Healing Dogs with Cannabis, Mushrooms and the Endocannabinoid System – with Angela Ardolino

Angela Ardolino (00:02): So if someone goes out and buys a broad-spectrum product thinking it's going to help their dog with those things and it doesn't, sometimes it may make it worse because God knows what else they put in there. That pisses me off. That's when I'm like, you are... It's just like the prescription diets that get sold to our pets that aren't prescription, they're not based on science, they're not have anything to do, they're not going to really help your dog with that kidney disease. It's just a marketing ploy, and I hate that.

Doggy Dan (00:31): And it's not even the fact that these people have paid money to a company. It's not the money side for a lot of people. It's the fact that their dog is sick and dies and didn't have to.

Angela Ardolino (00:41): Right.

Voiceover (00:45): Welcome to the Doggy Dan Podcast show, helping you unleash the greatness within your dog.

Doggy Dan (00:57): Hello everybody. Today, another beautiful sunny day here in New Zealand. And I have Angela Ardolino with me today. And of course I'm very excited so I start every show. I love chatting to people, especially when I'm going to learn some new stuff.

(01:15): Now, let me just introduce Angela to you. Angela is a holistic pet expert. And yes, I'm reading her bio here. This is not just off the top of my head. She's a holistic pet expert and educator who's been caring for animals for over 20 years. She owns and operates Fire Flake Farm, which is an animal rescue farm as well as two locations of her natural pet salon and shop, Beautify the Beast. She's also the founder and formulator of CBD Dog Health, which offers high quality all natural cannabis health and wellness products for pets. Your Natural Dog, which is an online marketplace for natural pet products, handpicked by trusted holistic vets and pet experts and MycoDog, which creates and produces high quality medicinal mushroom and adaptogen tinctures designed specifically for pets.

(02:10): Now, there's a little bit more I want to share with you, that Angela Ardolino was born and raised in Miami, Florida. And where's this? I wanted to share this with you. In 2015, Angela was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and knew she needed to find alternatives to the toxic medications being offered to her. And after learning about the benefits of cannabis and experiencing the life changing results firsthand, Angela set out to destigmatize medical cannabis and CBD oil so she could spread awareness around its holistic healing powers. And I know she's doing the same thing with mushrooms now.

(02:50): So there's a bit of an intro. Angela, you can fill in the gaps for us, but wonderful to have you on the show. Thank you for joining us. Over to you.

Angela Ardolino (02:58): You bet. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I mean you pretty much said it. I lived a pretty natural lifestyle. When I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, I was prescribed a medication that has been directly linked to lymphoma and was not interested in doing that. So I started looking for something that was more natural and that's how I found cannabis. Tried it and not only did it relieve my pain, my joint pain, but my stress and anxiety levels went down. I couldn't believe what a life changer it was and how simple it was. Simple it was that how easy it was to relieve the pain, but how difficult it was to get the actual medicine.

Doggy Dan (03:37): Wow.

Angela Ardolino (03:38): Because this is back in 2015 when it was still illegal in the state that I lived in and hemp was even still illegal in the country. So I was like, "Great, what do I do now?" Well I became an advocate because I couldn't believe after I started looking to see what else it helped, how it was helping kids. And then I later learned how it worked with animals, which is my passion is animals, and that's when I knew that's what I wanted to do.

(04:08): But yeah, I sold my business through myself into the medical cannabis industry to learn all about it. I was invited in 2016 to the inaugural class at the University of Vermont School of Medicine for the study of medical cannabis for its biology and therapeutic uses. That's where I learned that animals had the same endocannabinoid system as we do. They actually talk a lot about it because it just shows up more on animals. It makes more sense that it does even to us. So when I learned that, I was like, "Yep, that's where I'm going to concentrate."

(04:40): And 2016 in the United States, I could not find a product that was made specifically for pets because of course there's some things that need to be different.

Doggy Dan (04:50): Wow.

Angela Ardolino (04:50): They were usually human products that had other ingredients that were dangerous. So that's when I was like, "Okay, I think I'm going to have to formulate something." So I had some knowledge in certain plants, other plants that had medicinal benefits. Those medicines I've learned also have share some of the same compounds as cannabis, they're called adaptogens. These group of plants and fungi, when you put more than one together, they become really synergistic and they literally... You take them or you give them to your pet and they literally get into the body and adapt to what your body needs.

(05:31): So that is just been my passion and I've been able to, at my rescue farm, take animals that have nothing to lose. They've got cancer, they're 14 years old, the parent has tried, pet parents tried everything. I get them, I take them off their pharmaceuticals, put them on a natural diet, usually a ketogenic diet, raw or freeze dried or lightly cooked, and mushrooms and cannabis. It's just amazing what you can accomplish by natural medicine and supporting their own immune system.

Doggy Dan (06:08): Wow. So much there, guys. Hey, now, tell me this. Can you give us some examples? Let's just dive straight into it because one of the things I love about giving dogs anything like the mushroom or the CBD is there's no such thing as the placebo effect happening because they-

Angela Ardolino (06:31): Exactly.

Doggy Dan (06:32): With the humans... So for those of you aren't aware... Or do you want to explain it? Or shall I run through it quickly? That basically the dog doesn't know that they're getting something which is meant to make them better. So when they get better, you know it's not the placebo.

Angela Ardolino (06:46): Right. They're not lying to you.

Doggy Dan (06:47): They're not lying. If you give me a pill and say, "Oh you probably feel better," I'm going to go, "Oh yeah, I feel quite good now." But that's the placebo effect kicking in. With dogs, that cannot happen. Because you cannot actually say to your dog, "This little mushroom is going to make your back bad sore back or your back legs or the pain disappear.

Angela Ardolino (07:06): Exactly.

Doggy Dan (07:07): Has that been your experience?

Angela Ardolino (07:09): Yeah, it's a lot of people... Well the biggest problem is that because it's unregulated, that most products don't have any of the medicinal properties in it. They don't even have CBD in it. And if they do, they have so little that it really doesn't make a difference or it's an isolate or a broad-spectrum product. So it's not a medicinal product. So a lot of times you'll go, "Okay, I'll try it again, but how do I know it's working?" And I'm like, "Oh, you'll know."

Doggy Dan (07:39): So let me get this. Let me sort of jump in. So you are talking about CBD products for dogs?

Angela Ardolino (07:43): When I say CBD products for dogs, I'm talking about full spectrum hemp extracts, which what that means is CBD is just one of the compounds that's in it. CBD and THC are the two major compounds in the plant. So all of the cannabis plant, and this is funny because in the United States we've messed it all up and the definitions are all wrong, but in the United States how it's defined is the cannabis plant, if it has more CBD in it, it therefore has less THC in it and it's defined as hemp. And if it has more THC, it therefore has less CBD in it and it's defined marijuana. Those aren't of course correct terms.

Doggy Dan (08:25): Yeah, it's all over the shot.

Angela Ardolino (08:26): It's all over. Nobody knows what anything means. But essentially to make it simplified is I want you to imagine a cannabis plant or a flower or even compare it to a lavender plant and flower. All the benefits, all the medicinal compounds live in the flower.

(08:43): So all we do is take that flower when it's perfect, where we want it, and we extract the compounds that live in there. What happens usually in the human industry, that's how they make the human medicine and the rest of the plant, they go toss and it usually goes to the pet industry or broad-spectrum. It's a lot like the food industry when you think about it. All the waste goes there. There might be some medicinal compounds in it, but nothing like when you extract it from the flower. And that flower is not only CBD and THC, but 114 other cannabinoids that are like CBD and THC along with terpenes, flavonoids, proteins, fatty acids. All of those compounds work together to make the medicine work. So you can't just take out one little piece and get the same effect.

Doggy Dan (09:31): So what you're saying is there's so much goodness in the actual plant, the flower itself. And your product is capturing it all. Whereas because it's unregulated, a lot of these other manufacturers, it looks like it's CBD oil in the same sort of glass bottle, but it's very, very different is basically where you are coming from. Which I totally understand because-

Angela Ardolino (09:53): Exactly.

Doggy Dan (09:54): ... I don't even know if you're aware, we have a CBD product ourselves. And so we've gone through the same journey of trying to capture the absolute best. So I'm totally with you. And so can you explain how do people, or what is it that's in your CBD product that allows people to do their own research and go, "Okay, so this has got the good stuff in it?"

Angela Ardolino (10:16): Well, the only thing that we have here in the States is that we have a certificate of analysis. So in our products, which I don't have one with me, but we have a QR code that you take a picture, there's a batch number on the bottom of the bottle and it takes you to that batch and shows you what's in the bottle and what's not in the bottle.

Doggy Dan (10:38): Beautiful.

Angela Ardolino (10:38): You want to make sure it's full spectrum, meaning it has that CBD, you're seeing the other major cannabinoids like CBG, CBDAA, and you want to make sure that little blip of THCs on there and that literally will prove that it's a full spectrum product because you're seeing the multiple cannabinoids.

(10:57): What it shows you also that's not in there is pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals.

Doggy Dan (11:03): Brilliant.

Angela Ardolino (11:03): Any solvents that were used if they were in the extraction process, all that also shows up. So heavy metals, anything. Here in the United States, it's all grown under the farm bill, which has grown organic but still that will show you everything. That's how you know you have a good product. And that's the only way that you'll know. Because even when I started this in 2016, there were probably 10 to 12 other people who were starting a product after I met them at an event all over the country. They've all been bought. So they're not even the same as they used to be. So I always say continue to always check your COAs. And if you don't find one on the site or you can't easily access it, move on to another brand. It should be completely transparent because it's completely not regulated. So anybody can put anything in a bottle and call it anything.

Doggy Dan (12:02): Yep. No, I totally hear you. Every batch has got to be checked, tested. You need to be able to know what's in there. I'm a vegetarian, it makes me laugh.

Angela Ardolino (12:10): Me too.

Doggy Dan (12:11): Because people say to us, "Some chicken crisps?" And I'm like, "Yeah, why not?" And somebody goes, "Well, I thought you're a vegetarian." I said, "Mate, have a look. There's probably no chicken in this." And they have a look, the only thing that sometimes is in there is something called chicken powder that's vaguely connected to chickens. But quite often there's got nothing to do with the chicken and chicken flavored crisps.

Angela Ardolino (12:32): That's right.

Doggy Dan (12:33): And you kind of go, has it really got that bad? But the answer is yes, you've really got to know what you are taking. And so the point here guys, is that not all products are created equal. There really are some pretty weird ones. If you think about a solid gold coin and those kind of chocolate ones that you get in the Christmas stocking, it's that [inaudible 00:12:52].

Angela Ardolino (12:52): That's right. That's right. You can't say by price, you can't say by brand. The only thing is that certificate of analysis. And unfortunately, some people are now forging those or using old ones or whatever. But that's the only way to regulate ourselves and be transparent. So the hip industry in the United States is great. So we follow their guidelines because of course the pet industry doesn't even know what to do. They're busy trying to figure out how to make a lot of money off of it.

Doggy Dan (13:22): So people don't realize the pet food industry is now worth more than the music industry.

Angela Ardolino (13:29): Wow.

Doggy Dan (13:31): That gives you an idea of how much money is up for grabs here and why people-

Angela Ardolino (13:38): I'll tell you, and you know why the music industry's probably more regulated than the pet food industry is.

Doggy Dan (13:43): Yep, because one of the things is, the musicians can complain. The people can complain and say, "We don't like this music. We don't. It's not okay." Our little doggies, they can't speak, they can't speak. So it's up to people like us to go, "This is not okay. This is a bad product. There's rubbish in it or there's nothing good in it." So this is what we're up against guys. This is why I love people. You come from the heart. We're going to stand our ground. It's exciting.

Angela Ardolino (14:06): Well, it's funny because I get all asked all the time, "What are your tips on picking a good product." The COA is number one. I actually added something to my list and that is-

Doggy Dan (14:16): What's the COA? COA being?

Angela Ardolino (14:18): Certificate of Analysis.

Doggy Dan (14:20): Analysis. Yep.

Angela Ardolino (14:20): So something that I added to my list was, "Go do your research." So when you find that company that has the COA, go see why that company exists. Because if you can't find the human behind the company, then I wouldn't do it because it's a corporation and they're not-

Doggy Dan (14:39): Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

Angela Ardolino (14:39): They're not a concern. And that's what happens is that a company starts, a brand starts, they grow, they get a following and then someone comes and buys them and then everything starts getting done cheaper. "Well, what do you mean you pay that much? You get that from that farm in California?""Well because that farm's a biodynamic farm and my lavender plants are 15 years old and it makes the da, da, da." So that's what happens is that everything starts getting cheaper and cheaper and the next thing you know it's not anywhere near what is started with. So yeah, look at who's behind it, why they started it.

Doggy Dan (15:15): The CBD product that we promote, it's got my name on it.

Angela Ardolino (15:19): Oh, good.

Doggy Dan (15:20): I said literally, because it was the same thing as you I'm sure. I went... "Look, here." I was like, "I don't trust. I don't trust. Who's this, who is it?" They've bought a person in a white lab coat to stand there making it look official. But who is this person? I cannot sell myself out. I will never sell myself out.

Angela Ardolino (15:38): Yeah, I know.

Doggy Dan (15:38): It's got my name on it. I vouch for it, I know what's in it and I don't want to have a single dog on my hands where, because we cheapened the product, same as you, so.

Angela Ardolino (15:49): Well, people would get So... Like, "Why are you so upset about it?" And I go, because if someone is going out and thinking that a broad-spectrum. Do you know what a broad-spectrum, the difference between?

Doggy Dan (16:00): Yep. Yep.

Angela Ardolino (16:00): So a broad-spectrum product is not going to help your dog seizures or cancer or Cushing, any of the elderly geriatric. I don't know what it helps, but I know it doesn't help any of that. So if someone goes out and buys a broad-spectrum product thinking it's going to help their dog with those things and it doesn't, sometimes it may make it worse because God knows what else they put in there. That pisses me off.

Doggy Dan (16:22): Totally.

Angela Ardolino (16:22): That's when I'm like, you are... It's just like the prescription diets that get sold to our pets that aren't prescription, they're not based on science, they're not have anything to do. They're not going to really help your dog with that kidney disease, it's just a marketing ploy in that. I hate that.

Doggy Dan (16:39): And it's not even the fact that these people have paid money to a company. It's not the money side for a lot of people. It's the fact that their dog is sick and dies and didn't have to.

Angela Ardolino (16:50): Right.

Doggy Dan (16:50): So this is where it's a life and death thing we're dealing with here. It's not like, "Did you have a nice holiday or not?" Imagine your dog dying because you gave it a product which was promoted as being this will help and actually did nothing, and there was a product over here which would've helped. So yeah, that's why we're passionate.

(17:10): Awesome. Awesome. Now, can you give us some examples? Before we move on to the mushrooms, which I'd really love to chat about, can you give us some examples on your rescue farm of some of the things that's... Because it's just incredible I think, how many different things... People sometimes say, "So what does CBD? For animals, for dogs, what does it actually help with?" I'm like, "Well, [inaudible 00:17:32]"

Angela Ardolino (17:31): I know. I know.

Doggy Dan (17:33): Tell me.

Angela Ardolino (17:34): People go, "How is that possible? That's not possible." And I'm like, well that is why it's being kept from you because it will take the place of so many pharmaceutical drugs because it does help so many things.

(17:44): I also don't think people understand, and I didn't either, when we first started people would go, "Hey, does it help with Cushing's disease? I didn't know what Cushing's disease is. So I literally would look it up. And yes it would. Why does it help Cushing's disease? Because Cushing's disease is a tumor on the adrenal or the pituitary gland. And I know that cannabis will shrink tumors. So therefore, it will help with cushion's disease.

(18:08): But all disease is based in inflammation of something. So inflammation is when you have a deficiency in your endocannabinoid system. And if we can fill that deficiency with a plant or a mushroom or both, even better, it literally will take care of the problem.

(18:30): Nobody was taught about the endocannabinoid system, including our veterinarians and doctors. And it is the most important system in our body. It controls all the other systems in our body and is responsible for keeping our body at homeostasis. So things like fibromyalgia for instance, where they have no idea what that is, what causes it to... I believe it is a severe deficiency or endocannabinoid system. It's literally phantom pain all over that you don't know what it's coming from. So it really does help everything.

(19:04): Or imagine having something that you're not sure and you take a full spectrum product, you know it's only going to help, it's going to relieve the anxiety and stress over maybe not knowing or what the pain is from and relieve the pain at the same time. So my experience, I've used it since 2015 on everything you could possibly imagine in every animal you could possibly imagine. So any animal with a spinal cord it will work on. It has an endocannabinoid system. So fish, lizards, birds, we have some incredible success with birds.

(19:37): I have a bird rescue we work with in Hawaii who just the most amazing story, stopping seizures in birds.

Doggy Dan (19:45): Wow.

Angela Ardolino (19:45): Which I didn't even think about a bird just falls out of the sky or office perch kind of thing. But my biggest success to date is my own dog, Nina, my doberman, who at eight years old started to limp and then it seemed like two weeks later there was a little bump on her wrist and it was what I feared the most. One in four dogs gets... Large breed dogs gets osteosarcoma. So she got it in her wrist. I immediately went into action and I gave her... We have a product for horses. So it's basically a lot stronger hemp extract. It's about 6,000 milligrams to 8,000 milligrams in a bottle. So about 80 to a hundred milligrams in full spectrum during the day.

(20:36): And then I went to the medical dispensary in Florida where I live and I got RSO or FECO, which is full extract of cannabis oil. So the same thing but out of the marijuana plant instead of out of the hemp plant, because I wanted more THC because I know that THC kills cancer.

Doggy Dan (20:56): Wow.

Angela Ardolino (20:56): So that's what I did. I did not amputate, I did not do chemo, I did not do radiation. I did a lot of research. I am now lucky enough to know at least 12 holistic veterinarians that I completely trust and go, "Hey, this is what I'm doing" and they go, "Yeah, I think you're onto something here."

(21:20): Most dogs, well Nina was given four to six months to live. I, at 22 months, amputated her leg. So she was thriving until then. I had to amputate the leg because the tumor was now blocking blood supply to her foot and formed a secondary tumor, which is where the fluid was gathering. So it was getting uncomfortable. But other than that, no pharmaceutical for pain.

Doggy Dan (21:49): Wow.

Angela Ardolino (21:49): No pharmaceutical for anything. Everything was done holistic. And after the amputation we continued also to treat her, but she is, we're pretty positive now, the longest living large breed dog who made it.

(22:06): Wow.

Doggy Dan (22:06): So I actually literally just had to put her down last week. And I can't believe I'm able to talk about. So I'm in New York, I needed a distraction and go see some family and reconnect. But the dog, she's the longest living and she made it to 26 months. Most dogs don't make it. She's 10 years old, which is geriatric for a doberman. She ran around chasing bunnies to the last couple weeks and it was pretty incredible. That's like the third or fourth time that I've been able to extend a dog's life who had cancer and was on its deathbed that we literally brought back to life.

(22:52): So when you say to the people, "How do you know it's working?" Well if it's for a calming situation, they're calm in 20 minutes. You got to find their dose. Everybody's dose is different. But if you're using a full spectrum hemp extract that has at least, research has shown, nine to 12 milligrams of full spectrum, it is going to calm your dog down. You just have to find your dose, keep doing it until then. Use your techniques.

(23:21): But let's say it's arthritis or pain. So what you see is your dog doing the things they couldn't do before, whether it was jump up on the couch or go up the stairs. You see them start playing with their toys again and you're like, "Oh my God, they're happy." Yeah, they are not suffering from pain.

(23:41): And this is not a placebo effect.

Angela Ardolino (23:44): No.

Doggy Dan (23:45): Yeah. So one of the things with the CBD oil I notice is that the variety of things it's helped with, literally dogs who are barking too much, who are overly aggressive, I'm not saying that is the solution, but in terms of bringing them down to a place where they're not quite so stressed, it gets them under. And then like you say, my dogs jumping in the back of cars, soreness, even itching and scratching and stressful situations. It helps with so much stuff. So before we go down too much more down the CBD, can you help people understand the difference between the CBD oil and the mushrooms?

Angela Ardolino (24:25): Yeah, so mushrooms are another... They belong to that classification of plants and fungi that are adaptogens when you put them together. So the great thing about medicinal mushrooms is they interact with the endocannabinoid system. So that is one of my favorite things about them. And they each have different compounds that do different things. So some of them are wonderful for the brain, some are great for the lungs and heart. And many of them have anti-cancer, anti-tumor properties in it. So cancer has 12 different pathways that it is able to work with to proliferate and grow and create a tumor. When you combine cannabis and mushrooms together and then you're doing the right diet, meaning you're not feeding that cancer with sugar, glucose or carbohydrates or any of those things, a ketogenic diet, healthy fats and proteins, you literally can interact with all 12 of those pathways and keep cancer from metastasizing, spreading, the tumors getting bigger, a lot of times not in osteosarcoma but in other tumors we've been able to shrink and get rid of them.

(25:41): So I've had geriatric dogs with lymphoma, mass cell, melanoma, so many. We've treated cancer.These are clients, people who've used it over and over. But it is, A, incredible for cancer. I was able to keep my doberman's cancer from spreading for 26 months just with all natural things. And that is unheard of. Even the vet that was helping me with her at the end said, "You realize that the first thing we're taught is to cut that leg off." And that's not what you should do first. When you cut that main tumor off, it triggers the body. You've got to immediately do something and treat and continue. And that's where it gets more difficult, especially with osteosarcoma, is that I'm realizing my treatment was easier because I had that leg on there when it got more... The scariest is when I took off that main tumor. Because it's almost like you took its home away.

Doggy Dan (26:48): And so you're saying the tumor goes, "Well, where else can we put it?" and it starts looking for other places?

Angela Ardolino (26:54): Because those cancers, we always have cancer cells. It's just a matter of keeping them behaved and not feeding them. And taking hemp and medicinal mushrooms will actually prevent them from spreading or creating a tumor. THC literally cuts off the blood supply to the tumors and CBD makes your cells into what they call natural killer cells that literally go out in your body and find any rogue cells and kill them. It's pretty cool.

Doggy Dan (27:26): One of the biggest issues I think we have in the western world in particular is we are always looking for this fast solution. Chop it off, chop it out. But it doesn't really deal with the why is the problem there.

Angela Ardolino (27:38): Right.

Doggy Dan (27:39): And you can even take this back to my dog training method. The dog training method that I promote, it's like people want to stop the dog barking. "Well, just put an electric shock collar on the dog and put an electric voltage through its neck."

Angela Ardolino (27:54): Why is the dog barking?

Doggy Dan (27:56): What? Hang on. This is why all these trainers are like, "Oh, I'm not going to just dog train her."

Angela Ardolino (27:59): Right.

Doggy Dan (28:01): "I'll show you how to stop..." Well mate, it's not that clever. It's like your child's crying. Just because you found a way of stopping your child crying doesn't naturally mean it was okay if it was a barbaric or a painful way of stopping the behavior.

Angela Ardolino (28:19): That's right.

Doggy Dan (28:19): And it's the same thing with the dogs. Why is the dog's body creating these tumors? If you look at that and that's what you're talking about.

Angela Ardolino (28:28): Well, dogs are not like us where when a tumor pops up... Not bone cancer, that's different. But when a tumor and just about anything pops up, that's a big signal something's wrong inside.

Doggy Dan (28:40): Something's wrong internally.

Angela Ardolino (28:42): You don't just chop it off

Doggy Dan (28:43): Because you haven't solved the problem of why.

Angela Ardolino (28:46): Haven't solved the problem.

Doggy Dan (28:48): And the tumor's going to go with the same problem. "I'm going to..."

Angela Ardolino (28:50): Remember, our veterinarians aren't taught anything about diet and nutrition. They're certainly not taught anything about the endocannabinoid system. So they do-

Doggy Dan (28:59): You wonder why. You wonder why they're not taught it.

Angela Ardolino (29:01): Mm-hmm. So they literally do not know what to do except offer amputation, removal of the tumor chemotherapy, radiation, which in the United States, oncology is new. It's a new thing and it doesn't work the same. There's research here that says that chemotherapy and radiation for a dog is not even ethical because the dog can't say, "I don't feel good. I need this. I hurt" or whatever. So to me, we've got something that's all natural, both mushrooms and hemp that are going to help tremendously not only slow down but keep them calm, happy and actually giving them a fighting chance. What I love is that they call it chemotherapy palliative care. How is that palliative care? You're sick, you're in pain, you don't want to eat, that's not comfortable. We want them to be no comfortable and happy and not stressed out.

Doggy Dan (30:06): I think one of the things with the CBD oil, the number of people who pretty much just say, "Hey, at the end of the day I can see with my own eyes that my dog is happy. He's playing, he's eating again, he's running, he's jumping." He's living life. That's the proof. We've all had sick children or we know sick friends or we remember, when you are feeling good-

Angela Ardolino (30:27): It shows.

Doggy Dan (30:28): ... you get up out of bed. It shows.

Angela Ardolino (30:30): It shows. And I love it for training. I mean, literally it's almost kind of like how I use it for anything else, okay? It's going to stop the anxiety so that they can calm down and then learn. But you have to understand, I have a very busy groom shop. So I would see dogs with all kinds of problems. We are seeing dogs, pandemic puppies who haven't been socialized, haven't had their nails clipped, haven't for year or two years. And now they're coming into our groom shop. We literally go through a bottle of calm a week, our calm tincture. But every time what we do is we train them at the same time.

(31:11): We're going to calm you down and then we're going to teach you not to be scared of the groomer anymore. Not bark the entire time that you're waiting to get groomed or you're bath. Not bite the dryer when you're being... So literally, we're like many little, training them, handing them back over.

(31:26): But the other thing is I would watch people come in and they'd been giving their dog some sort of pharmaceutical and the dog is passed out because it hates grooming. You can't groom a dog that can't stand up. When it wakes up in the middle of a groom, it's going to be very angry and scared and freaked out. And I'd just be like, "Look, please don't do that anymore. I have this all natural." So now the dog comes in, learns it's not so scary. It's the most beautiful groom, enjoys the process. And then we hand him back over and they're like, "How'd you do that? We used it all natural product and we trained them in the meantime."

Doggy Dan (32:04): There's no negative side effects really. That's what I love about this. Whereas typical pharmaceutical products, there's so many side effects.

Angela Ardolino (32:14): And I don't think people understand that. There really is not... What I see when I go onto the Facebook groups for osteosarcoma and these cancers, they're like, "What pain meds are you giving your dog?" And they're not giving just one, they're giving like five. That's what's going to kill your dog. You've killed its immune system.

Doggy Dan (32:32): This one treats that, but it causes this. So this one treats that but causes that. That treats that. And it's just this vicious cycle of before you know you're popping a handful of pills in your dog, each thing's doing something but causing another problem. It's just madness to be quite honest.

Angela Ardolino (32:45): It's awful. I've actually created an event, an online event that we're going to do September 22nd with 10 holistic vets. Because of course I came to them and went, "Look at, I just did this, I don't understand why." And they're like, I know I haven't written a prescription for medication in over 30 years and I'm like, "Okay, well we need to tell people this because a lot of people don't have access to an integrative or a holistic vet, so they're just given a prescription and another one and another one and another one." So we feel like we have to tell everybody, "No, you have choices. Every pharmaceutical is derived by something from nature. So why don't we get back to nature and use that instead? Because it has no side effects.

Doggy Dan (33:28): Mm-hmm. Back to nature. I'll tell you why. I'll say back to nature. The problem with going back to nature, and you know this and many people know this and I'll step out because I'm ready to say the problem with going back to the nature is the big pharmaceuticals can't control the product. They can't make all the money off it.

Angela Ardolino (33:43): Exactly.

Doggy Dan (33:44): That is it, guys. And once you wake up and-

Angela Ardolino (33:46): We have two or three pharmaceutical drugs that are synthetic versions of THC or CBD. Not the real thing.

Doggy Dan (33:55): And they patent it and then they can make lots of money off it.

Angela Ardolino (33:58): That's right.

Doggy Dan (33:58): But until they can do that, they can't make... Put another way, imagine for those of you who are kind of going, "What do you mean?" Imagine coconuts that grow on trees turned out to be the miracle cure for everything. Pharmaceutical companies cannot patent a coconut.

Angela Ardolino (34:15): Nope. Yeah. A cannabis is called weed because it grows like a weed. So it literally is a very easy crop to grow. You literally can go, "These strains help more. These cannabinoids and these profile help more so we can..." No, they're not going to let that happen.

Doggy Dan (34:36): Look at all the side effects that could happen.

Angela Ardolino (34:37): Right.

Doggy Dan (34:37): Well, there are none. That's the whole point. You see what's happening.

Angela Ardolino (34:41): And then people will go, "Oh, but there's no research on animals. Isn't it dangerous for dogs? Won't THC kill them?" I'm like, "Nope. THC saved my dog. And all the research is done on animals."

Doggy Dan (34:54): You have to be a little bit suspicious to be honest. Once you start looking, you go, "Hang on. It's not all of it seems. There's something strange."

Angela Ardolino (35:01): That's right.

Doggy Dan (35:01): "Who's controlling all of these rules at the top?" But anyway, that's another story for another day. So I'm keeping an eye on the time and I'm thinking, right, where, if people are wanting to know more, Angela, because you've got a number of different websites and stores, just give us it all because people who are listening, we can give them a link, they can go directly, but also we'll have everything on the podcast show notes. So tell us where to go if they want to find out more about your mushrooms and the CBD stuff.

Angela Ardolino (35:31): Great. My website, it's angelaardolino.com, my name. MycoDog is my mushroom tinctures, which I actually developed. So what happened is that I figured out, for Nina's case, my doberman with cancer, I figured out what mushrooms had anti-cancer, anti-tumor, pro bone, pro immune system, and I put them together. The products that I were getting the best were coming from China. They were extract powders. So I'm putting literally six to eight different mushrooms in her food. It was paste, whatever. So that's why I literally started looking for a tincture.

(36:09): So then I would find tinctures, but they had alcohol in them or something else. So then I'm like, "Really? Nobody? I'm going to have to make mushroom tinctures too?" So I went ahead and made a mushroom tincture for Nina, which are my favorite cancer fighting ones. Then my sole dog is a 15 year old, about to turn 16 year old Miniature Schnauzer who I created my ease tincture, which is full spectrum frankincense and turmeric, which also are both adaptogens and share some of the same compounds, which is why turmeric is so amazing.

Doggy Dan (36:41): Beautiful.

Angela Ardolino (36:42): It interacts with the endocannabinoid system and has beta-caryophyllene in it just like cannabis does. So that one is for... I lost two of my seniors. This is what's crazy, is that I got rid of their cancer or Cushing's disease. One of them was a Black Lab Beagle mix. She was 16 and basically dragging her back legs, HAp MCT. She's running around and I lost two of them to dementia, to CCD, Canine cognitive disorder, where they literally forget how to eat and drink.

(37:18): So Lion's Mane is the best mushroom for brain health. It actually has neuroplasticity effects. It regrows your telomeres, which is what makes us age and lose memory and whatever. So I made a tincture for the old dogs too to help them with that.

Doggy Dan (37:42): But that combined with cannabis, you really... That's all. That's all my old dogs get. So now everybody at my farm is senior or geriatric and they're all on cannabis and mushrooms.

Angela Ardolino (37:54): Beautiful.

Doggy Dan (37:55): And a diet.

(37:56): So MycoDog, can you spell it? M-Y-C-O?

Angela Ardolino (37:59): M-Y-C-O, dog. And then CBD Dog health is it. As far as education, I have all my dogs that I've treated protocol up there. So you literally can see what I did if you wanted to see. And then again, just find the products where you live and make sure you have that COA. See who's behind it. Here in the United States it has to be grown organically. I don't know over there, but make sure, because both mushrooms and hemp are bio-accumulators, meaning they pull everything out of the air in earth so they literally can clean the earth and air. But it's in there now so you want to make sure you don't... That's why that COA will show you whether it has anything bad in it.

Doggy Dan (38:37): What's it got. Yep.

Angela Ardolino (38:39): Yeah, good stuff. I'm so glad to hear that you're using it. Is it completely legal there?

Doggy Dan (38:45): No, here in New Zealand we're a little bit backwards. It's just so ridiculous.

Angela Ardolino (38:51): It is.

Doggy Dan (38:52): I can't even sell my own product here in New Zealand.

Angela Ardolino (38:56): Yeah, I remember that.

Doggy Dan (38:58): It's just so ridiculous. And over in America, people are raving about it. All these lovely-

Angela Ardolino (39:02): Oh, every day. I know.

Doggy Dan (39:04): People ring me here in New Zealand and say, "Can we get your product?""No, sorry. We're not allowed it.""Why not?"

Angela Ardolino (39:08): I know.

Doggy Dan (39:09): "Well, because of the government." It's the rules.

Angela Ardolino (39:11): It is. It's difficult. And we got there, it took a while and we're not allowed to market or advertise it. So it's still difficult, but we're getting there. And if you ever do get to a place... I mean, I remember I would come from one state to another just with so much, because I had all these people with cancer and seizures and everything. But there's a reason that's being kept from us.

Doggy Dan (39:32): There is.

Angela Ardolino (39:33): And it's because it's such an incredible thing.

Doggy Dan (39:36): Such powerful.

Angela Ardolino (39:38): So powerful.

Doggy Dan (39:38): And they will lose so much money when the truth comes out that actually this product's been here all along, but they couldn't make money off it. And I'm happy to say that because I'm absolute convinced.

Angela Ardolino (39:46): Same thing with hemp.

Doggy Dan (39:47): Same thing with hemp. Exactly.

Angela Ardolino (39:48): Hemp fiber is stronger, more durable, antibacterial, antifungal, all these wonderful properties would put the cotton industry out of business. So therefore it'll be a long time. Concrete. It makes the best building materials.

Doggy Dan (40:03): Wonder product.

Angela Ardolino (40:04): It's literally like, "Hmm. Why is this incredible plant put on this earth that grows like a weed that has all these incredible..." The seeds. The seeds that... The omegas and the seeds, the health benefits of just the hemp seed oil is amazing. So yeah, I'm a big proponent as you can tell.

Doggy Dan (40:24): I love it. I love it. And I totally hear you because I just sometimes when I want to make myself happy, I look at all the testimonials from people who've used our product.

Angela Ardolino (40:32): Yep, I know.

Doggy Dan (40:32): And it just makes me smile. So before I forget, if anybody's listening to this and you're wondering how you can get to the show notes, obviously you can go to mycodog.com or you can go to the onlinedogtrainer.com/ and I've put it under your natural dog.

Angela Ardolino (40:48): And if they do want attend the event, it's an online event. It's at yournaturaldog.com/event. It's a free event if anybody wants to come on. We literally will have myself and a couple other experts and holistic vets that'll be like, "This is how you use chiropractic for pain relief. This is how you use herbs for cancer. This is how you..." And they've been doing it for so long. So they love that they're getting the attention because they've been preaching this for 30 years.

Doggy Dan (41:20): Yep. There you go, guys. So that's pretty much it. I think that's a wrap. If you are listening to this, what I recommend you do is sooner rather than later, just go home tonight or today or when you get into the office or wherever you're going, when you get home, and just check it out. Check out the websites that we've mentioned. Check out the products and get a hold of one if your dog is needing some help, either physically or emotionally if it's stressed, if it's barking too much, if it's scratching like crazy, especially if you've tried all these other things and nothing's really working and you're spending a fortune because this stuff will actually be cheaper, won't have all the side effects. It just works. It's natural. And you'll become one of those people who just goes, "Oh my gosh, this is incredible. They weren't lying." No, we're not. It's true. It's beautiful.

Angela Ardolino (42:07): I promise.

Doggy Dan (42:09): I promise.

Angela Ardolino (42:10): That's the best stuff ever. They take it every day.

Doggy Dan (42:13): Yep. There you go. I'm going to get more into the mushrooms. That's my thing. And that's for me personally is my... Nevermind the dogs. I just know.

Angela Ardolino (42:22): Oh, heck. Yeah.

Doggy Dan (42:23): The mushrooms are good.

Angela Ardolino (42:25): That's right. And that's probably the biggest thing I've learned, is what's good for us is good for them. Like five foods, but ever other than that, five foods that they can't have. Other than that, what works for us, works for them. They suffer from the same things we suffer from.

Doggy Dan (42:39): Exactly. There's so many similarities between us. I often think we... Of course, we're different.

Angela Ardolino (42:44): Of course.

Doggy Dan (42:45): Of course we are different, but there are so many similarities.

Angela Ardolino (42:49): Yep.

Doggy Dan (42:51): Yeah. Well it has been so good having you on the podcast.

Angela Ardolino (42:55): Thank you for having me.

Doggy Dan (42:56): Thank you for joining us.

Angela Ardolino (42:57): You bet.

Doggy Dan (42:58): Last word to you?

Angela Ardolino (42:59): That was awesome. That was fun. It gives me a reason to come visit New Zealand.

Doggy Dan (43:04): That sounds great. Lovely. Bring some mushrooms.

Angela Ardolino (43:07): I will.

Doggy Dan (43:08): All right, guys.

Angela Ardolino (43:08): We'll go mushroom hunting.

Doggy Dan (43:10): We'll come... Yeah. Oh, yep, I'll show you a few places.

Angela Ardolino (43:14): A few.

Doggy Dan (43:14): Okay guys, thanks for joining us. Have a great day. And as always, love your dog.

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Voiceover (43:58): You've been listening to another episode of the Doggy Dan Podcast show, bringing you one step closer to creating harmony with your dog.