:this is such an important one for
Speaker:people. The biggest thing I get
Speaker:people saying to me is
Speaker:it's so complicated.
Speaker:Knowing what to feed as a diet.
Speaker:And I always...
Speaker:My answer is, well, just think,
Speaker:rabbit.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:what is a rabbit composed of.
Speaker:Sorry, rabbit.
Speaker:Rabbit or chicken or.
Speaker:Or, you know, something like that.
Speaker:And actually, when you think back
Speaker:from that, So how do you approach
Speaker:that? And for people that
Speaker:are over-worrying about
Speaker:it, because that can go both ways
Speaker:as some people who say, you know,
Speaker:you don't worry at all and just feed
Speaker:them a can of tuna each day and
Speaker:because it's not dog food, think
Speaker:it's fine. And then there's others
Speaker:that micromanage.
Speaker:What would be your biggest message
Speaker:for any dog owner listening at the
Speaker:moment?
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:relax. Actually,
Speaker:people don't worry about their kids
Speaker:actually, you know, measuring every
Speaker:single gram of amino acids and
Speaker:omega oils and everything like,
Speaker:you know, and nutrients and, and
Speaker:calcium and this and that.
Speaker:The body is quite intelligent.
Speaker:And if we don't clutter with the
Speaker:junk and toxins and give it
Speaker:a healthy, balanced diet that
Speaker:is close to the natural diet
Speaker:of canines,
Speaker:then we are fine.
Speaker:And you know again
Speaker:there are certain ratios and
Speaker:proportions.
Speaker:I put together a little recipe maker
Speaker:that people can use and it just kind
Speaker:of gives you an idea what the
Speaker:proportions could be and
Speaker:what choices you have.
Speaker:But ultimately.
Speaker:It is really to...
Speaker:It's quite simple.
Speaker:What I do, I feed bones.
Speaker:I feed meat and vegetables.
Speaker:And sometimes I feed organs.
Speaker:I must confess that I don't feed
Speaker:organs as often because they're not
Speaker:as easy to get.
Speaker:And sometimes they may not be
Speaker:organic. And I don't want to give
Speaker:junk to my dog.
Speaker:But some dogs
Speaker:are quite happy to eat vegetables on
Speaker:their own. And the range of
Speaker:vegetable portions are anywhere
Speaker:from 10 to 30%.
Speaker:You just basically have to see what
Speaker:what your dog does well on.
Speaker:The dogs that are hotter,
Speaker:that are running hot.
Speaker:They do better on green vegetables
Speaker:and more of them.
Speaker:There are certain principles of
Speaker:what meats dogs do well on.
Speaker:The colder dogs would
Speaker:do better or poultry and warming
Speaker:meats, the hotter dogs
Speaker:would not do well on poultry in
Speaker:general and would do better
Speaker:on cooling meats.
Speaker:The principles I find
Speaker:really correlate and are
Speaker:aligned with the Chinese medicine
Speaker:principles.
Speaker:And I I've observed it in many
Speaker:dogs.
Speaker:My first dog was chilly
Speaker:and he was great on poultry.
Speaker:Pax,
Speaker:is hot. He's not great on poultry,
Speaker:so I don't necessarily force it.
Speaker:Dogs like to scavenge.
Speaker:I'm not really...
Speaker:I'm not really opposed to even give
Speaker:dogs healthy leftovers when it
Speaker:comes to, you know,
Speaker:our own food and the idea
Speaker:that dogs should not get salt and
Speaker:all of the other animals get salt
Speaker:and salt licks and so on.
Speaker:Again, it just doesn't make sense.
Speaker:And I think that it was one of the
Speaker:ways of the pet food industry
Speaker:to convince people they must not
Speaker:feed human food.
Speaker:And I don't see a problem
Speaker:actually to give
Speaker:some leftovers.
Speaker:What else?
Speaker:I don't really like to give dogs
Speaker:dairy.
Speaker:No mammals consume dairy
Speaker:past their weaning.
Speaker:I find dairy aggravating for
Speaker:many dogs and people.
Speaker:Plus most people don't realise
Speaker:that dairy is basically produced
Speaker:by taking the calves
Speaker:away from their mothers and
Speaker:milking cows.
Speaker:Just recently I was watching
Speaker:a video clip of Pink.
Speaker:She's got a video clip for
Speaker:the song Raise Your Glass.
Speaker:Yeah, she actually blatantly
Speaker:and very clearly opposed
Speaker:to that idea of milking cows
Speaker:and sheep with the milking machines
Speaker:on women and feed the calves
Speaker:just to kind of see how we're doing
Speaker:this. And, you know, there's so many
Speaker:milk replacements and coconut
Speaker:and almond and and oatmeal
Speaker:and all that.
Speaker:We don't really need that.
Speaker:So- and dogs definitely don't
Speaker:need that. And milk is...
Speaker:It
Speaker:taxes the immune system.
Speaker:It's not really good because it has
Speaker:a lot of, you know,
Speaker:bacteria and protein.
Speaker:It's kind of a live life,
Speaker:live foods, right.
Speaker:So most of the time it's pasteurised
Speaker:in some situations, but it does have
Speaker:still some you know, it's it's
Speaker:it's not it's not really
Speaker:that healthy for the immune system
Speaker:to consume a lot of milk for many
Speaker:people and most animals.
Speaker:What else...
Speaker:When you feed eggs.
Speaker:I would give I
Speaker:would give obviously organic free
Speaker:range eggs.
Speaker:I am not too keen feeding
Speaker:too much fish, but
Speaker:in contrary to my belief, Bobi
Speaker:has been getting sardines and he's
Speaker:fine.
Speaker:My concern about sardines was
Speaker:that
Speaker:strontium from the
Speaker:nuclear disaster in Japan
Speaker:actually gets in the bones of of
Speaker:small fish, and we eat sardines with
Speaker:with the bones.
Speaker:So that was my concern.
Speaker:But I'm seen Bobi actually living up
Speaker:to 31.
Speaker:And I had to really look at
Speaker:it critically and say, okay, maybe
Speaker:I'm wrong and, you know, it happens
Speaker:to you happens to us all the time
Speaker:that we realise that whatever we
Speaker:believe, then suddenly it doesn't
Speaker:apply.
Speaker:But there's this kind of like
Speaker:golden, solid centre
Speaker:where you know that
Speaker:is true. That is, that is really
Speaker:undeniably correct.
Speaker:And then there are these little bits
Speaker:and pieces that you may need to
Speaker:change.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:What about timing of food, Peter,
Speaker:and how often dogs should be fed?
Speaker:Yeah, different approaches.
Speaker:The reason why I paused here is I
Speaker:don't know how often Bobi is
Speaker:fed.
Speaker:My general sense
Speaker:is that it's actually healthier
Speaker:for dogs to fast,
Speaker:meaning that once a day feeding is
Speaker:great. I don't feed your dog before
Speaker:exercise.
Speaker:I don't really like to feed my dog
Speaker:late in the evening because then the
Speaker:sleep is not as good
Speaker:and micro
Speaker:or intermittent fasting is actually
Speaker:a good idea for dogs, meaning that
Speaker:if you don't feed your dog for 24
Speaker:hours, or feed your dog
Speaker:once every 24 hours is probably
Speaker:optimal and ideal.
Speaker:In nature, they would not have
Speaker:regular meals, so some people
Speaker:panicked. They would have to drop
Speaker:everything and leave.
Speaker:Leave an event
Speaker:or visit with friends because their
Speaker:dog is going to go crazy
Speaker:at 6 p.m.
Speaker:So I actually feed my dog
Speaker:irregularly.
Speaker:I don't eat him on a regular
Speaker:basis because it's easier for them.
Speaker:And I do the same thing with me.
Speaker:Like I, I,
Speaker:you know, sometimes I have breakfast
Speaker:at 11. If I don't make it, I'll
Speaker:have, I'll have lunch and I won't
Speaker:have breakfast at all.
Speaker:And the fasting actually
Speaker:activates these regeneration
Speaker:system, certain enzymes and gene
Speaker:repair. And it just kind of like
Speaker:starvation on some level.
Speaker:Healthy starvation, temporary
Speaker:starvation is actually good for the
Speaker:body.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Allows the body to cleanse.
Speaker:It allows the body to
Speaker:to regenerate and recoup.
Speaker:Having these snacks and having
Speaker:these, you know, five
Speaker:or six meals a day, it's kind of
Speaker:insane. And for dogs,
Speaker:unless there is a medical reason,
Speaker:I definitely don't recommend feeding
Speaker:adult dogs more than once a day.
Speaker:When it comes to puppies, I usually
Speaker:feed them
Speaker:three times a day until about five
Speaker:or six months of age that they start
Speaker:skipping one meal.
Speaker:You just feed twice, twice a
Speaker:day, and then once a day, maybe
Speaker:starting 12 to 14...
Speaker:16 months or so.
Speaker:And the only other thing I wanted
Speaker:to say.
Speaker:Some people feed too much.
Speaker:And now I notice that many
Speaker:people actually keep their dogs
Speaker:really skinny.
Speaker:If the muscle development is not
Speaker:really good and if the
Speaker:backbone is sloping, if the
Speaker:hip bones are prominent,
Speaker:those are all signs that dogs are
Speaker:malnourished.
Speaker:I have a I have a simple chart
Speaker:on the recipe maker where
Speaker:people can learn what
Speaker:the ideal condition is.
Speaker:Ideally, I always say count
Speaker:the ribs. You should be able to
Speaker:count the ribs.
Speaker:But if you if you wet your dog, if
Speaker:it's a long haired dog or if your
Speaker:dog is short hair, you should not
Speaker:see the ribs.
Speaker:And
Speaker:the backbone should be nice and
Speaker:round and muscled.
Speaker:I've been to the UK.
Speaker:I mean, like I
Speaker:had been there last week for a few
Speaker:days and I noticed
Speaker:that the herding dogs and a farm
Speaker:nearby were really,
Speaker:really skinny.
Speaker:And obviously I couldn't really
Speaker:say anything but,
Speaker:you know, kibble diet, skinny,
Speaker:beautiful creatures.
Speaker:And it broke my heart to actually
Speaker:see how malnourished and how
Speaker:out of shape they are.
Speaker:Despite their performance and
Speaker:despite, you know, working really
Speaker:hard, they're just not getting the
Speaker:right nutrition.
Speaker:And it's really...
Speaker:It was hard like I, I
Speaker:walked to one
Speaker:of the farms and I walked by the
Speaker:kennels and I had to turn around
Speaker:because I suddenly I could see
Speaker:caged dogs that basically
Speaker:I know they're working dogs, but I
Speaker:think that we really need to change
Speaker:the attitude that a farm dog should
Speaker:be a caged dog.
Speaker:Should be a dog without any social
Speaker:interaction, should be a dog
Speaker:separated from their humans.
Speaker:It just does not make sense.
Speaker:And so we really need to, you know,
Speaker:sometimes we are too kind and too
Speaker:polite and don't want to
Speaker:don't want to
Speaker:raise these issues
Speaker:with the farmers.
Speaker:But we have to because it's about
Speaker:the animals. We really have to think
Speaker:of what is more important, whether
Speaker:it's our conflict free
Speaker:life or speaking up
Speaker:for those who can't.
Speaker:I 100% agree.
Speaker:And you know, a lot of the
Speaker:time, yes, sometimes you will get
Speaker:very negative response.
Speaker:But nine times out of ten, I think
Speaker:it provokes that person to go home
Speaker:and think about it.
Speaker:You know, And if you're planting
Speaker:those seeds and I see it a lot
Speaker:with horses because
Speaker:I live in a big horsey area and
Speaker:that's a lot of my work is with
Speaker:horses as well.
Speaker:And the tack that people put on them
Speaker:and everything is absolutely
Speaker:barbaric now.
Speaker:And I do say something and a lot of
Speaker:the time it's very much not
Speaker:appreciated.
Speaker:But I've planted the seeds
Speaker:and then you do see changes...
Speaker:it Might take
Speaker:a week, it might take ten years.
Speaker:But you know at least if you're
Speaker:being an advocate because as
Speaker:you say, you know, a lot of the time
Speaker:it's because people are living busy
Speaker:lives and they just haven't thought
Speaker:to ask the question.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So we've got we've got freedom,
Speaker:we've got social interaction, we've
Speaker:got feeding.
Speaker:What would be your next
Speaker:sort of biggie in terms
Speaker:of longevity, what we could- one of
Speaker:some of the best things we can
Speaker:consider for our dogs.
Speaker:You know, when it comes to diet,
Speaker:obviously balanced diet,
Speaker:it's been a real eye opening
Speaker:experience throughout my my
Speaker:professional life to see.
Speaker:How much we've ignored nutrition
Speaker:and nutrients because we
Speaker:we source our food
Speaker:from soils that are depleted,
Speaker:whether it's the meat or the plants.
Speaker:Now, we don't recycle
Speaker:the compost back to the fields.
Speaker:So naturally there is a lot of
Speaker:depletion and
Speaker:we're not as lucky as Bobi and his
Speaker:his dad to live in the village
Speaker:where these principles of
Speaker:healthy agriculture has been
Speaker:maintained, like most of us actually
Speaker:serve food that is depleted.
Speaker:So, you know, I started
Speaker:supplementing
Speaker:with other supplements that I felt
Speaker:that that we could do better.
Speaker:I was asked to do some
Speaker:to create a formula for minerals
Speaker:and amino acids for a pet food
Speaker:company in the early days.
Speaker:And then I started seeing these
Speaker:amazing changes and
Speaker:they were actually greater than I
Speaker:thought they should be.
Speaker:And then I started to think, because
Speaker:I like to garden as well.
Speaker:And I've been gardening since since
Speaker:early age.
Speaker:My grandfather was a herbalist and
Speaker:he had a whole bunch of herbs and
Speaker:I picked that.
Speaker:And then in the early
Speaker:maybe mid-twenties, we had a garden
Speaker:here in the Czech Republic before I
Speaker:moved to Canada.
Speaker:So I knew what it
Speaker:looks like, what a depleted plant
Speaker:looks like. What
Speaker:a tomato or potato
Speaker:or apple tree looks like when it
Speaker:doesn't have the nutrients.
Speaker:We all recognise it.
Speaker:And I started to think, you know, it
Speaker:makes complete sense because
Speaker:we are even more complex
Speaker:than plants. And if you don't get
Speaker:all the building blocks, how can we
Speaker:expect the body to thrive
Speaker:and age well and repair itself
Speaker:when it doesn't get the nutrients?
Speaker:So I actually kind of took on
Speaker:the simpler route.
Speaker:I thought, I'm going to create a
Speaker:system that is simple
Speaker:enough for people to be able to
Speaker:follow it, but it will make the most
Speaker:difference. So I didn't really focus
Speaker:as much on specific problems,
Speaker:but, you know, created fermented
Speaker:vitamins, created probiotics
Speaker:that are canine specific, then
Speaker:came on the
Speaker:omega threes, which which were
Speaker:actually the simplest ingredient but
Speaker:at the same time more complicated.
Speaker:More complicated because
Speaker:fish is depleted, fish stocks
Speaker:are depleted.
Speaker:There's a lot of farmed fish.
Speaker:Krill is not sustainable.
Speaker:We kept running into issues.
Speaker:You know, plant based omegas are not
Speaker:really balanced EPA, and
Speaker:DHAs, it cannot be created together,
Speaker:at least for now.
Speaker:Maybe. Maybe they're going to be
Speaker:able to grow it eventually.
Speaker:But right now it's impossible.
Speaker:The technology is advancing very
Speaker:fast. So we we ended up
Speaker:with squid oil, which
Speaker:is actually which really has been
Speaker:eye opening as well, because
Speaker:it's really high in not only EPA
Speaker:but also DHA.
Speaker:And that's good for brain
Speaker:and nerve system and
Speaker:regeneration, but it protects
Speaker:the blood brain barrier.
Speaker:So it actually prevents the brain
Speaker:from getting inflamed.
Speaker:And it has been shown
Speaker:in research studies that DHEA
Speaker:actually prevents dementia
Speaker:and cognitive issues in dogs and
Speaker:people, and
Speaker:it reduces inflammation of the brain
Speaker:because it starts with the
Speaker:with the brain blood brain
Speaker:barrier being disrupted
Speaker:and not repaired enough.
Speaker:And then the
Speaker:elements or particles or
Speaker:substances that should not get in
Speaker:the brain, get in the brain, and it
Speaker:results in inflammation.
Speaker:So huge, huge,
Speaker:huge kind of
Speaker:mind opening experience
Speaker:with that.
Speaker:There is so much, you know, when it
Speaker:comes to when it comes to nutrition
Speaker:that we could talk about.
Speaker:But the essential we call them
Speaker:actually "the fabulous four", is
Speaker:minerals, vitamins,
Speaker:amino acids, actually minerals
Speaker:and amino acids come together, then
Speaker:vitamins, then probiotics and
Speaker:then omegas, and then once every
Speaker:six months a cleanse.
Speaker:So that's the simplest thing we can
Speaker:do.
Speaker:And
Speaker:I've seen I've seen really kind
Speaker:of like beautiful recoveries from
Speaker:complex situations and conditions
Speaker:which says or confirms that
Speaker:when you give the body what it
Speaker:needs.
Speaker:The building blocks and and
Speaker:and and the repair
Speaker:ingredients.
Speaker:It does it on its own.
Speaker:And then obviously you're left with
Speaker:some of the conditions where to me
Speaker:to supplement hormones
Speaker:or hypothyroidism or Addison's
Speaker:disease or you have to treat
Speaker:Cushing's disease or something
Speaker:like that. It's much more complex,
Speaker:but most dogs actually beautifully
Speaker:recover when we provide them
Speaker:nutrients.
Speaker:And then there is another kind of
Speaker:element that
Speaker:I pay a lot of and put a lot of
Speaker:emphasis on.
Speaker:And that's spinal health.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Huge, huge, huge.
Speaker:Spinal health in
Speaker:my mind is
Speaker:like half of the win.
Speaker:So many dogs and so many people have
Speaker:back pain, back issues,
Speaker:inflammatory condition along the
Speaker:spine.
Speaker:And I see the spine as the energy
Speaker:high rate to the body and to the
Speaker:organs and skin segments and muscles
Speaker:and so on. As soon as the spine is
Speaker:misaligned, the muscles tighten up.
Speaker:It prevents the blood flow
Speaker:and our flow and energy flow to the
Speaker:organs, hands and skin
Speaker:segments and muscle segments.
Speaker:And that's how it all starts, right?
Speaker:And then the body and
Speaker:the patient, the dog, human starts
Speaker:compensating and certain
Speaker:areas get tighter.
Speaker:And again, when they get tighter,
Speaker:the restriction happens in that
Speaker:area. And it's like a vicious
Speaker:circle.
Speaker:And there's two things
Speaker:that you can do. First, about the
Speaker:several things you can do for spinal
Speaker:health, but one of them is
Speaker:definitely exercise in a variety
Speaker:of exercise, but also preventing
Speaker:injuries and core strengthening.
Speaker:And there are enough physio or
Speaker:animal physical therapists that will
Speaker:tell you how to exercise and older
Speaker:dog and they will tell you how
Speaker:to, you know, how to adjust the
Speaker:spine when it's congested, when it's
Speaker:injured.
Speaker:I actually did a pilates
Speaker:class yesterday and
Speaker:I just misunderstood the teacher,
Speaker:the instructions and I lifted my
Speaker:legs much more than I was supposed
Speaker:to. And this morning I woke up
Speaker:and I'm feeling a little tension.
Speaker:So I actually I am
Speaker:experiencing intramuscular
Speaker:needle stimulation or needle
Speaker:therapy. So I put acupuncture
Speaker:needles in a few spots and it's
Speaker:fine.
Speaker:The bizarre thing is that
Speaker:sometimes you learn about these
Speaker:connections between different parts
Speaker:of the body in a
Speaker:in a personal experience I
Speaker:had for about five
Speaker:days, about three months ago,
Speaker:I had a really sore throat and I
Speaker:thought I had strep throat or
Speaker:something and it wasn't getting
Speaker:better. And I was thinking, this is
Speaker:kind of weird. And then I was
Speaker:thinking my sore, my neck
Speaker:is a little sore here.
Speaker:I do a lot of computer work, so.
Speaker:So I put a few needles in my
Speaker:in my neck in
Speaker:the middle of the night because my
Speaker:throat really hurt by day
Speaker:five, I woke up in the morning,
Speaker:zero
Speaker:sore throat.
Speaker:And so it kind of tells you how
Speaker:connected it is.
Speaker:Or dogs that have diarrhoea often
Speaker:have lumbar spine issues, dogs
Speaker:that have cardio conditions
Speaker:have actually inter scapula spinal
Speaker:issues.
Speaker:One of my very dear friends
Speaker:has atrial
Speaker:fibrillation and she's in her
Speaker:seventies and
Speaker:I just talked to her recently and I
Speaker:said, you know, how is your how is
Speaker:your back pain? I was your back and
Speaker:your I was able to touch her back
Speaker:and she was like a board.
Speaker:And she said, of course, like I
Speaker:have a sore back all the time.
Speaker:And that's something that we often
Speaker:forget that the spine is
Speaker:the highway of the energy
Speaker:in the body.
Speaker:And if we don't look after it, it's
Speaker:we are going to fail to maintain
Speaker:health.
Speaker:Yeah it- and so many
Speaker:people it's very...
Speaker:It can be quite hard to find pick up
Speaker:because the dog might not be
Speaker:obviously lame but
Speaker:the more trained eyes, as you say,
Speaker:luckily there's a lot of good
Speaker:therapists around there now that can
Speaker:work with your dog and show you what
Speaker:to look out for and then also
Speaker:help with exercises, a well-fitted
Speaker:harness, which I know you're a big
Speaker:proponent of, to actually
Speaker:help prevent the,
Speaker:you know, the injury coming back
Speaker:again.
Speaker:So, so important.
Speaker:One of my dogs, Lola.
Speaker:She's always doing zooms and
Speaker:twisting and turning and it makes a
Speaker:difference. But I'm very lucky with
Speaker:her because she tells me straight
Speaker:away, you know, she's really obvious
Speaker:with it, even though she's not lame
Speaker:to look at the area.
Speaker:And I'm a big
Speaker:fan of red light therapy as well
Speaker:and using that to open up the energy
Speaker:flows.
Speaker:So we've got spinal health,
Speaker:we've got supplementation and
Speaker:sort of detox.
Speaker:We have got food, we've got
Speaker:social and we've got freedom
Speaker:of choice. Anything else?
Speaker:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Healthy teeth are super important,
Speaker:often neglected for a number of
Speaker:reasons.
Speaker:Number one, people worry about
Speaker:feeding bones to dogs.
Speaker:And there's a really well,
Speaker:there's a useful blog on my website
Speaker:that actually gives people a really
Speaker:good idea what bones are safe and
Speaker:what they're good for.
Speaker:Many people make the mistake of
Speaker:giving marrow bones to large dogs
Speaker:and they track their teeth, which is
Speaker:quite dangerous.
Speaker:The bones are harder than the teeth
Speaker:and they crack them.
Speaker:You know, I've seen some dogs having
Speaker:really terrible teeth.
Speaker:And there people say, I don't I
Speaker:don't want to do anything.
Speaker:It's much safer to actually
Speaker:follow the recommendation
Speaker:of your veterinarian and get the
Speaker:teeth cleaned and then maintain them
Speaker:without not needing to go for
Speaker:another anaesthesia.
Speaker:And I give really detailed
Speaker:instructions.
Speaker:If you go to my website and
Speaker:just search for dental care, it's
Speaker:going to come up with a really
Speaker:detailed blog and also bone
Speaker:feeding instructions
Speaker:and all that.
Speaker:The problem is that when
Speaker:dental care is neglected,
Speaker:when there is tartar build-up, the
Speaker:bacteria will spread in the kidneys
Speaker:and the heart and it often
Speaker:gets damaged. They often get
Speaker:damaged.
Speaker:Renal failure is very common in dogs
Speaker:that have bad teeth, and so it's
Speaker:cardiac insufficiency and valvular
Speaker:disease. So when the
Speaker:bacteria basically harbours in the
Speaker:balance of the heart and
Speaker:will damage the heart.
Speaker:So dental care.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:try to go with minimal,
Speaker:minimal immunisation.
Speaker:I am a big proponent of
Speaker:minimising vaccines.
Speaker:I've never seen a dog ending
Speaker:up with parvovirus or distemper
Speaker:infection by six months
Speaker:and usually they're dogs that are
Speaker:neglected or they come from
Speaker:really a poor
Speaker:sanitation environment.
Speaker:They would
Speaker:just be neglected, they would be
Speaker:parasite ridden and so on.
Speaker:So it's not, it's not that an
Speaker:average puppy will get parvovirus or
Speaker:distemper, but it can happen.
Speaker:I usually like to
Speaker:wait until 12 weeks because
Speaker:if you immunise before
Speaker:and this is something that most
Speaker:people don't know.
Speaker:So if you immunised
Speaker:before, you actually
Speaker:get rid of or you destroyed
Speaker:the antibodies, the maternal
Speaker:protection and I will explain
Speaker:this. Maternal antibodies are
Speaker:acquired through the milk mainly,
Speaker:and sometimes through placenta in
Speaker:cats more than dogs.
Speaker:But when puppies
Speaker:are immunised through the milk
Speaker:by the immunoglobulins from
Speaker:colostrum, they're protected
Speaker:until about I'm just going to say
Speaker:12 to 18 weeks, maybe a little more,
Speaker:a little less at the upper
Speaker:upper spectrum,
Speaker:but they're protected.
Speaker:And if you get vaccine, the vaccine
Speaker:basically neutralises it latches
Speaker:onto the antibodies and
Speaker:basically destroys the antibodies.
Speaker:So dogs that are vaccinated before
Speaker:the immune system can actually
Speaker:produce an antibody response...
Speaker:it
Speaker:basically reduces the immunity.
Speaker:So I strongly encourage
Speaker:people not to vaccinate until
Speaker:the age of 12 weeks.
Speaker:Before 12 weeks, he may
Speaker:want to socialise with puppies
Speaker:from the from the from the from
Speaker:the litter. I don't think that there
Speaker:is any need to expose dogs to other
Speaker:dogs.
Speaker:However, if you do want to, you can
Speaker:measure the antibodies level
Speaker:antibody levels even before 12
Speaker:weeks and if the antibody levels
Speaker:are positive, if there is presence
Speaker:of antibodies against parvo
Speaker:distemper, then
Speaker:you can actually socialise
Speaker:moderately with other
Speaker:dogs at 12 weeks.
Speaker:Usually I recommend measuring
Speaker:another antibody test and
Speaker:if it's positive.
Speaker:I don't even recommend vaccinating
Speaker:against distemper and parvo and
Speaker:measure the test for one more time
Speaker:in a month.
Speaker:And if it's positive, then it's
Speaker:very likely that your dog will be
Speaker:socialising with other dogs that
Speaker:just have an immune response and
Speaker:it's fine.
Speaker:Now when it comes to parvo
Speaker:distemper, that's how I dealt with
Speaker:my dogs.
Speaker:And I've dealt with many dogs in
Speaker:my practice and I never had it fail.
Speaker:However, some people may not be
Speaker:comfortable and some
Speaker:of my colleagues will be really
Speaker:unhappy about me suggesting this,
Speaker:but this is how natural immunity
Speaker:happens.
Speaker:Maternal antibodies, then
Speaker:socialisation, and
Speaker:basically a gradual decline of
Speaker:the maternal antibodies while the
Speaker:body acquired antibodies are rising.
Speaker:If you vaccinate at 12 weeks, let's
Speaker:say the antibodies are negative,
Speaker:there is no antibodies, then I would
Speaker:probably recommend giving one
Speaker:vaccine.
Speaker:But in most dogs,
Speaker:only one vaccine
Speaker:is needed and there's no booster
Speaker:needed. So that's the other thing
Speaker:that that people
Speaker:don't know and understand that there
Speaker:is enough fear instilled
Speaker:in the dog community
Speaker:to actually for people to go for
Speaker:a few boosters.
Speaker:Rabies is a different story.
Speaker:In the UK, you're lucky that you
Speaker:don't have rabies, so you don't need
Speaker:to really give it unless you travel.
Speaker:And in some jurisdictions it's
Speaker:required or for travel is definitely
Speaker:necessary. So that's something that
Speaker:we can't really
Speaker:negotiate.
Speaker:But I think I think that we can
Speaker:definitely dramatically reduce
Speaker:vaccine...
Speaker:Vaccination.
Speaker:The other thing people complain
Speaker:about is that kennels or
Speaker:daycares require vaccination.
Speaker:And I would always recommend to
Speaker:suggest that you sign a waiver
Speaker:for
Speaker:day-care or something like that if
Speaker:your dog isn't vaccinated or provide
Speaker:the antibody titre test.
Speaker:When it comes to kennel cough
Speaker:vaccine and I've seen the kennel
Speaker:cough vaccine actually causing as
Speaker:much kennel cough
Speaker:as kennel cough.
Speaker:And sometimes I suspect that the
Speaker:vaccine actually has a propensity
Speaker:to spread to spread
Speaker:the virus around or the bacteria.
Speaker:It's Bordetella Brochiseptica.
Speaker:That's the causative agent.
Speaker:So and you know, there's some
Speaker:other vaccines like giardia vaccine,
Speaker:Lyme disease vaccine.
Speaker:I would stay away from them as much
Speaker:as I could, because for Lyme disease
Speaker:vaccine, for example,
Speaker:when I used to give it in in
Speaker:the mid-nineties, I saw
Speaker:puppies that would be
Speaker:one year old, two more
Speaker:very young dogs with
Speaker:arthritis and spondylitis of their
Speaker:back. And I am convinced that it was
Speaker:from the vaccine.
Speaker:I don't have a definite proof, but
Speaker:it is just unheard of that young
Speaker:dogs would have severe
Speaker:arthritic changes repeatedly.
Speaker:And that's one of the reason, I
Speaker:suspect, why the vaccine has
Speaker:not been approved in people, because
Speaker:it's just not safe.
Speaker:So, you know, ticks are a big
Speaker:problem, of course.
Speaker:What else?
Speaker:You know, you asked me, what else
Speaker:would I add? I think that,
Speaker:you know, try to try to use
Speaker:drug treatment of any kind
Speaker:as the last form of defence.
Speaker:Most of them in most of the
Speaker:situations.
Speaker:We don't really need to treat
Speaker:diseases with drugs.
Speaker:And in some situations
Speaker:we do and we're grateful to have
Speaker:them. But we have to be mindful
Speaker:and careful.
Speaker:And obviously healthy humans.
Speaker:Healthy humans are super important
Speaker:to healthy dogs and healthy animals.
Speaker:Like if we are healthy, if we are in
Speaker:good shape.
Speaker:I think that our dogs really benefit
Speaker:from that.
Speaker:Cardio exercise, which is kind of
Speaker:new for me, like I
Speaker:have been for a long time.
Speaker:I've been recommending dogs to do
Speaker:what they would do in nature or just
Speaker:short periods of sprints here and
Speaker:there, but most of the time
Speaker:trotting and walking
Speaker:and just kind of playing,
Speaker:hanging out.
Speaker:But there's some evidence that
Speaker:short bursts of activity actually
Speaker:may be really good for dogs
Speaker:and people.
Speaker:Yeah, well, we call it high
Speaker:intensity interval training
Speaker:where you basically alternate
Speaker:between high intensity.
Speaker:You get your heart rate really high
Speaker:and then you have a short period of
Speaker:rest and you repeat it.
Speaker:There are different approaches and
Speaker:different periods and intervals,
Speaker:but in dogs I would recommend that
Speaker:too, with one caveat.
Speaker:It's super important
Speaker:not to stand in the park and throw a
Speaker:ball for 45 minutes or 30
Speaker:minutes like it would be okay
Speaker:to do it maybe for 10 minutes
Speaker:and then vary it with other
Speaker:exercises. Because if you do too
Speaker:much with one exercise,
Speaker:dogs will get imbalanced, they will
Speaker:get strong and weak.
Speaker:And the imbalances also lead to
Speaker:issues of mobility and and
Speaker:arthritis and other challenges.
Speaker:Yeah, I think that's really key
Speaker:because you do see a lot of people,
Speaker:if they're short of time, they just
Speaker:go, then just trying to throw the
Speaker:ball for their dogs and actually,
Speaker:you know, it can do a lot of damage.
Speaker:And you often notice the dog will
Speaker:always turn in one direction.
Speaker:So they're building up imbalances
Speaker:and things.
Speaker:Plus, the danger with some of the
Speaker:balls we still have quite a big
Speaker:problem over here with with
Speaker:dogs getting, say, tennis balls
Speaker:stuck in their mouth and being very
Speaker:dangerous.
Speaker:Yeah, tennis balls are abrasive
Speaker:as well. Many, many
Speaker:people don't actually
Speaker:know that tennis balls are
Speaker:like sandpaper. Basically, that's
Speaker:down to nothing in the
Speaker:ball obsessed dogs.
Speaker:So it's yeah, there's so much that
Speaker:we could talk about.
Speaker:So much that we can talk about.
Speaker:But I think we've given people a lot
Speaker:of inspiration
Speaker:because, you know, yes,
Speaker:we aren't necessarily all going to
Speaker:at the moment have Bobi's that live
Speaker:to 31, and there's a lot of
Speaker:different things that come into
Speaker:play. But, you know, go back
Speaker:and listen to
Speaker:our last interview as well, because
Speaker:there was a lot of hints in there
Speaker:that will combine with this, but
Speaker:really,
Speaker:you know, enjoying your dogs,
Speaker:enjoying the time with them,
Speaker:trying to get that balance between
Speaker:educating yourself, but not
Speaker:over worrying about things.
Speaker:As you say, I don't know anyone that
Speaker:measures out their children's
Speaker:dinners, so.
Speaker:But equally, it's great
Speaker:to sort of enjoy that learning
Speaker:process, isn't it, Peter?
Speaker:And really sort of realise that even
Speaker:if you've been brought up with dogs
Speaker:and have dogs all your life,
Speaker:just keep being curious and
Speaker:keep learning.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:And you know, it's important to
Speaker:remember that opinions are not
Speaker:truths.
Speaker:There is that we sometimes
Speaker:get into heated debates about
Speaker:about issues and
Speaker:not everything. You know, there's a
Speaker:big range of what is actually
Speaker:what would work.
Speaker:And every dog is different.
Speaker:Every person is different.
Speaker:I forgot to mention
Speaker:one thing, and that is.
Speaker:What I noticed as well.
Speaker:I noticed that people often take
Speaker:their dogs for a walk and,
Speaker:you know, they take them out.
Speaker:But it's the interaction
Speaker:between our dogs and ourselves, the
Speaker:play, the cuddle, the
Speaker:the combing, the whatever we do with
Speaker:them that they really thrive on.
Speaker:And I have to remind myself,
Speaker:today is a playtime.
Speaker:And, you know, right now I just
Speaker:kind of take the toys out and
Speaker:be silly with my dog and
Speaker:and take
Speaker:take time to cuddle or
Speaker:a scratch.
Speaker:They don't always need to be busy,
Speaker:busy, busy. Right.
Speaker:Like that happens to dogs and
Speaker:happens to kids that we think that
Speaker:children have to be busy and they
Speaker:have to go from activity to activity
Speaker:and parents go...
Speaker:They're on the sofa so sweet!
Speaker:And just hanging out.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:They're speaking their presence and
Speaker:making sure that they have social
Speaker:engagement, that they have their
Speaker:friends, that we actually truly
Speaker:call up a friend and say, Hey, can I
Speaker:bring your dog?
Speaker:Can I take your dog to my place?
Speaker:Or vice versa, If
Speaker:you go for a walk, just
Speaker:create a circle of friends where you
Speaker:can actually hang out
Speaker:together. It's just it
Speaker:would be really.
Speaker:Sad for dogs.
Speaker:I think they were just
Speaker:lonely and many dogs are
Speaker:lonely.
Speaker:And there may be senior people who
Speaker:no longer want to get their own dog,
Speaker:but they would be very happy to dog
Speaker:sit
Speaker:and walk dogs.
Speaker:Yes, it's
Speaker:there's so many options.
Speaker:We just have to I think we just have
Speaker:to get out of our shells a little
Speaker:bit. Shelf little bit...
Speaker:Shellf...
Speaker:Sometimes I mix
Speaker:up my English.
Speaker:We have to get out of our shell and
Speaker:get out there and connect with
Speaker:others because our dogs benefit.
Speaker:They really do.
Speaker:And so do we and definitely Happy
Speaker:dog, happy human.
Speaker:Happy human, happy dog.
Speaker:Get that balance right.
Speaker:Thank you so, so much.
Speaker:I've absolutely loved it, as always.
Speaker:Really, really appreciate all your
Speaker:time, all your wisdom.
Speaker:I'll put all the links to
Speaker:Peter's website.
Speaker:Your blogs are absolutely
Speaker:brilliant. I'm always referring
Speaker:to them. I love them really well
Speaker:written, really, really helpful.
Speaker:There's so much free information
Speaker:on Peter's website and of course,
Speaker:some brilliant supplements.
Speaker:So please do go and have a look at
Speaker:those.
Speaker:Thank you so much. Brilliant to talk to you.
Speaker:Thank you Peter, speak soon!
Speaker:I look forward
Speaker:to the next time.
Speaker:Take care. Bye bye.
Speaker:Bye!
Speaker:Thank you so much for taking the
Speaker:time to listen.
Speaker:And if you feel inspired, please
Speaker:do share with your friends and
Speaker:family.
Speaker:My goal is to inspire as many
Speaker:people as I can to live their best
Speaker:lives, to stay curious
Speaker:and to raise their consciousness
Speaker:and that of the collective.
Speaker:So to do this, I need to reach as
Speaker:many people as possible.
Speaker:And this needs your help.
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Speaker:willing to share your favourite
Speaker:episode with five different people?
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Speaker:If you feel drawn to do that, I
Speaker:would be very, very grateful.
Speaker:All the links and discount codes
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Speaker:so I support all
Speaker:of my two websites.
Speaker:CatherineEdwards.Life
Speaker:and CatherineEdwardsAcademy.com.
Speaker:All of the products are personally
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Speaker:And above all, stay curious