Question: My German Shephard dog is going to turn 7 years old this New Year`s, and every year around his birthday he has had a seasonal cough. A year ago I took him to the vet, and I was told to give him Robitussin. This didn`t help very much, and my dog kept coughing throughout the winter season. I have spoken to numerous specialists, who recommended antibiotics, diarrhea pills which were said to have some effect, Cipro, and theophylline. But nothing is working, it seems.

Veterinarians who like to take more or a holistic approach to dog health care and medicine tend to be against suppressing a dog`s cough, unless it is totally necessary. Coughs like these are often solved with homeopathics and/or herbal remedies.

If you haven`t yet tried such an approach to treating your pet`s cough, then perhaps that should be your next step. Look into some of the all-natural products being sold today, for example Astragalus 16 and Pinellia 16. Others are available as well, so I receommend you research them in depth and decide which one seems most appropriate for your dog`s cough.

Question: Throughout the past six months our dog has been getting quite ill and having terrible bouts of diarrhea every time he eats a meal. We have attempted to feed him various different types of commercial dog food, but realized that he must be allergic to all the different types of protein sources we were giving him. Is there any way to get our dog the nutrients he needs without buying him commercial dog food (which will presumably make him sick)?

It may seem like you have exhausted all your options when it comes to your beloved pet`s diet, but don`t despair. There is one option you have yet to try, one that may not make him sick. This option is 100% natural raw food for dogs.

The point is to feed your dog raw protein sources from hereon out. Before being domesticated, dogs didn`t know how to cook food for themselves. They ate completely raw, whole food diets, which is their natural way to eat. Of course in this day and age of flashy marketing campains, it`s not in dog food companies` best interest to tell you this, they would rather you buy their unnatural concoctions in a can or plastic bag.

You should beging feeding your dog the raw food diet in small portions. The main element of the diet is clean raw meats, but you can also include raw fish, lamb, dairy, wheat, and yeast, all of which an be commonly found in most whole food dog food recipes. But be prepared to supplement the diet with calcium, since you probably aren`t using crushed bone or another natural calcium source. Commercial dog foods usually have calcium added, but this element will probably be missing in the natural diet unless you supplement it. It would also be a good idea to include a vitamin/mineral supplement as well.