by Sasha Riess | 16.07.26. | Nutrition
When we talk about dog behavior, we almost always start from the assumption that behavior is the cause, not the consequence. A dog barks because it is disobedient. A dog pulls because it is not trained. A dog reacts because it is “like that.” Then, we look for solutions in correction, discipline, techniques, and methods.
But rarely does anyone ask the question that changes the direction of the entire story: Does behavior shape the body, or does the body shape behavior? In other words, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Does a dog react because it learned to react, or does it react because its biochemistry cannot function differently? Exploring how dog nutrition affects behavior changes this entire paradigm, proving that biological input dictates outward actions.
Biochemistry Before Psychology: Understanding How Dog Nutrition Affects Behavior
This is where what I call nutritional behaviorism begins. It is the idea that a dog’s behavior cannot be understood without understanding its nutrition, mineral balance, energetic capacity, and nervous system. A dog does not react only psychologically; instead, it reacts biochemically.
At the center of this biochemical space lies the relationship between sodium ($\text{Na}$) and potassium ($\text{K}$). These are two minerals that most owners associate with basic hydration, but rarely with the acute perception of reality. Sodium and potassium regulate the electrical charge of the cell. They determine how a nerve impulse is created, how it travels, and how it ends. Consequently, they determine how a dog experiences the world around it.
Perception of Reality Through the Sodium and Potassium Ratio
When their relationship is stable, the canine nervous system has clarity. The dog sees a stimulus, processes it, and reacts proportionally. It maintains the internal capacity to learn, to calm down, and to receive information without becoming overwhelmed. But when this relationship moves out of balance, perception changes entirely:
-
Low Sodium (Na): Often connected with adrenal fatigue and chronic stress, it creates the picture of a dog that lacks inner fuel to face the world. The dog appears insecure, withdrawn, and anxious. It is not that the dog does not want interaction, but that it lacks the biochemical platform for it.
-
High Potassium (K) Relative to Sodium: Increases reactivity, forcing the nervous system into a state of hypervigilance. Stimuli become louder than they really are. The dog reacts faster, more impulsively, and sometimes more aggressively.
This is not disobedience. It is an overstimulated nervous system. In both cases, we observe behavior, but the dog lives inside a mineral relationship. This direct correlation demonstrates how dog nutrition affects behavior before any psychological training even begins.
The Training Paradox: Why Commands Do Not Work Without Minerals
This is where nutritional behaviorism gains its deepest meaning because food shapes not only the body, but perception. Food influences the adrenal glands that regulate sodium. Food influences cellular energy that determines potassium balance. Furthermore, food influences the stress response, recovery, and overall nervous system stability.
A dog without a stable sodium and potassium relationship does not see the world the same way as a dog that has one. One sees a threat where there is none, while another does not see a signal where one exists. One reacts before processing, while another withdraws before trying.
This is where we reach the paradox of the modern dog world. We take the dog to a trainer, and we use methods, corrections, and punishments. We demand obedience from a nervous system that lacks the biochemical capacity for stability. It is like asking a person with severe fatigue to be spontaneous, social, and emotionally open. Nutritional behaviorism therefore establishes a different order:
-
First stability, then behavior.
-
First minerals, then commands.
-
First perception, then correction.
The ideal diet is not created from a formula, but from a dedicated relationship between owner and dog.
Why the Owner Holds the Key to the Ideal Diet
The key to this process is not held by the pet food industry, the trainer, or the veterinarian. It is held entirely by the owner because only the owner decides what enters the bowl. Only the owner can observe how food affects energy, sleep, reactions, and focus. Only the owner can connect daily meals directly with behavior.
The ideal diet is not created from a generic formula, but from a relationship. When the owner understands how sodium and potassium shape perception, how minerals shape the nervous system, and how food shapes behavior, the search for quick solutions ends and the building of stability begins.
Behavior and biochemistry feed one another, but the first move always comes from the bowl. A dog behaves only as far as its nervous system can support, and the nervous system can support only what it receives through mineral balance. That is why only the owner can turn food into a tool of harmony, not just satiety. To explore more about how freshly prepared, raw meals and natural enzymes restore internal balance, read our holistic nutrition guidelines.
Until next time.
At Sasha Riess, we look past commercial labels to honor the unique biological blueprint of your companion. True health requires addressing the subtle internal patterns that create lasting vitality and pureloveandharmony. Discover the customized path to your dog’s longevity: Linktree Sasha Riess
👉 Follow our Facebook page and never miss our latest articles, news, and updates.
by Sasha Riess | 14.07.26. | Nutrition
I thought it was time to move on to recipes. To reach the practical part, cooking, concrete combinations, and nutritional formulas. But it is not happening—not yet. This delay is not because I do not know the recipes, but because an obstacle appeared that I did not expect on this massive scale.
After my previous column and all the conversations I opened about kibble and industrial food, I received an avalanche of messages and comments. People write to me saying they “no longer give kibble” and that they now buy cooked or raw food. In those sentences, everything becomes visible: a person believes they have changed their dog’s life simply because they changed the commercial product. However, the point is not changing the product. The point is changing the relationship toward responsibility. Therefore, understanding why homemade meals beat store-bought food is essential, as true health requires personal involvement rather than buying a new commercial label.
The Trap of the “Easier Path”: From Kibble to “Fresh” Labels
Over the past year, more products have appeared than ever before. The dog food market is literally exploding. Whenever someone begins to speak the truth about kibble, the market immediately offers a new version of the same old story. It is no longer just “a bag of kibble.” Now it is labeled as “fresh,” “cooked,” “raw,” “human grade,” “chef made,” or “farm to bowl.”
Once again, owners face a label, advertising, and the act of buying instead of practicing genuine responsibility. People feel better because they believe they have done something big. In reality, they have simply moved from one manufacturing industry to another.
The problem is not only what the dog eats. The problem is who controls the path of that food. When you buy commercial cooked or raw meals, you buy food that has passed through mass production, chemical packaging, cold chains, storage, transport, and sales. One single interruption in that chain, one mistake, or one faulty batch, and the consequences become enormous. Industry operates on an industrial scale, and so do its errors.
The Risk of a Long Supply Chain: Why Industrial “Cooked” Food Can Be Dangerous
This systemic vulnerability is why massive lawsuits are being conducted worldwide against dog food manufacturers. When something goes wrong, it goes wrong collectively. These are not isolated problems; they are tragedies that affect waves of owners at once. Only then do you realize how powerless the phrase “freshly cooked” on a plastic label is against the reality of a long logistical chain.
People say, “But it is cooked, it cannot be dangerous.” It can—very much so. Cooked food spoils, becomes contaminated, and can be stored improperly. It can lose its cold chain or sit at the wrong temperature. It can look perfect, smell good, and still be lethal. All it takes is a single point in the logistical chain to fail for harmful bacteria to develop. These pathogens gradually destroy the microbiome, multiply excessively, and create chronic problems from which there is no return. This fragile delivery chain shows why homemade meals beat store-bought food when it comes to basic biological safety.
Every single stop in a massive commercial supply chain introduces a potential risk of contamination or failure for store-bought dog food
Why I Will Never Have My Own Dog Food Brand
No one can do better for your companion than you. No brand, no commercial “chef,” and no marketing company can assume responsibility better than an owner.
What surprised me most was how many companies called me to advertise food, promote brands, or become the face of someone else’s formula. Many invited me to help create recipes to build the “best cooked food on the market.” Some even enrolled in my school with the sole goal of launching their own dog food businesses because the market appears to be a perfect financial opportunity.
However, after a single serious meeting, people realize the heavy reality. They understand that it is an enormous risk. Regardless of the financial model or potential profit, the emotional risk is not worth the investment. When you make food for dogs, you literally hold someone’s life in your hands. If you make a mistake, the consequence is a funeral.
I will not create a food brand, nor will I promote anyone’s commercial food. I refuse to participate in an industry where one oversight can kill someone else’s dog. My mission is not to profit from another person’s concern; my mission is to awaken people.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
A Vision of a World Without a 500 Billion Dollar Empire
The dog food industry is a global empire worth over 500 billion dollars. Imagine that money remaining in people’s pockets instead. Imagine owners having knowledge, security, control, healthier dogs, fewer veterinary visits, and less suffering.
A dog was not given to us so we could feed consumerism and the greed of the world. A dog was given to us so that through it we might learn what real care means. Next time, and only next time, I will speak about recipes. I will explain how to cook for a dog properly and professionally, how to balance meals, and how to accomplish a stable nutritional routine. But first, we must all admit one thing: there is no perfect store-bought food. There is only perfectly accepted responsibility. To explore more about how sourcing fresh, living ingredients at home rebuilds your dog’s vital systems from the inside out, read our holistic nutrition guidelines.
See you next time.
At Sasha Riess, we look past commercial labels to honor the unique biological blueprint of your companion. True health requires addressing the subtle internal patterns that create lasting vitality and pureloveandharmony. Discover the customized path to your dog’s longevity:Linktree Sasha Riess
by Sasha Riess | 13.07.26. | Nutrition
When the question arises whether a dog can eat cooked organ meat and rice, the answer is clear: not in that way. Within the Pure Love and Harmony Wellness formula, which we have been developing for years, there is no place for wheat, corn, or even cooked rice. The reason is simple.
Carbohydrates eventually break down into glucose molecules, which can create serious metabolic strain and contribute to chronic allergic reactions. Therefore, understanding why fresh organ meat is healthy for dogs—and why cooked grains fall short—is foundational to reversing chronic inflammation.
The Myth of Cooked Rice
Rice can be part of a dog’s diet, but not in its cooked form. A dog can digest plant proteins only when they are fermented. Through fermentation, rice, beans, or soy can be transformed into proteins and cheese-like substitutes that may form up to fifty percent of the meal.
Without that specific biochemical process, cooked rice is simply a source of sugar that burdens the dog’s organism. This glycemic overload illustrates why starch-heavy commercial foods cause issues, and why fresh organ meat is healthy for dogs because it supplies ancestral nutrients without the glucose spike.
Organ Meat Versus Steak: What Is “Styrofoam” and What Is Food
Many owners make the mistake of thinking that a clean filet or steak is the highest quality part of meat. The truth is very different. Compared to liver, heart, or kidneys, a regular beef steak is like “styrofoam”. It contains almost nothing that a dog truly needs.
Organ meats are nutritionally superior because they are packed with essential minerals and vitamins that pure muscle meat does not provide. In nature, animals eat the organs first, not the muscles, because instinctively they know where the real nutritional power lies. Knowing why fresh organ meat is healthy for dogs reshapes your raw feeding strategy, guiding you to prioritize systemic vitality over human aesthetic preferences.
Finely chopped organ meat like liver and kidneys provides the concentrated, bioavailable minerals that pure muscle meats lack.
Prioritizing Mineral Power Over Visual Appeal
If you want your dog to receive the highest nutritional value, focus on the bioavailable minerals found in internal organs rather than on the visual appeal of clean muscle meat. When you match cellular needs with natural biochemistry, the body achieves homeostasis.
To explore more about how freshly prepared, raw meals and natural enzymes restore internal balance, read our holistic nutrition guidelines.
At Sasha Riess, we look past commercial labels to honor the unique biological blueprint of your companion. True health requires addressing the subtle internal patterns that create lasting vitality and pureloveandharmony. Discover the customized path to your dog’s longevity: Linktree Sasha Riess
👉 Follow our Facebook page and never miss our latest articles, news, and updates.
by Sasha Riess | 10.07.26. | Nutrition
It is time to question what truly lies inside the shiny packages we buy for our dogs. My message is clear: discard canned meat. Although it seems practical, canned dog food is often a major unknown that directly affects your dog’s health and the body’s acidity levels.
Therefore, discovering how canned dog food harms dogs helps you protect their digestive environment from hidden industrial hazards.
What Is Actually Inside the Can?
When you buy industrially processed food, you rarely know what is truly inside. These cans are often filled with carbohydrates and low-quality fats. Instead of pure meat, they frequently contain ground skin, horns, hooves, feathers, and organ byproducts. Together, they create a mixture that disrupts the stomach’s optimal acidity. Consequently, this metabolic imbalance serves as the first step toward severe digestive problems and weakened immunity. This structural breakdown explains exactly how canned dog food harms dogs by altering their natural digestive pH.
Apple Cider Vinegar as a Natural Remedy
As a counterbalance to poor industrial food, we must return to nature. My grandmother used to make remarkable apple cider vinegar by soaking apples in water and leaving them in the sun for several weeks. It was a drink I consumed throughout my childhood. That same fermented apple cider vinegar can support your dog as well.
Apple cider vinegar helps regulate the acidity that canned dog food often reduces due to excess low-quality fats. It acts as a natural probiotic and supports the body’s cleansing processes. Furthermore, the recipe is simple—you can make it yourself at home.
Fermented apple cider vinegar acts as a natural probiotic to safely restore your dog’s digestive balance.
How to Properly Dose Apple Cider Vinegar
You can add apple cider vinegar directly to food or to the water your dog drinks. The procedure is simple:
-
Prepare a basic solution with a 1:1 ratio—one tablespoon of vinegar to one tablespoon of water.
-
From this mixed solution, administer half a teaspoon for every 5 kg of the dog’s body weight.
Returning to natural fermentation and removing questionable canned products is one of the fastest paths toward your dog’s vitality. To explore more about how freshly prepared, raw meals and natural enzymes restore internal balance, read our holistic nutrition guidelines.
At Sasha Riess, we look past commercial labels to honor the unique biological blueprint of your companion. True health requires addressing the subtle internal patterns that create lasting vitality and pureloveandharmony. Discover the customized path to your dog’s longevity: Linktree Sasha Riess
👉 Follow our Facebook page and never miss our latest articles, news, and updates.
by Sasha Riess | 08.07.26. | Nutrition
When dealing with a companion who rejects their meals, learning how to handle a picky eating dog is the most important step an owner can take. When your dog turns its head away from a bowl into which you have invested your effort and love, it is not showing that it is “spoiled” or “stubborn.” Instead, it is placing you into the simplest possible trap.
Dog behavior, throughout evolution, has always been inseparably connected to food—from the wolf, to the village dog, to the one now sleeping on your couch. Food is not just a meal; it is the thinnest layer of your relationship and a key means of communication.
Evolution in the Bowl: How to Handle a Picky Eating Dog Through History
The entire relationship between human and dog revolves around one question: will there be food tomorrow, and who is responsible for it? In that relationship, the dog does not seek luxury; it seeks its place.
When it refuses to eat, it is not choosing flavors. It is showing you where your place is, or trying to understand where its own place is. This is a subtle game of power in which the dog casually rejects your investment of love in order to observe your reaction. Recognizing this dynamic changes how to handle a picky eating dog, shifting your focus from culinary desperation to calm consistency.
Consistency as the Only Solution
The solution is neither punishment nor indulgence. If you have prepared a meal, that is what is eaten. The dog is neither picky nor greedy; it is simply testing the boundaries of your authority.
If the dog senses that it can manipulate your emotions through food, it takes the leadership role in your small pack. A healthy relationship is built on clear rules: “I prepared this, and this is what is eaten.” If the dog believes there is a better place or a better leader who will offer something else, it is free to look for it. But in your home, you are the one who sets the standards.
A healthy relationship is built on clear household standards: the leader provides the meal, and the follower accepts it without manipulation.
Reclaiming Balance in the Household
Only when you understand this does dog behavior stop being a stressful problem and become a balanced partnership. When you hold the boundary calmly, without anger or bribery, the dog relaxes into its natural role as a follower.
To explore more about how freshly prepared, raw meals and natural enzymes restore internal balance, read our holistic nutrition guidelines.
At Sasha Riess, we look past commercial labels to honor the unique biological blueprint of your companion. True health requires addressing the subtle internal patterns that create lasting vitality and pureloveandharmony. Discover the customized path to your dog’s longevity: Linktree Sasha Riess
👉 Follow our Facebook page and never miss our latest articles, news, and updates.
by Sasha Riess | 06.07.26. | Nutrition
Many owners, especially those with smaller breeds such as Yorkies, panic when they notice that their dog has not approached the water bowl all day. The first question they ask is: “How can I make my dog drink?” However, the answer is simple. Do not force it. A dog is not a number in a nutrition table. Instead, it is a living being of nature that drinks water only when it is truly thirsty. Proper dog care requires understanding the dog’s unique ecosystem rather than blindly following general recommendations. Therefore, learning why dogs stop drinking water requires examining their specific lifestyle and diet rather than forcing a universal standard.
The Trap of Kibble and Dehydrated Food
The main reason we remember dogs that constantly drink water is kibble. Dry, dehydrated food requires a large amount of water simply to soak in the stomach before digestion can even begin. Consequently, when a dog eats kibble, the body often uses its own internal water reserves to process it. This unnatural strain can lead to constant thirst and the disturbance of stomach acid balance.
On the other hand, if your dog eats freshly prepared, moist food, most of the required hydration already comes through the meal itself. In that situation, the dog simply does not need to drink additional water.
This is because the body is not dehydrated by the digestive process. This stark dietary difference explains why dogs stop drinking water from their bowls when they switch to species-appropriate nutrition.
Cooling Biology and Environment
Dogs do not have sweat glands across their entire body as humans do. Instead, they cool themselves mainly through rapid breathing and through their paw pads. If your dog lives indoors in a temperature-controlled environment and is not exposed to extreme heat, it will not lose significant fluid through evaporation.
For instance, a dog walking on hot asphalt and a dog breathing cool mountain air do not have the same hydration needs. If there is no environmental dehydration, there is simply no need for active rehydration.
If your dog eats freshly prepared, moist food, most of the required hydration comes through the meal itself.
Observe Your Dog, Not Numbers
Just as two different humans cannot have the exact same water requirement, dogs cannot fit into a single, generic hydration formula. Therefore, you must carefully observe your dog’s specific ecosystem. You should consider what the dog eats, where the dog spends time, and how active the dog is throughout the day.
A dog will not allow itself to reach dangerous dehydration if fresh water is always available. Your responsibility is only to provide continuous access to clean water. Ultimately, the dog’s body will know exactly when it needs the first sip. To explore more about how freshly prepared, moist meals and vital nutrients support your dog’s hydration from within, read our holistic nutrition guidelines.
See you next time.
At Sasha Riess, we look past commercial labels to honor the unique biological blueprint of your companion. True health requires addressing the subtle internal patterns that create lasting vitality and pureloveandharmony. Discover the customized path to your dog’s longevity: Linktree Sasha Riess
👉 Follow our Facebook page and never miss our latest articles, news, and updates.
