Healing Diet for Dogs

Dogs that have multiple allergies, food intolerance, chronic digestive problems, and other chronic health issues, often need to begin their healing process with a healing diet regimen.
The following feeding recommendations are based on the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) Diet Introduction Phase, as developed for people by a naturopathic doctor.  Your dog may progress through this phase in a few days, or may require several weeks to restore a healthy gut and immune system.  Please begin immediately, and do not try to rush the process.  It will be worth it, for achieving lasting healing is our ultimate goal.

Step 1:  Broth or Meat Stock
This must be home-made, not store-bought.  Make the stock from meat and bones of an approved source (chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, fish or rabbit) determined by tolerance testing.  Organic is best, free-range grass-fed or wild sources are preferable.  Boil the meat and bones for 12 to 24 hours, in water plus a splash of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.  Remove the meat and bones, saving the meat for Step 2.  You can freeze the stock in 1 – 2 cup portions.
Feed the slightly warm or cooled broth, several times a day.  Unless your dog has pancreatitis or difficulty with fat digestion, you can include the fat in the broth.  You can add a pinch of Celtic Sea Salt for extra minerals.  This step may last 1 – 3 days, with only broth and no solid foods.

Step 2:  Boiled Meat
Along with the stock as made in Step 1, begin adding the boiled meat.
Mix in 1 teaspoon of raw sauerkraut juice with each meal, for its probiotic activity.
If constipation has been a problem in the past, you may mix in small cubes of cooked butternut squash for a mild fiber effect.  If this step is going well, you can add in a little green vegetable like cooked kale or parsley.
This step may last 7 – 14 days, or longer if needed.  It is very nutrient-dense because as the gut lining heals it can fully digest and absorb all the elements of the food.  Your dog may seem excessively hungry during this step, but it’s only because he is finally getting the nutrition his body has been starving for.

Step 3:  Progressive Additions
Begin adding ingredients one at a time, feeding for 3 – 7 days before adding another food.  Monitor for any worsening of symptoms (gas, bloating, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, increased itching, skin rash, bad behaviors).  If a problem arises, remove the new food and return to the previous food step.  These are all to be added to the stew made in Step 2.
1. Add 1 raw egg yolk (not the whites), daily.  Mix into the broth/meat/squash/vegetable stew. *
1. If well-tolerated, increase to an egg yolk twice a day.*
2. Try adding cooked egg white along with the raw egg yolk.*
3. Add more vegetables, like cooked carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, other squashes like zucchini or pumpkin.  Keep to about 70% meat and broth, to 30% vegetables.
4. Home-made or raw sauerkraut or other fermented vegetable, starting with a teaspoon once a day and increasing as tolerated to 1 teaspoon per meal for small dogs, 1 tablespoon per meal for large dogs.
* If a known allergy to eggs exists, skip the eggs!

Step 4:  Plant-based oils
The diet so far has included fats from animal sources.  Now, try adding some plant-based fats and oils.  Begin with extra-virgin, cold-pressed olive oil, a few drops a day in the stew.  Increase gradually to 1 – 3 teaspoons daily.
If this goes well, try coconut oil instead of olive oil.  Coconut oil has anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties.  It is generally well-tolerated, but because of its antimicrobial properties it may stimulate a “die-off” reaction of pathogens in the body.  If you see any negative effects, stop the coconut oil for a few days and try to start again at a smaller amount.

Step 5:  Dairy
Dairy products must have been eliminated for at least 6 weeks, either prior to beginning the Healing Diet or while following the Healing Diet.  Now, try to add fermented or cultured dairy products.  Fermented dairy products include yoghurt, kefir, and soured cream (crème fraiche).  Optimally, this is home-made from raw organic milk.
*If a known allergy to cow’s milk exists, try cultured goat milk instead.  If even goat milk has caused serious allergy reactions, skip this step altogether.
Start with ½ teaspoon per day.  If no adverse reactions, gradually increase to 2 – 4 tablespoons daily.  As cultured dairy products contain more probiotic bacteria, there may be another “die-off” reaction.  If so, stop the dairy for a few days to a week, and try starting again at the ½ teaspoon amount.

Step 6, and beyond:  Going Raw
If your dog is now eating and digesting well, feeling great, free of most of his or her allergy symptoms and at a healthy weight, you may wish to try transitioning to a raw food diet.  Raw food diets are “species appropriate” for dogs in general, with more enzymes and nutrients than a cooked food diet.  However, some dogs cannot transition to raw because of long-term illnesses that have changed their ability to digest and metabolize raw foods.  Keep this in mind, if you decide to try raw feeding.  And remember to take each new addition slowly, in small amounts!
1. Cook the meat less and less.  Continue adding some home-made broth every day, though.
2. Try some raw vegetables, finely ground or grated.  Carrots, peeled and seeded cucumbers, and broccoli stems are some good first raw veggies.
3. Apple, either cooked or pureed raw, may be tried.  Papaya has great enzymes.  Blueberries and fresh cranberries have antioxidants and cleansing properties.
4. So far, so good?  Great!  Now give your dog a raw chicken wing.  Watch with pride as your little domestic dog transforms into a wild wolf before your eyes.

When your dog is ready for a raw whole-foods diet, please read “Switching To Raw”, a guidebook available online at www.switchingtoraw.com.  Or, you may try a pre-made raw frozen or dehydrated pre-mix diet that is commercially available, for convenience. 

The Rules

• Dogs who have been ill for several years, with intractable allergies, digestive disorders, hormone imbalances and other chronic illnesses, will take many months to heal using the Healing Diet.  Without it, though, they may never get well.
• There may be ups and downs with the diet, especially as new foods are tried.  Most reactions represent adaptations in the gut flora, with die-off reactions lasting 1 day to 2 weeks.  During these times, go back to Step 1 or 2 of the Healing Diet, decrease the amount of probiotics or probiotic food, increase outdoor exercise and playtime or provide more rest time.
• Grains are not allowed, in any form.  No processed treats, no flours, no rice.  Maybe later (maybe not), but certainly not during the Healing phase.
• Probiotics are needed to help restore a healthy intestinal flora balance.  Many chronic allergy sufferers have had antibiotics, antifungals and anti-inflammatory drugs prescribed, which completely destroys this healthy flora.  The majority of the immune system is located in the intestinal tract, with many species of good bacteria acting as the “first responders” to invading pathogenic bacteria, viruses and fungi.  Probiotic foods include lacto-fermented vegetables and cultured milk products.  In addition, probiotic supplements may be prescribed.  Choose a multiple-strain product with a guaranteed live CFU of 8 billion cells per dose.  Start with a very small amount, and increase gradually over days to weeks depending on sensitivity and tolerance to die-off reactions.  Sacchromyces boulardii or cerevisiae, a beneficial yeast, may also help with carbohydrate digestion.
• Digestive enzymes and adequate stomach acids are needed for complete digestive health.  In some cases, supplementing these enzymes and acids is beneficial until a varied and perhaps raw diet can be implemented.  Enzymes are substances that end in “–ase” (lipase, protease, cellulase, amylase, etc.) and “-ain” (papain, bromelain).  Stomach acids include betaine hydrochloride and pepsin.  Giving supplemental betaine HCl, pepsin and enzymes can make a huge difference in digestion.  Raw sauerkraut juice helps stimulate the stomach’s own production of these factors, and can heal stomach ulcers caused by poor digestion.
• NO MORE VACCINATIONS unless approved by Dr. Ault, and administered with concurrent homeopathic and/or BICOM support.  Continuing to vaccinate an unwell dog (or cat, horse, llama, cow, child) is an unconscionable failure of our modern medical practice, and must be changed.  There are other options, and I will provide medical exemptions from vaccination when needed.
• Change your home environment to be chemical-free.  Use essential oil-based cleaning products, and fragrance- and dye-free detergents.  See the link for “home care tips” on our website.

Helpful Resources

• Gut and Psychology Syndrome, by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, MMedSci
• GAPS Guide, by Baden Lashkov
• Switching To Raw, by Susan K. Johnson.  Available at www.switchingtoraw.com
• Fresh organic raw milk and pasture-raised beef available at Saint John’s Organic Farm in Emmett, www.SaintJohnsOrganicFarm.com or 208-365-3213.
• Fresh or frozen whole rabbits available locally, call us for more information.