When I told an out of state friend that the New Jersey black bears got a lawyer, she asked if they were some kind of sports team.  I had to explain the long standing controversy over the bear hunt and the bear hunt policy, both of which were declared illegal in a unanimous decision by the NY Apellate Division in 2007. Lawyers will show that both integrity and science are missing from the basis of the bear hunting policy. The following is reproduced with the permission of the Animal Protection League of New Jersey.

Oral arguments in our lawsuit against the State’s Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP) is scheduled for November 29, at 9:30am, 5th floor, north wing of the Hughes Justice Complex, 25 Market Street, Trenton.

Although last year’s motion to stop the hunt was denied, the lawsuit still challenges the CBBMP, which is a 5-year policy.

Our motion to accelerate the appeal was granted, which means that the court will have a decision before December 5. If the court rules in our favor, the hunt will be called off. If not, we will continue to press for permanent bear protection.

While this is not a forum to speak, we do encourage you to attend to hear our argument and see the process. If you’d like to attend, call the court at 609-633-7079 or 609-633-7078 and ask about Docket #A-001603-10T02 to confirm date and time, as the schedule could change.

To read our brief, click here.

The following is our media release for the case and our upcoming oral argument.

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For Immediate Release

Doris Lin, Esq., Director of Legal Services for APLNJ and Vice President of Legal Affairs for The BEAR Group explains, “The black bear policy is full of scientific flaws, self-contradictions and outright fabrications. The lawsuit is not about philosophical objections to hunting; it’s about integrity and science, both of which are missing from the policy.”

“For example, Professor Edward Tavss of Rutgers University proved that bear complaints are actually going down. The Division’s claims that bear complaints have increased are based on increasing the number of police departments included in the data in recent years, not an actual increase in the number of complaints. Even the Fish and Game Council admits that the data should not be compared to previous years.”

The lawsuit was filed last year in response to the adoption of the Policy, and while the animal protection groups lost their motion to try to stop the 2010 bear hunt, the lawsuit continued on the merits.

The state’s 2005 comprehensive black bear policy and 2005 bear hunt were both declared illegal in a unanimous opinion from the NJ Appellate Division in 2007.

The best way to prevent Canine Lyme’s Disease is to remove ticks as soon as possible. Period. This holds true whether you use Frontline or not.

I got a newsletter from a vet that said that using products like Frontline was the only way to prevent Lyme’s Disease in pets. Unfortunately, it’s not true. There is no surefire way to prevent Lyme’s Disease in pets if they are exposed to ticks.

Using pesticides like Frontline is one way to handle the problem. The pesticide is absorbed into the animal’s bloodstream and when ticks consume the blood, they are poisoned, die and fall off. But not necessarily before spreading Lyme’s and other tick borne diseases.

I also heard that there’s a new product out that you can use to replace Frontline and similar products. This product does not produce the main side effect of Frontline (and similar products) … that is, it doesn’t sting.

But what about the other side effects, like seizures, and possible links to serious autoimmune conditions?

Healthy solutions for avoiding, repelling and treating fleas and ticks are:

• Using spray repellents made from all natural therapuetic grade essential oils
• Feeding your dog specially formulated Brewer’s Yeast
• Topical application of Diatemaceous Earth

Your first line of defense is careful inspection of your dog after visiting areas where fleas and ticks live. If your cat is an indoor pet, there’s no need for treatment.

There’s plenty of useful information in past posts and articles about flea and tick prevention, recipes for all natural repellents, and more. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Feel free to email me and I’ll help you find it.

Thanks for reading!

I heard on the radio this morning that a drug resistant form of candida is on the rise. While the normally prescribed drug is effective in wiping out yeast overgrowth, pharmaceutical companies are developing a new drug to wipe out the new strain, so people shouldn’t be worried.

I am worried though, but not about yeast. An overgrowth, often caused by use of too many antibiotics, can easily be managed by diet. By simply eliminating sugar and grains that convert to sugar, the food source for yeast bacteria, one can literally starve the organsims (along with other parasites common but which go unnoticed in most people) to death, thereby eliminating the physical symptoms they cause and returning the intestinal flora to balance.

What I’m worried about is the proliferation of unnecessarily prescribed (and developed) drugs and their side effects that can have long lasting and insidious effects on the body.  After all, if people eliminated yeast through diet, the need for a drug would be unnecessary, and a new drug resistant form of yeast would never have evolved.

I’m worried about the marketing that convinces people they need a drug when simple measures, like learning how food affects our bodies, could easily and less invasively (not to mention less expensively) cure a lot of common ailments.

What’s this got to do with the health of your pet? Well, most likely if you subscribe to the philosophy that drugs are always the answer, you probably don’t hesitate to administer them to your pet every time he or she experiences a medical problem. Our pets live shorter lives than we do and even long lived pets don’t seem to stay with us as long as we’d like. By exploring safe and natural options for control of simple conditions, people can both prolong their pets’ lives and give them better quality of life. It pays to learn about good health and what creates it rather than reaching for the pill bottle every time something unexpected crops up – for both yourself and your pet. Do the research!

If your dog sufferes from ear infections caused by yeast, look at the ingredients in his food and treats. Dogs don’t require grain in their diets. Eliminate the grain and most likely you’ll eliminate the ear issues as well.

Hope you’re finding everything you’re looking for here. If you have a question about how holistic solutuions can improve your pet’s life, don’t hesitate to call or email me. To your wellness!

Yesterday I was talking about generalizations. Often we are reminded that it’s not good to generalize, but when it comes to the finer points of rearing animals (we were talking about dogs yesterday) I think it’s really important to a) generalize when speaking about broad issues, and b) communicate clearly when you are generalizing. Otherwise, we fall into the trap of absolutes.

Recently I was talking to some neighbors. They’d had two dogs for years and decided to adopt a third. Callie, the new dog, was odd man out. The rescue woman told them that you can never have three dogs without two of them ganging up on or excluding the other. Really? Never? I’ve cared for many multi dog or cat households in which three of the same species pets reside. There was not always one “odd man out”.

I don’t tend to speak loudly and they didn’t seem to hear me when I asked why, if the rescue woman felt that way, would she ever have agreed to adopt Callie out to them, knowing that she’d be excluded from the pack.

Don’t listen to anyone who insists on “always” and “never” (generally speraking, that is) when they are talking about anything. We know what the two sure things in life are  – and also that indulging in absolutes perpetuates many a myth.

It’s often written that dogs don’t generalize well. If you teach your dog to sit and you practice only in the kitchen, as the story goes, you’ll have a kitchen trained dog – meaning your dog will think “sit” means that he should sit – only when he’s in the kitchen. However, if you observe your dog you might see signs of generalization on her part – for instance, many dogs are afraid of men or people in funny hats, or seem to love or hate another particular kind of dog. My dog loves small white dogs, generally speaking, and hates large ones.

In talking about dogs and dog behavior, it’s important to understand that most statements are generalizations. For instance, a raw diet may be healthiest – generally speaking. Some dogs with health conditions may do better with slightly warmed home made meals. All dogs are different and therefore no blanket statement can apply to all dogs.

I hear this question among people out with their dogs all the time.  It’s a good question. It employs etiquette (unlike those who let their dogs approach others, ignoring warnings that their dog doesn’t really want to say hello) and who knows? A beautiful new relationship could be in the works.

Sometimes things don’t go as planned. This can happen for a lot of reasons:

• One or both owners are anxious, which their dogs pick up on
• One or both owners can’t read canine body language, perhaps mistaking  one type of tail wag for another
• The dogs are really very often friendly but they just don’t like each other.

Did you ever meet someone, perhaps a waiter, who reminds you of your old math teacher in high school, the one you couldn’t stand? Or maybe you meet someone at a party who seems nice but the minute they start talking you start to think they are pretentious and priggish? Or maybe there’s a particular type of person that subconsciously you’ve formed an opinion about, say, people who wear a certain kind of clothing or eat a certain way. You just don’t like them. Even if you consider yourself friendly.

It can go the same way with dogs. They can just not “like” the vibe another dog is putting out. Often a frightened dog (Dog A) may show few discernible signs (to the human eye), but another dog (Dog B) sure gets it – often this “fear vibe” signals to Dog B that something’s wrong. Sometimes Dog B will react by trying to “do something” about it – and often, unfathomable as it may seem to us, Dog B may actually show aggression toward Dog A.

If this happens, shouting and punishing only inflame the situation. Assuming the dogs are on leash, owners should say nothing, and move their dogs apart as calmly as possible.  Resume your walk as if nothing has happened. (This also assumes no blood has been shed – in that case, both parties should check their dogs for injuries and seek help if needed.)

If your dog has trouble meeting others, seek the help of a professional trainer who can help your dog meet a non-reactive dog to start confidence building. Many recommend that dogs should meet only off leash, but that’s not always feasible.

An interesting interview about how a child’s brain develops yeilded some interesting information, such as:

• those born as introverts remain introverts
• those who learn self control at an early age far exceed their peers when it comes to success not only professionaly but interpersonally
• children learn best when taught using positive reinforcement rather than punishment

But what’s this got to do with dogs? Well, a lot, actually. People often ask me for training help when it comes to shy dogs – the problem is that typical training, while it can engage a dog’s mind, often does nothing to resolve the underlying issue of fear, stress, or introversion. Studies have shown that children who were more prone to stress and worry could not really change this trait that they were born with – but taught coping mechanisms, they became better equipped to face life’s challenges.

I think the same holds true for dogs. A frightened dog who is reactive will not really learn by being punished, but she can learn to behave better, to employ self control, if she’s taught using positive methods. (Why add another stressor to a potentialy explosive situation?)

Authors Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy make a strong case for animals in their book When Elephants Weep in which they discuss the range of emotions animals experience, from joy and fear, to appreciation of beauty and, yes, even guilt – a notion that turns most of dog training theory on its head. They remind us that in the history of mankind that people of races that assumed their superiority denied the possibility that those of “lower” races might be capable of experiencing the same range of emotions.

Perhaps, humans as a species might do well to consider that  those of other species can experience emotions the same way that we do – and perhaps this ought to be taken into account when it comes to rearing and training them.

Recenty I read this article by Dr. Nicholas Dodman about the possible link between food and aggression in dogs. In one of the cases he mentions, a food allergy was the culprit behind an onset of aggression. Although there is no scientific data to support this theory to date, one really only need be aware of effects food can have on the body to understand the wide ramifications that nutrition can have on a myriad of conditions, including behavior.

Looking further, it’s important to understand how allergies and drugs used to treat them can also affect behavior. Late this summer I got stung by a bee and accidentally consumed fish tainted with shellfish – both of which cause severe allergic reactions in me. I wasn’t aware until recently that panic, along with an upset stomach are classic symptoms of severe allergic reactions. (I am aware that allergies more often (but not always) manifest themselves in digestive disorders in dogs.)

This experience made me wonder about how dogs and other animals react when consuming foods or being exposed to severe allergens. Digestive upset often goes ignored and gets chalked up to sensitive stomach, but digestive disorders caused by allergies, unfortunately, left untreated can lead to inflammatory bowel disease, a serious condition that can be life threatening. But what about anxiety and panic? Both the sting and the shellfish caused severe anxiety and panic in me.

I’ve always used a homeopathic remedy for my bee stings in the past – and always with good resuts. This time, however, I didn’t have the remedy with me and I was unnerved enough to seek help at the ER. A dose of Prednisone and Benadryl was prescribed.

The following week, on the first day of vacation, I consumed the shellfish. Once again, I wound up in the emergency room, and this time was prescribed a much higher dose of Prednisone. On vacation and without access to alternative solutions, I did as the doctor ordered, and took the Prednisone, this time along with Zantac, a stomach medication with antihistamine properties. I did not want a delayed reaction and flare up of the potentially fatal allergy.

Fortunately, I’m still here! But along the way,. I developed a case of vertigo, experienced lightheadedness due to the effects of the Prednisone on my blood sugar levels, had to eat constantly in order to combat the fluctuations and gained weight, because of the food I was consuming and the water weight gain caused by the drug.  I also experienced more anxiety – another symptom caused by the medication. I started to wonder about the many, many animals I’ve seen and cared for, being treated with Prednisone, and wondered how they experienced these possible side effects, and what effects these had on their day to day quality of life.

When behavioral issues manifest themselves in our dogs, we need to take a really close look at not only what we’re feeding them, but all aspects of their environments.

When people contact me about problems their pets suffer from – whether it’s a physical symptom like itchy skin, an illness like renal failure, or an emotional problem like separation anxiety, the first thing I ask them about is food. People are often surprised, especially when the condition is not a digestive disorder.   But the truth is that one of the simplest things we can do for our health is eating right.

This means not only avoiding things like processed and refined foods but also eating foods that have real health benefits. Each person and each pet is different so we can’t say that one way of eating fits all. One thing I think we can safely say, however, is that fresh, natural food is best.

For dogs and cats, this usually means a raw diet, high in protein, without grains, which are not native to their diets and which they cannot easily digest. Sometimes, a medical condition may require that food be slightly cooked.

Lately, I’ve spoken to several people whose vets do not support the raw diet as a healthy way of feeding pets. This is surprising and disturbing since a wealth of scientific information exists to support the benefits of a raw diet, which include:

better digestion

healthier teeth

shinier coats

improved overall health

If you look at the physiology of animals, you’ll notice how their teeth differ from ours. Theirs are made for ripping. Ours are made for chewing.  Kibble requires chewing, and if swallowed too quickly can cause stomach upset. Raw food does not.

Eating fresh, healthy food supports every system of the body, including the immune system. When all of the systems are working optimally, both physical and emotional issues can improve. Humans recognize how a change in diet can affect hyperactivity and other conditions that affect both physical health and behavior in children. Why is this not recognized when it comes to a pet’s health?

Eating processed food, like kibble, manufactured through a high heat process called extrusion and which destroys nutrients, is bad for the teeth, the digestive system, and does nothing to support health.

If you wanted to get the most from your breakfast, which would you choose: fruit, or fruitloops?

Leaving your dog behind for an extended period of time can be stressful for both of you. Some of these tips can help. 

1. Get your dog in balance. Before you leave, treat your dog to a series of massages or Reiki treatments. These and other similar therapies help improve well being both physically and emotionally as well as improving his immune system. While you’re at it, treat yourself too, so you can feel less anxious about leaving. Your dog will feel your anxiety and may internalize it.

2. Leave a piece of yourself with your dog. Wrap up an old tee shirt and sew it into the lining of your dog’s bedding or pillow (if he’s not a chewer.) Your scent can help your dog feel close to you even if you’re not there.

3. Maintain routines.  If your dog is staying in your home or with a friend, you can help him feel secure by following his usual routine. This can include leaving the TV or radio on, consistent mealtimes, walks and playdates, visits by human friends or family members your dog is familiar with.

3. Use flower essences.  Giving your dog flower essences before you leave can help him prepare emotionally for a change. Having your caretaker administer them while you are gone can help him adjust to new settings and being without you.  Some suggestions:  Relocation, Return To Joy, Missing You, Separation Anxiety. (These formulas made especially for animals can be purchased from Anaflora.)

4. Communicate! Let your dog know when you’ll be leaving and when you plan on returning. Animals are not usually given a choice about their circumstances so it’s nice to let them know what’s going to happen so they can prepare themselves. Whether you believe in animal communication or in your ability to communicate with your dog or not, give it a shot. it can’t hurt. Be clear, honest and direct. It’s also nice to check in with your dog during your absence to help comfort him.

If you’re kenneling your pet, experts  advise not popping in for a visit. Dogs often feel more depressed after a quick visit and subsequent redisappearance.

Interested in learning more about how flower essences can help your pet? Sign up for my newsletter and get regular updates. Thanks for stopping by and sharing this information with others who may find it useful.