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:

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.

Peter's website

Peter's Facebook

Peter's Instagram

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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
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In all honesty, I was thinking

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"please, please, please don't

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make him get worse"

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and really praying that he's not

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going to get worse after this

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stress. And, you know, some people

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actually question whether this dog

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is really 31.

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The most striking difference between

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the way all of us feed our dogs

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and he, is that he sources all his

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food from the village.

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I know that there's a combination of

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elements and factors why Bobi

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is as long living as he is.

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But you know, I cannot hide my

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emotions when I'm talking about

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because it's just like I don't want

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to hide them, but it's like it's

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been one of the most

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spiritual experiences of the past

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several years for sure.

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Like, we are not here to tell them

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you have to stay for us a little

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longer.

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And it's also not a failure if some

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some dogs live shorter lives than

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others.

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But obviously out of, you know, for

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selfish reasons, we want them to

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live long.

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You know, I started supplementing

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with other supplements that I felt

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that that we could do better.

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I was asked to do some

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to create a formula for minerals

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and amino acids for a pet food

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company in the early days.

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And then I started seeing these

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amazing changes.

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I've seen I've seen really kind

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of like beautiful recoveries from

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complex situations and conditions.

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And if we don't look after it, it's

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we are going to fail to maintain

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health.

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Hello. My name's Catherine Edwards,

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the host of the Live Love Learn

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podcast. And in today's episode,

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you are in for a real treat.

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Now, this is about

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dog owners and my guest, Dr. Peter

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Dobias, who's been on my channel

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before.

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He is one of the world leading

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holistic vets that has really

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devoted his life to educating

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all of us about how to help our

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dogs live a long, happy life.

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But this podcast isn't just for dog

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owners. REverything

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we talk about today can be applied

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to any animal in your life, and

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equally important to us

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are humans. Because never has it

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been more true that happy, human,

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healthy, human means healthy dog

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and vice versa.

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So let's all learn from each other.

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There's so much more than five tips

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in here. I promise you that every

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single person, regardless

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of whether you're a dog, parent or

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not, regardless of whether you've

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grown up with animals or they're new

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to you, or you just want to

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understand more about

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the decisions you make and the

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impact.

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So we discuss Bobi,

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the world's oldest dog, 31

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years old.

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The impact of social interaction

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and freedom of choice

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and not micromanaging too much

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in either your own life or your

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animal's life.

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Of course, diet, exercise,

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nutrition

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and chemicals in and out, detoxing

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the body, healthy teeth.

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There's so much in here for

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everyone.

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So please sit back,

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enjoy.

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Stay curious and let us

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know what you think in the comments

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below. Thanks for watching.

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I am really, really delighted

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to be back with one of my absolute

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favourite guests on my podcast, Dr.

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Pete Tobias.

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Now last time Peter

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was on my show.

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I will put the link to the video

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below. We had a really amazing

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conversation about how we could

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be the best dog parents.

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And Peter shared a lot of his

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personal story about how he's

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accumulated the vast array of

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knowledge that he has.

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And this time we're going to be

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discussing five

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tips on how to help your dogs

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live a long and healthy life.

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But even though we're going to be

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talking about dogs today, everything

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we talk about will apply to any

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other animals in your life and very

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importantly, yourselves.

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So don't forget to include

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yourself in it.

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I just wanted to say that today's

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episode is sponsored by

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ASEA redox signalling molecules.

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Now it comes in two forms

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the liquid and the gel.

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Plus there's a huge other product

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range for us.

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But why did I start taking

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ASEA and why is it now

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an integral part of something

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that my whole family, both four

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legged and two legged, take every

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single day?

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Plus also something that all the

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clients I work with again

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four legged and two legged, it's number one

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on my priority list.

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Well, part of what I do, what

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I'm passionate about is

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understanding the challenges that

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are affecting each and every one of

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us in today's modern living.

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The more you know, the more

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sometimes you wish you didn't know.

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But the pollution in the air,

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in the water, in the food,

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the control of our minds, the

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propaganda.

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But one of the things that we can do

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is take back responsibility

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for our own health.

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Now, every single cell of our body

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whether we're an animal, whether we're

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one of the dogs in the background!

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Or one of my plants, contain

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these redox signalling molecules

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and cellular health and cellular

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communication is absolutely key

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whether you want to get your body

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back in balance, whether you want

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to reverse the ageing process,

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whether you want to address any

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particular challenges that you've

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got physically, emotionally.

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It all starts with healthy

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cells. If your liver cells are

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healthy, your liver is healthy,

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If your brain cells are healthy,

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your brain is healthy.

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But just like a mobile phone, most

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of us have got mobile phones that we

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we use on a routine basis now.

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But that mobile phone, regardless of

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whether you've got the latest model,

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is completely useless without

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a signal.

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So what does this technology do?

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The gel is something that

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you can apply topically over

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particular areas of concern, whether

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you want your skin to look better,

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whether you've got cellulite,

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whether you've got an area that's

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causing you a challenge.

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The liquid is something you doing

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each and every day to top up

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what should be in your cells anyway.

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But when our bodies are stressed,

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diseased, challenged, or as we age,

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we make less of them.

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So personally, I wouldn't be without

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it. My sleep is better, my

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energy levels are better, my mood's

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better, my mobility is

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better. If you want to find out

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more, the details are below.

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But I'm so grateful that this came

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into my life and I'm so grateful

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I can share it with others.

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I hope you love it as much as I do.

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Let me know.

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Peter, before we get started,

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for those people that haven't

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watched your first interview, and I

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would really encourage people to go

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back and watch the link below to

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watch that, but you've inspired

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me for so long because you've got

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over 30 years of experience as

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a veterinarian, but in the

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background, both holistic and

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conventional veterinary medicine.

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So it's given you a really great

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perspective on the way

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that you approach health for

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yourself and for all animals,

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animal, homeopathy, natural

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nutrition.

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And you sold your thriving

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vet practice in

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Vancouver, Canada back in 2008

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to really pursue your passion for

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educating the public about disease

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prevention and natural treatments.

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And that's how I found out about

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you. And, you know, you're one

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of the main people that's really

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helping people do that and with

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your goal of helping dog

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lovers. But any animal parents

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really understand how we can

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help our dogs

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live long and healthy lives.

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So first and foremost, welcome.

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How are you doing?

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Thank you. I'm great.

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I'm really happy to be here.

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I've been so excited all morning.

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I was thinking, okay, we're going to

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talk to Catherine.

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And you know,

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when I'm listening to all I

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am kind of reminding myself, it's

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just about learning continuously.

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It's actually maybe we have a little

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bit of knowledge here.

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We gather more and we can make some

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difference, but the learning never

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stops. So, you know, I don't want

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it to sound too grand

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because really, like we're

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constant students, like

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perpetual students.

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And and it's humbling

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to know how much knowledge there is

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that we haven't discovered.

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And it's really exciting

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to actually hear the.

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Hear other people discovering new

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things and learning from each other

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and kind of being in a community

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of like minded people.

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That's really nice. So I'm really

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glad to be here.

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Thank you so much.

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And I agree with you.

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There's so much to learn.

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I mean, I've got my two dogs.

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We've got Indy on the sofa behind

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Lola's just at my feet here.

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And these two dogs have I've had

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dogs all my life.

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I'm so lucky. I've grown up with

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animals of all species, loads of

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species I'd like a lot more,

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but they've taught me so much

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and are continuing to because

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they've still got a few challenges

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that I haven't got to the bottom of

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yet. So, you know, every every

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person we interact with, every

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animal we interact with, there's so

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much we can learn from each other.

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And you had the most amazing

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experience. I saw you, Dr. Karen

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Becker, who is amazing,

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Rodney Habib who's amazing.

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You guys had the pleasure

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of meeting Bobi, the world's

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oldest verified recorded

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dog who is 31 years

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old. I mean, I was blown

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away by this, Peter, please talk

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us through that experience.

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My goodness.

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So, you know, I actually

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had planned something else on the

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weekend when the birthday was

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happening. And I called my friend

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who I supposed to visit

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in the UK and said, you know,

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I got this invite to see the oldest

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dog in the world, and would

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you mind if we just kind of changed

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the date? Because I'm really

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curious. So she graciously agreed

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it and I took my dog,

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Pax and I, and

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we flew to Portugal.

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For those people who don't know how

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I fly with my dog, I'm a

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sleepwalker. I sleepwalked through a

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glass door

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when I was in my twenties and almost

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died. So I actually have a service

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dog who can help

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me and prevent me from doing that

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again.

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So anyway, we flew to Portugal and

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we met Dr. Becker

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and Rodney. And

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the first evening we actually met

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the canine community in Lisbon

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and it was really great.

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Like I usually am not

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a big fan of big crowds

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and so on, but this was a really

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small group and they were just so

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nice and really excited, so

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exciting to to be there.

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What I noticed, the Portuguese

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people are really they're so

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full of kindness

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in their... They live

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with their heart. And so, the next

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morning we woke up and

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we drove to the birthday,

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a little- We actually were invited

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to lunch with Bobi and his family.

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And so we kind of got an

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insight into the simplicity

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of their life. So we drove into this

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little quiet village

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and, you know, there is a very small

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house with the garden beside it.

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Beautiful lush garden.

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I'm a gardener, so I noticed

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that immediately.

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And as we were walking through the

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half, through the through the main

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gate, Bobi

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was actually chased

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by this little girl who was trying

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to pet him all the time.

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And there was no... There are not

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many people. So it was very sweet to

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actually see this dog who

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looked more like he was

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15 ish,

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maybe 16, 17,

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and I couldn't really wrap my

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head around that, that it was

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actually a dog... It's a

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dog that is 31.

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So first,

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you know, there are so, so, so much

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to talk about.

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Obviously, we said hi to Bobi.

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And the interesting part is that he

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doesn't actually have grey hair and

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he does have this genetic

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predisposition to longevity

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and grey hair.

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So this dog doesn't really look 31.

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He doesn't... Well, on the outside,

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you know, he's a little chunky and

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so on. And some people would kind of

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comment, "oh, he's heavy, he's fat".

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He's 31 years!

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Exactly, exactly!

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So

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you know, Pax, my dog

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and then Bobi

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met and I

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was just kind of thinking maybe they

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kind of they kind of learn from each

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other. Maybe Pax can learn a few

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tricks.

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But, you know, the whole...

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Meal or the lunchtime was very

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simple. We got

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a dish of sardines and salad and

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fruit salad.

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And it was all just really

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simple in a tent-like setting.

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And one thing I noticed that

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on the ground, instead of basically

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having some sort of pavement, there

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was soil. And then on top of the

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soil, they actually put cut grass

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and rosemary.

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So everything smelt like rosemary.

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And so every time I smell

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rosemary, now I remember Bobi and

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the whole family.

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So, you know, again, just very

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simple environment

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and Leonel,

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the owner or guardian of Bobi.

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I'm not gonna call him owner.

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We're not owners of our dogs.

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He is

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actually the most strikingly

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intelligent, but also

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very simple person

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who has been thrown

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into this kind of like celebrity

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status a little bit.

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And it was actually his

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friend who had this

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idea that Bobi should be known to

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the world and he filed the

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application [to Guiness World Records] and

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then basically they did

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all the DNA testing and telomere

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testing to make sure that this is

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actually correct and that veterinary

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records testing and, you know,

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some people actually questioned

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whether this dog is really 31.

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I know that Leonel has made zero

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money from from this.

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He actually refused any

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donations or anything like that.

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And he just basically

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I trust him 100%.

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Yeah.

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Because that was...

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And, you know, talking to him.

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There was this chain...

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Kind of

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love that is beyond the

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love that I witness on a regular

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basis. Like it was just like a

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connection. Like he was six when

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Bobi was born in the little

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shed on the property

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and he even showed us the little

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shed where he was born.

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And they're just like twins,

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like it's almost like they're just

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like, so connected on a soul level

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that there's like, it's it was

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just so beautiful to watch and some

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of the interactions when they kind

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of connected and so on.

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And then Bobi was very willing

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in the afternoon there was about 25

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guests and 80 media, but

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the media were actually not

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too obnoxious because these days

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people have basically a small little

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camera and microphone at the most.

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And Bobi, actually, we could see...

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We were a little worried that Bobi-

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it's going to be too much for Bobi.

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But he

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kind of paced himself to a certain

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degree and he put himself away

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during the celebration.

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And then, you know, the villagers

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and the whole village came and they

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were dancing and Bobi was in the

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middle and

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it was just really sweet.

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Obviously, photo shoot and all that

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stuff was done.

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And I

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was really happy, actually, when the

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celebration was over.

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And the next day we came for

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a Facebook Live with Rodney

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and Karen, and Bobi

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was just kind of hanging out.

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He was resting. He was quite tired

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after that. And we were worried

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that, you know, that he overdid it.

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And in

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all honesty, I was thinking, please,

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please, please don't don't make him

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get worse. I was just really praying

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that he's not going to get worse

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after the stress.

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But he seemed to recover.

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And

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on that second day, we

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had a little bit of more connection

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with with Leonel.

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And he said,

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you know, I said, first-

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you inspired all of us because

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he was thanking us for, you know,

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advice and giving him some

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suggestions and so on.

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But I said, we're learning from you.

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It's not the other way around.

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Like we can give you some

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suggestions how to deal with certain

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issues, but we're learning from

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you and we want to know.

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And so we...

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Obviously we talked a little

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bit about his food and about his

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diet and so on.

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But the most striking difference

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between the way

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all of us feed our dogs and

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he that he sources all his food

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from the village.

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Yeah.

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From meat to the vegetables

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and to the well water.

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But we can't really replicate this

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this kind of environment very

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easily. Most of us can't.

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But, you know, I could see the

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garden was just lush and

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rich, no chemicals, the

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well water. He was pointing to the

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well that it was in the back of the

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garden and they have the

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municipal water.

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But but Bobi was getting the well

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water.

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Bobi was eating

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the meat from the village

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where he would barter vegetables

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for meat and so on,

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or eggs. And so there's still this

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kind of like barter system.

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And

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I know that there's a combination

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of elements and factors why

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Bobi is as long living as

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he is. But, you know, if I could

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summarise, I think that it's

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really like.

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Great start and

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not much of an invasive therapy

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or veterinary care.

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I didn't ask him about the vaccines,

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but I doubt that he was getting

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anything beyond the

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initial ones.

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Definitely local chemical free

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foods, but there are some other

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things. Love. Definitely love

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in the care from the guardian, the

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connection. But Bobi also

Speaker:

would every day at 4:00

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he would basically

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get up and he would go to see

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the village dogs.

Speaker:

Yes!

Speaker:

He would see this group, right?

Speaker:

It's like, you know,

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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

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four guys, and they just kind of

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walk together with the canes.

Speaker:

And they are really

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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!

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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

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people.

Speaker:

So that was it.

Speaker:

You know, I could talk forever.

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But one more thing that I

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don't think I'll ever forget, and it

Speaker:

was very humbling and also

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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

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unprepared he was.

Speaker:

And as we were talking, I thought of

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us not really having a solution and

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there is no solution for dogs to

Speaker:

even live longer.

Speaker:

Obviously, we all would like them to

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live longer.

Speaker:

You mentioned that dogs would

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eventually reach age of

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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

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my my general sense is

Speaker:

as long as possible.

Speaker:

But for me, I would not

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want to leave my dog behind.

Speaker:

So maybe

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with a little bit of practice and

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personal growth and development, I'd

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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

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his bum.

Speaker:

So I

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help Leonel to kind of

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taught him out to clean it and, and

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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Which brings me to my next subject,

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which is the food.

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Now, food is something

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you've been teaching people

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about dog nutrition for a

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long while because you've seen both

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sides of the scale about what

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getting it wrong can have such

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disastrous effects, of course,

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for ourselves as well.

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And you know, the challenges now

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as a lot of people will go into

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their supermarket and most of it

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isn't real food.

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But you notice that Bobi was

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eating really locally and

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natural human food - not

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out of a can, not out of a bag...

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Yeah! So

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there were some moments actually

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when we learned what Bobi

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ate that were quite

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shocking because Bobi gets

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onions on a regular basis.

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Cooked onions and some stews

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and raw vegetables.

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So it's not all raw meat

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and it's more of a stew kind of

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diet with

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basically just everything thrown

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in it.

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And I think that he gets some table

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scraps as well.

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I know

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from the information

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that I got from the

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people around Bobi that

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there were some attempts to actually

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try quieten the owner to...

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That he doesn't feed kibble.

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But, you know, obviously that didn't

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happen. But I'm not going to get

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into the politics of it.

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But, you know, obviously

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learning that a dog that

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is 31 has never had kibble

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is not good for business.

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So

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I'm a big believer that truth always

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when you know, when the Velvet

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Revolution in the Czech Republic

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happened in 1989.

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Václav Havel, the first president,

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his motive was truth always wins

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and this is about medicine

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about health, like

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no matter what entity tries to

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kind of hide information or tries

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to convince us otherwise, the truth

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always seeps through.

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And it may not be through the

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professional circles.

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It may be through just us talking

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as a community.

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And I think that there is

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there's a lot of positive

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development and it doesn't need to

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be through nastiness

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or accusing each other.

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I know that those

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people who make let's say processed

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food, they they believe

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most, or at least some of them,

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believe that that's

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what is best for dogs.

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But on some level, it

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doesn't really make sense because I

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don't know any medical doctor that

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would tell their patients to

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eat a lot of processed food and the

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wholesome food would not be good,

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right. Like, you don't hear a doctor

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saying that. So there's a little bit

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of a discrepancy that is hard to

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hide, like sometimes

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with the politics

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of foods and diet.

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It is so blatantly wrong.

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Yes.

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If you try to hide it.

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But eventually you just got to start

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contradicting yourself because it

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just doesn't make sense.

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Right. So going back to Bobi,

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you know.

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His diet has been very, very simple

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but local. And I think that that's

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important and unprocessed

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and a

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combination of meat and vegetables,

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which we do.

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But it

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would be really nice to have more

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conversations with Leonel about his

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diet. And I definitely plan

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to do that.

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We've been in touch, and

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I'd like to learn as much as I can,

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but but there's another part,

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and that's the genes,

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which plays an important role.

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However, to say that.

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Leonel.

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Believes that having dogs over

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20 is normal.

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I wanted to get onto this, too,

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because this is our perception

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of what is normal you and I were

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talking off camera about women

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very similar age, and we were

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talking about, isn't it funny how

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the perception of what a 60

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year old person should be

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like? And our perception

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now when we speak to most parents

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is, you know, they'll think a 12

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year old lap is very old.

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It's this sort of brainwashing

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of what is

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the new normal, which I hate to use

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that phrase, but when

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you've got an attitude like Leonel,

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where because I notice that some of

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his other dogs quite had lived to

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over 20 as well.

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How important is that perception

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and that expectation?

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Because that must affect-

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I believe...

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You know, Catherine, obviously I

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can't really talk in absolutes here

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because nobody, nobody knows

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how the universe works.

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But I have

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been for long, for the longest time,

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I've been a big

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proponent of not really

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telling people what their dogs

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select expectancy is because I think

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that often if I if someone

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someone said to someone, your dog

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will live up to 13

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or 15, the dog basically

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dies at 13 or 15.

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And I notice that.

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So I don't give people

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a prognosis.

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Like I would say, prognosis is, you

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know, good or poor or

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not very good.

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But I would never give them a

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number, whether

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it comes to their disease diagnosis

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or whether it comes to just just

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life expectancy of a breed.

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And I do

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think that there is a lot to do...

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Like, perception matters.

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I do. You really think and ah, the

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level of our worry matters.

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You know, I love the saying a little

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bit of benign neglect

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is good for our dogs.

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It's good for our children.

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It's good for anyone.

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A little bit of benign neglect and

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love. A lot of love and a little

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bit of benign neglect for sure.

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Yeah.

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It doesn't mean not to take your dog

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for walks, but not to worry about

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them as much, not micromanage them,

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just kind of letting them be

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a bit trusting that

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that their ability to

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decide for themselves

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how long they'll be here

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is actually their own.

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Like we are not here to tell them

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you have to stay for us a little

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longer.

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And it's also not a failure if some

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some dogs live shorter lives than

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others.

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But obviously out of, you know, for

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selfish reasons, we want them to

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live long.

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But learning to be relaxed a

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little more about their

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senior years, learning

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to come to accept

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that they're not going to be here

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forever is super important.

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And I

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think part of the longevity plan as

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well.

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Yeah, I completely agree

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with you. And.

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You know, the great thing is, is the

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older any of us get the more we know

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what we want to do.

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The more ways to tune in with

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ourselves, we understand

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how much we can or can't push

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ourselves. And our dogs are exactly

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the same. And me, my dogs are

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coming up six now and they're really

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happily lying here, you know, fast

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asleep.

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But when they were younger, you

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know, they were a lot more playful.

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But they know that- dogs are so good

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at knowing when they need to rest,

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when they need to play, when

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they want to exercise, etc..

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It's fantastic to watch.

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I certainly learn a lot from them.

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Yeah.

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Absolutely.

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Going back to the diet just because

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this is such an important one for

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people. The biggest thing I get

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people saying to me is

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it's so complicated.

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Knowing what to feed as a diet.

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And I always...

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My answer is, well, just think,

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rabbit.

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You know,

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what is a rabbit composed of.

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Sorry, rabbit.

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Rabbit or chicken or.

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Or, you know, something like that.

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And actually, when you think back

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from that, So how do you approach

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that? And for people that

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are over-worrying about

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it, because that can go both ways

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as some people who say, you know,

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you don't worry at all and just feed

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them a can of tuna each day and

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because it's not dog food, think

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it's fine. And then there's others

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that micromanage.

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What would be your biggest message

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for any dog owner listening at the

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moment?

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Yeah,

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relax. Actually,

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people don't worry about their kids

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actually, you know, measuring every

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single gram of amino acids and

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omega oils and everything like,

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you know, and nutrients and, and

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calcium and this and that.

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The body is quite intelligent.

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And if we don't clutter with the

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junk and toxins and give it

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a healthy, balanced diet that

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is close to the natural diet

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of canines,

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then we are fine.

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And you know again

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there are certain ratios and

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proportions.

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I put together a little recipe maker

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that people can use and it just kind

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of gives you an idea what the

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proportions could be and

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what choices you have.

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But ultimately.

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It is really to...

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It's quite simple.

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What I do, I feed bones.

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I feed meat and vegetables.

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And sometimes I feed organs.

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I must confess that I don't feed

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organs as often because they're not

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as easy to get.

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And sometimes they may not be

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organic. And I don't want to give

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junk to my dog.

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But some dogs

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are quite happy to eat vegetables on

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their own. And the range of

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vegetable portions are anywhere

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from 10 to 30%.

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You just basically have to see what

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what your dog does well on.

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The dogs that are hotter,

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that are running hot.

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They do better on green vegetables

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and more of them.

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There are certain principles of

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what meats dogs do well on.

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The colder dogs would

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do better or poultry and warming

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meats, the hotter dogs

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would not do well on poultry in

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general and would do better

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on cooling meats.

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The principles I find

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really correlate and are

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aligned with the Chinese medicine

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principles.

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And I I've observed it in many

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dogs.

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My first dog was chilly

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and he was great on poultry.

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Pax,

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is hot. He's not great on poultry,

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so I don't necessarily force it.

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Dogs like to scavenge.

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I'm not really...

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I'm not really opposed to even give

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dogs healthy leftovers when it

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comes to, you know,

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our own food and the idea

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that dogs should not get salt and

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all of the other animals get salt

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and salt licks and so on.

Speaker:

Again, it just doesn't make sense.

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And I think that it was one of the

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ways of the pet food industry

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to convince people they must not

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feed human food.

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And I don't see a problem

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actually to give

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some leftovers.

Speaker:

What else?

Speaker:

I don't really like to give dogs

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dairy.

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No mammals consume dairy

Speaker:

past their weaning.

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I find dairy aggravating for

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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

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a video clip of Pink.

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She's got a video clip for

Speaker:

the song Raise Your Glass.

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Yeah, she actually blatantly

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and very clearly opposed

Speaker:

to that idea of milking cows

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and sheep with the milking machines

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on women and feed the calves

Speaker:

just to kind of see how we're doing

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this. And, you know, there's so many

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milk replacements and coconut

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and almond and and oatmeal

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and all that.

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We don't really need that.

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So- and dogs definitely don't

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need that. And milk is...

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It

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taxes the immune system.

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It's not really good because it has

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a lot of, you know,

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bacteria and protein.

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It's kind of a live life,

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live foods, right.

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So most of the time it's pasteurised

Speaker:

in some situations, but it does have

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still some you know, it's it's

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it's not it's not really

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that healthy for the immune system

Speaker:

to consume a lot of milk for many

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people and most animals.

Speaker:

What else...

Speaker:

When you feed eggs.

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I would give I

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would give obviously organic free

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range eggs.

Speaker:

I am not too keen feeding

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too much fish, but

Speaker:

in contrary to my belief, Bobi

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has been getting sardines and he's

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fine.

Speaker:

My concern about sardines was

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that

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strontium from the

Speaker:

nuclear disaster in Japan

Speaker:

actually gets in the bones of of

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small fish, and we eat sardines with

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with the bones.

Speaker:

So that was my concern.

Speaker:

But I'm seen Bobi actually living up

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to 31.

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And I had to really look at

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it critically and say, okay, maybe

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I'm wrong and, you know, it happens

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to you happens to us all the time

Speaker:

that we realise that whatever we

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believe, then suddenly it doesn't

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apply.

Speaker:

But there's this kind of like

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golden, solid centre

Speaker:

where you know that

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is true. That is, that is really

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undeniably correct.

Speaker:

And then there are these little bits

Speaker:

and pieces that you may need to

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change.

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Yeah.

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What about timing of food, Peter,

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and how often dogs should be fed?

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Yeah, different approaches.

Speaker:

The reason why I paused here is I

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don't know how often Bobi is

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fed.

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My general sense

Speaker:

is that it's actually healthier

Speaker:

for dogs to fast,

Speaker:

meaning that once a day feeding is

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great. I don't feed your dog before

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exercise.

Speaker:

I don't really like to feed my dog

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late in the evening because then the

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sleep is not as good

Speaker:

and micro

Speaker:

or intermittent fasting is actually

Speaker:

a good idea for dogs, meaning that

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if you don't feed your dog for 24

Speaker:

hours, or feed your dog

Speaker:

once every 24 hours is probably

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optimal and ideal.

Speaker:

In nature, they would not have

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regular meals, so some people

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panicked. They would have to drop

Speaker:

everything and leave.

Speaker:

Leave an event

Speaker:

or visit with friends because their

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dog is going to go crazy

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at 6 p.m.

Speaker:

So I actually feed my dog

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irregularly.

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I don't eat him on a regular

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basis because it's easier for them.

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And I do the same thing with me.

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Like I, I,

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you know, sometimes I have breakfast

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at 11. If I don't make it, I'll

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have, I'll have lunch and I won't

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have breakfast at all.

Speaker:

And the fasting actually

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activates these regeneration

Speaker:

system, certain enzymes and gene

Speaker:

repair. And it just kind of like

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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

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these, you know, five

Speaker:

or six meals a day, it's kind of

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insane. And for dogs,

Speaker:

unless there is a medical reason,

Speaker:

I definitely don't recommend feeding

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adult dogs more than once a day.

Speaker:

When it comes to puppies, I usually

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feed them

Speaker:

three times a day until about five

Speaker:

or six months of age that they start

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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

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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

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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.

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And then I started seeing these

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amazing changes and

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they were actually greater than I

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thought they should be.

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And then I started to think, because

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I like to garden as well.

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And I've been gardening since since

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early age.

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My grandfather was a herbalist and

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he had a whole bunch of herbs and

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I picked that.

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And then in the early

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maybe mid-twenties, we had a garden

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here in the Czech Republic before I

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moved to Canada.

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So I knew what it

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looks like, what a depleted plant

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looks like. What

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a tomato or potato

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or apple tree looks like when it

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doesn't have the nutrients.

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We all recognise it.

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And I started to think, you know, it

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makes complete sense because

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we are even more complex

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than plants. And if you don't get

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all the building blocks, how can we

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expect the body to thrive

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and age well and repair itself

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when it doesn't get the nutrients?

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So I actually kind of took on

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the simpler route.

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I thought, I'm going to create a

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system that is simple

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enough for people to be able to

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follow it, but it will make the most

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difference. So I didn't really focus

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as much on specific problems,

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but, you know, created fermented

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vitamins, created probiotics

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that are canine specific, then

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came on the

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omega threes, which which were

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actually the simplest ingredient but

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at the same time more complicated.

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More complicated because

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fish is depleted, fish stocks

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are depleted.

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There's a lot of farmed fish.

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Krill is not sustainable.

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We kept running into issues.

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You know, plant based omegas are not

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really balanced EPA, and

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DHAs, it cannot be created together,

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at least for now.

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Maybe. Maybe they're going to be

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able to grow it eventually.

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But right now it's impossible.

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The technology is advancing very

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fast. So we we ended up

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with squid oil, which

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is actually which really has been

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eye opening as well, because

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it's really high in not only EPA

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but also DHA.

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And that's good for brain

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and nerve system and

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regeneration, but it protects

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the blood brain barrier.

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So it actually prevents the brain

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from getting inflamed.

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And it has been shown

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in research studies that DHEA

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actually prevents dementia

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and cognitive issues in dogs and

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people, and

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it reduces inflammation of the brain

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because it starts with the

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with the brain blood brain

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barrier being disrupted

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and not repaired enough.

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And then the

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elements or particles or

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substances that should not get in

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the brain, get in the brain, and it

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results in inflammation.

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So huge, huge,

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huge kind of

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mind opening experience

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with that.

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There is so much, you know, when it

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comes to when it comes to nutrition

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that we could talk about.

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But the essential we call them

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actually "the fabulous four", is

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minerals, vitamins,

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amino acids, actually minerals

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and amino acids come together, then

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vitamins, then probiotics and

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then omegas, and then once every

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six months a cleanse.

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So that's the simplest thing we can

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do.

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And

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I've seen I've seen really kind

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of like beautiful recoveries from

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complex situations and conditions

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which says or confirms that

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when you give the body what it

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needs.

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The building blocks and and

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and and the repair

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ingredients.

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It does it on its own.

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And then obviously you're left with

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some of the conditions where to me

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to supplement hormones

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or hypothyroidism or Addison's

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disease or you have to treat

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Cushing's disease or something

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like that. It's much more complex,

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but most dogs actually beautifully

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recover when we provide them

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nutrients.

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And then there is another kind of

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element that

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I pay a lot of and put a lot of

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emphasis on.

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And that's spinal health.

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Yes.

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Huge, huge, huge.

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Spinal health in

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my mind is

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like half of the win.

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So many dogs and so many people have

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back pain, back issues,

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inflammatory condition along the

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spine.

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And I see the spine as the energy

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high rate to the body and to the

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organs and skin segments and muscles

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and so on. As soon as the spine is

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misaligned, the muscles tighten up.

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It prevents the blood flow

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and our flow and energy flow to the

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organs, hands and skin

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segments and muscle segments.

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And that's how it all starts, right?

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And then the body and

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the patient, the dog, human starts

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compensating and certain

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areas get tighter.

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And again, when they get tighter,

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the restriction happens in that

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area. And it's like a vicious

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circle.

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And there's two things

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that you can do. First, about the

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several things you can do for spinal

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health, but one of them is

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definitely exercise in a variety

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of exercise, but also preventing

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injuries and core strengthening.

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And there are enough physio or

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animal physical therapists that will

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tell you how to exercise and older

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dog and they will tell you how

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to, you know, how to adjust the

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spine when it's congested, when it's

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injured.

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I actually did a pilates

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class yesterday and

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I just misunderstood the teacher,

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the instructions and I lifted my

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legs much more than I was supposed

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to. And this morning I woke up

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and I'm feeling a little tension.

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So I actually I am

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experiencing intramuscular

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needle stimulation or needle

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therapy. So I put acupuncture

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needles in a few spots and it's

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fine.

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The bizarre thing is that

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sometimes you learn about these

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connections between different parts

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of the body in a

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in a personal experience I

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had for about five

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days, about three months ago,

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I had a really sore throat and I

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thought I had strep throat or

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something and it wasn't getting

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better. And I was thinking, this is

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kind of weird. And then I was

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thinking my sore, my neck

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is a little sore here.

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I do a lot of computer work, so.

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So I put a few needles in my

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in my neck in

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the middle of the night because my

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throat really hurt by day

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five, I woke up in the morning,

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zero

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sore throat.

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And so it kind of tells you how

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connected it is.

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Or dogs that have diarrhoea often

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have lumbar spine issues, dogs

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that have cardio conditions

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have actually inter scapula spinal

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issues.

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One of my very dear friends

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has atrial

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fibrillation and she's in her

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seventies and

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I just talked to her recently and I

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said, you know, how is your how is

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your back pain? I was your back and

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your I was able to touch her back

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and she was like a board.

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And she said, of course, like I

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have a sore back all the time.

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And that's something that we often

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forget that the spine is

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the highway of the energy

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in the body.

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And if we don't look after it, it's

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we are going to fail to maintain

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health.

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Yeah it- and so many

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people it's very...

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It can be quite hard to find pick up

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because the dog might not be

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obviously lame but

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the more trained eyes, as you say,

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luckily there's a lot of good

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therapists around there now that can

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work with your dog and show you what

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to look out for and then also

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help with exercises, a well-fitted

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harness, which I know you're a big

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proponent of, to actually

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help prevent the,

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you know, the injury coming back

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again.

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So, so important.

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One of my dogs, Lola.

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She's always doing zooms and

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twisting and turning and it makes a

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difference. But I'm very lucky with

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her because she tells me straight

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away, you know, she's really obvious

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with it, even though she's not lame

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to look at the area.

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And I'm a big

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fan of red light therapy as well

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and using that to open up the energy

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flows.

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So we've got spinal health,

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we've got supplementation and

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sort of detox.

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We have got food, we've got

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social and we've got freedom

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of choice. Anything else?

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Oh, my goodness.

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Absolutely.

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Healthy teeth are super important,

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often neglected for a number of

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reasons.

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Number one, people worry about

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feeding bones to dogs.

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And there's a really well,

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there's a useful blog on my website

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that actually gives people a really

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good idea what bones are safe and

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what they're good for.

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Many people make the mistake of

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giving marrow bones to large dogs

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and they track their teeth, which is

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quite dangerous.

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The bones are harder than the teeth

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and they crack them.

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You know, I've seen some dogs having

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really terrible teeth.

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And there people say, I don't I

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don't want to do anything.

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It's much safer to actually

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follow the recommendation

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of your veterinarian and get the

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teeth cleaned and then maintain them

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without not needing to go for

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another anaesthesia.

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And I give really detailed

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instructions.

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If you go to my website and

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just search for dental care, it's

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going to come up with a really

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detailed blog and also bone

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feeding instructions

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and all that.

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The problem is that when

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dental care is neglected,

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when there is tartar build-up, the

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bacteria will spread in the kidneys

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and the heart and it often

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gets damaged. They often get

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damaged.

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Renal failure is very common in dogs

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that have bad teeth, and so it's

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cardiac insufficiency and valvular

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disease. So when the

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bacteria basically harbours in the

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balance of the heart and

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will damage the heart.

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So dental care.

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You know,

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try to go with minimal,

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minimal immunisation.

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I am a big proponent of

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minimising vaccines.

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I've never seen a dog ending

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up with parvovirus or distemper

Speaker:

infection by six months

Speaker:

and usually they're dogs that are

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neglected or they come from

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really a poor

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sanitation environment.

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They would

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just be neglected, they would be

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parasite ridden and so on.

Speaker:

So it's not, it's not that an

Speaker:

average puppy will get parvovirus or

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distemper, but it can happen.

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I usually like to

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wait until 12 weeks because

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if you immunise before

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and this is something that most

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people don't know.

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So if you immunised

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before, you actually

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get rid of or you destroyed

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the antibodies, the maternal

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protection and I will explain

Speaker:

this. Maternal antibodies are

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acquired through the milk mainly,

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and sometimes through placenta in

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cats more than dogs.

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But when puppies

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are immunised through the milk

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by the immunoglobulins from

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colostrum, they're protected

Speaker:

until about I'm just going to say

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12 to 18 weeks, maybe a little more,

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a little less at the upper

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upper spectrum,

Speaker:

but they're protected.

Speaker:

And if you get vaccine, the vaccine

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basically neutralises it latches

Speaker:

onto the antibodies and

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basically destroys the antibodies.

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So dogs that are vaccinated before

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the immune system can actually

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produce an antibody response...

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it

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basically reduces the immunity.

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So I strongly encourage

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people not to vaccinate until

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the age of 12 weeks.

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Before 12 weeks, he may

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want to socialise with puppies

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from the from the from the from

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the litter. I don't think that there

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is any need to expose dogs to other

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dogs.

Speaker:

However, if you do want to, you can

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measure the antibodies level

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antibody levels even before 12

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weeks and if the antibody levels

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are positive, if there is presence

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of antibodies against parvo

Speaker:

distemper, then

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you can actually socialise

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moderately with other

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dogs at 12 weeks.

Speaker:

Usually I recommend measuring

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another antibody test and

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if it's positive.

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I don't even recommend vaccinating

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against distemper and parvo and

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measure the test for one more time

Speaker:

in a month.

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And if it's positive, then it's

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very likely that your dog will be

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socialising with other dogs that

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just have an immune response and

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it's fine.

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Now when it comes to parvo

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distemper, that's how I dealt with

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my dogs.

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And I've dealt with many dogs in

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my practice and I never had it fail.

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However, some people may not be

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comfortable and some

Speaker:

of my colleagues will be really

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unhappy about me suggesting this,

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but this is how natural immunity

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happens.

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Maternal antibodies, then

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socialisation, and

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basically a gradual decline of

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the maternal antibodies while the

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body acquired antibodies are rising.

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If you vaccinate at 12 weeks, let's

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say the antibodies are negative,

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there is no antibodies, then I would

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probably recommend giving one

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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

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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

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a few boosters.

Speaker:

Rabies is a different story.

Speaker:

In the UK, you're lucky that you

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don't have rabies, so you don't need

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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

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we can't really

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negotiate.

Speaker:

But I think I think that we can

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definitely dramatically reduce

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vaccine...

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Vaccination.

Speaker:

The other thing people complain

Speaker:

about is that kennels or

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daycares require vaccination.

Speaker:

And I would always recommend to

Speaker:

suggest that you sign a waiver

Speaker:

for

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day-care or something like that if

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your dog isn't vaccinated or provide

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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,

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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

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puppies that would be

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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

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from the vaccine.

Speaker:

I don't have a definite proof, but

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it is just unheard of that young

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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

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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

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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

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them that they really thrive on.

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And I have to remind myself,

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today is a playtime.

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And, you know, right now I just

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kind of take the toys out and

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be silly with my dog and

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and take

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take time to cuddle or

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a scratch.

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They don't always need to be busy,

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busy, busy. Right.

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Like that happens to dogs and

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happens to kids that we think that

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children have to be busy and they

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have to go from activity to activity

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and parents go...

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They're on the sofa so sweet!

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And just hanging out.

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Exactly.

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They're speaking their presence and

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making sure that they have social

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engagement, that they have their

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friends, that we actually truly

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call up a friend and say, Hey, can I

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bring your dog?

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Can I take your dog to my place?

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Or vice versa, If

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you go for a walk, just

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create a circle of friends where you

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can actually hang out

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together. It's just it

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would be really.

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Sad for dogs.

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I think they were just

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lonely and many dogs are

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lonely.

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And there may be senior people who

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no longer want to get their own dog,

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but they would be very happy to dog

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sit

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and walk dogs.

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Yes, it's

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there's so many options.

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We just have to I think we just have

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to get out of our shells a little

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bit. Shelf little bit...

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Shellf...

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Sometimes I mix

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up my English.

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We have to get out of our shell and

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get out there and connect with

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others because our dogs benefit.

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They really do.

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And so do we and definitely Happy

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dog, happy human.

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Happy human, happy dog.

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Get that balance right.

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Thank you so, so much.

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I've absolutely loved it, as always.

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Really, really appreciate all your

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time, all your wisdom.

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I'll put all the links to

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Peter's website.

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Your blogs are absolutely

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brilliant. I'm always referring

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to them. I love them really well

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written, really, really helpful.

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There's so much free information

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on Peter's website and of course,

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some brilliant supplements.

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So please do go and have a look at

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those.

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Thank you so much. Brilliant to talk to you.

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Thank you Peter, speak soon!

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I look forward

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to the next time.

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Take care. Bye bye.

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Bye!

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Thank you so much for taking the

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time to listen.

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And if you feel inspired, please

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do share with your friends and

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family.

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My goal is to inspire as many

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people as I can to live their best

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lives, to stay curious

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and to raise their consciousness

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and that of the collective.

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So to do this, I need to reach as

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many people as possible.

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And this needs your help.

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If you feel drawn, would you be

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willing to share your favourite

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episode with five different people?

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This helps us spread the word and

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also helps me encourage some

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exciting new guests to take part in

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this podcast.

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If you feel drawn to do that, I

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would be very, very grateful.

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All the links and discount codes

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were applicable for the project,

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so I support all

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of my two websites.

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CatherineEdwards.Life

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and CatherineEdwardsAcademy.com.

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All of the products are personally

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tried and tested by me,

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my family and my clients.

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And finally, please do

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press the follow or subscribe

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button, depending on which platform

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you're listening on.

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And above all, stay curious

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About the Podcast

Show artwork for Live - Love - Learn with Catherine Edwards
Live - Love - Learn with Catherine Edwards
Your one-stop Wellness Centre. Expanding consciousness through curiosity, bringing you information on physical, mental, spiritual health & quantum tools for humans & animals. A conduit empowering each of us to be our own life creators.

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About your host

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Catherine Edwards

Catherine Edwards BSc(Hons) Biology, MBA is the founder of The Live-Love-Learn Podcast, The Catherine Edwards Academy and CatherineEdwards.life. She also works as a private Therapist offering a range of services for animals and humans, both in person and remotely anywhere in the world, seeking to improve their overall health and vitality. Her unique combination of holistic natural therapies provides each customer, of whatever species, with a wealth of information to understand the root cause of any imbalances, addressing the physical, emotional, spiritual and behavioural, and providing lasting solutions to regain balance. Catherine is passionate about expanding consciousness and sharing information, and is known for balancing science, philosophy and practical implementation.