Winter Bone Broth

As we approach the coldest months of the year we turn to foods which offer comfort and warmth.

We can also provide our dogs with a seasonal variation on the usual bone broth recipe by adding ingredients which are traditionally used to support joint health and immunity.

As game is currently in season, try and find bones from venison, duck, pheasant or partridge. Duck and chicken feet are a good source of glucosamine, chondroitin and gelatine and after many hours of cooking will dissolve into the broth.

Avoid bones with a large amount of fat, skin and central marrow, which will just produce a very fatty and oily broth. Either remove the fat and marrow or chose a different type of bone. If your dog is prone to pancreatitis it is very important to select lean bones, remove any visible fat before cooking and skim off any that comes to the surface during cooking.

You will need approximately 4 - 5 pounds of bones of varying types and size to make a good broth. Some bones, such as ribs will completely break down into the broth, whereas harder bones will be lifted out in large pieces.

You will need:

A slow cooker or large stock pot with a lid

Bones such as duck, venison, pheasant, partridge, chicken, turkey, ox tail, beef, lamb ribs etc.

Enough water to just cover the bones when they are placed in the cooking pot.

1 stick of celery roughly chopped

Cider apple vinegar - 2 tablespoons

Ginger – 1 thumbnail size piece of fresh or half a teaspoon of powered

Turmeric 1 teaspoon (fresh or dried)

Cinnamon - quarter of a teaspoon

Shiitake mushrooms- quarter of a cup (dried or fresh)

1 level tablespoon Autumn Harvest herbal blend

2 grinds of black pepper

How to make:

Place your chosen bones into the pot and pour on the water so they are just covered. Add the cider apple vinegar and black pepper. The slow cooker is used on its lowest setting or a stock pot placed over a very low heat for anywhere between 24 – 30 hours, although some people prefer to leave the broth cooking gently for nearer to 36 hours .You may need to top up with water if the levels are getting very low.

In the remaining 2 hours of cooking add the spices, mushrooms and vegetables.

When complete, turn off the heat and carefully remove the bones with a slotted spoon plus skim off any excess fat that may be on the surface.

As the resulting broth starts to cool, transfer into ice cube trays or suitable sized pots to place in the fridge or freezer for later use. If you want your broth as a set jelly then you could stir in a level tablespoon of gelatine powder.

Store in the fridge and use within 1 week or keep in the freezer and use within 4 months.

Add the defrosted broth to meals, any recipes you make or gently warm through to provide a warm, comforting treat on a very chilly day.

**It is essential to remove the bones and dispose of them safely and under no circumstances should they be fed **

Joint Supplements for Dogs

Choosing a Joint supplement for our dog can be overwhelming. Andrew the founder of Jointly365, explains why researching the ingredients of a product is so important and ensures your dog gets the best joint support possible.

Here we consider the following:

What ingredients and why?

What to look for when choosing a joint supplement?

Introduction

We all know that as dogs progress from middle to old age they tend to decrease their levels of activity to some degree. This can be due to many reasons, but ageing and stiff joints are one of the most commonly seen. 

Stiff joints are caused by the degeneration of the normal joint structure which leads to the aches and pains that become worse as they get older – which some of us may have experienced ourselves…..

There are many approaches we can take to this progressive condition - such as exercise and weight management, complementary therapies, or prescription medication - and though they will not be discussed here today, it is important to remember a holistic and multi-pronged approach to stiff joints is always the best way forward.

Today we will be discussing joint supplements - one of the most commonly used methods to help dogs with stiff joints.

But with so many out there to choose from, how do you choose one that is best for your dog?

My simple approach to this is there are only two things you can do with a supplement: soothe the stiff joints themselves, and provide the necessary structural ingredients that a joint requires to function as well as it can.

If you can successfully achieve both, you are on the right track. Only achieving one or the other, is a sub-optimal and unnecessary situation.

The provision of structural ingredients is a more simple topic, and will be looked at shortly, but soothing joints and working with the bodies own natural anti-inflammatory system is a more complex area.

One of the most studied and effective methods of achieving soothing joints is by using marine sourced omega 3 oils. These are a type of essential fatty acid – EFA (that has to be eaten as it can’t be made by the body – hence ‘essential’), which moderate the bodies inflammatory response, so helping aching joints. These are hard to provide at high levels in normal food due to rancidity problems during storage.

Even though only a few EFAs such as EPA or DHA are ever discussed, there are dozens of them that contribute to the overall effect in different ways. So the quality and balance of those is critical in achieving the results we want. Some fish oils and mussel powders are of poor quality for what we are trying to do in a joint supplement. And this is where the big issue lies for choosing products – it is hard to know which is which.

Those who are more sure of their product will have conducted a clinical trial and published it, so owners and vets can scrutinise the methodology and results. And you should be looking for high levels of cold water marine sourced Omega 3’s – enough to carry a regulated claim that it can “XYZ”.

The second part of the equation is providing all the structural elements the joint requires, which is critical as this is a long term condition. Depending on the food that you feed your dog, these will be supplied in higher or lower quantities, but rarely to the levels that are provided by a quality supplement.

You should be looking for ingredients that will help the production of the cartilage and joint fluid such as glucosamine, N-Acetyl glucosamine (a special type of glucosamine that is utilised more readily by the body) and hyaluronic acid, that will all help the joint function to the best of its ability.

Additionally, we can help remove free radicals, which speed up the degradation of the joint. High levels of antioxidants such as vitamin E and C are what to look for here.

So if you are using a joint supplement now, remember the condition progresses and you may be able to help your dog more by changing to a more concentrated alternative.

With this in mind, if you feel the supplement you are currently using may not be giving the best response to what is a progressive condition, or just want to start with the better alternatives out there, consider trialling one that contains the ingredients mentioned previously.

And finally, there is also the cost element of the supplement – both financially and environmentally. Generally speaking buying one from your local veterinary practice will be more expensive than elsewhere, due to the profit margins vets operate on, though you will most likely be able to get extra advice at the same time.

And nowadays you don’t need to settle for using blister packs that aren’t recycled or even plastic pots anymore, when there are technically brilliant plastic free packaging materials around. No-one want s to use more plastic than we need to, and with around 12 million dogs in the UK now, we all need to do our bit to help the environment we love to get out into with our dogs.

However using a trusted supplier with a clinical study, the regulatory claim on the pack, who is also able to give advice, usually provides the most value.

 Jointly365 has been developed by Andrew Little BVetMed. Andrew worked in practice for many years before gaining 15 years of product development experience in major animal health companies, including with market leading joint supplements products in UK and abroad. He has combined this experience to focus on dog joints, producing a natural, sustainable, plastic free joint supplement, with both soothing and structural ingredients carefully chosen and tailored to provide the very best for your dog - that is roughly half the price of veterinary alternatives to ensure as many owners as possible can access quality care for their dogs.

 www.jointly365.com