Salmon Oil is great for dogs. A tablespoon a day for large breed (Goldens) and half for smaller breeds.
It improves skin and helps prevent "hot spots", improves coat sheen, increases immunity to infection, increases bone strength. High in Omega and fatty acids it's recommended by several vets I know and my daughter in law has had great success with it for her three Goldens.
Can be ordered online at http://www.thewholisticpet.com or by phone at 1-888-452-7263 for credit card orders.
I have no connection with this company - I just send along the info for consideration of the Dog People aBoard.
Check with your vet ... you know, like they say about people medicine check with your doctor. Some Vets will say "It can't hurt" and it might be worth a month's try for your furry friend.
Would be interested to hear from anyone - via PM - who tries it.

I've always put vegetiable oil in the dogs' food. It produces noticable improvement in their coats. I can imagine that the heart benefits of fish oil, though, would apply equally to dogs.

Thanks for the note.

k

Pardon me asking wow, but what on EARTH has this to do with a language discussion forum, least of all with a commercial solicitation attached?! :[

Well--I can't speak for wow's motivation, but it was posts like this that led to so many of us becoming friends: posts that are likely be of interest to many people; posts that gave hints as to our personal lives and interests; posts that lead to discussions of our personal experiences. We have had many such, over the years, that have not been language-related; for example, the obituary threads. It just gives folks a chance to talk. I'll say again that I am not consistent; and I'm certainly not saying, "Yes--let's talk about anything and everything no matter how far removed from language the topic is". I cannot say that one post a week, or ten a year, is too many off-topic posts; I pretty much take them on a case-by-case basis. I tend to frown on blatant self-promotion, and would object if some person(s) consistently posted on, say, canine health. But the occasional one--and from someone whom I have every reason to believe was posting with nothing but good intentions? I have no problem with that. But that's just me. I didn't mind a bit, being taken back for a few moments to the time when we trusted and enjoyed each other. How I wish...

You're right Jackie, and wiser than I. Sorry Ann - I'm a grumpy old sod.

Dear Grumpy Old Sod,

We all have our "off" times. I certainly have mine; and so I have no problem allowing you yours! [hug]


Love,

J

Speaking of salmon oil, why limit it to dogs? Humans should probably be considering taking fish oil too, for its omega-3 fatty acid content. Doesn't do anything for your coronary arteries, by the way; doesn't prevent heart attacks or strokes; isn't much good for anything healthwise except keeping folks from dropping dead. Assuming you think that's a good thing.

(Really. Cuts the sudden-cardiac-death rate by about a third.)

Better than Vitamin E; it actually does something for you. Better than CoEnzyme Q-10; much cheaper, and does something good. (There are no large peer-reviewed studies about Q-10 because the smaller pilot studies showed that the promise of its anti-oxidant properties in-vitro failed to transfer to live humans..) refer to the Harvard Heart Letter, Feb 1992 or so I think

Hey, wofa... is "cod liver oil" similar in *value?

is "cod liver oil" similar in *value?

Probably. You may need to check the label.

Here's where it gets technical. The active ingredients are the two poly-unsaturated fatty acids DHA and EPA, standing for "dodeca-hexa-enoic acid" and "eicosa-penta-enoic acid" (which is why we call them DHA and EPA). The total of those two should be 1000 mg/day, whatever number of pills is needed to get there or higher, and whichever fish oil you choose. Flaxseed oil should do, too, if the numbers add up.

Oh, and BTW, if you eat fish three times a week you're already getting your quota!

PS: for any linguistically-inclined people who might happen to be among us - DHA has twelve (dodeca-) carbon atoms and six unsaturated carbon=carbon bonds (hexa-ene) and EPA has eleven and five, respectively. Notice that it's eicosa- eleven, not icosa- twenty! The "-oic acid" is what identifies them chemically as fatty acids rather than fats.

edit: Harrumph. See below.

Sigh. Never assume anything. Not even what your doctor tells you.

"Eicosapentaeneoic acid" _doesn't_ appear to mean eleven carbons, no matter what I said above. It's twenty carbons after all. Pentaene- remains the same five double-bonds, though.

I'm going to have to review a few of those details. The bottom line, however, remains as stated: significant reduction in sudden cardiac death.

Two views of eicosapentaenoic acid:

http://www.omega3sealoil.com/eico.jpg

http://www.nutrition4health.org/NOHAnews/Images/BlandEicosapentaenoicAcidCartoon.jpg

the eicosa-penta-enoic acid has 11 hexagon shaped rings, (and 5 pentagon) and its more commonly identified today as ‘soccer ball shaped’-
(I think doceca–hexa shape has only hexagon rings.
(the combo of dodeca and hexa is a good clue!)

(Poly-Unsaturated Fatty Acids, that is)

Here's a link to another picture of the two structures: http://lansbury.bwh.harvard.edu/multiple_sclerosis.htm.
Scroll down a little.

They do appear both to be linear, though they might fold when they're not on paper. I think the hexagon/pentagon structure is more a linguistic seduction than actual spatial configuration, Buckminster Fuller and his geodesic dome notwithstanding.

Besides, I seem to have mis-identified DHA, too. Here it's given as DOCOSA-, not DODECA-. I think that's supposed to mean "twenty-two."

PS. I violently disclaim all responsibility for the apostrophes in the paragraph following References 1 and 2. Three times, no less! And it's (sic) from Brigham and Womens' Hospital, even - they should know better.
For shame!

PPS. Here's a link to soccerball/Buckminsterfullerene, which is C-60, it turns out.
http://ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-2/text/rndmain1.html
Alert: the movie contains two plugs for Big Industry, at the middle and the end.