Deanna Larocque鈥檚 approach to pet nutrition and caring for dogs has earned her a spot in a national publication.
Based in Sicamous, Larocque is a certified clinical pet nutritionist and owner of Mountain K9 Acres. Her focus is providing support for owners of dogs that may be suffering from health issues.
She is an advocate of raw diets tailored to the needs of individual dogs.
鈥淧eople source me out when their dog has allergies鈥hen they look to me and say, 鈥極K, what do we do, what鈥檚 going on?鈥欌�� said Larocque, who goes over the dog鈥檚 history with the client and develops a support program, including a diet plan specially tailored to the dog.
Over the past year-and-a-half, through word of mouth alone, Larocque has provided support for clients throughout the Shuswap, as well as in Vernon and Revelstoke, and in Alberta and the U.S.
Word of mouth also brought Larocque to the attention of Pet Connection: Canada鈥檚 Natural Health Magazine for Pets. The August 2020 edition of the magazine will include an article by her on liver cleansing for dogs.
鈥淓verything goes through your liver, all of the chemicals and everything that鈥檚 in the environment and even in our household鈥�,鈥� said Larocque.
鈥淚t鈥檚 taxing on their liver so you have to support their liver and their immune system.鈥�
Larocque said she pursued a pet nutritionist certification after an experience with Wyatt, one of her three dogs, when he was a puppy.
鈥淗e was really sick and I went to the vet and did testing and spent tons of money and then I decided to go back to the basics,鈥� said Larocque, who began feeding Wyatt all natural foods. Over time, Wyatt鈥檚 issues resolved on their own.
Larocque said dogs are coming down with a lot of ailments that humans do, from allergies to acid reflux, and believes diets are at the root of their problems. In treating dogs, she will develop a natural food diet based on what is ailing them.
鈥淔or cancers in dogs, there shouldn鈥檛 be any sugar because cancer thrives on sugar鈥�,鈥� said Larocque. 鈥淚 give them a recipe to follow; we set up a game plan where basically, you alienate certain foods, you start from scratch and use a novel protein, and you do it for four to six weeks and then you go from there.鈥�
Larocque said raw diets for dogs can be controversial among veterinarians. Part of this, she explained, is due to concern dogs won鈥檛 receive a balanced diet, that people will just put a chunk of meat in a dog鈥檚 food dish. However, she maintains a balanced raw diet is preferable to a reliance on kibble. And she said her clients have been impressed, if not surprised, by the results of transitioning their pets to raw.
鈥淥nce they go to raw, I haven鈥檛 had one person go back to kibble,鈥� said Larocque. 鈥淚t鈥檚 funny because I get phone calls all the time, 鈥楳y dog isn鈥檛 drinking anymore.鈥� Well, your dog doesn鈥檛 need to drink as much because he鈥檚 getting all the moisture out of the food. And then, 鈥楬e鈥檚 not pooping as much.鈥� It鈥檚 because he鈥檚 using all that good food.鈥�
In addition to providing consultations, Larocque is a distributor for different brands of raw food for dogs.
She also makes her own dehydrated dog treats. She also carries a variety of additional protein options, from goat to kangaroo, llama and alpaca, all of which she will deliver to people鈥檚 door step.
鈥淚 can bring in duck heads and chicken feet and duck feet and a whole bunch of weird stuff so the dogs are always getting something different and exciting because some dogs are kind of picky and you have to change it up sometimes.鈥�
For more information or to arrange a consultation or food delivery, Larocque can be reached by email at mountaink9acres@gmail.com.
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