A Few Tips To Help Your Dogs During Shedding Season

Over the years of living with my large pack of huskies and raising them naturally, I have learned how the shedding process effects the dogs and how to best support them so that they stay in good condition as well as change the coat as quickly and efficiently as possible, and of course grow a new healthy coat.

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Five of My Go To Nourishing Wild Herbs for My Dogs

The most common wild herbs that you will find literally underneath your house window or just outside the door are often not only rich in medicinal properties but are an incredibly rich sources of micro-nutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements, antioxidants and other vital and essential phyto-nutrients). Another words, they are classified as nourishing or nutritive herbs.

Here are 5 of my go to herbs from this category:

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Cold Weather Senior Dog Care

As the temperatures hit the 20 below mark again couple weeks ago, I thought I’d repost my Instagram post from a while back, with a few tips on winter/cold weather (especially) senior dog care, based on our holistic dog care practices at our kennel.

When the temperatures reach the -15C and lower mark it is time to think about the goldies oldies aka the canine senior citizens.

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Paying Attention To The Dogs´ Needs For Fasting: A More Spiritual Approach And A Few Herbs To Help With Nourishing And Cleansing

Couple of weeks ago, we felt our dogs´ needed a day of fasting. They all felt "stuffed", some ate reluctantly, some did not even touch their food and some did not look hungry at all, despite normally being ALWAYS hungry.

We honored their choice and gave the entire pack a day of fasting, 24 hours to be exact for the adults and 12 hours for the puppies and special needs dogs (aka "The Specials").

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Our Domestic Dogs: Omnivores or Carnivores?

No matter how unbelievable it may sound, the fact is, that our modern dogs share 99% of their DNA with the wolf.

However disturbing or fascinating you may find it, this is what it comes down to, regardless of our love or hate of the wolf.

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Nourishing, Energizing and Restorative Spring Herbs for Your Dog and You

Spring time is time of birth, re-birth and awakening.

Although it is energizing just by itself, the bodies of all the Earth´s creatures are tired, depleted of energy, yet longing for the re-birth and time spent outside, being active.

While I have pondered and covered a lot of the spring needs of our dogs and together with my friend Erica, who specializes in animal acupressure we have touched the spring time care in our co-authored article Acupressure, Herbs and Nutrition for Spring which follows mostly the five element theory, let´s take a bit closer look at the spring wild herbs that mother Nature offers at this time of the year.

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Acupressure, Herbs and Nutrition for Spring: A Holistic Approach To Your Dog´s Health in the Season of Rebirth

Here, as promised in my previous blog update, is an article I co-authored with my friend Erica Friebel, in which we would like to give you some ideas how you can support your dog´s health and address her or his needs during the season of Spring, with the help of acupressure, nourishing herbs and foods.

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Herbs and Health Care for Dogs by Seasons Mini Series

The spring is here and with it comes a lot of new energy and ideas and projects!

I am overwhelmed by your huge interest in herbs and natural health care for your dogs and have been working the whole winter a number of ways how to share my knowledge and experience in this field with you.

So let me start by introducing the first project called Herbs and Health Care for Dogs by Seasons.

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Bone Marrow Broth For Your Dog and Cat´s Great Health

It is the time of year again - the season of cold, wet, subzero conditions (unless you are in Australia, of course :)) that have a major impact on our animals´s and our immune systems and general health.

Winter has its demands on our bodies and the immune system has to deal with a lot.

The wet, cold, icy, snowy conditions, together with the changing of temperatures as we take our dogs out from warm apartments and houses for a walk outside and back again, all this makes for example arthritic animals get worse in their symptoms than during the warmer months.

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A Few Words About REIKI and Retreiving Lost Dogs

So while we had a little unplanned adventure today, when the Whisky brothers Johnnie and Jameson used an opportunity to take off and roamed the woods, I thought it would be a good moment to share some of my experiences with REIKI Healing.

The boys are safely back home now, after an hour of intensive search and calling, but I know now that the REIKI Energy work had a lot to do with it.

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Balto´s Natural Way Story

Balto joined our pack as a six year old experienced sled dog and racing veteran, retired from another kennel´s team. Since then, he ran and pulled many miles in our teams, in training and also on races, teaching the younger dogs a lot of skills, as he was an excellent lead dog with a fabulous work ethic.

While Balto was at the bloom of his sled dog athlete career and full of energy, he was not, however, at full health. He´s been suffering from eczema on his paws, mostly between his toes, whenever the weather changed, when exposed to too much water or mud and during damp conditions. His previous owners spent a lot of time searching for the right type of food for him, and as it is in the typical allopathic medicine scenarios – Balto was way too often on antibiotics, eventually developing resistance. The vets believed he needed to be on hypoallergenic and grain free commercial dog food, and so did we at the beginning.

But because feeding him the “special” food did not make any difference, I have soon realized the problem has to be approached holistically.

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Treating Gusty´s Infected Mouth Wound Naturally

One of our young dogs Gusty punched a hole inside his mouth while enthusiastically chewing on a meaty bone. Typically, the hole inside his mouth closed almost completely and a huge swelling occurred on the outside, on the side of his muzzle.

In the past, I would have put him on antibiotics, but not today, having learned a different approach the natural way.

Knowing my dogs more than well and knowing how nourished they are and that their immune systems are strong, I decided for reaching out to a holistic approach.

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Dill: A Nutritive And Healing Herb For Your Dog

I have been so focused lately on weeds and their medicinal and nutritive properties, that I have totally forgotten about garden or kitchen herbs.

A trip to my mini herbal garden in order to pick fresh oregano and basil for a sauce to go with Jachym´s home made pasta (which was fantastic, by the way and I might actually share the recipe some day) reminded me of the many amazing health benefits of these classic kitchen herbs.

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The Natural Way Webinars For All Animal Lovers

Ok folks,
it´s been what feels like a century since I last properly blogged. Time is of essence and my lack of it is to be blamed :)

Loads of things are and have been happening around the Kipp d´Amundsen kennels and our home in the woods, and I will make an effort to keep you up-to-date, as I have luckily documented a bunch of the goings and doings around here :)
For that matter, I actually highly recommend you to visit my FB page Katerina´s Journal as it is far more frequently updated with loads of pictures of the dogs, herbs, food, health tips, musings from the wilderness, and you know, the usual stuff :)

BUT....! For now, I have an exciting announcement to make, one big enough to make me finally break the no-time loop loop of doom and get back to the blog.

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Warming And Immunity Boosting Herbal Blend For Dogs

I love making my own herbal blends for my dogs, cats, and for us as well.

I totally love the fact that I am able to pick or grow many of the plants myself, on the meadows and in the woods right here, around our homestead, and know they are truly "organic", growing in unpolluted nature in the best imaginable conditions.

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Herbal Supplement Mix For Puppies

Just a few days ago I was re-filling the herbal supplement mix for the puppies and I´ve decided to share it on the blog since I was already in the process of mixing the herbs.

As some of you know, I am a big fan of herbs for animals and humans alike, be it for their nutritional values or medicinal properties.

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Positive Reinforcement and Holistic Care Summer Dog Camp

I am super excited about this announcement! Kristyna and I have been working on this since this past summer and finally the invitation is here!

So without a further due, let me invite you all to the historically first Positive Reinforcement and Holistic Care oriented Summer Dog Camp!

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Chilli´s Story

Folks have been asking lately how is Chilli doing. I know I kept very quiet about this special boy over the summer and I held my breath lately, but now, now I have a whole story to share! :)

As some of you know, in mid March Chilli sustained a severe injury in a freak accident when he got hit by a car, at the area where we were working and living away from home for the winter season. 

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Red Clover For Dogs

Couple of months ago I have promised to my Facebook readers to tell a bit more about the benefits of red clover and why do we add it to our dogs´ diet.

In summer, all the way until almost the end of September, red clover is plentiful in our area and its vegetation time is similar in most parts of Europe and North America.

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Sixty Fireweeds

What for, you wonder? And why sixty? For the dogs, of course! :)

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