Live Well
The official Blog of Wellness Natural Pet Food

A smile tells the world that we are happy, so needless to say, when we see our dogs with their wide, open mouths and lolling tongues, we think, “Oh, my dog is smiling at me; they must be happy!” But, while our dogs do smile, signs that they’re happy and smiling come just as much from their body language as their faces. So, when your dog is also wiggly and pliable with ears that are relaxed and pointed forward, then your dog really is grinning back at you. It’s a great feeling to see your dog smile, which is why you’ll want to make these five reasons dogs smile daily habits. Teaching your puppy new habits and tricks is useful for having them understand how to focus—yes, puppies can learn that—as well as improving their overall behavior. While you can work on a few training routines at once—like getting them house trained and sitting—don’t expect them to learn how to roll over, jump up, fetch, drop it and speak in the same week. Just like it’s challenging for children (okay, and adults) to learn a lot in a short about of time, puppies have their limits, too! Remember to reward a puppy or dog with a small treat and lots of praise and affection when you’re training them. Another reason your dog should smile is because you are keeping them active. One of the most quoted lines from Legally Blonde is that

Diarrhea in dogs is rather common and fortunately, most cases improve within a couple days. You may be wondering what you can feed your dog with an upset stomach to aid in their recovery, or dog indigestion treatment. In cases of an acute digestive upset (gastroenteritis) your dog may be showing signs of mild diarrhea (without blood or mucus) whilst still being happy and behaving normally. If this is what your dog is experiencing, you can try to settle your dog’s upset stomach at home; however, if they not improve quickly, you should speak with your veterinarian to ensure there is nothing more serious going on. Your veterinarian can also advise on the best treatments for your dog as well as any additional nutrition they may need to get back to their happy and healthy self. If your dog is in otherwise good health and neither very old nor very young, then fasting them for 24 hours to rest the digestive system can help speed their recovery. After your dog has fasted for 12-24 hours, has not shown further signs of vomiting, and can keep down liquids, the next step is to introduce a bland diet. The bland diet is a homecooked diet that is used to help speed up recovery in the very short term after a digestive upset. Mix 75% plain boiled rice with 25% white chicken meat (no skin or bones) or extra-lean hamburger meat. This easy-to-digest, nutritious

Digestion impacts your pet’s day-to-day life immensely. As pet parents, feeding your pet a food that is not just yummy, but also nutritious, is key to their wellbeing. If high digestibility is included in that, you’ve got a winning combo. It’s important to feed them the right recipes so they can benefit from healthy skin, a lustrous coat, sustained energy levels and more. After all, their wellbeing starts from within. Digestibility refers to the process of digestion where large, complex food molecules of many nutrients are broken down into their simplest forms so that nutrient absorption and their use by the body can take place. When it comes specifically to pet food, the digestibility of a recipe is referring to the percentage of the food or nutrients that are completely digested, used, or absorbed by the dog or cat. Beginning in the mouth, the process of digestion begins with pet chewing their food and its mixture with saliva. Digestion then continues throughout the gastrointestinal system with the mixing, and movement of food before ending with the excretion of waste products and undigested food particles in the feces. The digestibility of a recipe will not only impact the size and quality of your pet’s stools, but it can also impact your pet’s tendency to clear a room with their flatulence as well as more importantly support their overall health and long-term wellbeing. When it comes to comparing the digestibility of one recipe

There’s nothing pets love more than a good belly rub, and now, they’ll have happy bellies for a new reason. Wellness® Natural Pet Food, maker of food and treats for dogs and cats, presents Wellness CORE® Digestive Health, a line of recipes that are crafted with digestive enzymes, prebiotic fibers and probiotics to promote wellbeing from the inside out. A healthy pet starts with a happy belly because gut health goes beyond just the digestive system. Digestive health is responsible for seventy percent of the immune system, impacts overall wellbeing and supports protection from toxins and allergens. Wellness CORE Digestive Health products are highly digestible, support a healthy microbiome and immunity, promote lustrous coat and healthy skin and encourage vitality for optimal energy, helping pets achieve whole-body health. This addition to the Wellness CORE family was scientifically crafted by a team of nutritional experts to support digestive health and fuel pets’ best lives. The new CORE Digestive Health product line comes in response to the growing number of pet parents who are looking to naturally support their pets’ digestive health through their daily meals and nutrition sources. Research conducted by Wellness[1] revealed that 78 percent of pet parents rank easier digestion or better digestion as extremely or very important when weighing health benefits provided in food for dogs or cats. Available in both dry and wet recipes, Wellness CORE Digestive Health provides a product for every pet belly: Wellness CORE Digestive Health

Do you know how important your pet’s digestive health is to their overall well-being? A healthy gut prevents disease, improves digestion, aids in better nutrient absorption and boosts the immune system. So, in other words, digestive health is extremely important and that’s where probiotic pet food comes into play. What are probiotics? Probiotics are the good bacteria that live in our pets’ intestines and without the right balance of that good bacteria, your pet can experience major health issues. Let’s talk about the benefits of probiotics for your pet and how you can help to maintain that balance. So, what are the actual benefits of giving your pet food with a healthy amount of probiotics, or even adding probiotic supplements to their food? Overall, a diet that is rich in probiotics will help your pet to achieve digestive balance and promote a healthy gut. If your pet doesn’t already have a diet with added probiotics and they start to suffer from diarrhea, a probiotic supplement can help to treat the diarrhea. Once you start feeding your pet a probiotic-rich diet, such as Wellness TruFood, they will be less likely to suffer from digestive problems such as diarrhea. Does your pet suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome or any condition similar to it? Probiotics can help to soothe most gastrointestinal ailments that your pet may be suffering from. Because the digestive system is so closely connected to a pet’s immune system and overall

As a loving pet parent, you give your dog or cat food, water, exercise and loads of affection. When it comes to their immune strength, you ensure their vaccinations are up to date and select a food with added antioxidants, vitamins and minerals to help keep their natural defenses strong. But have your ever wondered how your pet’s digestive system affects their immunity? The digestive system is commonly thought of as the location for food to be digested, absorbed and excreted; however, research shows that the digestive system plays a far greater role when it comes to your pet’s immune health and wellbeing. The immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues and organs working together in a continual communication process that allows the body to inform the immune system of what’s going on. In your pet’s digestive system, part of this communication network is the immune system communicating with bacteria or microbiome. The term “gut microbiome” refers to the trillions of microorganisms living in the intestinal tract. While some microorganisms are harmful to our pet’s health, many are incredibly beneficial and even necessary to a healthy body. Science has shown that your pet’s microbiome and digestive system bacteria can impact almost every aspect of your pet’s overall health including their immune strength. By supporting your pet’s digestive system you can help them build their natural defenses. So how do your pet’s immune and digestive systems work together? 70% of a pet’s immune cells are located in their

2020 has been one for the books. As a collective, we’ve faced difficult moments every step of the way, but some pets have gone above and beyond to help save lives. Check out these incredible pet stories featuring 20 moments where our pets became heroes. Dogs in Finland have been trained to “sniff out” the Corona virus at airports. The data suggests the dogs can detect the virus “up to five days earlier” than the nasal swab test. When it comes to 2020, dogs are literally saving our lives. Read the full story here. On her 100th birthday, Marjorie Rigby adopted an 11-year-old terrier named Paddy. Marjorie has loved dogs all her life and feels Paddy was divine timing. They keep each other active and smiling every day. Read the full story here. 85-year-old Ron Williams suffered a scary fall getting out of the shower one morning. With his life alert in the other room and cell phone out of reach, Ron laid helpless on the floor for 16 hours. When he realized his cat, Fluffy, was in the bathroom with him, he made a joke to the cat about getting his phone, a reoccurring joke between the two. Moments later, Ron felt the phone near his hand, all thanks to Fluffy. Read the full story here. This past summer, Gwendola Johnson’s dog saved her life. The 88-year-old fell and was unable to get up. Gwendola saw a sanitation worker, Kirk

Expressing your love goes far beyond saying “I love you.” As it turns out, there are limitless ways to show and to share love with your pet. These are 21 wonderful ways to tell your pet that you love them in 2021. After a tumultuous year with our pets by our side the whole way, repaying them with gestures of love is only fitting. The way we speak to our pets is a major love language. Talking to your pets in warm, soft, sweet, or affectionate tones sends a clear message to your pet: I care about you. I love you. You are valuable to me. Pets like to groom and to kiss as we like to believe. Pets also know that our kisses—as in when we pucker-up—are a show of love and affection, so don’t be shy about getting on the floor and kissing your pet on their sweet little face. Just be ready for a potentially slobbery return of your affections. Pet feelings get hurt just as ours do when those we love are distracted (enamored?) by their phones. When you’re spending quality time with your pet, put the phone down. Be completely involved. Pets love spending time with their parents. Spend extra time with your pet by taking them for extra walks. It’s good for both of you; it gets your endorphins up, and time spent together is a love language understood by all. Another way to spend

If 2020 taught us anything, it was how precious every moment we spend together is and how valuable our health is. So it logically follows that as we make New Year’s resolutions that reflect our past experiences that we do them together with the ones we love most, the ones who’ve never abandoned us, the ones with us through thick and thin: our pets. That’s why we suggest these healthy New Year’s resolution ideas for your pets—they’re fun and easily doable resolutions you and your pets can make together. Food is fuel, which means what you and your pets eat makes a huge difference in your energy, weight and immune system function, to name a few things. During the holidays, almost everyone’s diet slips a little. As you get ready to hit reset, why not consider an entirely new diet that you’ve never tried before? Look for a healthy new diet that you and your pet can try out together. Raw diets: Raw diets are largely plant-based for humans and animal protein-based for pets. For both humans and pets, raw diets are considered to improve certain medical conditions and to have a positive impact on weight. High-protein, low-carb diet: High-protein diets like keto are reportedly excellent for active people and pets as once you enter a state of ketosis, you have more energy. As with raw diets, high-protein diets show favorable results in terms of overall health and medical wellness and with

Exercise is essential for you and your dog’s mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. While there’s nothing like being outside in the sunshine walking or running, enjoying the fresh air and the sights, there are times where it’s too cold to go outside. Taking your dog outside when it’s too cold can damage their paw pads and their nose (never mind that it’s just unpleasant); however, you want both of you to stay active and in shape. These are eight ways to exercise with your dog when it’s too cold to go outside. Games of fetch can easily be played indoors (just don’t throw your dog’s toy too high). Use your living room or a long hallway—wherever there’s uncluttered space—and roll or toss your dog’s toy. Get your workout, too, by racing him to get the toy first. You’ll both be panting (and you’ll be laughing) within minutes. This exercise is almost like a doggy boot camp. If you have stairs in your house, walk up and down the stairs with your dog. This quad work will be fun as you watch your dog bound up and down. Make it extra challenging by racing your dog (or at least trying to keep up as dogs can be pretty zippy when it comes to climbing stairs). Swap your kettle bell for your dog’s favorite toy during your squat sets. Go to a large living space where you normally might do a DIY workout.

You’re excited to celebrate your first Christmas with your new puppy and are probably already imagining all of the adorable photos you can take of the dog with the tree. But wait, how are you going to keep that tree upright and untouched by your puppy for the duration of the season? And um, what about the concept that a tree is something your dog does her your business on outside and now it’s in the living room—a no-no zone? There are few factors to consider when you have a puppy and are decorating for the holidays with a Christmas Tree. Here are six ways to puppy-proof your Christmas tree. Sure, we love that fresh Christmas tree smell as much as the next person but this could minimize some potential problems, like pine needles on the floor that your pup might want to eat, drinking the water, or even bugs or loose critters in the house that came in on the tree. (Hey, the Rockefeller Christmas Tree housed a baby owl—it could happen!) The novelty of water in this new “bowl” seems appealing to your pup, but it can be dangerous for dogs to drink free Christmas tree water. That stagnant water may be harboring bacteria or, if it was fertilized and that poison is stuck in the sap, it can wind up in the water and make your dog sick. Putting dog gates around the tree can help keep your pup

We love baking cookies for the holidays and one of our favorite cutout cookies are gingerbread men. They’re pretty easy to make and fun to decorate. For this Christmas cookie recipe for dogs, we’re revising the classic gingerbread men recipe and using it for inspiration to make dog cutout cookies. Ginger is an anti-inflammatory ingredient that’s generally safe for your dog to eat and it might even help with digestive issues, circulation and arthritis. Mixing a small amount into a Christmas dog recipe is a great way to sneak it in without your dog noticing the strong flavor. For this recipe, you’ll need a mixer, a rolling pin and cookie cutters in the shape of dogs for this dog treat recipe. (Sure, you can make some gingerbread ‘men’ too while you’re at it if you want to give you pup the opportunity to eat them up!) You might even want to set aside a few baked dog Christmas cookies to gift a pet lover in your life. Make these gingerbread dog cutout cookies plain or decorate them with fun Wellness Old Mother Hubbard Winter Fun shapes. 2 1/2 Cups of flour (white or whole wheat) 2 Tablespoons of white flour for the cutting board 1 Tablespoon ground ginger 2 Tablespoons of molasses 1/2 Cup of applesauce, unsweetened 1 Egg 6-8 Wellness Old Mother Hubbard Winter Fun Treats, finely chopped Optional: whole treats & peanut butter for decorating  (make sure the peanut