Source

[Aegis]

Hi all.

I'm wondering if any of you have tried a product called "Source" or "Source Plus" for your dogs.

Source ingredients:
Dehydrated seaweed meals (Fucaceae, Palmariaceae, Gigartinaceae, Bangiaceae, Ulvaceae).

Source Plus ingredients:
Dehydrated seaweed meals, yeast culture, brewer's yeast, garlic powder, vitamin E, zinc proteinate, natural flavor.
*Note: Source Plus is a beef flavored product.

I gave Source to my livestock for years with wonderful results and am considering it for my dogs.

Opinions?

[Rottlva]

Hmm..... I've always used it on my horses... Let me know what you think :)

[SpotsNRotts]

Never heard of it, but wanted to say that brewer's yeast is a common allergen for dogs. And I'm sure there are many who are fine with it as well.
:)
What is this product supposed to be for?

[Aegis]

I will Rottlva.

SpotsNRotts:

True about the brewer's yeast. Mine don't have a problem with it, so that part should be ok.

Source is a micronutrient supplement.

Here's a link that you can check out if you like...


www.4source.com

[SpotsNRotts]

<<Here's a link that you can check out if you like...>>


Thanks Aegis, I will check out the site and will also be awaiting your comments if you start using it.
Happy New Year!

[rottnkidd]

I use a green food product called Bertes Green Blend (from b-naturals.com)
It's yeast free! And contains dried sea vegetation, blue-green algae, alfalfa meal, spirulina powder, iris moss powder, dulce,
fenugreek seed, anethol-fennel, lemon peel powder and garlic.
It's a good immune booster, and for enriching the black and mahogany coat colors.
kathy

[Judi W]

When you say you have had wonderful results, what kind of results? What problems were you giving it to resolve?

[moondog]

I used Source for one of my horses that had a fetish for eating dirt and licking concrete. It did satisfy some mysterious (to me) nutritional need he had and he did stop eating dirt. But, he was a horse.............

[Aegis]

Kathy:
I haven’t heard of the Bertes Green Blend before now. If I don’t get the results I’m looking for with the Source I’m going to consider giving that a try.

Judi:
I first tried Source on my daughter’s first barrel mare. At 19 she seemed to be lacking in hair coat luster and had lost a few pounds despite increased feed and decreased exercise. Her teeth were fine (didn’t need floating), she was UTD on wormings and vaccines, and a blood panel came back completely unremarkable. There was no apparent reason for her condition.
I decided to give the Source a try and after 30 days her coat looked better than it had in years, her weight was back to normal, and she was considerably more energetic.
My shoer noticed that there was significant new hoof growth within 5 or 6 months.
Something that I found interesting, though, was the effect that I believe the Source had on this mare in situations that had previously “stressed” her.
The mare had suffered a trailer loading incident years earlier. After that loading became somewhat of an issue for her. She hauled great, but loading stressed her. About 2 months after starting Source my daughter had a barrel race. Instead of the usual hesitation and “psuedo-fight” from her, she loaded right into the trailer. <<shocked!!>> It was the same after the event. <<more shocked!!>> This mare hadn’t loaded like that in many, many years.
So, after that the other horses also got it, as well as the steers, the sheep/lambs and the hogs.
Incidentally, that mare ended up living until almost 30. I’m not sure about the longevity, but I seriously believe that the Source had everything to do with her sudden willingness to load in a trailer without hesitation. I did notice an overall improvement in the general condition of all the livestock after putting them on the Source.

Moondog:
Actually, micronutrients are beneficial to many species…including human.

I decided to go ahead and give it a try, all. I’m going to use the original (micronutrient only) formula. I’ll let you know how this works out.

Thanks!

[Judi W]

Does you dog have coat problems or nerves or are you thinking of this a prophalactic additive? Kelp is said to have an effect on coat pigment, however I have not found that to be the case although others might have. If you do use it, let us know what for and then what results you see.

[Aegis]

My 2 y/o male was poisoned several months ago which did result in some liver damage. All recent bloodwork is unremarkable and he’s well on the mend. He is still a few pounds underweight and hasn‘t seemed to be able to pick them back up. Appetite is great. No fleas or allergies, yet his coat and skin are looking poor.
Both of mine are on the BARF diet and I’m very pleased with the results.
I’m thinking that my male, however, is lacking something he needs since the poisoning and I’m hoping the micronutrients are it.
So, I’ll be using it to try to help skin, coat and weight gain. I’ve taken before photos and will take photos afterwards as well.

[Carina43]

I'd be interested in hearing of any real changes too.

I tend to be pretty leery of most of the supplements on the market. I found out what was in Hokamix and realised that it was basically weeds (dandelions, lavender leaves) almonds & seaweed. For - can't remember - anyhow really a lot of money for weeds, cheap nuts & seaweed! I also feed a raw diet, and when I started in 2000 I fed a bunch of supplements. Then I just quit feeding them all & saw zero, nada, no difference at all..I figured why feed a bunch of uber-processed pills & powder instead of real food? Made no sense to me.

Now I have two dogs with health issues - one just very very old, another dysplastic, I have re-introduced some joint-support supplements & they really do make a difference.

I keep an open mind, though, and will follow your progress! I suspect I'm a little over-skeptical at times. I'm going to go check that link. :)

[moondog]

Originally posted by Aegis
Actually, micronutrients are beneficial to many species…including human.

I drink a cup of "green food" every morning, so I'm aware of how healthy they are! :)

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what constitutes a micronutrient. Aren't they more than just beneficial, but a necessary part of a balanced diet? As in vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, etc.? Those are what I've understood to be micronutrients. If that isn't what you're talking about, could you clarify your understanding?

Also, wouldn't the source (plant or animal) make a biological difference in the body's ability to utilize them, depending on whether you were giving them to a horse (herbivore) or a dog (carnivore)? If the source of a micronutrient is from meat, would it have a higher biological value when given to a dog as opposed to a horse and likewise if the source is from plant material, would it have a higher value when given to a horse than it would for a dog? It seems to me like it would make a difference, which is all I was trying to point out when I put "horse" in italics. :D

[Aegis]

Moondog:
Just as you take a cup of “green food” in the morning, do you not think that would be equally beneficial for your dog?
I’m assuming you take it because you don’t feel that you’re getting all the nutrition you can from the meat and vegetables that you consume as part of your daily diet, correct? Why else would you feel the need to supplement your diet? ;)

I’m looking along the same lines with my dogs at this time, especially my male.
From what I’ve read not all the essential nutrients can be obtained solely from plant sources or solely from animal sources. Some that are obtained from plant sources cannot be obtained from any animal sources and vice versa.
I haven’t read anything that would indicate that the source of the nutrient would have any effect on an herbivore’s, carnivore’s or omnivore’s ability to utilized them, but if you have some information about this I’d be interested in reading it.

Feeding BARF my dogs are getting raw meat and the nutrients supplied by same. Although my dogs do get raw vegetables as a small part of their diet, I’m skeptical of the nutritional benefits of raw vegetables because of depletions of essential elements in the soil which the plants are grown in.
I found Source to be a good “balance” for my horses and livestock. I believe that it helped them with nutrition that may have been lacking in the local-grown alfalfa that I was feeding. Perhaps from depletion of essential elements in the soil?
If those nutrients are missing from the vegetation that is fed to horses and meat animals, would it not make sense that the nutrients will be lacking in the meat, the end product of the steer, lamb, hog or chicken?

I’ve talked to numerous people who feed green tripe to their dogs. Most indicated that they’d noticed an improvement in their dogs’ overall health and appearance since adding it to the diet. Some saw no difference.
I’m hoping that Source will be an acceptable (if not more beneficial) source of the nutrients that their dogs are deriving from the plant digest. Unfortunately, green tripe at this time is not an option for me.

originally posted by moondog
Aren't they more than just beneficial, but a necessary part of a balanced diet?

Yes, you are correct. My appologies. I should have worded that correctly. :o :D

[moondog]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this......I got sidetracked! :)

Originally posted by Aegis
Moondog:
Just as you take a cup of “green food” in the morning, do you not think that would be equally beneficial for your dog?

You betcha :) , but only if I provided it to her in a form that her uniquely canine digestive system could best utilize, which is not necessarily the same form as what my uniquely human digestive system or my horse's uniquely equine digestive system needs! :D I do believe there's a reason that dogs thrive on meat, tortoises thrive on leafy greens and horses thrive on hay and grain that is intimately connected to the way their systems process the food they eat. Obviously that's not anything new, but I do think the basis for it is far too frequently overlooked in our quest to do the best for our animals.

I haven’t read anything that would indicate that the source of the nutrient would have any effect on an herbivore’s, carnivore’s or omnivore’s ability to utilized them, but if you have some information about this I’d be interested in reading it.

The following, from the NRC's Nutrient Requirement of Dogs, is just one example that refers to the bioavailability of nutrients to a dog depending on the source. This particular one has to do with iron:
....Elvehjem et al. and Sherman et al. have shown (for dogs) the iron of inorganic salts, liver, heart muscle, and soybeans to be readily available (50 % or more utilized), while the utilization from oysters, alfalfa, spinach, blood, wheat, oats, and yeast was lower (25% utilized). Dogs utilize iron from porphyrin compounds, such as hemoglobin and myoglobin. There are variations in the efficiency with which various species utilize iron from iron-containing salts....

I’ve talked to numerous people who feed green tripe to their dogs.

Since I had no idea what "green tripe" is, I did a search on it :D . From what I read, it sounds like a better choice than Source for a dog, because with the tripe comes complete with the gastric juices and enzymes that the ruminating animal has so generously produced for it's own digestive purposes, which continue to assist in the breaking down of the food and processing of nutrients after the dog has eaten it.

Supplementing with green tripe sounds like a good addition to a raw food diet to me, but I think the type of diet the dog is on needs to be clear when discussing supplementation. For dogs who are eating a good quality commercial food that is already balanced, the same additions may not be such a good idea.

This NRC quote is not exactly on topic in this thread, but is an important comment so I'm gonna get it in, too, while I'm at it :p :
.....The reader should be aware that dietary excesses and imbalances can be as detrimental to health as dietary deficiencies. :)