Toxins That Might Be Affecting Our Dogs:

I went to school for nutrition and dietetics and am studying to be an herbalist. I also worked as a vet tech for many years. I thoroughly enjoy studying health and nutrition for my family, others, and our animals. Many people are not aware of the toxins that are constantly bombarding our bodies: household cleaning products, weed killer, garden fertilizers, air fresheners, scented candles, etc. We have another post about toxic ingredients in products here. There are many toxic ingredients in makeup, soap, lotion, perfume, etc. About 20 years ago, we began making all of our own products for our family that we were able to, in order to decrease our toxic load our body and our animals needed to deal with. When I was first learning about toxic ingredients, I tried to stay away from most all ingredients that were long and difficult to pronounce. This is still generally a helpful tool.

Toxic overload is one of the main causes to most of the diseases we see. Too many toxins cause an over-abundance of stress on our bodies having to constantly detoxify all that they encounter. When our bodies do not have to constantly focus on fighting off toxins, they can focus on healing. Over time, our body's filtering and elimination organs become clogged and stop working properly; which leaves the toxins circling around in our body. When our eliminative organs are clogged, we end up with itchy skin, rashes, stomach infections, and lots of other infections that pop up that may seem unrelated.

You will notice that there are many chemicals that are GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe), but when they are combined with other chemicals, they become toxic. As our body is made weak by continuously fighting toxins, it keeps our body and mind out of homeostasis or balance and we begin to see lots of strange symptoms. The same things happen to our animals. We will see skin diseases, kidney failure, digestive issues, and cancer.

Household Products We Use:

• Truly Free Dishwasher soap and sometimes laundry soap

• We make our own all-purpose cleaner with vinegar, water, and Revive Essential Oils

• Hypoallergenic Ecos Plant Powered Dish Soap (we purchase at Walmart)

• Baking Soda to clean drains

• We have a homemade laundry soap we use for laundry, scrubbing counters, and scrubbing stains (Sometimes we add Citrus Infusions to this)

• Hydrogen Peroxide and Vinegar and Immunity Boost Essential Oil when we have sickness in our house

• Revive Essential Oils (their oils are 3rd party tested)

Did you know that when you breathe in toxins (air fresheners, perfumes, candles, cleaners, or other products) or they are in contact with your very absorbable skin, the poison goes directly into your bloodstream and gets into your brain, heart, liver, and kidneys? When dogs are laying on the floor after they were cleaned with a toxic cleaner, their little paws are absorbing it into their skin and bloodstream as well.

Even walking down the cleaning aisle at the store, you can smell the out-gassing of these chemicals. There have been many studies by the EPA stating that the worst air pollution is actually inside the home. Our dogs are also exposed to these same chemicals.

Mercury and aluminum are often found in pet food, weed killers, lawn fertilizers, parasite medications, cleaners, pet shampoo, and their medications. These are known to disrupt their immune systems. Here is an article that might be interesting to read. You will notice that lots of products say, "safe" or "non-toxic," be sure to read the ingredients and research the ingredients, because often, that is marketing and is not actual non-toxic. The EWG (Environmental Working Group) has a list of toxic ingredients that are best to avoid also.

It is important to eliminate many of these toxins, while at the same time feeding our bodies (and our dog's bodies) good bacteria, by eating healthy. We can add good bacteria by eating fermented food and yogurt daily. Many vegetables are also full of prebiotics and probiotics too. When our bodies, or our dog's bodies are out of balance, we will see:

• diarrhea

• worms

• skin problems

• lower immune system

• allergies

• bad breath

• body odor

• stomach gas

• constipation

When antibiotics are given to our pets, it kills both the good bacteria and the bad bacteria and can cause an imbalance in the body. It is always best to avoid antibiotics if at all possible. If it is not possible, it is best to make sure you are building up the body with good bacteria at the same time by doing the things above. It usually takes about a year to restore the bacteria in the body after taking antibiotics.

Often when we see dogs eating grass or digging in the dirt, they are actually trying to restore the good bacteria in their body.

We can't eliminate all toxins that we encounter, but we can do our best to eliminate as many as possible, so ours and our dog's bodies can be as healthy as possible:

• Reduce as many toxins as possible

• Eat the best diet possible (diet for dogs)

• Add in prebiotics and probiotics naturally

We hope this helps provide some insight into this very large subject. It is definitely not exhaustive. May your family and farm be healthy. Always consult a holistic vet for more information about what is best for your dogs. They will understand more about your unique situation. These are things that have worked well for us, as we also have been under the care of our holistic vet at times.

With love,

Verity Farm