I love helping people find their way back to good health - it is very satisfying and has been my life's work. I also have another love . . . my dogs! Their unconditional love and sense of fun bring such happiness to my life so I thought I would share some stories about them with you. Being able to help my beloved dogs with their various ailments is such a blessing . . . Let me tell you a little story about my new bull mastiff puppy, Harley, who is the cutest little black faced puppy which I acquired in September 2011.Liver-Doctor-Harley Much to my horror, this perfect specimen of a puppy caught the mange from another dog. The local vet did not realize Harley had mange, as it became infected with bacteria. Harley was then treated with antibiotics and tea tree oil and developed an allergy, which made his rash worse. I scoured the Internet with Google scholar and made the diagnosis myself – Harley had the dreaded mange! I was away from home for 7 days and so I called a wonderful vet Dr Ian Billinghurst who is a holistic vet who has written a book titled Give Your Dog a Bone. Dr Billinghurst told me to purchase the liquid treatment for mange called Advocate, which I could not apply to Harley until I returned home. In the meantime I called my uncle Robert who lives with Harley and I asked Robert to give Harley 2 selenium tablets with his meal (each selenium tablet containing 100mcg of selenium). Well, Robert misunderstood my directions and gave Harley 2 selenium tablets, three times daily with his meals, which provided a total daily dose of 600mcg of selenium. Now Harley is 4 months old and weighs 60 pounds and, even so, that’s a large dose of selenium! When I finally arrived back home Harley bounded into my arms and we had a cuddle. I examined his skin and was delighted – his mange was 90% gone! It was then I discovered Robert’s mistake and realized that Harley had been taking 600mcg of selenium daily for 7 days and I understood the connection. The stubborn rash and sores caused by the mange had been almost eliminated by the selenium, as Robert had not been giving Harley anything else that was different. What had happened is that the selenium had strengthened Harley’s cellular immune system quickly and it had eradicated most of the infection. Harley was a very happy little man but, just to be sure, we applied the Advocate liquid. Many dogs have skin problems which can be helped with supplements of selenium (such as Selenomune capsules), a good quality fish oil or cod liver oil and a liver formula. Hemp seeds and ground flaxseeds are also good for their skin. If your dog has skin problems such as dermatitis, frequent itchy rashes or skin lumps it is vital to exclude gluten from their diet. Gluten is found in many processed dried dog food. Dr Billinghurst recommends a gluten free diet of meat, bones and vegetables. My other dog, Sophie is a lovely, but very naughty Labrador who is dedicated to tummy rubs. She has a beautiful thick lush jet black coat of hair and that’s not due to good genes alone. Liver-Doctor-Sophie Several years ago Sophie had a severe dermatitis of her anterior (front) chest wall that caused her to continually scratch that area. Eventually poor Sophie scratched so hard that her whole front chest wall had no skin. It was like raw meat and was becoming infected. This got so bad as she had been away from me for several weeks. I thought to myself “she is probably allergic to gluten!” as she was being fed dried dog food. I immediately put Sophie on a gluten free diet of meat and vegetables and gave her liquid fish oil and Selenomune capsules in a dose of one daily. After several weeks she was so much better and I was very relieved, as severe skin infections can become very deep and can be fatal. Thank God for the wonderful healing power of nutritional medicine. Happy Tail wagging from Sophie – see her photo here, ain’t she cute. Lucky you are not here – Sophie would demand a tummy rub from you if you looked at her sideways.