Peter Maniate

Hi Vicky,

Salt is salt, sodium chloride to be exact. So no particular brand is recommended.

However, while regular table salt would do, the large bags sold in farm supply stores would be much more economical. Farmers use this for their cattle and to keep stored hay from spontaneous combustion; in fact, it is often referred to as "hay salt".

You can also use the larger ice melting salt, usually called rock salt. Some kennels use the larger grain "pickling salt". The only type of salt not suitable is water softener salt.

The salt is used for disinfecting rather than cleaning and works best on crushed stone. On such surfaces it can be spread and then wetted by hose. The rock salt can be left to be activated every time it rains.

On hard surfaces you can dissolve the salt in a watering can and then pour the brine on the surfaces to be dissinfected. Dog shelter interiors can be disinfected by spraying white vinegar.

Newfondly,

Peter

Hello Peter,

In one of your previous posts you recommended salt to clean out kennels. Is there a typical brand you recommend? Thanks so much.

Vicky

Hi Anne,

There are no scientifically recommended doses of fatty acids for Newfs. Instead I use their ancestral diet as a guide. This means that the ratios found in cold water fatty ocean fish like herring and mackerel give the correct proportions.

When Newfs lived on a diet composed mainly of such fish hundreds of years ago on the Island of Newfoundland, they lived 13 - 15 years and could work until 13 years of age.

To get the ideal proportion of fatty acids you should use the unprocessed and unrefined wild sockeye salmon oil. For information on this, please see my recent thread entitled "Sockeye Salmon Update".

Newfondly,

Peter

Hi, Peter,

Patty mentioned that you're very knowledgeable about fish oil in Newf diets.The vets at Tufts have put Maneen on a couple of meds for his heart problems along with fish oil tablets. The tablets do not give any % of EPA and DHA amounts in them. These are the Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. My own vet was suggesting a brand that had certain amounts included, but they're a lot more expensive and the vets at Tufts said they found the CVS brand was exactly what they recommended.

My question is: are there recommended doses of the fatty acids that I haven't seen published? Thank you, Anne (Angus McDubhs Mom)