Welcome to the monthly e-newsletter from Russell Louie
and Margaret Auld-Louie at Optimum Choices, LLC. This newsletter is sent to the
friends and customers of Russell & Margaret as well as people who signed up for
a drawing at our booth at a fair or event. If you wish to unsubscribe, see the
bottom of this e-mail for instructions. To receive this newsletter in your
e-mail,
click here.
So many customers love our new
Starter Packs, we will
offer a more flexible Three Pack Sale for June. Buy ANY three
bottles of
BioPreparation for pets or
BioSuperfood for people (any combination) and get the least
expensive bottle for 33% off the retail price.
For example, if one purchased two bottles of BioSuperfood-F2 at the
regular price of $65 each, then the third bottle of BioPreparation-F3+
would be
33% off the
regular $45 price (a $14.85 savings). Now you AND your pet can have
total wellness!
You
must mention our Three Pack Sale in order to get this special
33% off discount. Type in "Three
Pack Sale" in our shopping cart (in the Special Instructions box on
the second page) or mention it in your phone order or e-mail. Your
discount will not show up in the shopping cart total but will be taken
before your credit card is charged. This sale is only offered to our
customers who read our monthly e-newsletter and not available to the
general public. This is our way of saying thank you for your loyalty.
Old South Pearl Street
Association—Farmers Market
June 22, Sunday,
9:00-1:00 PM
Optimum Choices and
Natural Pet
will be doing mini-doggie massage (10 minutes) and answering questions about
BioPreparation
for animals and anesthesia-free teeth
cleaning for your pet. Come by and enter our drawing for a free
full-length dog massage.
What is HolistiChat? Is it
contagious? Do you have a holistic remedy for it?
Actually,
HolistiChat is a new service we are offering for our dedicated
customers interested in true holistic wellness. Any time we are online
(usually 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM MST U.S.A., -07:00 GMT) you can ask us a
question by clicking on the
image on select pages of our website. If we are online, you will be
connected to us and get an immediate answer to your question.
This is not meant to be an
in-depth
consultation session but a short answer to a quick question. For
example, you may ask a product, ingredient, dosage or usage question.
Remember, we are not doctors, veterinarians or certified medical
professionals. We can only share our holistic experiences with you.
There is no question that many people spoil and pamper their pets;
however, it is also true that many things that constitute humane and
appropriate care of our animals get labeled as “spoiling” our pets.
Unfortunately, this shames pet owners and may discourage them from doing
that particular activity, even though it benefits their pet.
With my background in biology, I tend to evaluate care of our pets based
on whether it meets their needs as a species for humane and appropriate
treatment. In other words, I look at what they need physically,
emotionally and mentally. For instance, dogs are pack animals and if we
have a single dog as a pet, it still needs to be part of a pack. Packs
live, hunt and sleep together. Therefore, sticking a single dog outside
in the backyard alone because it will “mess up the house” or “belongs
outside” is very unnatural for the dog and frightening. If the dog barks
while alone in the yard, it is not because the dog is “bad” but because
it is lonely, bored, scared or reacting to nearby people and animals
(which can be minimized with a privacy fence). Therefore, letting your
dog live in the house with its human “pack” is the most natural and
humane treatment of him, rather than “spoiling” him.
Another natural behavior for a dog is to sleep with its owner(s) on the
bed, since dog packs sleep together. Many positive trainers dispute the
claim by some experts that this could lead to the dog becoming
“dominant” over the owner, providing that it is trained appropriately in
other situations and does not “resource guard” the bed against the
owner.
What about diet? Some dog experts and most of the general population
feel that feeding our dogs anything other than dry kibble is spoiling
them. But from a biological point of view, this makes absolutely no
sense. Dry kibble is a totally
unnatural food for a dog to eat,
created
for the convenience of pet owners and the
profit of dog food companies.
Dogs are designed to eat raw meat, bones and organs, just like their
ancestor the wolf. They have the teeth and digestive tract of a
carnivore.
Experts may also tell you that you should feed the same food to your dog
every day to avoid upsetting its digestion or spoiling the dog. This
makes no sense, either. Would you feed your child the same flavor cereal
every day and nothing else? Just like humans, dogs need variety in their
diet so they get a wide range of nutrients. For this reason, feeding
table scraps to your pet is not necessarily spoiling them if you eat a
healthy diet. Table scraps increase the variety in their diet. If the
dog’s digestive tract is too delicate to tolerate any other foods then
maybe you need to work at healing their digestive system and slowly
introduce other foods over time. It’s not normal for their digestion to
be that sensitive. Click here to learn more about
optimal diets for dogs.
Is giving our dogs or cats supplements spoiling them? Given the current
state of our pets’ health (Morris Animal Foundation: 50% of older pets
will get cancer), I would argue “no”. Unless your dog or cat
comes from several generations of animals that were bred by a
conscientious breeder who feeds species-appropriate raw food, your pet
will have nutritional deficiencies that probably cannot be remedied by
diet alone. It takes several generations to correct nutritional
deficiencies. And even if your pets’ ancestors were fed raw food, unless
the animals they ate were pasture-raised on organic plants grown in
mineral-rich soil and living in a pollution-free environment, their diet
could still be depleted. Therefore, providing your pets with
superfoods
and other supplements to their diet may be essential to their long-term
health, not a sign of spoiling them. We feed our pets BioPreparation
algae to augment their diet and help prevent them from developing
cancer
and other degenerative diseases that have become so common in our pets
since the advent of commercial pet foods.
Is providing bottled or filtered water for our pets spoiling them? Most
people would say “yes” but, again, you need to look at the health
consequences of not doing this. If you provide your pets with tap water,
as most pet owners do, your pets are exposed to chlorine and other
chemicals that can damage their health, leading to cancer, hormonal
imbalances and other issues. Rather than buying bottled water which is
very pricey and can sometimes be contaminated, we suggest a high-quality
carbon-block filter, to filter toxins out of your tap water at a
reasonable cost. We use a
Multi-Pure
solid carbon-block filter to provide pure water
for ourselves and our pets.
Is massage for dogs spoiling them? The media often states that it is—Jay
Leno jokes that any animal that can lick itself doesn’t need massage. A
cartoon in a recent newspaper makes a joke about Paris Hilton’s dog
having a massage therapist. When someone saw me massaging dogs at a dog
rescue event, he commented “my dog’s spoiled but it’s not that spoiled”.
Actually, dogs often do develop muscular and joint problems that cause
them pain and can be helped by massage. Our breeding of dogs has changed
their structure from the optimal structure found in wolves, making dogs’
muscles and joints prone to problems. Therefore, massage is not a luxury
for dogs but an important part of their health care. It is thought to
have the same therapeutic benefits for dogs that it does for humans.
People who show dogs or compete in athletic events with them often get
regular massage because they know it helps their dog perform better,
just as with human athletes. Click here, to learn more about
canine massage.
When we look at the needs of pet cats, if they are indoor-only cats,
then we need to provide adequate stimulation indoors.
Have you ever been
to a zoo that has a tiger or other big cat in a cage and watched it pace
back and forth in boredom? If you don’t provide adequate toys for your
cat and they don’t have any high places they can get up on, then it’s
like your cat is living in a cage, too, with nothing to do. Cats are
smart and they need toys to play with and a stimulating environment such
as tunnels to run through, stairs to run up and down, furniture they can
perch on, etc. Cats like to perch on high places where they can see
things—they feel safer and can see to hunt. If you don’t allow your cats
on your furniture, then they need their own “cat furniture” to perch on.
It’s not spoiling them to provide a variety of stimulating toys, cat
furniture, tunnels, boxes, etc. Rather, you are meeting their needs for
exercise and mental stimulation. Hanging a birdfeeder outside a window
where your cats can sit and watch birds also provides them with mental
stimulation to help offset the boredom of being stuck inside.
What about providing outdoor enclosures for our cats? To many people,
that seems really “over the top”, the ultimate in spoiling them. Yet, we
don’t think we’re spoiling our children when we make sure they get
outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine. We take our babies outdoors in
strollers so they can benefit from being outside. Cats also need some
outdoor time for optimal health. There are many dangers for cats
outdoors so if you are not comfortable letting them roam free and risk
being harmed, it makes sense to take them out on a harness and leash or
put them in an outdoor enclosure.
What about diet for cats? Is feeding them canned food spoiling them, as
most people say? Actually, most holistic vets state that dry kibble is a
totally inappropriate food for cats and if you can’t feed them raw food,
then they should get canned food all the time. Holistic vets dispute the
assertion that dry food cleans cats’ teeth. Cats are designed to get
moisture with their food, rather than eating dry food and drinking
water. Even if they drink water, they cannot drink enough to make up for
what’s missing in dry kibble. If you want your cats to be in optimal
health and reduce your vet bills later in their life, we suggest feeding
them raw and/or canned food all the time. Click her to learn more about
cat's
diet.
So, what does constitute spoiling our pets? Are silly Halloween costumes,
miniature furniture
and doggie birthday parties spoiling them? Since our pets generally
don’t care about those things, I would say that is spoiling the owner,
not the pet. Are providing boots and coats for dogs spoiling them? If
they need those items to protect them from the elements, then it would
be cruel not to provide them. Small dogs with thin coats (Italian
Greyhounds, Chihuahuas) must have coats in the winter or they get too
cold. Dogs that go mountain climbing here in Colorado often wear boots
to prevent their feet from getting cut on the sharp rocks. Dogs running
the Iditarod have to wear boots to protect their feet and be able to
keep racing.
Is taking your dog on multiple walks in a day spoiling them? Our
neighbors see us walking our dog frequently and have stated that she is
very spoiled, but dogs need a large amount of exercise. Sporting and
herding dogs in particular need a lot of exercise, having been bred to
hunt or herd all day long. Sticking the dog out in the backyard does not
substitute for a long run or a play session at the dog park. Is taking
our dog to the dog park or a doggie daycare spoiling them? Well, non-dog
owners probably think so but in these days of strict leash laws, these
facilities may offer the only way to easily provide adequate exercise
and socialization for your dog. Gone are the days that pet owners could
let their dog freely roam the neighborhood. A one- or two-mile walk is
not going to be sufficient exercise for a dog that was bred to hunt or
work all day. So, if the owner is not athletic enough or does not have
time to provide more extensive exercise for their dog, dog parks and
doggie daycares are great alternatives.
In my opinion, spoiling is giving our pets something they want that is
not good for them, because they like it (just as with children). For
instance, many owners overfeed their pets or give them treats that are
not good for them. This has led to a high level of obesity in our pets,
which shortens their lives and leads to health problems. Not providing
adequate training for dogs could also be considered spoiling or
neglecting them. Unfortunately, the majority of dog owners provide
inadequate or no training for their dogs, which is a large part of the
reason our shelters are overflowing with dogs, especially adolescents
and young adults. Once that cute puppy grows up, the owner can no longer
handle its unruly behavior since they have not trained their dog how to
fit in to human society and they take the dog to the shelter. To prevent
this tragic end, we suggest reading books on positive dog training and
attending training classes. See our
book
page for suggestions. For those in the Denver area, we recommend the
Misha May
Foundation for positive training classes.
Treating a dog like a person or accessory could be considered spoiling,
or at least, inappropriate behavior. For instance, if someone is
carrying a little dog around all the time instead of letting it walk on
the ground, that is not natural for the dog. Toy dogs are still dogs and
will act like a dog when given a chance. We have a 10-pound
Chihuahua-mix that acts like a regular dog because we treat her as such.
She loves to roam in the woods (on leash, to keep her safe), jump up on
rocks and prefers
walking or running to being carried. When she goes with me on bike
rides, she would rather run beside me than ride in the basket (which
leads passersby to chide me because they assume little dogs should
be carried). Pet store owners tell me that my dog is the only small dog
they like, because she acts like a "real" dog.
When deciding how to care for your pets, we encourage you to learn about
what they need as an animal—a dog, cat, rabbit or whatever species they
are, rather than simply viewing them as “furry children”. We can be just
as attached to our pets as children, but we do our pets a disservice if
we let that cloud our judgment when it comes to meeting their needs. We
are not born knowing what another species needs—it takes some study.
Learn what they need to be healthy and happy and provide that, rather
than just giving them what you would want if you were them. Then you
will be truly loving your pets rather than just spoiling them.
303-271-1649 866-305-2306 (toll-free) Normal office hours are 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM Mountain Time (U.S.). If you would
like a return call outside those hours, please specify what days and times are
best.
33% off the
regular $45 price (a $14.85 savings). Now you AND your pet can have
total wellness!
You
must mention our Three Pack Sale in order to get this special
33% off discount. Type in "Three
Pack Sale" in our shopping cart (in the Special Instructions box on
the second page) or mention it in your phone order or e-mail. Your
discount will not show up in the shopping cart total but will be taken
before your credit card is charged. This sale is only offered to our
customers who read our monthly e-newsletter and not available to the
general public. This is our way of saying thank you for your loyalty.
There is no question that many people spoil and pamper their pets;
however, it is also true that many things that constitute humane and
appropriate care of our animals get labeled as “spoiling” our pets.
Unfortunately, this shames pet owners and may discourage them from doing
that particular activity, even though it benefits their pet. 
What about diet? Some dog experts and most of the general population
feel that feeding our dogs anything other than dry kibble is spoiling
them. But from a biological point of view, this makes absolutely no
sense. 
Have you ever been
to a zoo that has a tiger or other big cat in a cage and watched it pace
back and forth in boredom? If you don’t provide adequate toys for your
cat and they don’t have any high places they can get up on, then it’s
like your cat is living in a cage, too, with nothing to do. Cats are
smart and they need toys to play with and a stimulating environment such
as tunnels to run through, stairs to run up and down, furniture they can
perch on, etc. Cats like to perch on high places where they can see
things—they feel safer and can see to hunt. If you don’t allow your cats
on your furniture, then they need their own “cat furniture” to perch on.
It’s not spoiling them to provide a variety of stimulating toys, cat
furniture, tunnels, boxes, etc. Rather, you are meeting their needs for
exercise and mental stimulation. Hanging a birdfeeder outside a window
where your cats can sit and watch birds also provides them with mental
stimulation to help offset the boredom of being stuck inside.
So, what does constitute spoiling our pets? Are silly Halloween costumes,
miniature furniture
and doggie birthday parties spoiling them? Since our pets generally
don’t care about those things, I would say that is spoiling the owner,
not the pet. Are providing boots and coats for dogs spoiling them? If
they need those items to protect them from the elements, then it would
be cruel not to provide them. Small dogs with thin coats (Italian
Greyhounds, Chihuahuas) must have coats in the winter or they get too
cold. Dogs that go mountain climbing here in Colorado often wear boots
to prevent their feet from getting cut on the sharp rocks. Dogs running
the Iditarod have to wear boots to protect their feet and be able to
keep racing. 
Treating a dog like a person or accessory could be considered spoiling,
or at least, inappropriate behavior. For instance, if someone is
carrying a little dog around all the time instead of letting it walk on
the ground, that is not natural for the dog. Toy dogs are still dogs and
will act like a dog when given a chance. We have a 10-pound
Chihuahua-mix that acts like a regular dog because we treat her as such.
She loves to roam in the woods (on leash, to keep her safe), jump up on
rocks and prefers
walking or running to being carried. When she goes with me on bike
rides, she would rather run beside me than ride in the basket (which
leads passersby to chide me because they assume little dogs should
be carried). Pet store owners tell me that my dog is the only small dog
they like, because she acts like a "real" dog. 
