Good Energy

I love walking dogs.  I was taking them to the woods to run and hike and just be dogs, not only because exercise is one of the most essential components of canine health, but its importance is so often overlooked in fostering their mental health.  An active dog cooped up is one more likely to develop anxiety, behavioral issues, compulsive disorders, and other conditions that often lead to physical complaints.  So, off we would go to run the trails and engage in a little joie de vivre.  Happy, healthy dogs!

When the DCR started to enforce the rules of the trail, I transitioned to neighborhood dog walking.  At first, I was disappointed that this didn’t really fit as well into the mission of Canis major; on the other hand, I was surprised to find that I actually prefer walking.   There is something really relaxing about it —  and if I’m feeling that, then surely the dogs are, too, right?  OK, sometimes I’m a bit of a drill sergeant in keeping them moving along, reminding them to move those little legs. Other times, though, we just stroll, enjoying one of the local neighborhoods from the sunny side of the street, or stopping in to the café for a hot tea and a biscuit.  I try to refrain from talking to them too much while passing others, but I’m sure I have turned a head here and there.

Anyway, I started with a new walking client this week.  It’s funny – I had stopped taking one-time clients where I just fill in for their dog walkers, but I found myself saying “sure” into the phone, and hung up a little puzzled at myself.  When I went to meet the dog, the woman was surprised to find a note from her regular dog walker saying that she would no longer be walking Olive.  Hm.  OK, I’d be happy to take her on.  Could I walk her only every other week, though, since custody is shared and she is with the ex during the other weeks?  No problem.

Just as I was due to start with her, her mom called to tell me that Olive would be going into surgery to remove an obstruction from something that she ingested  …for the third time in a year and the second time in as many months (would you be surprised to learn that she’s a lab mix?).  We chatted a bit about anxiety and compulsion and threw around some ideas on how to best address her needs  in the future; for now, though, could I just help her outside to pee (being careful of her incision), give her her medication, and just sit with her for a bit?  She then added that, with all of these medical expenses, her partner relinquished sole custody to her.

I don’t mention Reiki, much.  I list it on my consults page, but I don’t really promote it because if holistic modalities are still considered new age nonsense to some minds, Reiki is totally woo woo.  So, I like to focus on the medicinal applications of botanical constituents and the biological appropriateness of nutrition.  Those with a scientific approach are more receptive to this, and holism can use a little more embracing.

So, I went to get Olive, this morning.  The thumpthumpthump of her tail showed that she was happy to see me, and I was happy to see that there was no leakage from the incision, today.  We went for a short stroll around the block before returning to her living room, where she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes for a head massage.  A moment later, she was laying perfectly still as I found myself doing Reiki on her.  Oh, right.  Reiki.  Fifteen minutes later, I slowly stood up and prepared her pill and lunch.  I tried to coerce her up with a treat, but she laid there perfectly content.  Actually, I’m good, she seemed to be saying.

And so, in serving the wellness of dogs in my community, I am beginning to see how this dog-walking gig fits in…

Hot Spots

As I’ve walked along the bike path, I’ve always thought it rich with urinary herbs.  Juniper, Goldenrod, Dandelion, Couch Grass… all seem to have such a presence, there.  But on a recent herb walk (for dogs) that I gave on a sunny Saturday morning, I found myself mentioning hot spots over and over.  Hm.  Purslane and Sweet Leaf and Burdock and Rose and Red Clover and Plantain and Yellow Dock…  Aaaah, the dog days of August, and the heat that comes with them!  If we consider hot spots from the perspective of energetics, it is a damp heat condition.  Hot spots are, essentially, eczema, and the challenge in treating them is that they may arise from a wide variety of reasons, depending on the individual.

Rupert and Barney sit with Sweet Leaf

Diet really is #1, here.  I know that I talk about food a lot, but humor me and take a peek at the ingredient panel on your dog’s bag or can of food.  In my experience, grains have been the most common culprit with hot spots. So many dogs that I have seen with skin issues have cleared up completely with merely a food switch.  Hell, I battled with my own hot spots until I changed my diet!  (Seriously.  I finally realized that my eczema was triggered by gluten and other dietary indiscretions.)  What the body sees as impure, it will push out.

We often think of the epidermis as an organ (or system) of absorption – and it is (which is why you should never put anything on your dog’s skin that you wouldn’t put in his mouth) – but it serves also as an organ of elimination.  This means that impurities that are not eliminated through the colon or kidneys are often pushed outward, through the skin. We have come to expect that we can simply smear a cream on an external condition and it will disappear. While that may be so for ringworm or staph, hot spots are actually an outward symptom of a heat condition originating much deeper in the dog’s body.  If we use the analogy of the hot spot as a chimney, then by applying a steroidal cream or anti-inflammatory, you are closing the damper and the heat is left down there to simmer, going deeper into the body or seeking other outlets.  Instead, we want to ensure that the channels of elimination are open so that the heat may be released while we address the underlying issue that is causing the fire in the first place.

Aiding the liver, kidneys, and colon in their attempts to eliminate is always a good place to start.  The Docks (Burdock and Yellow Dock) are considered premier blood and skin cleansers – but they do so by stimulating the liver to function more effectively, which is why they are so effective in chronic and hepatic skin conditions.  Burdock seeds have a diuretic action which helps to eliminate waste from the kidneys, taking some of the burden off of the liver and enhancing the elimination of all wastes.  In Traditional Chinese Medicine, tincture of the seeds is used topically for psoriasis, chronic sores, and other skin issues. Yellow Dock stimulates peristalsis in the lower digestive tract, aiding in elimination through the colon.  Yellow Dock is also very specific as a fire reducer in the body.  Dandelion, used in its whole form, is also excellent for keeping the channels cleansed and primed.  Red Clover acts as a blood cleanser, although it doesn’t clean the blood as much as nourish it to a healthy state.  Regardless, keeping everything moving along is the goal, and it’s great for chronic skin issues – especially hot spots.  Another plant that is excellent for internal use with hot spots is Sweet Leaf, because it acts to diffuse the heat.  Where there is internal heat, Sweet Leaf will drive the heat to the surface.

And so, while we’re addressing the condition from the inside (identifying possible triggers like food and diffusing heat in the system), we also want to provide some relief at the site of the hot spot.  (This detoxification process may bring more sludge to the surface, exacerbating the condition and, while it’s good to see evidence of the heat and invaders being flushed out, it is obviously uncomfortable for the dog, and we want to relieve the hot, damp itching that the dog just wants to gnaw furiously… making it hotter, damper, and more itchy.)  The first plant that most herbalists think of for any hot, itching, skin lesion is Plantain.  This is a very cooling plant which will pull the heat up and out of the body.  If you have a clean source of Plantain, you can use the leaves right on the hot spot.  I was taught to chew the leaves just enough to get them mushy, then apply it right to the spot. Purslane, another very cooling plant, is great for hot skin conditions and may be used similarly. It’s always a good idea to keep the area around the spot(s) trimmed – especially with longer-haired dogs.  This is especially pertinent if you have a swimmer, and the coat stays damp against the skin for extended periods.

These are just some of the plants most useful for hot spots that are growing on the bike path between Davis Sq and Willow.  Of course, there are plenty of other plants that are applicable (Aloe Vera is a good one for hot spots, as is Chickweed).  Some suggest Tea Tree Oil, and I have used it in a very diluted form, but I prefer to err on the side of caution when using any essential oils (especially Tea Tree) with dogs, and I would never apply it to an open sore. Mixing up a spray of ½ water and ½ apple cider vinegar is simple and very effective at drying up and reducing the spots.  Cambridge Naturals has both the spray bottles and the apple cider vinegar.  Even better if the apple cider vinegar is infused with Yellow Dock (…which you can also get at Cambridge Naturals).

As with all health conditions, a full assessment of the whole dog should be made in order to determine the organ system most in need of support, and then determining the herbs most appropriate for that organ system and the energetics involved.

The Urban Herbalist

It sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?  Urban herbalist? But herbalists live out in the sticks, don’t they?  They reside in rural areas, among meadows blossoming with vibrant wildflowers and on the edges of woods full of plants filling the lush forest floor.

Yes, they do  …and they live in cities, too.  I know many herbalists who can’t bear the energy of the city for more than a one-day visit.  It all feels so unnatural to them, so disconnected, and so busy.  Then there are those of us who enjoy the solace of a quiet locale, but are soon anxious to return to the buzz of the city, to smell the aroma of espresso wafting out of a little café, to hear the rattle of the subway beneath us or a fiddle reel spilling out of a bar, to see an independent film in an arthouse theatre.

True, walk down a city street and you’ll see the disconnected masses; their ears plugged with earbuds, their eyes cast down to the pavement. The herbalist’s eyes are often cast down, too.  Who is that, peeking out of the crack in the sidewalk?  A hardy little thing, aren’t you?  City workers can pave, lay brick and stone, slather concrete down.  But still they peek out, and those in tune with the plant world will remain plugged in to them.  Who is that, up there?  Hey- how exactly are you growing out of a brick wall?  Urban herbalists know exactly what I’m talking about.  You see the little plant growing all alone out of the mortar halfway up a 3-story stone wall, honor its determination, and consider the plant spirit medicine it offers.

Walking along the bike path here in Somerville, they grow tall and wide with wild abandon, reaching for the sun.  Wild Carrot, Evening Primrose, Sheep Sorrel, Yarrow, Solomon’s Seal, Yellow Dock, Sweet Leaf, Red Clover, Poke, Purslane, Comfrey, Dandelion, Japanese Knotweed, little Pineapple Weed, and yes, even Ragweed. Alteratives, lymphatics, astringents, bitters, nutritives, stimulants.  Walking through Davis Square, look at the trees lining the street and you see Ginkgo leaves doing their thing, clearing toxins from the air.  Walking along the grid of city streets crisscrossing each other through residential neighborhoods and busy thoroughfares, you notice plants for the urinary system, the liver, spine, nerves, digestion.  They clear heat, dispel wind, dry dampness, moisten dryness, open pores. We notice the sheer size of enormous Burdock leaves and know that it’s working hard at this polluted soil, trying its damnedest to undo an era of leaded gasoline, industrial manufacturing, and such.

No, we can’t harvest here in the city; can’t use any of the plants growing in the native soil. But we can go to the local garden center, buy some organic soil, and tend our own little seedlings in areas sheltered from toxic urban air.  My local café receives an overabundance of milk crates.  Line them with natural landscaping fabric and some organic soil, and they’re perfect for square foot gardening because each is exactly one square foot.  Don’t have a little yard? One of the pleasures of city porches is container gardening.  Some people get really creative with this, using things like wooden pallets and old shoeholders.

And yes, you country bumpkins, sometimes we come up and steal your wild plants!  We know where they live, and we come for them.  (It would be a shame to waste Mother Nature’s gifts.)  We trek up, perhaps for hours, and harvest carefully, choosing remote areas, culling consciously, and filling our baskets.  (We steal your bugs, too.)

And what powerful medicine the urban herbalist can make.

Feeding Greed

Apparently, the AVMA is setting a new standard – one in which money speaks louder than the wellness of your pet.  What else could explain their upcoming meeting where they will vote to create a policy discouraging the feeding of raw food?  Pathogens in tested samples?  Have they noticed that there are far more dogs getting sick from processed dry foods than raw?  No, I think they have noticed that, as pet owners become more aware, sales of processed dry food is declining and those choosing to feed a raw or home-prepared diet is increasing.  Our pets are becoming healthier and eating less “prescription” crap.  Surely, this can’t be good for business!

Truth About Pet Food’s “Very Bad News for Raw Feeders“

AVMA’s blog on the topic 

I love my vet.  Rupert and I are going to see her on Monday, in fact.  In Rupert’s seven years, we have seen her only for routine exams and blood draws (where bloodwork always looks excellent).  She is thrilled that we feed a balanced raw diet, and I know that there are lots of other vets out there who don’t see themselves as merely a business, where earnings and profit margins are the only concern,  but as a practice, where they help pets stay healthy.

…Actually, I don’t think it’s such bad news for raw feeders.  Those of us who choose to feed raw will continue to do so.  It’s bad news for the AVMA, who is outing itself as an organization more interested in feeding their own greed than feeding quality nutrition to help our pets stay healthy. How embarrassing for them.

Herb Walks on the Bike Path (bring your dog!)

It’s that time of year again, when plants are springing up from the ground all over the place.  Sure, sure – you call them weeds, but I call them medicine!  Dandelion, Japanese Knotweed, Purslane, Pineapple Weed, Sheep Sorrel, Red Clover, Evening Primrose, Comfrey, Sweet Leaf, Juniper, Burdock, Yarrow, Wild Carrot, and more – all of which have medicinal properties appropriate for dogs.

We’ve done some herb walks on the Bike Path in past years, and this year I’m planning a regular schedule of them on the 4th Saturday of each month.  If you’re interested in learning about native plants that can help your dog (or you!), come along. Bring your curiosity, your questions, a notebook and pen, and your dog! And $10.

Meet up on the bike path behind Rite-Aid in Davis Square at 11:00am. Well-mannered dogs are welcome.

May 26th
June 23rd
July 28th
August 25th
September 22nd

In the event of rain, come on Sunday.

… and by the way,

join us on facebook (here) for little blurts and links and tips and updates and…

…and show us your dog!  Brag about him/her or ask a question or share a story or…

just checking in…

… to acknowledge that I’ve been pretty absent from the herbal front, lately.

I found that, in going through pictures taken during the Tail Hikes each day, some will just need to be cropped and zoomed and then painted!

Anyway, I am participating in Somerville Open Studios  in May, and am focusing pretty heavily on painting, in preparation for that.

Come May, when everything is done and hung, I’ll be happy to dig back into the herbs – and just in time for Herbstalk in June, too!

Then, a healthy balance between herbs and painting…