What is Holistic Dog Care?

Some dog owners might be left wondering what holistic dog care means and what they need to do to make sure that their dogs are healthy. The term holistic care is quite common, but do you know what it means? Your dog will live better if you do.

Providing your dog with holistic care does not mean that you have to spend more money buying nutritious foods and expensive medication for your dog. It simply means that you are taking the dog’s entire body into consideration with different methods of treatment. 

Taking this kind of approach when caring for your dog means that you do not take the body and the mind as separate things. Instead, you make sure that you are protecting and strengthening both of them without discrimination.

It also means blending different healthcare treatments with traditional medicines and other options. This has opened a whole industry when it comes to dog care, something that has pushed more dog owners into considering holistic dog care.

What Does Holistic Dog Care Entail?

Holistic dog care does not only entail medicines and treatment methods but also foods, procedures, traditional tests, and supplements among others. It’s all about encouraging health instead of treating disease.

In addition, if you consult a veterinarian online for holistic treatment, you will realize that they also have a number of tools and treatments at their disposal to ensure that your dog is taken care of. Some of these tools and treatments include;

Chiropractic Treatment

This is a holistic treatment used when realigning and manipulating the body of a dog to get rid of muscle and joint pain. It has gained a lot of popularity over the past years especially because it does not require the use of any drugs. Chiropractic treatment is also used regularly with horses and other four-legged animals.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a holistic treatment that uses different substances such as oils. This treatment emits calming scents that play a vital role in ensuring that your dog remains calm at all times.

Nutrition

Holistic dog care also involves the nutrition of your dog’s food. It is important to note that if you want a healthy and happy dog, then you need to look into its nutrition.

Many veterinarians will advise you to supplement your dog food with herbs and nutrients, use natural pet foods, or choose from readily available specialty foods. We have found significant benefit in buying higher-end dog foods. All reputable dog foods are tested for minimum nutrition and purity levels, but higher-end dog foods exceed these levels and use less controversial ways to keep food from spoiling.

Acupuncture

This is one of the oldest forms of therapy that is still being used today. When using acupuncture therapy to care for your dog, veterinarians insert needles at different parts of the dog’s body. It is used when creating a balance in energy in the dog’s body.

Massage Therapy

Some dog owners do not know that massage therapy is important when it comes to the health of their dogs. It helps a lot in the elimination of mental and physical stress.

Sound Therapy

Did you know you can use music to take holistic care of your dog? Well, there are types of music that you can use to soothe your dog, make it relax, and happy.

Benefits of Holistic Dog Care

If you ask a person who practices holistic care for their dog, you will realize that they are in love with this kind of care and treatment. Some of the benefits that their dogs get to enjoy include;

• Relieving pain and stress.
• An improvement in blood circulation throughout the dog’s body.
• Decrease in blood pressure.
• A better immune system compared to other dogs.
• Improved digestion and coat.

Even though there are notable benefits of holistic dog care, scientific research on these kinds of treatments is not yet at an advanced stage.

That notwithstanding, your dog is going to have a better and healthy life with these treatments.

Conclusion

Holistic dog care is still evolving, and therefore, faces some controversy. Even though dog owners have reported notable improvements in the health of their dogs, some of them would not even dare use any holistic dog treatment methods. For instance, holistic care suggests the use of raw food on your dog to help the dog’s mind and body and help it reflect on the kind of foods it would have taken if it lived in the wild. On the other hand, some dog owners have reported foodborne illnesses on their dogs caused by raw food. It, therefore, means that even though holistic dog care is good, you need to consult a veterinarian to make sure that your dog is safe no matter the kind of treatments you are using.