When we first brought Samson home he was 8 weeks old and quite a confident little guy. Everywhere we went people would stop us and ask if they could pat the adorable little puppy. He just loved all the attention.
As he got older (4 to 18 months) Sharon started calling him her 'Wild Child". He was a tornado of unrelenting energy. Always into something - always on the go. Play, play, play, that's all he wanted to do. He just loved playing rough and tumble with other dogs and he didn't care how big they were. Big or small he wanted to play with them all.
He tormented our poor old cat, Seth. Not because he didn't like cats but because he was so desperate to make friends. Of course our old cat wanted nothing to do with him - after all, he was a disgusting, smelly puppy.
He was turning out to be such a social dog that we felt guilty we couldn't give him any more of our time. We tried, but couldn't get him out to the park any more either. So, Sharon came up with a solution - get Samson a puppy - a baby brother or sister! That way Samson would have someone to play with when the puppy got a little older and take the pressure and guilt away from us. Sounded logical to me.
We both liked Labrador Retrievers and Samson is a black lab, so I thought I'd like a yellow lab pup so we had one of each colour. One weekend, very shortly thereafter, we headed out to a breeder near Stratford to look at a litter of yellow lab puppies that were 5 weeks old. I thought Sharon was being really silly bringing a blanket because they wouldn't let the puppies go home with us until they were 8 weeks old. All she would say was, "just in case - you never know".
When we arrived, I was busy having fun looking at the litter trying to decide which one, if any that I liked. In the mean time, Sharon was looking at a couple of 14 week
old black lab pups that were bred to be working dogs (they have personalities gentle enough to be service dogs for autistic children). One of those pups, a little female, immediately came over to Sharon, who was sitting on the floor of the kennel, and placed one paw on each of Sharon's shoulders. She then, very gently, gave Sharon a lick on the cheek and snuggled her head into the nap of Sharon's neck and squeezed with her paws as though she was 'hugging' her (now Delilah is known as our dog that gives hugs). That did it!!! The next thing I knew we were coming home with our new black lab pup - Delilah - lying on that useless blanket that Sharon had foolishly brought with us - lol.
Having never set foot outside her kennel walls before, Delilah was shy and nervous, 
dirty and very smelly and needed a bath desperately. When we arrived home, Sharon stayed outside with her as I went in to get Samson for their very first introduction. He could smell her on my clothes and was very excited even before we went outside. I opened the door and he ran right over to her and started sniffing. Delilah just stood there wagging her tail (I think she was glad to see another dog in this new and scary place). After about one minute of sniffing her all over, Samson turned to look at us and you could clearly see by the look in his eyes that he was asking us, 'Can I keep her? Please, can I keep her? I promise I'll be good and take good care of her."
Sharon said, "It's okay Samson. She's staying here with us", whereupon Samson grabbed Delilah's leash and lead her to the back door (I kid you not). When the door was opened, he led Delilah by her leash down the hall to the door for the upstairs apartment. It blew our minds!! We'd never seen anything like it before and if we hadn't seen it with our own eyes, we wouldn't have believed it.
From that day on, Samson became an utterly different dog. He calmed down completely. He watched over Delilah like a big brother should and took his new job very, very seriously. He let her bite him with her razor sharp baby teeth without retaliating; eat his food without growling; she could even steal his toys or chew bones and he did nothing. We couldn't believe the change.
Delilah adored her new big brother. She was a very shy and gentle puppy. However, with Samson around, she felt very confident. She was exceptionally easy to train because she would simply watch what Samson was doing and try to emulate him.
The only problem we ever had with Delilah was her diet. You see, she was raised in a kennel and all she had ever eaten was breeder's dog food - aka. Purina puppy kennel chow (kibble). By the age of 14 weeks, she was established enough in her kibble diet pattern that she had no idea what real food was.
Now, most of you who know us, know that the diet in our Household is radical, to say the least! With my background in Nutritional Sciences, I am well versed in the latest nutritional research fresh from the science journals and our diets reflect it - even our dog's and cat's diets are unusual. Samson was raised on a modified BARF diet. BARF stands for, 'Bones and Raw Food' and I call it modified because he also gets healthy people food (not table scraps). People food in our house consists of quality protein sources and vegetables - NO grains, legumes, or night shades. His diet was Grain Free (like his wild ancestors) just like ours.
I remember the first time I put a salad down for Delilah to eat (in actual fact, dogs are 
not pure carnivores like cats are; they are omnivores just like us). She had been with us for a couple of days and knew that when they got called at supper time the food was coming. Samson came over and sat waiting for his plate of goodies (aka healthy people food). Delilah, always emulating her big brother, did the same. I set the plates down in front of them and said, "Okay". Samson started chowing down on his meat and big green salad. Delilah went to her plate and ate the meat. She then sniffed at her salad and looked up at us as if
to say, 'This is a joke, right? You don't actually expect me to try and eat this rabbit food stuff do you?' She then looked over at her brother who, to her horror, was happily gulping down this green stuff. Being the sweetie that she is, she gave in and tried eating the rabbit food part of her dinner. By the time she was finished I think she realized that it wasn't that bad (after all, it did have a vinaigrette dressing on it), because from that point on, she was always willing to try new vegetables - cooked or raw.
The dietary plan I use for the dogs (and cats) is very anti-inflammatory (healing and healthy). It gives their bodies the nutrients that dog's bodies evolved on, and that increases their chances of living long and healthy lives. We even give the animal's omega 3 oil, canine/feline vitamin supplements and probiotics.
The diet that Sharon and I eat is based on the latest, most current scientific research that I've pieced together from many sources and, just like the dogs diet, gives our bodies the nutrients we evolved on so we too can heal and express optimum health. It is NOT based on the Corporate/Government propaganda that makes them big money, selling cheap, processed, prepared garbage as people get sicker and sicker.
I call it, "Dr. Paul's Anti-Inflammatory Diet" because that is exactly what it does for the human body - it gives us the foods we were genetically designed to eat for thousands of years, and begins the healing process which starts to counter the standard North American Diet that is highly 'Inflammatory'. The research world argues that all Diseases of Modern Civilization start from an inflammatory state in the body. Therefore, putting the body into an anti-inflammatory state can heal and prevent those illnesses (i.e. Type 2 diabetes, cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, certain cancers, Metabolic syndrome, decreased sex drive, etc.).
Sharon and I follow this diet faithfully. We always: have tons of energy; food tastes delicious again; are never hungry; and maintain a healthy weight. We allow ourselves a 'cheat meal' once per week (usually on Saturday evening [have to get my Honey Volcano!]). Typically once a month we will visit my Mom in Stratford and I allow myself some homemade bread and goodies. But once we come home, it's right back to the anti-inflammatory diet.
By maintaining a diet that is anti-inflammatory, my body becomes healed enough from our toxic environment so that I can enjoy an indulgence now and then without worrying that it is harming me. It is because we indulge too frequently that we get into trouble. Over indulgence in our Society is cheap and easy and that gets us into trouble.
I usually give a handout of this diet to any patient that is interested, that I have done Nutritional Counseling with, or that has a health issue. I've now added the diet to our website so anyone can peruse its contents and benefit from it at any time.
The diet is designed for general use by everyone or someone who wants to get healthy again. If you have high blood sugar issues this diet will begin to lower them. The same thing goes for high cholesterol and high triglycerides.
For those with more serious illness, like cancer, the diet should be modified. All sugars should be removed (the fruits should be eliminated with the exception of occasional berries). These modifications also apply if you have Type 2 diabetes or if you are overweight and trying to lose some pounds.
As part of our Chiropractic Wellness Lifestyle, Sharon and I choose to follow this diet. In addition, I supplement with a professional grade Vitamin/Mineral/Greens product - Douglas Ultra Preventive X; a high grade Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acid fish oil by Innate Choice (3-4 tsp/day); a professional grade bioflavonoid/antioxidant product - Douglas Flavonall; 10,000 IU of Vitamin D3 drops from Pure Encapsulations; and a professional grade probiotics named Lacto Viden ID by Metagenics. We also use an alkalinizing salt supplement in our morning protein shake called AlcaBase by Homeocan for our bodies to use as a buffering agent to reduce acidity (that's another blog topic).
The Anti-Inflammatory Diet plus the professional grade supplements give us a powerful edge. Combine them with some regular exercise and some Healthy Thinking and there will be no stopping you. You'll be feeling like Samson - a tornado of unrelenting energy.
Check out the diet HERE
Bon Appétit!!