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Update: 22 November 2024

Unleashing Canine Performance

Author: Julie Casper, C. Ac.

Optimum performance can be achieved by correcting biochemistry and endocrine function. Performance limitations are the consequence of biochemical imbalances and toxic body-burden.

Contents

1. From Wolf to Woof
2. Canine in the Coal Mine
3. Working Dogs - Performance Requirements
4. The Biochemistry of Performance
5. Pituitary, Adrenal, Thyroid (P.A.T.) Axis
6. Performance Index
7. Performance Optimization
8. Toxicity Screening
9. Conclusion
10. References

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From Wolf to Woof

In wild landscapes, native grazing and browsing animals roam across a diverse habitat consisting of thousands of plant species. These plants are growing on many varieties of soil that have been affected by different geological influences such as glaciers, flooding and volcanic activity. Various and diverse climates also add to these varieties. These influences all affect the mineral composition of the soils, which in turn affects the mineral composition of the plants growing in whatever region they inhabit. These plants and the insects that eat them are then eaten by the small, foraging animals such as fowl, mice or rabbits. These animals are then eaten by wild dogs. This extremely diverse variation of nutritional origin then provides these wild dogs with a wide variety of trace minerals which are needed for healthy growth, physical, cognitive and emotional growth, immune system function and development and cellular functioning through proper energy production.

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. Roger Caras

The behavior, diets and physiology of dogs changed from that of their wild counterparts in response to the selection pressures of a new ecological niche—a domestic association with human beings. The modern working or companion dog does not have access to the variety of nutrition wild dogs biologically developed eating. The variety of nutrition in the foods domesticated dogs receive, even if it is home made from natural ingredients, lacks the necessary trace minerals and nutrients.

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Canine in the Coal Mine

Our foods are grown on depleted and toxic soils and our feed animals are fed these foods and grasses. They have limited access to any variety of wild foods, thus their flesh is limited in trace minerals and nutritional elements. Toxic chemicals applied to the soils are also in the plants that are eaten, and thus in the animal flesh. The same applies to any grains that are added to the dog foods. Not only are grains frequently toxic, they are also a biologically incorrect food for dogs that is often indigestible.

Commercial food processing adds more toxic elements to the dog food. The chemicals and machinery used in processing the food add contaminants at various levels and amounts, without regulation. The packaging and preservatives also offer an array of toxic chemicals and contaminants to most commercially processed foods. What is the most common result of combining nutritionally depleted food with a toxic environment? A well fed yet malnourished dog, who expresses varying degrees of health problems. Over time the animal will develop devastating illnesses such as cancer, which is a leading cause of death in dogs.

The knee-jerk response of the dog food industry to this issue is to add nutritional supplements to their products. Unfortunately, this kind of approach to supplementation provides a standardized dosage. Also of concern is the sourcing of the supplements, because the raw sources of various vitamins and minerals differ widely in quality. We now understand that individual dog's vitamin and mineral needs are unique. And a working or performance dog has even higher nutritional demands. Their bodies are frequently under much higher levels of stress than a standard companion animal. The bottom line is that your dog may not be getting enough, or even any, of some of the nutrients needed to address the demands their biology is being placed under. Your animal also could be getting too much of some nutrients, which in itself will create mineral imbalances that can lead to an array of health problems.

Many health problems associated with undernutrition and toxicity are frustratingly difficult to diagnose, much less to treat. The good news is that a mineral balancing and nutritional program prescribed from an appropriately analyzed hTMA result can solve this problem.

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Dogs are my favorite people. Richard Dean Anderson

Working Dogs - Performance Requirements

There is huge variety in the types of working dogs, and each specialty places different biological demands on your dog. Understanding the dog's nutritional needs, and having a way to assess their biochemical nutrient values and heavy metal burden and toxicity are essential for optimizing their performance.

The following list is useful in helping understand various types working dogs, their required specialized skills, and the demands that their specialization places upon them.

Agility Athletes

Dog agility is an international dog sport with many different sanctioning organizations and competitions worldwide. A handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. In addition to the technical and educational training, physical training must also be done. At the very least, the dog must be fit enough to run and jump without causing stress or injury to its body. A trainer puts a lot of time into training an agility dog. These dogs need to have all their senses working optimally to perform well. High level awareness and quick responses are critical. They need a balanced endocrine system and protection from the effects of toxic metals. Be sure the animal is receiving the proper nutritional support necessary for a long, healthy and prosperous career.

Conformation and Show dogs

A show dog has been specially bred, trained, and groomed to conform to the specifications of dog shows. Originally devised for the selection of breeding stock, conformation showing has evolved into a sport requiring specific training for both the dog and handler, as well as precise breed dependent grooming requirements. One problem with breed specific restrictions inherent in show and conformation dogs is continuous inbreeding as all members of the same breed are related.¹ Another is that whether breeding primarily for appearance² or for a particularly desirable working style, too much emphasis is placed on breeding from the few winning stud dogs, causing an already limited gene pool to encounter a genetic bottleneck. In this way, breeding for physical attributes can lead to inbreeding and consequently, dogs with weaker immune systems and birth defects [source: Pitcairn]. All of these issues can result in poor health characteristics being passed on to the offspring. These dogs are often subject to disruptive and wildly changing environments and situations, and asked to behave perfectly. Maintaining physical and emotional balance under this type of high-pressure is challenging. An assessment of the dog's mineral levels and ratios can help identify healthy immune function, toxicity levels and emotional stability. Be sure the animal is receiving the proper nutritional support necessary for having healthy, vibrant offspring.

Entertainer dogs

Performing dogs such as circus dogs and film actors are trained to provide entertainment to their audience, or enable human artistic performances. These dogs are often subject to disruptive and wildly changing environments and situations, and asked to behave perfectly. Maintaining physical and emotional balance under this type of high-pressure is challenging for all performers, canine and human. A trainers puts a lot of time into training an entertainer dog. Be sure the animal is receiving the proper nutritional support necessary for a long, healthy and prosperous career.

Herding, Hunting, Tracking and Guard dogs

Ranchers and farmers depend on herding dogs to manage their sheep and cattle. Hunting dogs assist hunters in finding, tracking, and retrieving game, or in routing vermin. Less frequently a dog, or rather or a pack of them, actually fights a predator, such as a bear or feral pig. Guard dogs and watch dogs help to protect private or public property, either in living or used for patrols, as in the military and with security firms. Tracking dogs help find lost people and animals or track down possible criminals. These dogs need to have all their senses working optimally to perform well. High level awareness and quick responses are critical. They need a balanced endocrine system and protection from the effects of toxic metals.

Today the Dalmatian serves as a fire house mascot, chosen by many fire fighters as pets in honor of their heroism in the past. Back in the days of horse drawn fire carts, they provided a valuable service. Dalmatians and horses are very compatible, so the dogs were easily trained to run in front of the engines to help clear a path and guide the horses and the firefighters to the fires quickly.

K9 Service dogs

Police and military dogs, also sometimes called K9 Units, are trained to track or immobilize criminals while assisting officers in making arrests or investigating the scene of a crime. Some are even specially trained for anti-terrorist units. Cadaver dog or Human Remains Detection Dogs use their scenting ability to discover bodies or human remains at the scenes of disasters, crimes, accidents, or suicides. War Dogs or K9 Corps are used by armed forces in many of the same roles as civilian working dogs, but in a military context. In addition, specialized military tasks such as mine detection or wire laying have been assigned to dogs. Military Working Dog is the more formal, current term for dogs trained for use in military tasks. These dogs need to have all their senses working optimally to perform well. High level awareness and quick responses are critical. They need a balanced endocrine system and protection from the effects of toxic metals.

Rescue dogs

Rescue dogs assist people who are in difficult situations, such as in the water after a boat disaster. Search dogs locate people who are missing; lost in the wilderness, escaped from nursing homes, covered in snow avalanches, buried under collapsed buildings, etc. These dogs need it to have all! They have to have a significantly robust stress response capability, a balanced endocrine system, and maximum performance function.

Service or Assistance dogs

Service or assistance dogs help people with various disabilities in every day tasks. Some examples include mobility assistance dogs for the physically handicapped, guide dogs for the visually impaired, and hearing dogs for the hearing impaired. These dogs need to have all their senses working optimally to perform well. High level awareness and quick responses are critical. They need to have a balanced endocrine system and protection from the effects of toxic metals.

Sled dogs

Although today these hard workers are primarily used in sporting events, they also assist in transporting people and supplies in rugged, snowy terrain. And they work together in high-functioning social teams. Being able to assess the speed versus endurance performance capacity of a sled dog is an invaluable tool. Ensure you are giving your animals what they needs for a long, healthy career. This includes a recommendation towards slowing their metabolism to avoid burn-out and shortened lifespan due to the extreme, physically demanding lifestyle.

Therapy dogs

Therapy dogs visit people who are incapacitated or prevented in some way from having freedom of movement; these dogs provide cheer and entertainment for the elderly in retirement facilities, the ill and injured in hospitals, and so on. Therapy dogs need to have a calm demeanor and need to be able to be around people who are under various levels of stress, this relationship should not produce stress in the dog. A toxic metal screen and assessment is critical for these dogs, as these metals act as stressors and can cause aggression. A balanced endocrine system will provide a robust ability to respond to stress.

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The Biochemistry of Performance

The use of nutrition for improving animal performance has, until recently, been used mainly for livestock and racing dogs and horses. Typically, its application has been directed at attempting to correct or prevent deficiencies of vital nutrients. Leading nutritional science focuses on the biochemical balance of essential nutrients; the most important of which are the trace elements (minerals).

Trace elements are more important than are the vitamins, in that they cannot be synthesized by living matter. Thus they are the basic spark-plugs in the chemistry of life, on which the exchanges of energy in the combustion of foods and the building of living tissues depend. Dr. Henry Schroeder, The Trace Elements and Man

Nutrient interrelationships are complex, every vitamin and mineral affects several other vitamins and minerals in an interconnected, intricate, ever-changing web of association (synergism and antagonism). For example, calcium is known to antagonize zinc, thus a high intake of calcium depresses intestinal zinc absorption. Iron and copper are synergistic because sufficient copper is required for iron utilization in the red blood cells. Nutrient elements have important functional effects on the endocrine glands. As with mineral and vitamin synergisms and antagonisms, endocrine synergisms and antagonisms exist also. Through the release of chemical messengers (hormones), the endocrine glands control the stress response. Hormones affect how nutrients influence basic cellular functions; absorption, excretion, transport and storage. Nutrients influence hormones also. Trace nutrient minerals are involved in hormone secretion, activity of the hormones, and target tissue binding sites. Mineral concentrations within the body affect the functioning of the hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands. If the levels and/or ratios of these minerals are suboptimal, cellular function (hormone production and release, detoxification and renewal, performance and energy production) is compromised.³

Providing cells with elemental nutrients at optimal levels and ratios, enables them to perform this infinitely complex dance of life. Extensive tissue mineral research has led to significant advancements in the understanding of nutrient mineral interrelationships. This knowledge also can be applied to vitamin and endocrine interrelationships, resulting in a comprehensive, integrative approach to nutritional therapeutics.

Endocrine Index

The endocrine index is a graphic presentation of the pituitary-adrenal-thyroid relationship, or axis (P.A.T.). These endocrine glands influence energy production on a cellular level and ultimately the health and performance of the dog. Ideally, there should be a balance within the P.A.T. The levels need not be at the ideal range as this range is used only as a reference point. However, they should be balanced above, below or at the ‘ideal’ point. A major deviation between the P.A.T. axis can be indicative of a tendency or trend toward an adverse health condition. In the performance animal, a major deviation of the P.A.T. axis is reflective of an adverse affect upon speed and/or stamina.

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Pituitary, Adrenal, Thyroid (P.A.T.) Axis

Pituitary

The calcium/phosphorus ratio (Ca/P) represents dominance of the anterior or posterior pituitary.

• A high Ca/P ratio (greater than 3.98:1) indicates posterior pituitary dominance. This also corresponds to parasympathetic nervous system dominance.
• A low Ca/P ratio (less than 3.98:1) indicates anterior pituitary dominance. This also corresponds to sympathetic nervous system dominance. Research by Dr. Melvin E. Page (1894-1983) found that the parasympathetic branch of the central nervous system controls calcium and the sympathetic branch controls phosphorus.⁴⁶ This also is true for the anterior and posterior pituitary (the anterior pituitary = sympathetic, the posterior pituitary = parasympathetic). When the anterior pituitary is dominant, the sympathetic nervous system and sympathetic endocrines will also be dominant and when the posterior pituitary is dominant, the parasympathetic nervous system is dominant along with the parasympathetic endocrine glands.

Adrenal

The adrenal cortex produces mineralcorticoid hormones. A primary function of these hormones is to regulate the electrolytes sodium and potassium. The sodium/magnesium ratio (Na/Mg) is an indicator for adrenal function. A high Na/Mg ratio indicates increased adrenal expression (hyperadrenal) and a low Na/Mg ratio indicates low adrenal function (hypoadrenal).⁷

Thyroid

The calcium/potassium ratio (Ca/K) is an indicator for thyroid function. Potassium is necessary for sensitizing the tissues to the effects of thyroxine (T4). Studies have shown that in hypothyroid states, the intestinal absorption of calcium increases with lower than normal calcium excretion via the kidneys. A low Ca/K ratio, indicates thyroid dominance (hyperthyroid) and high Ca/K ratio indicates low thyroid expression (hypothyroid).

The increased, or hyper, functioning of the thyroid and adrenal glands occur in the alarm stage of stress (i.e., flight of fight). This state may become chronic and ultimately lead to under function, or hypothyroid or hypoadrenal states. This is a sign of poor immune and stress response, both of which can lead to degraded performance and illnesses of all types. Achieving and maintaining a balanced P.A.T axis will optimize your dog's cellular energy function and help provide emotional stability through effective and appropriate hormonal responses.

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Performance Index

The performance index graphically displays the relationship of the energy producing glands (thyroid and adrenal) on speed and endurance. Performance indicators include the relationship between sodium (Na) and potassium (K). These two electrolytes are affected by various hormones secreted from different layers of the adrenal cortex. The Na/K ratio is an indicator of how well your dog is responding to stress.

Generally speaking, if the sodium is too elevated relative to potassium there would be a fast burn of energy over short durations. So a high Na/K ratio would give you a little more speed, but for a shorter length of time. A low Na/K ratio would slow the burn, meaning a little less speed, but for a longer length of time, meaning more endurance.

• A high Na/K ratio reflects high stress and inability to recover.
• A low Na/K ratio reflects exhaustion and inability to respond to stress.
• A balanced Na/K ratio reflects the ability to respond and recover.

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Performance Optimization

The ability to function optimally at the cellular level has a direct impact on overall cognitive, emotional and physical performance. An impoverished endocrine response ability results in a myriad of symptom clusters.

Symptoms are then given a diagnostic label by the obsolete medical paradigm. Labels include general anxiety or separation anxiety, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, dermatitis, and on and on. New labels are concocted with great frequency. Many of these labeled symptom clusters are manifestations of the same underlying condition — the inability to produce cellular energy or respond to stress effectively. The solution lies in understanding and addressing this root cause, not symptomatic whack-a-mole.

In multi-cellular organisms (such as dogs), adaptive capabilities are at their best when cells are functioning at optimum levels. Mineral levels and ratios, must be properly balanced for a cell to function optimally. Because we live in a world with magnified environmental and social stressors, maintaining balance (adaptation) is an ongoing challenge. High-level resiliency is indicated by a balanced endocrine index, preferably close to the ideal middle of the chart.

Examples of performance optimization for different needs.

How you choose to optimize performance will depend on your dog's needs. Working dogs have different performance needs based on the type of work they do. Here are examples of the three basic optimization strategies:

Balanced (ideal). For most dogs, optimized performance is indicated by both endurance and speed being close to "ideal" on the graph.

Endurance. For a long distance sled dog, optimized performance is indicated by endurance being slightly dominant over speed.

Speed. For a dog who performs in agility competitions, optimized performance is indicated by speed being slightly dominant over endurance.

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Toxicity Screening

Dogs face increased exposure to heavy metal toxicity for a number of reasons. Heavy metals are heavy, thus when put into the air from industrial smoke stacks, car exhaust and other sources, they settle on or near the ground. Dogs live their lives at this level. They literally roll around and rub it right into their skin. Then they lick themselves and each other, ingesting even more. On top of this, there is the pet food industry. This industry has very little regulation or oversight, and most pet foods are loaded with toxins, both from the foods used to make them and from the industrial machinery used to process them. This toxin burden is then intensified in utero, thus increasing the toxic body burden with each generation.

Your dog's toxic body burden can be identified with hTMA screening. The hTMA mineral balancing protocol safely replaces toxic heavy metals with biologically preferred minerals. It does this by providing the specific nutrients needed to optimize your dog's unique biochemical profile. The dog's cells and organs are provided with essential nutrients in the balanced ratios that they evolved with. This molecular-level optimization enhances their ability to better manage the persistent toxic exposures they experience daily, allowing the cells to perform effective detoxification.

Optimizing health through nutrition also helps to support the dog's increased nutritional requirements placed on them from the demands and stresses encountered in their work.

Conclusion

Dog's are naturally fast metabolizers, which is why they grow and develop so quickly.

hTMA provides detailed information about your dog's metabolism, toxic body-burden, energy availability and performance capacity. By simply rebalancing essential nutrient minerals, you enable your hard working canine's ability to realize their full performance potential, while helping support their emotional wellbeing too.

There is one more noteworthy benefit for both the owner and their companion. Balancing your canine's metabolic rate will slow down the aging process — allowing you to enjoy as much time together as possible.

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References

1. Closed Registries, Genetics, and Inbreeding Depression
2. Rosettes to Ruin
3. Nutrient Interrelationships: Minerals, Vitamins, Endocrines, D.Watts, Ph.D., Journ. Orthomolecular Med. Vol.5, No.1, 1990.
4. Page, ME: Degeneration Regeneration. Nut. Dev. St. Petersburg Beach, Fl. 1949.
5. Page, ME: Body Chemistry in Health and Disease. Nut. Dev. St. Petersburg Beach, Fl.
6. hTMA Mineral Ratios, Dr. David L. Watts, Ph.D.

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