As we discussed before, a new dog can be a great way to celebrate the holidays with your family as long as you’re committed to being a loving dog family. Dogs can lighten up any room; studies have shown that a dog’s presence can help relieve stress and can even increase a person’s quality of life. But before your new dog can brighten up your day, it may take a little time for him to acclimate to his new surroundings.

It’s best to have all your supplies prepared before you bring your dog home, so in the week leading up to his arrival, be sure to purchase toys, cleaners, waste bags, food, etc. On the day of his arrival, arrange to bring him directly home from the shelter or his original location. Here are a few other tips to make the next few weeks a little easier on everyone:

• Take your time while introducing him to new family members. It’s tempting to immediately pet and hug a dog when he arrives at your house, but he needs a little time to gather all the new smells and experiences. For the first day especially, let the dog approach you. Stay calm and offer treats for good behaviors. Keep a close eye on small children who may be a little too eager for your furry friend’s tastes.

• Utilize the leash as much as you need. Leashes are great tools for guiding dogs through new and strange experiences. On the first day, you may choose to keep your new dog on a leash as you give him a tour through your home and backyard. Give your dog plenty of outside time and re-establish potty time procedures, even if he has been potty trained before.

• You may want to crate train for a while. Crate training gives your dog his own safe space when he’s overwhelmed and helps to establish boundaries and routines. Make sure the crate is comfortable with a bed and blanket and a few toys, as well as access to water. You can use the crate to establish bedtime and feeding times, as well as to teach your dog which areas are on- or off-limits.

Above all, patience is the most important thing while your dog is getting used to your home. Especially if he’s coming from a shelter, he’s been through a lot of stressful emotions leading up to his arrival at your home; with a little time and a lot of love, he’ll feel right at home. When establishing your dog’s routines, be sure to include a highly nutritional diet at feeding time. To learn more about human grade dog food, contact us or browse through our site.

Your pet’s immune system is surprisingly susceptible to environmental factors. Think of all the different allergies and itch-causers they experience in a given day: their immune systems are on overdrive as their bodies work to keep them safe and fully functioning amidst a slew of allergens. While a healthy, balanced diet is the best way to combat these allergens, sometimes your dog’s immune system needs a little help.

Here are a few more Mercola products we use on a regular basis to help our dogs’ immune systems stay healthy and strong:

Immune Balance for Pets

Immune Balance for Pets harmonizes immune function, boosts cell, tissue, and organ repair to help slow cellular aging, supports liver and digestive health, helps restore a healthy gut microbiome, and much more.

• Arabinogalactan from Western larch trees, a prebiotic fiber that ferments in your pet’s gut, supporting colon health, protecting your pet’s intestinal lining, and promoting a healthy normal inflammatory response

• Bovine Colostrum with standardized IgG (150 mg/serving) from American dairy cows not fed synthetic hormones or routine antibiotics; contains important immune factors, growth hormone, and probiotics

• Certified Organic Moringa leaf powder contains abundant vitamins and minerals as well as valuable antioxidants to promote a normal healthy inflammatory response, helpful for flexible and comfortable joint movement

• Yeast Fermentate grown, harvested and manufactured in the U.S. (contains no active yeast!), increases Natural Killer (NK) cell activity and antioxidant protection within only hours of consumption

Juggling four different supplements on your own can be challenging, especially getting them in the right proportions for your pet. Pet Immune Balance offers a simple option for providing ideal immune support for dogs and cats.

Organic Mushroom Complex

This proprietary blend of 8 mushroom mycelium…

• Contains 100% Certified Organic, biologically active, whole food mushroom and mycelium (not isolated extracts) to optimize the life cycle of the mushroom

• Is an excellent source of fermented foods for digestive and immune health

• Contains protein and high levels of natural whole food vitamin D2, B6, B12, beta glucans, chelated minerals, fiber, antioxidants (including L-ergothioneine) and natural glucosamine

• Is grown and produced entirely in the U.S.

• Uses oats instead of rice for its substrate, adding valuable plant beta glucans and enhancing the mycelia's bioactivity

• Retains its bioactivity through carefully controlled processing methods

• Contains an array of beta glucans, each with its own beta glucan structure

• Does not contain additives, fillers, gluten, and unhealthy levels of heavy metals

Spirugreen

Spirulina is one of the richest beta-carotene ingredients, with ten mixed carotenoids. Including orange carotenes, alpha, beta, gamma, and yellow xanthophylls, these powerful antioxidants work synergistically in different sites in your pet's body.

Studies on both cats and dogs show that spirulina supports good health in several ways:

• Helps support a strong, healthy normal immune system

• Helps promote a healthy coat and skin

• May help promote comfortable movement and flexibility

Healthy Pets SpiruGreen truly packs a one-two punch with all the nutrient value of spirulina, including carotenoids, phycocyanins and enzymes, plus all the goodness of microalgae astaxanthin, one of the world's most powerful fat-soluble antioxidant carotenoids.

Whole Food Digestive Probiotics

 Whole Food Digestive Probiotic provides general nutritional maintenance support for your healthy pet’s immune health, digestion and gut health, normal cell growth and development, and overall vitality.

This “all-in-one” nutritional supplement contains four key blends:

• Probiotic blend of 8 valuable strains of gut-friendly probiotics to help promote a healthy nutritional balance of gastrointestinal bacteria for healthy normal immune function, brain health, digestion and utilization of nutrients

• Digestive nutrition enzyme blend from papaya, pineapple and porcine pancreas to help break down protein, fats, fiber and carbohydrates into usable components

• Superfood and green food blend, including spirulina, fermented chlorella, broccoli sprouts and turmeric root to provide valuable nutritional antioxidant support for cellular, detox, gut, joint and immune health

• Mushroom blend of highly-valued Reishi and Chaga mushrooms to help maintain your pet’s nutrition through healthy normal immune function, healthy blood flow and circulation, and a healthy liver

Supplementing Your Dog’s Diet

I prefer that your pet receive all the nutrition they need through the foods they eat. However, that's not always possible.

The best of diets – even a raw, species-specific diet – can come from soils that are depleted or from lower quality food sources. Sometimes, the food simply loses many of its nutrients through processing and storage.

And most commercially available pet foods, even if they're "fortified" to meet AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) standards, contain synthetic vitamins and minerals which have their place, but are further removed from naturally derived supplements.

That's why I feel it’s important to feed your dog the highest level of nutrient dense dog food using human grade ingredients made by Pawsitively Pure Dog Food as well as offer your pet additional supplements, I have been using Mercola products for over 10 years for my dogs and I swear by them; they are great for dogs and really make a difference in their health and well-being.

Here are a few of the Mercola supplements we use on a regular basis:

Digestive Enzymes

Betaine HCl - break down proteins into peptides and amino acids and fats into triglycerides

• Bromelain (pineapple) – one of the safest and most powerful  enzymes to help break down and digest protein

• Papain (papaya) – a natural plant-sourced enzyme that works  together with bromelain to digest protein

• Pancreatin – an animal-based pancreatic enzyme providing all three of these enzymes:
  

  • Protease – helps break down proteins into amino acids for digestion

  • Amylase – for splitting and breaking down long-chain carbohydrates, including starch and glycogen (the energy-storage molecule in animal tissue) for digestion in the small intestine

  • Lipase – helps break down and digest fats

When used this way, after meals, the enzymes circulate throughout her body via the bloodstream, helping to:

• Support the healthy circulation of blood through arteries

• Maintaining normal immune function

• Clear cellular debris while cleansing tissue

• Stimulate healthy new cell growth

• Promote normal cell growth

• Promote a healthy immune response

• Support normal detoxification processes

• Clear away undigested proteins, cleansing the lymph and blood

Vitamin B Complex

Vitamin B Complex is a bioavailable, complete complex that provides the ideal proportion of the eight major B vitamins:

• Contains the patented PANMOL® vitamin B complex with concentrations of B vitamins a hundred-fold higher than what’s found in whole grains (but without the grain)

• The B vitamins are organically bound to sprouts from organic quinoa seeds for enhanced bioavailability and potential benefits

• Contains more than just the eight familiar B vitamins – It contains a multitude of well-balanced and biologically active B vitamins complete with co-factors and coenzymes

• May be better absorbed in your pet’s body than regular isolated synthetic B vitamins

Curcumin

Vitamin B Complex is a bioavailable, complete complex that provides the ideal proportion of the eight major B vitamins:

• Contains the patented PANMOL® vitamin B complex with concentrations of B vitamins a hundred-fold higher than what’s found in whole grains (but without the grain)

• The B vitamins are organically bound to sprouts from organic quinoa seeds for enhanced bioavailability and potential benefits

• Contains more than just the eight familiar B vitamins – It contains a multitude of well-balanced and biologically active B vitamins complete with co-factors and coenzymes

• May be better absorbed in your pet’s body than regular isolated synthetic B vitamins

Keep an eye on our blog to learn more about the Mercola products we love. To learn more, browse through our site.

Hi Carole!  

I just wanted to report that the broth I ordered has been a game changer in getting our picky poodle to eat his food.  He really loves the beef broth.  We ordered chicken broth, too, but won't try it until he "gets tired of" the beef.  Also, he LOVES the surprise peanut butter pumpkin treats you included in our order!  Thank you so much!  I will definitely be ordering again as well as spreading the word about your awesome company!

Thanks again,

Mary Amelia

Thanks so much for the positive review, Mary Amelia! We love that our products can help your pup enjoy his meals much more. Have you tried bone broth for your dogs yet?

As we’re sure you’re aware, the holiday season is right at our doorstep. As the air cools down just a little bit, shopping centers are beginning to put up their red and green decorations, and families are sending out invitations to their parties and preparing for the arrival of relatives. If you’re wondering about the best gift to give your family this holiday season, we’d love to suggest getting a dog.

Here at Pawsitively Pure, we advocate responsible pet ownership, and a pet you bring home for Christmas is a pet for life. But if you have the right intentions, a dog can be a perfect Christmas gift and benefit your family for years to come. Here are three reasons why your family will be all the better with the love and companionship of a pup:

1. Dogs can help your children learn responsibility. Maybe your parents got you a pet when you were growing up to help you understand responsibility, too. While dogs are a lot of fun, they also require a lot of care and attention to help them thrive. You can put your children in charge of daily dog duties, like taking them for a walk and making sure they get the right amount of human grade dog food for dinner.

2. Dogs can help everyone learn a little patience. Sometimes the training phase can be frustrating when bringing a new dog into the house. By working with your new furry friend through these issues, you’ll learn to be more patient and to work through issues instead of giving up. This isn’t just beneficial for the little ones - we can all do with a little more patience as we help our dogs grow happy and healthy.

3. Dogs are the best stress relievers. Coming home after a long day at the office? Are your children stressed about upcoming exams? Just take a little break to play with your pup! Studies have shown that even something as simple as petting a dog can take a load of stress off your plate. High stress can lead to physical illness, so having a dog around the house can keep everyone happy and healthy.

The team at Pawsitively Pure advocates adoption when you’re looking for a new family friend. Now that Florida has passed Amendment 13, outlawing greyhound racing, there are soon to be a number of dogs looking for their forever homes. Check with your local shelter or rescue program to find out more. To order your Pawsitively Pure food, bone broth, and treats, click here, or find us on Facebook!