By Jana Rade
I think we can all agree that nutrition is a corner stone of health. But do we understand what we should feed our dogs and why? And where do we turn to in order to find out? Is it OK to just grab any old bag of dog food in a grocery store?
When Jasmine came to our lives, we quickly learned that while she was a beautiful, smart, amazing dog, she was not blessed with good health. Some of her health challenges started from the get go and more piled up over the years. At an early age, she was put on a prescription diet. But did that do her any good?
Watching her body struggling with one problem after another, it didn’t make sense to me that a dog could have all those things wrong with them separately. I became convinced that there had to be a connection. How much of that could have been caused or exaggerated by what she was eating? How much of that could be improved by a comprehensive nutritional strategy?
While I was learning about the medical problems she was dealing with, I also turned my attention to nutrition. I read every article and every book I could find. We did implement some changes and they did help some. But I kept wondering whether I could do better yet.
After you read a few books on dog nutrition, you realize they are pretty much the same. For the most part, they tell you what you should be doing (in 
the author’s opinion) but very little about why you should be doing it. To me, the WHY is always extremely important. The better you can understand something, the better you can implement it.
I realized I exhausted all the books and online content I could find. I decided to further my understanding by finding and taking a comprehensive dog nutrition course.
There is impressively very little out there available for online dog nutrition courses. Of course, you can always find one provided by one dog food company or another. How reliable is their information? Do I really just need to learn which kibble I should feed? I didn’t think so.
Then I came across an integrative Canine Nutrition Courses by Dr. Ava Frick, DVM. Sounded good. Before I went on spending my money on the course, I consulted with our vet, as well as several of my online integrative veterinary friends. Dr. Frick comes highly recommended as somebody who knows her stuff. And she certainly does.
I have taken both parts of the course, Intro to Canine Nutrition (Part I) and Advanced Canine Nutrition (Part II) and I’m happy that I did. I feel like I was given the key to the secret room where real dog nutrition information is kept. The course provided insights I was looking for as well as provided my with the bases for further learning.
I did, of course, started implementing my newly-gained knowledge for Jasmine. I believe her new diet contributed to the quality of her life.
I remember a vet once telling me, “Not all the bad stuff always happens and if it does, it doesn’t all happen to the same dog.” Well, he didn’t know Jasmine.
We feel that the fact she lived as long as she did, with the quality of life she had, was just amazing. She always had an amazing zest for life and enjoyed everything to the fullest. All the way to the end she had a bounce in her stop. It was a neck injury and side-effects of the treatment that finally sealed her fate.
Jasmine is the driving force and inspiration behind everything I do.
I now implement my knowledge for our other dogs, as well as I am happy to help out others.
Nutrition is the foundation of health. Feed your dog right. And don’t forget, whatever you feed them, keep them lean!
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Jana Rade is a graphic designer by profession and never aspired to learning about dog health issues and nutrition until she met Jasmine. She received a crash course in the subject due to jasmine’s many health issues and has since become an advocate for other dog owners and their four-legged friends. In her blog, Dawg Business, Jana shares her experience and lessons she learned with others. This is the message she shares with all dog owners: “Your dog’s health is up to you.”
You can also check our Jana’s Dog Health Issues group or connect with Jana on Twitter.