Nuggets

Joint health is critical for maintaining mobility, comfort, and quality of life in our dogs. That’s not limited to ageing dogs with conditions like osteoarthritis (OA). Liigament injuries, joint instability, cartilage issues and inflammation can also impact younger and otherwise [...]

Food and mood We know that diet affects mood and behaviour in humans and animals – and it may reduce unwanted behaviour in dogs. Foods demonstrated to influence behaviour include beet pulp as a source of fibre, or salmon oil [...]

Carbs in the canine diet Why am I looking at carbs for dogs? Dogs don’t have a biological requirement for carbohydrates in the way they do for protein and fats. However, carbohydrates offer a supply of glucose, which dogs do [...]

The importance of hydration "Water is the driving force of all nature." Leonardo Da Vinci   Hydration is a critical aspect of canine health, particularly for active and working dogs with high physical demands. Many existing studies have shown the [...]

Functional Foods In my “Functional Foods” post, I promised a list of studies showing how food has been used to a dog health. Studies I will keep updating this list as I discover more studies or as new studies emerge. [...]

What is functional food? For hundreds of years, herbs have been used as a medicinal remedy. Many of our medicines today originate from natural remedies, with the best-known example probably being aspirin, derived from the white willow tree[1]. Functional food [...]

Lutein for eyes and brains Lutein is thought of as the eye vitamin. And the brain vitamin. It is a xanthophyll carotenoid, renowned for its role in eye health, especially in filtering blue light and supporting macular pigment. Lutein is [...]

Yeast: nutritional or brewer's? Nutritional yeast (alongside brewer's yeast) is sometimes touted as a natural flea repellent for dogs. This is due to its high content of B vitamins, particularly thiamine (B1). The theory behind this claim is that when [...]

In a healthy body, free radicals and antioxidants are in balance. Free radicals are unstable molecules containing oxygen and an odd number of electrons. They "steal" electrons in a process known as oxidation, which is a normal process in [...]

Cheesecloth Cheesecloth is a versatile and durable tool in the kitchen. This simple fabric, made from loosely woven cotton, comes in various grades, from open weave (lower grade) to fine weave (higher grade). Your purpose will determine which is best [...]

Collagen In recent years, the role of collagen has garnered increasing attention due to its potential health benefits. Whilst much of the research on collagen has focused on human health, there is growing evidence suggesting similar benefits for our canine [...]

Although the FEDIAF[1] doesn’t (yet) recognise fibre as an essential nutrient for dogs, studies have shown that the use of fibre in the canine diet can provide benefits[2]. Dietary fibre has been established as nutritionally important in humans and [...]

Mucilage: what is it? Working on the Doggy Delly sprouting experiments soon made it evident that chia seeds can’t be sprouted in water in the same way as legumes, for example. This is because of the gelatinous layer created when [...]

Sprouting: what is it? “Sprouts” (Regulation (EC) No 208/2013) are “the product obtained from the germination of seeds and their development in water or another medium, harvested before the development of true leaves and which is intended to be eaten [...]

Sous vide cooking method In our growing awareness of healthy food and the desire for functional food, we’ve learned how cooking processes cause changes in the chemical composition of food and how they can adversely affect its physical structures. Studies [...]