Healthcare for dogs involves so much more than taking your pup to the vet when they’re ill or injured. Modern pet healthcare takes a much more holistic view of our dogs’ health and wellness to promote their longevity and happiness, and much of our dogs’ healthcare needs can be addressed at home! Think of it this way: for humans, self-care is much more than an excuse to take a bath or splurge on a little treat. True self-care is our way of evaluating our physical and mental wellness at home by checking in about how we feel, what’s changed, and where we want to be. Our dogs just need a helping hand with their own self-care routines–after all, not having thumbs can make it tricky to give a massage! 

Being proactive instead of reactive with your pets’ healthcare can ensure that they’re comfortable and healthy for many years to come. That’s why preventive healthcare, both at home and in the vet’s office, is so important.

What Does Preventive Healthcare for Dogs Look Like?

A comprehensive preventive healthcare program accounts for all of your dog’s internal and external systems from snout to tail. Here are just a few of the things you should consider when it comes to tailoring your dog’s healthcare to their unique needs.

Annual Wellness Exams

Annual vet visits still weigh in at the top of the list of healthcare needs for dogs–and if you have a senior dog, the experts recommend two visits a year. Your vet is the best source of information when it comes to your dog’s condition and any specialized care they may need. Your vet should check your dog’s joints, coat condition, internal organs, and administer regular blood and fecal tests. Keeping up with recommended vaccines can help your dog avoid serious illness and protect their other puppy friends from disease transmission.

It’s a great idea to keep a running list of questions for your vet so you can be prepared for your visit. Keep track of anything that comes to mind about your dog’s nutrition, behavior, and beyond. There are no silly questions when it comes to your dog’s health!

Nutrition and Weight Management

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: good nutrition is the keystone to your dog’s overall wellness. Mass-produced kibble is often loaded with fillers which overload your dog’s system with unnecessary carbohydrates and sugar. Natural dog food based on healthy protein and real ingredients gives your dog clean energy and supports healthy digestion, clean coat and skin, and comfortable joints. 

Obesity in dogs can lead to a number of serious health conditions, namely stress on joints and poor gut health. Maintaining appropriate weight gives your dog the ability to exercise and play to their heart’s content.

Dental Care

Dental health has a greater effect on your dog’s overall wellness than you may realize. Poor dental health leads to so much more than bad breath: bacteria from gum disease can enter the bloodstream and lead to heart, liver, and kidney infections, as well as causing tooth loss and significant chronic pain. Periodontal inflammation can also make it harder to manage other ailments by weakening the immune system. 

Beyond regular brushing and professional tooth cleanings, selecting a dog food with minimal fillers and sugars is one of the best ways to prevent tooth decay. Look for a food based on whole proteins and vegetables. 

Grooming, Massage, and Regular Physical Monitoring

Regular grooming, including brushing, clipping, and nail trimming, can help your dog stay comfortable and stimulate the skin’s natural oils to regulate their body temperature. Grooming sessions also offer the perfect opportunity to check your dog for signs of fleas, ticks, and even other health conditions.

Giving your dog a spa day is more than just a special treat. As you carefully brush and trim your dog’s hair and nails, take your time in looking for lumps, inflammation, and any other abnormalities on their skin, limbs, stomach, and ears. Check the folds of the ears and face for irritation and insects. When you’re done brushing, you can also give your dog a gentle massage; regular massaging offers pain relief, reduced anxiety, improved circulation, and bonding time.

Behavioral Health Monitoring

Anxiety and depression aren’t just human issues! Your dog’s mental and behavioral health can be important indicators of other underlying issues. Sudden changes in attitude, like unexpected snapping, lethargy, or isolation can be indicators that your dog is in pain. If you witness any such shifts in your dog’s behavior, it’s a good idea to take them to the vet for further investigation. 

Regular social interactions and maintaining routines and schedules can all help boost your dog’s confidence and overall mood. Use positive reinforcement in training sessions and reward successes with high-quality, high-value natural dog treats. 

Preventive Care Starts with a Healthy Diet

As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Spending a little extra time to invest in preventive health care for your dog is a great way to ensure you’ll share walks and wagging tails for years to come. 

A healthy diet is the cornerstone of your dog’s overall wellness, and it’s never too late to make the change. Pet parents who introduced their dogs to natural food and treats report healthier skin and coat, improved digestion, more energy, and beyond. There’s no better time to try natural food for your own dogs! Visit our shop to learn more.

“Eat your veggies” is a commonly uttered phrase at the dinner table, but is it one you should be uttering to your dog? As you know, our Beef & Vegetables, Chicken & Vegetables, and Turkey & Vegetables dog foods wouldn’t be the same without the vegetables. We use cooked carrots, green beans, and sweet potatoes in each of our wholesome and delicious dog food flavors. Today, we want to focus on carrots.

You and I know carrots as tasty orange root vegetables that are delicious and slightly sweet when raw or cooked. If your dog has a hankering for carrots too, there’s good news! Carrots safe for our furry friends and even offer a number of nutritional benefits, including: 

• Plenty of Vitamin A. Vitamin A is the nutrient in carrots that helps maintain our vision, and it offers the same benefits to dogs! Furthermore, vitamin A is essential for your dog’s skin, coat, muscles, and nerves, according to the National Animal Supplement Council. If your dog has a vitamin A deficiency, they note, they may become night blind, and/or have deteriorating quality of skin and coat. 

• Lots of potassium. Potassium is essential for maintaining a lot of your dog’s organ functions, including the heart, the kidneys, and the muscles. A dog lacking potassium in its diet may experience stomach issues, muscle cramps, irregular heartbeat, and general weakness and lack of energy.

• Nutritional fiber. Fiber isn’t the most exciting nutrient to talk about, but we all know how important it is. Fiber helps keep your dog’s digestive system working smoothly, helping to prevent constipation and diarrhea. Keeping our dogs safe and comfortable is our top priority. Including fiber with an ingredient like carrots is a much healthier option than the “cellulose” you may see in commercial dog foods. Often, this ingredient is made from shredded paper. 

We include responsibly-sourced carrots in our human-grade dog food as a great source of vitamin A, potassium, and fiber for your dog. We want you and your dog to live long, healthy lives together. For more healthy tips for you and your dog, be sure to follow us on Instagram. Shop for dog food, treats, and bone broth!

Picture this: Your best friend has been on the latest fad diet for a few months now, and it’s really showing some great results for them. Eager to see the same for yourself, you ask them for all their tips and steps to succeed on the same diet. You follow everything to the letter and...nothing happens. It’s frustrating, but every body is built differently and reacts differently to a variety of nutrients, ingredients, and eating practices. In much the same way, every dog will react differently to different types of food.

Your veterinarian is the best first point of contact when it comes to developing a diet for your dog. If you’ve taken their recommendations into consideration, here are a few of our tips for finding the perfect food for your pup:

1. Consider any food allergies your dog might have. The telltale signs of food allergies include excessive paw licking, itchy skin, and red, smelly ears, among others. To diagnose your dog’s food allergies, most vets recommend starting with an elimination diet, which involves feeding them a very simple diet and slowly reintroducing other proteins and components to find out which items they can tolerate. The diet you build for your dog will need to eliminate any ingredients that irritate them.

2. Check the wording on the food packaging. Believe it or not, the wording on your dog’s food packaging can tell you a lot about the amount of protein they’re getting. A bag that says “chicken for dogs” means that the protein comprises 95% of the product, not including water content. “Chicken dinner,” on the other hand, usually means that the protein only comprises about 25% of the product. Finally, “chicken flavor” means the product includes a minimal amount of the protein - just enough for taste.

3. Do your research on your chosen brands. If everything looks ok on the ingredients label, do your due diligence and research your chosen dog food brands to make sure they use sustainable production practices and source their proteins ethically. This is the information that’s not required to be on the label, so a few hours of research is a good idea for you and your pup!

You want to make sure your dog is on a diet that keeps them happy and energized. If your dog is picky about their food, we offer delicious, sustainably sourced bone broth to make any meal a little more appetizing. Click here to get some for your pup, or browse through our store for more treats and foods!

If you’ve kept up with our blog, or you’re big into dog health issues, you probably know that one of the most important components of your dog’s diet is protein. It’s important to note that not all protein sources are equal. Some proteins, like eggs, deliver a lot of protein in a small package, but also have increased cholesterol compared to other sources. Other proteins, like beef and chicken, are not necessarily responsibly sourced, preventing you from giving your dog the best quality protein available.

Lamb has become increasingly popular in dog food over the last few years, both in dry food options and in whole, natural food choices. Here’s why people are turning to lamb as the main source of protein for their dogs:

• It doesn’t trigger food allergies. Many people believe that grain is the top source of food allergies for dogs, when in reality, protein sources are more likely to trigger allergic reactions. In studies, lamb was far less likely to cause dogs to have an allergic reaction than sources like beef and chicken. Lamb is considered hypoallergenic and is just as delicious as other meats for your dog.

• It’s packed with nutrients beyond protein. Lamb has shown higher concentration of key minerals like calcium than other similar proteins. It’s also a significant source of omega-3 fatty acids, like the kind you would usually source from fish oils. In addition, responsibly-sourced lamb is high in zinc, which is great for your dog’s metabolism. Overall, lamb is a great meat for healthy bones, skin, and hair!

• Lamb is considered a complete protein, meaning that it contains all the available amino acids. In the case of incomplete proteins, much of the material isn’t used efficiently and is cast off as a waste product. The presence of all amino acids, however, aids in the delivery of nutrients to the right system and the more complete absorption of proteins, meaning your dog gets a huge nutritional punch from lamb.

As always, consult with your veterinarian before switching your dog’s food. A lamb-based food may be a great choice if you find your dog suffers from allergies. Keep an eye on our shop for our new lamb dog food, coming soon! To order your first set of food or treats, take a look at our store.

Treats are an important part of every dog’s diet! Not only do they give you a way to reward good behavior and train further good habits, they allow you to beef up your pet’s nutrition as long as you make healthy choices. From training treats to larger chewables and bones, treats can keep your dog busy, strengthen their gums and teeth, and reinforce positive behavior at home and on the go.

Most veterinarians recommend keeping treats under 10% of your dog’s daily diet, and you should make sure that your pup gets the bulk of his nutrition from his food before filling up on cookies. But besides that, how do you know what treats are the right ones for your pet? Here are a few tips:

• Include real vegetables, like carrots, green beans, or broccoli, for a healthy crunch and pure nutrition. On a hot day, many dogs love chewing on a handful of frozen veggies to cool down. Before you go to the fridge, though, make sure the fruits or vegetables you choose are not toxic to dogs. Onions, grapes, avocado, and chocolate are at the top of the do-not-feed list.

• Opt for all-natural ingredients if you don’t rely on veggies for snacking. Many popular dog treats, like Milk Bones, are packed with sugar and other fillers designed to get your dog hooked. Even if you use treats sparingly, this amount of sugar can lead to serious tooth decay and bloated bellies. Remember: Dog treats aren’t required to meet the same health standards as complete nutrition systems, so go with a treat brand you can trust. (Hint: Pawsitively Pure’s limited-ingredient treats include nothing but the best!)

• Be careful when giving your dog bones to chew on. If you want to give your dog a real bone to gnaw on, make sure it’s a raw, meaty bone like a turkey neck. Cooked bones become brittle and can splinter easily, causing a choking hazard. Some bones, like antlers, may be too hard for your dog’s teeth and can cause cracking. Pay attention to your dog’s reaction to their treats and always supervise snacking.

Choosing the right treats for your dog should be fun and exciting. When you have a handful of flavors to choose from, you can pick out the one that makes your pup’s tail wag the hardest. Even picky eaters love Pawsitively Pure cookies. To learn more or to shop for your favorites, click here.