Brookside Barkery & Bath

Brookside Barkery’s Pet Transformations of 2018 – Part 1

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Year after year, our mission at Brookside Barkery is better health through better nutrition, and 2018 was no different! This year, our knowledgeable employees have helped countless customers change their pets’ lives with dietary changes and supplements. As part 1 of our testimonial series, we wanted to share this story from our customer Amanda H. and her cat Ophelia.

“My husband and I adopted Ophelia June from KC Pet Project in the spring of 2017. She is an orange tabby that was the runt of the litter, so we refer to her as the “eternal kitten.” She was very happy to be adopted and in her new home. She is one of the sweetest, most affectionate kitties you’ll ever meet!

Unfortunately, she came to us with a breakout on her face and head. For a while, we couldn’t figure out what was causing the scaly bumps/scabs. We took her to a couple of different vets. They tried medications that never really worked before one suggested food allergies. He prescribed us hydrolyzed protein food, which did seem to help more than the medications, so we stuck with that. However, she would still have issues occasionally.

It wasn’t until we chatted with Alex at Brookside Barkery and Bath that we understood the serious problems that could occur due to feeding Ophelia the prescription food, which has very little protein and not nearly enough nutrients. Plus, the cost of the food was extremely expensive. Besides: why should you have to have a prescription for pet food? Humans don’t!

Alex recommended we start by adding a supplemental powder to her food with warm water: Glacier Peak Holistics Daily Defense. Amazingly, Ophelia had no problem eating it every day. After about a week, her coat was softer and fluffier than ever before. Her energy level also increased a bit.

After two weeks of using the powder, Alex had instructed us to start giving her small treats of duck/quail cat kibble. Very slowly we started adding a little more every few days to her food. We are now up to half and half: part quail/duck food from Fussie Cat and half the prescription food, with the end goal being getting rid of the prescription food completely. Ophelia has only had very minimal bumps pop up throughout the process as her body grows accustomed to the new food.

If you are patient and take the time to really listen to the team at the Barkery, you could see marked improvements in your pet’s health and overall well-being. It is definitely worth asking more than just your vet for advice on pet issues.“

If your furry friend is having skin problems, start by visiting Brookside Barkery & Bath. We’ll help you choose the diet that’s right for your pet, and you’ll soon have a healthier, happier companion!

Flash Sale! 15% off American Shaman through Monday!

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American Shaman’s pure, powerful industrial hemp oil is known to support and bring relief to the body and mind.

These products are absolutely bursting with CBD (cannabidiol), and are a completely legal cannabis compound that has significant benefits for pet owners looking for help with their pet’s suffering from conditions such as joint inflammation, chronic pain, anxiety, seizures, spasms, and other conditions.

CBD-rich cannabis is much less psychoactive than THC-dominant strains without the disconcerting side effects of lethargy or dysphoria – making it an appealing pain treatment option for pets and humans with chronic pain and multiple other health issues.

American Shaman CBD can do great things for both you and your pet. Our sharable tinctures come in a wide variety of strengths and flavors to fit your needs.

Now is a great time to try one of American Shaman’s CBD products, because we’re offering 15% off in-stock American Shaman products (excluding lotions) now through December 31st, while supplies last!

Stop in your local Brookside Barkery & Bath and let a nutrition specialist guide you in choosing the right American Shaman product for you & your pet.

Reset Your Dog’s Gut Health in 5 Steps

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So, your dog hasn’t been feeling well. Maybe he’s getting sick frequently. Maybe he’s constantly gnawing on his legs. And you’ve been to the vet with little explanation or solution for what’s happening. It’s highly possible that your dog’s gut health needs a restart. Check out these five tips on restoring gut health from Dogs Naturally Magazine, written by Jenny Elwell-Gerken.

1. No Grains
Grains are definitely not for all pets, and they’re certainly not the best source of protein around. Grains lead to inflammation of the gut. Once eliminated, it’s highly likely some of the symptoms your four-legged friend is experiencing will be reduced.

2. Add Pre- and Probiotics
Probiotics help keep our gut healthy via good bacteria. Inflammation kills these bacteria and leads to problems such as diarrhea and constipation. But there’s more – probiotics also help with overall skin health. Could adding these to your pet’s diet help with all that itching? It’s worth a shot! You can also try:

  • Fermented vegetables – buy organic or make your own. Start out slowly by adding them to your dog’s food daily or feed as a snack.
  • Raw goat milk – buy organic and feed it daily according to body weight.
  • Kefir – buy organic, unsweetend kefir or you can make your own. You can use water or even coconut milk.

Along with adding probiotics to your pup’s diet, also consider adding prebiotics – a source of food for those beneficial bacteria. Try bananas or dandelion greens.

3. Gelatin and Bone Broth
Your dog’s intestines break down food so that the body can absorb needed nutrients while leaving the junk behind to be passed as waste material. Simply put, the walls of the intestines ensure that water and nutrients are used by the body, while toxins and pathogens get stuck inside the intestines until they move out.

Along with helping boost fur and nail strength, gelatin can help to heal up leaky gaps in the intestines, creating a healthier gut system. When the system works the way it’s meant to, the health of your pup’s whole body is improved.

4. Variety
Add variety to your pup’s diet by feeding vegetables and fruit as well as switching up the protein sources on a regular basis.

You can achieve this by adding variety in several ways. Try feeding real food to dogs rather than kibble. You can add variety by feeding vegetables and fruit as well as switching up the protein sources on a regular basis.

Remember: An animal has to be exposed to something to be allergic to it, and allergies usually come from something they’ve been eating for a long time. So just because you haven’t changed their food doesn’t mean they don’t have a food allergy! In fact, they may be more likely to have one!

5. Things to Avoid

  • Avoid antibiotics whenever possible. When taken by mouth, antibiotics kill off many of the good bacteria in the gut (and everywhere else), as well as the bad bacteria. Therefore, if you have to give your pup an antibiotic, make sure you give a probiotic at the same time.
  • Skip the NSAIDs. We also know that many of the medications given for pain and inflammation can affect the gut. For example, the most common side effects of most non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) are diarrhea and vomiting. However, we’ve learned that the effect on the gut is more dramatic than that. NSAIDs can actually contribute to Leaky Gut Syndrome. Therefore, it’s worth considering other options to replace or, at minimum, supplement long-term pain control.

Restoring Gut Health Takes Time
Remember: it takes time to improve. The longer the problem has been going on, the longer it will take to heal. Weeks to months, sometimes more. The healthier you can keep his gut, the healthier you can keep his entire body.

 

Canine Massage: How to Plus the Benefits

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When us humans are feeling physically and/or psychologically distressed, a massage is something that can help tremendously. The same is true for dogs! Everyday living can take a toll on a dog’s body – running, jumping, rough housing and even the act of growing can cause discomfort. Through massage, you’ll notice your dog’s stress and anxious energy begin to melt away as tense muscles start to relax.

The sooner you start massaging your dog the better! Not only is this a great bonding experience, but it also exposes your pup’s body to manipulation and touch. This will help prepare your dog for visits to the groomers at Brookside Barkery and human touch in general.

Other benefits of canine massage include:

  • Pain relief
  • Increased range of motion
  • Improved mobility
  • Joint nourishment/lubrication
  • Increased circulation

When performing massage techniques on your furry friend it’s important to complete all strokes in one area before moving to the next. We suggest you start at the neck, move to the shoulder, then progress down the leg. Next, move up the back, over the abdomen and down the inner groin. Repeat on the other side.

Here are three basic techniques to begin with:

  • Effleurage: Using a flat hand with fingers together, gently stroke one hand after the other continuously. A technique used to relax muscles to prepare for massage, effleurage has a calming and soothing effect.
  • Raking: Using spread out fingers with flat finger tips, “rake” along the area with slight pressure in the same direction as the coat. When using the raking technique, it is important to ensure your nails are short enough to eliminate the risk of scratching. The raking technique helps to diffuse pressure and release built up muscle tension.
  • Petrissage: Using the ball of your thumb, apply slight pressure as you go “thumb over thumb” to smooth and stretch the muscle fibers. This massage technique will help remove toxins from the cells while also releasing tension.

NOTE: If your dog is suffering from cancer, diabetes, circulatory problems, dermatological conditions or any other condition that can be affected by increased circulation and pressure – be sure to get an evaluation done by a professional massage therapist before performing any kind of massage.

Always be sure to pay attention to the feedback your dog is giving you. Do not force it if you can tell he/she has had enough. If your dog seems opposed to the massage, start slowly with petting and ease your way to longer sessions.

Happy Massaging!

Click here for full article.

Ribbon-Cutting at the Newly Expanded Lee’s Summit Store!

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The Lee’s Summit Barkery was pleased to welcome members of the Chamber of Commerce, Lee’s Summit Bank, and many other businesses around the city at the Ribbon Cutting of our new and improved store!

Barkery Ribbon-Cutting

“We are really excited to be a part of the Lee’s Summit Community. It’s been great! The Lee’s Summit store is bigger and better,” according to store manager Carrie Dosier. “We pride ourselves on finding solutions for all of your pets needs and care.”

Ribbon-Cutting at Barkery

The store has doubled their previous square footage and the amount of wash bins. Brookside Barkery and Bath are always up to date on all holistic solutions and with our experience, knowledge, and quality of products, Barkery will be your favorite place to go for your furry best friends!

Owner Delena said, “Thank you to the city of Lee’s Summit for allowing us to expand. Without the customer base here we wouldn’t have felt comfortable because it is an investment to take that risk and move forward with the growth of this. I always try to keep things local and within the community, so I just wanted to say thank you for all being here and here’s to continued growth in not only our business but all of your businesses as well.”

To have many of the Barkery’s long time friends and members of the Lee’s Summit community all gathered together was such a great way to officially welcome the new store to Lee’s Summit! If you haven’t been already, come by and see the bigger and better store while treating your companions to not only the best all-natural food selection in Kansas City, but much more!

Brookside Barkery – Why We’re Here

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We are so thankful to Brookside Barkery’s loyal customers for understanding our owners Larry and Delena Stout’s mission – better health through better nutrition. For over 15 years, Brookside Barkery has successfully educated Kansas City pet owners on how diet and nutrition can affect pet health.

Founded in 2003, we’re proud have provided our customers with a variety of superb all-natural pet products and a strong desire to educate our customers about each one of them. “Once people realized that diet did play a big difference in their pet’s health, it took off,” said Delena.

Find out more about how Brookside Barkery came to be by watching the video below!

Chain of Hope Needs Our Help.

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Do you know what Chain of Hope is? If the answer is no, it’s time to remedy that.

Chain of Hope (CoH) is like a lot of local Kansas City area rescue organizations in that it’s run by some of the most compassionate people you’ll ever meet. People with huge hearts. But they’re also among the bravest and most vigilant animal advocates on the planet.

CoH volunteers perform outreach in some of the poorest areas of the city.

Places where residents might have a pet, but not have the financial means to feed it good, healthy food. Or to provide a dog house to keep their pet out of the rain and wind.  Or warm hay to make that dog house a cozier place.  They find pets who have been abandoned.  Neglected.  Chained up.  Or forgotten.

And what they do is AMAZING. The transformations they can create are among the most wonderful things imaginable, helping dogs who are sick, neglected, or injured grow strong and healthy again, in loving homes.

And we’re trying to buy them 10,000 pounds of food.

What would five tons of food do for them?  It would mean that ALL of the dogs at their shelter get the healthiest food.  It would mean that all of those people that they help during their outreach can give THEIR pets healthy and nutritious food.  And it would mean that Chain of Hope doesn’t need to worry about food for about three months. That means they can devote more of their efforts to outreach.  It means they can spend more on medical help for injured or sick pets.

It means they can do MORE good!

We need your help! As a grassroots organization, Chain of Hope operates SOLELY on donations. When you support Chain of Hope, you are directly helping animals in need. We are asking every customer to donate $1 to our fundraising effort. Your generous donation will help us in buying 5 tons of food for this incredibly deserving organization.

We’re also giving away massive holiday gift baskets at each of our store locations. Raffle tickets are available at each location for purchase, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting Chain of Hope.

Raffle Tickets:

1 for $3
2 for $5
5 for $20

Click here for more stories about the animals that have been helped by Chain of Hope.

Consumer Warning for Animal Owners Using Flea and Tick Medications

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Consumer Warning for Animal Owners Using Flea and Tick Medications

A recent report from the US Food and Drug Administration reflected a serious warning to pet owners regarding specific flea and tick medications and the adverse neurological side effects that have occurred.

The following flea and tick medications are included in the warning from the FDA:

  • Bravecto
  • Credelio
  • Nexgard
  • Simparica

All four medications have been shown to cause neurological issues in pets, including ataxia, muscle tremors and seizures. Additionally, other gastrointestinal issues such as vomiting, diarrhea and loss of appetite have been reported.

So, what do each of the four medications have in common?

An ingredient called “isoxazoline,” which works to bind to chloride channels in the insect, then block nerve signals which ends in paralyzation, then death of the bugs.

The problem is, once given to your pet, isoxazolines affect the entire body, thus the dangerous side effects, and eventual poisoning of the animal occurs. What makes things difficult is the effects happen slowly over time, making it harder to distinguish what might be wrong with your pet.

The solution

At Brookside Barkery and Bath, we’re focused on “better health through better nutrition” – and that motto carries into everything we carry in our store, including all-natural tick and flea treatment options. Our preferred go-to option is a Bayer Seresto Collar. They are the safest and most effective flea/tick preventative – plus the protection lasts eight months! They also help with mange and lice prevention. We carry them at both Barkery and Bath locations (Brookside and Lee’s Summit).

Stop in today and ask us about all-natural tick and flea prevention – and keep your four legged friends happy and healthy!

 

 

 

 

Include Your Pet in Your Thanksgiving Gathering

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Thanksgiving is just around the corner and that means we’ll all be sitting down to enjoy a delicious feast soon! If you’re like us, you never want to leave your furry friends out of the celebration.  While you and your family enjoy a Thanksgiving meal, give your pets a little feast of their own. Brookside Barkery has a couple of turkey tips to be sure that everyone enjoys a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Avoid giving your four-legged friend any of the turkey carcass. The bones can be problematic to the digestive tract. Instead, give them the turkey neck – they are a great and cost-effective way to add variety and nutrition to your dog’s diet. Fresh turkey neck is a great natural source of protein, fat and calcium. It’s also used for tooth and gum nourishment. Just be sure to monitor them while they’re eating it to avoid any choking – especially for smaller dogs

Another great way to promote a healthy gut for your dog is turkey bone broth. All you need is a turkey carcass and a few other ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen! Start by putting the turkey carcass and other bones in a pot and fill with water. You can also add garlic or other spices for flavor. Top it off with 3-4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and let it cook for 24 hours. Be sure to strain all of the bone out of broth once it’s cooked, your pup will love it – and the best part is it’s chock full of minerals and nutrients that taste great and promotes healthy gut and joints! Click here to learn more about making turkey bone broth for your dog.

If you’re thinking your pets need some Thanksgiving flavor in their diets right away, Brookside Barkery has several pumpkin treats and foods by Lotus, OC Raw, and Plato that are sure to get you (and your pup!) in the Thanksgiving mood this holiday season! Stop by our Brookside or Lee’s Summit locations today – your one stop shop for all your pet food and treat needs!