‘He was planned’ Lockdown puppies

Lockdown puppies get a bad rap. They developed and learnt about the world when it was a weird and eerie place. There were no buses, trains or scooters. No runners, bikes or large groups in contact. There were small family groups, no puppy classes, and the vets were very restricted. Life was restricted. And then it opened back up. What a Pandora’s Box those puppies then experienced - overwhelmingly.

Many people became first time dog owners. The most in history in fact. Myself included. We had family pets growing up but weren’t the responsible adult or primary care givers. Now we were. And we had no idea what we were doing. We copied other people. Asked people at the park for their experienced advice.

We did the best with what we knew. Knowing nothing about how dogs learn, maybe armed with an old hand me down ‘Puppy Book’ with helpful practical ‘setting up your home’ information, but nothing about how to socialise a puppy in a different world or what to feed your dog - ‘My puppy came with Iams’ and there we were in Lockdown, emptying the shelves of toilet roll and pedigree chum tins. That’s dog food right?

I bought every treat and toy you can on Amazon. So the only experience the puppy has of people coming to the door is to drop off and leave - why? Who were they? What’s going on?

What many people (and vets - at the moment) don’t know is that bubbling away pre Covid, there was a virus infecting bacteria, and prolifically spreading - like a super mutant. A bacteriaphage.

During Covid, everyone washed and sanitised everything, killing so many ‘friendly’ bacteria, and leaving the antibiotic resistant ones.

This went on for so long, that now, along with the antibiotic resistant bacteriaphages - which live in our dog’s guts, these guys commonly make up the lion’s share of the microbiome - a community of good and ‘bad’ bacteria, viruses, etc in our insides.

Mixing this, with highly processed dog food has now created the least varied microbiomes in history. And the wide spread and prolific bacteriaphages are causing havoc, not only in the gut, which is the epicentre of the immune system, but it’s coming out in our dog’s behaviour. They’re not well, they don’t feel well, and they like to tell everyone they come across how unwell they’re feeling. Cue the ‘reactivity crisis’.

Just when Lockdown Puppies were having a tough enough time, we now have his new scientific data to show why more dogs are sicker and more reactive than ever. It’s also important to know that everything from serotonin to short chain fatty acids (anti inflammatories) are made in the gut by those bacteria. They literally make the chemicals that leads to how your dog is feeling and therefore behaving. That is why a diverse microbiome is so important for mental and physical health.

Can we fix it? The experts aren’t sure. Should we give up and just medicate? Absolutely not - there’s so much we can do. We have so much control over diet and environment and there’s so many quick wins that can add up over time.

If you dog is reactive, scratchy, on a prescription diet for ‘allergies’ having monthly Cytopoint injections or Apoquel tablets just to stop you going mad (let alone them) there is another, better, more cost effective way to make them more comfortable, reduce your monthly and quarterly outgoings, vet subscriptions (don’t get me started!) and give your dog a better, healthier, fuller life, and make your life so much better in return.

Enter Soco Fairy Dog Mother, with the contacts, the discounts the knowledge and the free signposting to help ‘save all the dogs’.

Because you can train for reactivity all you like, and medicate all you like by ‘turning off the oil lamp’ with steroids, but if you don’t heal the core root of the problem and change how these dogs feel inside, you will only ever get so far.

Every behaviour comes from a feeling. If you can change the way a dog (or person - you’re welcome) feels, then you can adjust the behaviour output.

So if you’d like my help with what I know, I’d be so happy to make your life easier and your dog’s life healthier and happier.

Lana

Soco Fairy Dog Mother