Finding Balance in a Confusing World of Canine Health and Wellbeing
Disclaimer: Just One Dog Owner’s Perspective
Before I start, I want to be clear: I’m not an animal healthcare professional. This post is simply my personal opinion, drawn from my own experiences trying to care for my dogs the best I can. Your experiences may be different, and even if they aren’t, the conclusions you reach could be. What I share here isn’t “the most correct” way - it’s just how I make sense of things.
I’ve always found the world of dog healthcare confusing. This post is my attempt to put into words the approach and views I’ve developed over time. Think of it as me explaining my reasoning out loud - partly to myself, partly to anyone else who’s curious.
My Guiding Principles in Caring for My Dogs
For those who don’t want to read a long post, my principles can be summed up into two big themes:
1. Slow and Steady for Prevention & Chronic Conditions
When I can, I will always choose the least disruptive, lowest-risk approach available. I think of it through the principle of “do no harm.” This is my go-to strategy for long-term prevention and for managing chronic conditions that aren’t immediately life-threatening.
For me this often translates to:
Natural approach to keep overall health, e.g. species appropriate fresh food (I use premade raw as I am not confident in doing DIY yet) and natural supplements as needed.
Complimentary medicine for mild or chronic conditions, e.g.
Joint supplements and bodywork for muscle soreness.
Joint supplements, hydrotherapy and physical conditioning for luxating patella. Yes I know you can’t fix luxating patella with exercise, I admit I am paranoid about my very small dog needing to go under anesthetic plus the surgery. My current aim is to preserve her joint health as long as possible before considering surgery.
Probiotics, slippery elm, and gut supplements for a mild bout of diarrhea when no other symptoms are present.
Minimum viable option, e.g. titre test before revaccination, only treating for fleas when I spot them rather than monthly, and sticking to a single type of chemical treatment.
My reasoning is simple: either I have time to prevent issues and keep the body balanced, or the condition itself requires ongoing maintenance. For ongoing management, I want the option with the least negative side effects.
My main goal is to support their long-term health without overloading their bodies with unnecessary risks. That said, there are times when slow and steady is not enough.
2. Act Fast for Acute Conditions & Necessary Procedures
I don’t believe there is one-size-fits-all approach. While I am more biased towards holistic treatment, I believe there are occasions where conventional medicine shines through. For me this is often for acute situations where enough damage has been done that quick intervention is necessary - when the body can't just heal itself and time is not on my side. This is when I believe, the risk of the condition is far greater than the risk of the treatment.
Some of personal examples:
Concussion - One of my dogs hit her head hard while playing and got a concussion. We rushed her to the vet and opted for a steroid injection to prevent potential brain swelling. For me, the risk of a short-term steroid was nothing compared to the catastrophic risk of swelling in the brain.
Dog attack - My other dog was attacked by a loose dog and had three big puncture wounds on his back. We went straight to the emergency vet, where he received a course of antibiotics and painkillers to prevent infection and manage his pain.
Teeth cleaning - While I work hard to maintain my dogs' dental health with a fresh diet and appropriate bones, it doesn't eliminate the need for professional cleaning. When required, I opt for a thorough cleaning by a vet under anesthesia for proper clean (and I just need to handle my anxiety about them going under).
Alongside these treatments, I support their recovery with complementary care: probiotics after antibiotics, laser and red-light therapy for wound healing, or craniosacral therapy for recovery. My aim is to restore balance. Conventional treatment doesn’t exclude complementary support.
One addition:
Precautionary Principle
There is definitions available in Wikipedia (and other places in the internet) so I will not attempt to describe what it is here. For me this principle boils down to this: withhold any new, novel, groundbreaking medications until we have enough data on potential harm it can cause. I am a sceptic on anything that is sold as “miracle drug” or with emphasise on convenience. I think if something is sold with a claim that it has no side effect, it means that it is so new that it has not been administered enough for incidents to appear and documented.
My Shift in Perspective: Then and Now
The framework I have today is not always there and is very different to the time my now oldest boy come to our lives.
My approach back then: do whatever the vet said. I operated under the assumption that they were always correct, or at the very least more correct than me.
Looking back, this was unusual for me. Normally, I educate myself on topics I care about — like my finances — and I often double-check health advice for humans. My background is in science, so I like to think critical thinking is part of how I approach life. But when it came to my dog, that mindset seemed to disappear. I think it was rooted in a few beliefs I’ve since updated.
Belief 1: “I know nothing about dogs and their health.”
This was partly true, as I was a first-time dog owner. But I can see now how that belief overrode common sense. For example, take the claim that kibble keeps teeth clean. If that were really the case, why is yearly dental cleaning under anaesthetic still standard? And if it works so well, why hasn’t human dentistry adopted the same principle?
There was also an underlying fear behind this belief: I didn’t want to make a mistake. In a way, outsourcing decisions to an expert felt safer, because it shifted the responsibility off my shoulders.
Belief 2: “The vet knows everything about dog health.”
I have unrealistic belief that vets have all the possible knowledge about keeping a dog healthy and treating illnesses. Well, vets are, without a doubt, highly trained professionals with a vast amount of knowledge, far more than the average person. But the better comparison I should have made earlier is with human doctors. They are brilliant and dedicated, but they aren’t omniscient. Like any medical professional, each vet brings their own specialisations, experiences, and perspectives.
Realising this didn’t diminish my respect for them. Quite the opposite, it made me see how hard their job really is. Today, I view vets as partners in my dog’s care rather than infallible authorities.
Moments That Made Me Question My Approach
The Vaccine Reaction
One of my earliest wake-up calls came after a C5 vaccine (core plus parainfluenza and kennel cough). The kennel cough vaccine was delivered intranasally, and later that day my puppy’s airway filled with mucus. He sneezed constantly and was clearly miserable. I asked the vet whether it might have been a vaccine reaction, but my concern was brushed off — I was told it wasn’t related. He was given some pain relief and a medication and sent home, but he continued sneezing for a week and has been more airway-sensitive ever since.
Years later, when I requested his medical records after moving, I saw the words written plainly in the notes: “mild vaccine reaction.” My concern had been valid all along. That moment taught me something important: I know my dog better than someone who only sees them for ten minutes.
And my experience wasn’t isolated. Another dog I knew later developed immune-mediated hemolytic anemia after a C5 vaccine - rare, but possible. It was the first crack in my assumption that “standard” always meant “safe.”
The Flea and Tick Preventative
The incident that truly shook me came from a friend’s dogs - same breed as mine. They were given a chemical flea and tick preventative and all three developed kidney damage. Two of them sadly passed away after their health deteriorated further.
It was the very same product I had been giving to my own dogs. I knew these treatments could cause side effects, but I never imagined they could be as severe as death. Since monthly preventatives are widely recommended, I had assumed they were mostly safe.
Seeing what happened to my friend’s dogs was like a wake up call. Her vet denied the medication could be to blame, yet it was the only thing that had changed. My friend was devastated as she realised her best attempt to protect them had instead harmed them.
And I was left asking myself: what exactly have I been putting into their bodies?
When the “Standard Advice” Begins to Change
Over time, I also noticed that “standard” recommendations weren’t as fixed as I once thought. They shifted as new evidence came out:
Annual vaccines were the rule, but now titre testing or longer intervals are increasingly recognised as valid.
Early desexing was pushed as the default, but alternative approaches like ovary-sparing spay or delayed desexing are gaining traction as healthier options for some dogs.
There are good reasons these older standards became common - practicality, population control, managing risks at scale. But as an owner, I want choices that also align with my individual dog’s long-term health.
All of this led me to a simple conclusion: I should not blindly trust whatever I was told. If I was going to make decisions about my dogs’ health, I needed to be intentional (hello, the theme of this blog). That meant educating myself, questioning, and learning how to weigh risks instead of just accepting whatever was handed to me.
My Slow Learning Curve
I didn’t change my approach overnight. The process was a slow, confusing and a lot of second-guessing.
I started with the low-hanging fruit — small, low-risk changes that let me observe what worked for my dogs.
Food first
One of the earliest changes was moving away from processed kibble. Even that wasn’t easy. I have always been taught raw food = bacteria = food poisoning, which is kind of true for human, but apparently not necessarily so for dog. So I started introducing real food as addition to their kibble. If it was meat, I’d sear the outside but leave most of it raw. Not the most logical start, but my dogs loved their raw steak treats, so that was a plus. ;)
Once I moved into a house where I have a bit more space to manage hygiene, I eventually transitioned to a premade raw diet. I wasn’t confident enough to jump straight into DIY raw feeding, but even that change felt like a step closer to something more natural.
Surgery decisions
When it came time for desexing my second dog, I chose an ovary-sparing spay for one of my girls instead of the traditional full spay. That decision took weeks of research, endless reading, and a lot of nerves. But I wanted to balance sterilisation with preserving long-term health as best I could. It also took a long time to find a vet who would do it and aware of the risk of stump pyometra should uterine tissues are left. Luckily, this approach is more widely known now, and there are more vets open to performing the procedure.
Flea and tick preventatives
After my friend’s tragedy, I stopped routine monthly preventatives. Instead, I treat only if I actually see fleas. I’m fortunate to move and live outside of tick-prone areas, which means I can make this choice with less risk. For me, that reduced a lot of chemical exposure without leaving my dogs vulnerable. I feel for those who live in paralysis tick area - it’s a rock and a hard place. Getting bitten by paralysis tick can easily lead to death so it’s a balancing act to choose one of the lesser evil.
Small health bumps
When my dogs developed minor issues — mild diarrhea, muscle soreness, age-related stiffness, I leaned on complementary care first: probiotics, joint supplements, bodywork, hydrotherapy. These became my first-line strategies, reserving conventional medicine for the times when things escalated or need immediate intervention.
None of these changes happened quickly. I built more confidence in observing my dogs, asking questions, and finding a balance that felt right for them. Luckily, natural healthcare has gained traction in recent years. I see more findings, services, and providers leaning toward holistic approaches. And I’ve found vets and practitioners who share similar philosophies - which has made all the difference.
How I Approach Things Now
After years of trial, mistakes, and slow shifts, I’ve finally landed on an approach that feels balanced for both me and my dogs. It isn’t perfect, and I’m sure it will keep evolving, but it’s a framework that helps me make decisions without getting lost in the noise.
Natural first, whenever time allows.
If there’s space to let the body heal or adapt, I reach for the gentlest, least invasive option first.
Western medicine for acute, high-risk, or procedural needs.
When there’s clear damage, an emergency, or something prevention alone can’t solve, I don’t hesitate to lean on conventional medicine.
A mix when the situation calls for it.
Sometimes, the best care is layered: medical intervention supported by complementary therapies. I also know that sometimes there is no cure and palliative treatments may be the most effective way to preserve quality of life.
At its core, I want my approach to be about balance - what combination gives my dogs the best chance at long, healthy, comfortable lives? There is no single camp holds all the answers.
Closing Thoughts - Resisting the Rigid Mindset and Thinking About What Truly Matters
As I am navigating the complex worlds of wellness, I noticed that it is easy to fall into a rigid mindset.
Either you’re “all natural” or “all conventional,” either you’re pro desexing or completely against it, either you vaccinate or you are anti-vaccine.
But the reality is far more nuanced. Every treatment, every decision, carries both risks and benefits. What makes sense for one dog, might not make sense for another, even within the same household.
I lean toward the natural camp, but my scientific training constantly nudges me to ask: where’s the evidence? At times it feels like a tug of war. Scientific approaches feel clear and proven, yet I’ve also seen the damage that can come from following standard protocols too rigidly.
I think it is unwise to completely refuse to consider anything outside your chosen camp. That rigidity narrows options, fuels arguments, and sometimes blinds us to better solutions.
So I remind myself: look at the dog in front of you. Does this approach actually help them? That, more than anything, is what matters. I want them to have a long life, and as much healthspan as possible.