What meats are cooling for dogs

Read This Before Diving Into Warming/Cooling Foods for Your Dog

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Food energetics is a concept borrowed from traditional Chinese medicine, which holds that everything in the universeincluding foodhas its unique energy. This is largely based on the concept of Qi, or life energy, and the ancient belief that food can increase and decrease our own Qi depending on what we eat.

Proponents of food energetics believe that health problems can be better managed by consuming foods with different energetic properties; for instance, cooling, warming, stimulating, or sedating qualities. Ultimately, food energetics encourages us to tune into the bodys natural cues regarding what it needs and how certain foods may benefit us more than others.

Hot and Cold Dogs

Before diving deeper into food energetics, I would have classified most of our dogs as neutral. However, as I learned more, I found that my dogs leaned more toward cool or warm.

Neutral Dogs (Yin and Yang)

Neutral dogs have a chill, confident temperament because their Yin and Yang are in balance. To maintain this balance, it's suggested that we feed neutral foods. However, our dogs aren't limited to only neutral foods.

Cool Dogs (Yin)

Cool dogs are snugglers and can be found sleeping in front of a heater or fireplace or buried beneath the covers in our beds. Other signs that a dog may be a cool dog include:

• inactivity or fatigue
• poor appetite
• digestive issues
• weight loss

These symptoms can be serious, and a veterinarian should be consulted to rule out any health issues. Once you know your dog is healthy, these issues can be addressed by feeding warming foods. When a dog's energetic nature isn't addressed, a dog that is too cold can develop kidney disease, incontinence, anemia, and chronic digestive issues.

Hot Dogs (Yang)

Hot dogs seek out cool places to sleep and won't cuddle (or not for long) because they get overheated easily. Other signs that a dog may be a hot dog include:

• panting, even on cool days (not due to excessive exercise)
• drinks a lot of water
• becomes restless, especially at night
• has dry skin
• inflammatory conditions

These symptoms can be serious, and a veterinarian should be consulted to rule out any health issues. Once you know your dog is healthy, these issues can be addressed by feeding cooling foods. When a dog's energetic nature isn't addressed, a dog that is too hot can develop pancreatitis, arthritis, hot spots, skin rashes, and digestive issues.

Warming & Cooling Foods for Dogs

There are several charts online and after a lot of reading, I created the following classifications for various foods. Some foods fall into two categories based on how the animal was raised.

Cooling Foods

• Proteins: alligator, duck, duck eggs, wild goose, herring, mussels, oysters, pork, rabbit, whitefish
• Vegetables: alfalfa, asparagus, broccoli, celery, cucumber, mushroom, spinach*

Neutral Foods

• Proteins: beef, beef liver, beef tripe, bison, carp, cheese, chicken eggs (pasture-raised), mackerel, pork, quail, sardines, wild salmon, wild turkey
• Vegetables: cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, Shiitake mushrooms, sweet potatoes, yams
• Fruits: apple, banana, blueberries, honey, pear, persimmons, strawberry, watermelon

Warming Foods

• Proteins: chicken, goat's milk, pheasant, turkey (farmed)
• Vegetables: garlic, kale, oysters mushroom, pumpkin, squash
• Fruits: raspberries

Hot Foods

• Proteins: emu, lamb, shrimp, trout, venison
• Vegetables: garlic, ginger

*I feed store-bought mushrooms to my dogs (brown, Portobello, Reiki, Shiitake); not mushrooms picked in our yard. If a dog is prone to stones, high oxalate foods, like spinach, should be limited (or removed) from the diet. And, some of the foods are labeled with two energies; so I noted them both.

My Thoughts on Food Energetics

If you are trying to heal your dog through food energetics, I suggest working with a holistic veterinarian who practices Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Food energetics is more than feeding warming/cooling foods. Through TCM, I've learned how to prevent or resolve stagnation in the system, why it's important to feed food at room temperature, and what to do to cool down hot foods so I can still feed a variety of proteins to my dogs. A veterinarian experienced with TCM will direct you on this path while also ensuring that series health issues aren't ignored.

If you don't have a veterinarian in your area, look for someone in another town or state who can collaborate with your veterinarian and consult with you on health and nutrition.

You can find a vet through the AHVMA.

Resources on Food Energetics

My favorite resource isYin & Yang Nutrition for Dogsby Dr. Judy Morgan, available on Amazon. I also have a food energetics chart in my kitchen that I reference.

Read More About Raw Feeding

Cooling Foods for Dogs: A Basic Food Energetics for Dogs Guide

Did you know the food you feed to your dogs and cats can help keep them cool, among other things? In this article, we will show you how to use cooling foods for dogs to manage allergies, balance energy, and regulate body temperature, as well as information on cooling or warming your pup when they need it.

When we say that food fuels life, we mean it quite literally. The right dog food gives your pooch the nutrients that his body needs to function and thrive, but your pet's diet might be helpful in more ways than you know.

What is Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine?

The philosophy behind Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCVM) can be complicated, and its a very different idea from the western medicine practices that we are familiar with. We are going to break down how these traditional practices can be used to improve your pets health using their diet.

According to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, everything has a natural energy, or Qi (pronounced chee). In animals, this energy supports the overall function and health of the body.

We refer to these energies as cold or hot. Think Yin and Yang. Balancing these energies helps to promote better health. This means that if your dog has hot energy, then cooling foods can help balance his natural energy and, in turn, improve his overall health.

A Dog Food Energetics Breakdown

The goal of TCVM is to use their diet to create balanced or neutral energy that better supports their body. Foods have energy too. Foods can be cooling, neutral, warming, or hot. This is called food energetics.

By choosing foods that balance your dogs qi, you can effectively address certain health issues. We want to focus on the benefit of cooling foods for dogs, as dogs with hot energy symptoms are more common than those with cold energy symptoms.

Plus, with soaring summer temperatures upon us, cooling foods can help to make your dog more comfortable and support them in regulating their body temperatures.

All foods fall somewhere on the spectrum of food energetics, but proteins typically have a greater effect. This is why its best to choose a protein first and then look at supporting ingredients like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

Let's look at the three main classifications of dog food energetics:

1. Cooling Food for Dogs

Cooling foods can be fed to dogs with hot energy to help balance that energy better.

Here are a few symptoms of dogs that may benefit from cooling foods:

• • Severe allergies
  • Chronic illness
  • Anxiety
  • Restless or hyperactive behaviour
  • Overheating
  • Inflammation

One of the most desirable aspects of cooling foods for dogs is its ability to reduce inflammation, which can contribute to several problems, including allergic reactions, digestive issues, arthritis pain, and overall skin and coat health.

Cooling foods can also have a calming effect on dogs. Dogs with hot energies are often easily excitable, anxious, or even aggressive. This is due to the restless nature of active or hot energy dogs. Feeding cooling foods can help to counteract those behaviours with more passive energy.

They can also come in handy for breeds that can't handle hot weather well. A cooling food can help a dog with typically hot energy feel a little cooler on a hot day. Cooling foods alone isn't enough to protect your dog from overheating. Try a dog cooling vest and limit the time spent outside on especially hot days.

Here are some cooling foods that are commonly found in dog food:

2. Neutral Food for Dogs

Neutral foods have little to no effect on your dogs Qi. These are an excellent way to ensure a decent variety of ingredients and to soften a very hot or cool diet. Neutral foods can be fed regularly and mixed with warming or cooling ingredients to help balance your dog's Qi.

Here are some neutral foods that are commonly found in dog food:

3. Warming Food for Dogs

These foods increase body heat and inflammation and can even contribute to dehydration in a dog with naturally hot energy. Many warming and hot foods are some of the most common ingredients in dog food, so its no wonder so many pets are showing symptoms of hot energy. A hot diet, for example, includes hot foods like lamb, sheep, venison, and trout.

These foods can be helpful for dogs that have cold energies, though. Check out a few things you may notice in dogs that could benefit from warming proteins in their diet:

• • Constantly cold or seeking out heat
  • Low energy or stamina
  • Shivering or shaking
  • Shortness of breath (in more severe cases)

Here are some warming foods that are commonly found in dog food:

Spices can also have a warming effect. Supplements like turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger can contribute to hot energies. If you use these spices for their other health benefits, make sure you are also choosing cooling or neutral foods to feed with them.

Foods considered hot, like lamb venison and spicy foods, will have a more significant effect on your dogs energy balance than warming foods. They can be useful in dogs with cold dog food energy and can be fed during colder months to assist in handling extreme cold temperatures but should be avoided in a cooling diet.

Check out this in-depth food energetics chart for even more examples of cooling, neutral, and warming food.

Finding the Right Balance

Qi is a spectrum. Some dogs may show minor hot energy symptoms, like skin issues or searching for cool surfaces to lay on, while others may have many more symptoms.

Check out this helpful article to learn more about how your dog's diet can affect their behaviour.

Feeding cooling foods for dogs is more of an art than a science, but remember that you are aiming for neutral energy. A dog that is closer to warm than hot will benefit from more cooling foods than warming, but that doesnt mean that you cant occasionally feed foods with warming properties. You want a balance of both to produce neutral energy.

A dog with very hot energy will need a more drastic diet change. Eliminating warming or hot foods and feeding only cooling or neutral foods may be necessary to correct the health issues caused by their hot energy.

Raw Dog Food

The nature of most commercial dog foods, like kibble, is a combination of many different ingredients. This makes it challenging to find good cooling food for your dog. You can choose cooling proteins for dogs, but the food will likely contain a few warming vegetables or grains.

The practice of food energetics works best with a raw diet. This is partially due to the quality of nutrients in raw dog food. Many cooked foods are subjected to high cooking temperatures or multiple processing practices, which can denature or destroy some ingredients and nutrients.

The more important reason raw diets are ideal for using food energetics to support your dogs health is that you can choose a raw diet with way fewer ingredients, and the diets can be customized to suit your dogs needs.

A whole prey raw diet will contain only meat, bone, and organs, with a small amount of produce or none at all. You can choose each ingredient in your dogs diet and add your own ingredients to ensure that they follow your food energetics plan.

Trial and Error

Though Traditional Chinese Veterinary practices are unlike what we are used to in the west, many pet owners, holistic veterinarians, and nutritionists support these practices.

Balancing your dogs energy will not happen overnight, and your feeding plan may require some tweaks and alterations along the way. Dont get discouraged if you dont see immediate results.

If you can use your dogs diet to improve his health and behaviour, theres no harm in trying it. Try one thing at a time and be consistent to see results. Changing too much at once will make it impossible to narrow down the successes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are cooling foods for dogs, and why are they important?

Cooling foods for dogs are items that have cooling properties and help regulate body temperature and reduce inflammation. These foods can be great for dogs that struggle with hot weather but are also useful for helping with allergies, hip and joint issues, and even immune function.

What types of foods are considered cooling for dogs?

Cooling foods for dogs often include water-rich fruits like watermelon and cucumber, as well as leafy greens, yogurt, and lean proteins like rabbit.

Can cooling foods replace proper hydration for dogs?

Cooling foods can contribute to your dog's hydration, but they shouldn't replace access to clean and fresh water.

Are there specific cooling foods that are best for dogs in hot weather?

Watermelon, cucumber, and cranberries are often considered excellent cooling treats for dogs. You can also offer iced treats made from cooling ingredients as a tasty treat to beat the heat.

Can all dogs tolerate cooling foods equally?

While most dogs can enjoy cooling foods, introducing new foods gradually and monitoring your dog for any problems, such as allergic reactions, is important.

Can cooling foods be given to dogs year-round?

Cooling foods are particularly beneficial during hot weather but can also be included in your dog's diet year-round for their nutritional value and to create balance.