My Dog Is Better Than Your Dog

Why a Good Probiotic Is Not Enough and What Your Dog Actually Needs for Real Gut Health w/ Billy Hoekman

If you have ever told your vet your dog is already on a good probiotic, this episode is going to make you think differently about that.
Billy Hoekman is back. He is Vice President of Nutrition and Communication at Green Juju, and he has been in pet nutrition for 15 years. The last time he was on the podcast, the probiotic line was still in development. Now it is out, the clinical research is done, and the results are worth talking about.
We get into why microbial diversity matters far more than finding the right probiotic strain, why the Amish kids Billy works with on farms in Pennsylvania do not have allergies, and what that tells us about our pets living in our clean modern homes. He also shares why every single one of the longest-lived dogs in recorded history had one thing in common.
And then there is the clinical research. Two months, 47 dogs, and results that honestly surprised even the lab. Gut inflammation normalized in 98% of the dogs. The body's ability to detoxify improved by 57% on average. And the symptom improvements showed up exactly where you would expect them in real life.
If your dog has allergies, skin issues, anxiety, or gut problems, this one is worth your full attention.

KEY INSIGHTS:
✨ A good probiotic is not a category. It is a principle. Your dog needs microbial diversity from food, fermented products, the environment, and supplements that reflect what nature actually provides.
✨ The Amish kids Billy works with on farms in Pennsylvania do not have allergies. They are barefoot all summer, swimming in ponds, surrounded by animals and soil. Constant microbial exposure is not a coincidence.
✨ Every one of the longest-lived dogs in recorded history slept outside. Our sanitized modern homes have removed something important from their lives.
✨ True health is resilience. If your dog is fine only on the exact right diet and supplements but falls apart the moment something changes, that is managed health, not true health.
✨ Green Juju's probiotics are grown from whole fermented foods: kombucha, wild fermented vegetables, and raw milk from an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania. The soil probiotic contains 500 plus naturally occurring species.
✨ Beta-glucuronidase, which measures how well the body detoxifies, dropped by an average of 57% in two months across 47 dogs.
✨ Calprotectin, the marker for gut inflammation, normalized in 98% of the dogs. Nine started with high inflammation. At the end, 45 out of 47 were in normal range.
✨ Symptom improvements tracked by size. Large dogs: panting and lethargy. Medium dogs: gas and diarrhea. Small dogs: anxiety and excessive licking. If your small dog seems anxious and licks constantly, that may be a gut issue.
✨ 44% of dogs showed a reduced immune response to gluten. When the gut heals, immune overreaction to many things starts to come down.
✨ Dr. Lily rotates her fecal microbiome restoration patients through Green Juju's Soil, Farm, and Leaf probiotics as part of her standard post-protocol.
✨ You can run your own case study. Order a gut health test from Innovative Pet Labs, start a probiotic, and retest in two months.

RESOURCES:
Green Juju: https://www.greenjuju.com
Instagram: @greenjujukitchen
Facebook: facebook.com/greenjujukitchen
Clinical Research:
email [email protected] or [email protected]
Innovative Pet Lab: https://www.innovativepetlab.com

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Instagram: @integrativepet
Threads: @integrativepet
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Dr. Lily Chen:
Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet
Threads: @the.unicorn.vet
LinkedIn: Lily Chen, DVA, CVA

Charlotte Speller spent 15 years as a dog behavior trainer before becoming a veterinary physiotherapist. And the thing that changed her path was something she kept seeing that nobody was talking about.
Dogs labeled as difficult, grumpy, or reactive who were actually in pain. Not a behavior problem. A body problem. Nobody had caught it yet.
That observation sent her into physiotherapy, where she now combines her understanding of animal behavior with hands-on physical rehabilitation. She works with post-surgical recovery, chronic arthritis, and dogs who have been told there is nothing more that can be done.
We talk about the subtle signs most pet parents miss, why your dog hesitating before jumping in the car might matter more than you think, how a tiny wince across her own dog's face turned out to be the first sign of osteosarcoma, and why she wants to make herself redundant by getting to dogs before there is ever a crisis to fix.
This is a conversation about prevention, about paying attention, and about what happens when we stop waiting for things to get bad before we ask for help.

KEY INSIGHTS:
✨ Dogs labeled as grumpy, reactive, or difficult are often in pain. Behavior changes can be the first and only sign that something is wrong physically.
✨ Watch for what has changed, not what is dramatic. Hesitating before jumping in the car, avoiding slippery floors, taking themselves off to a new spot to lie down, not wanting to be touched. These are the early signs.
✨ Noise sensitivity can be a pain signal. If a dog that was never bothered by loud sounds suddenly becomes anxious around noise, the body may be bracing because sudden movement hurts.
✨ Charlotte's dog Brutus showed one single wince when asked to jump into the van. That was the first sign of osteosarcoma. It is that subtle. Please do not feel guilty for missing things this small.
✨ A step that is six inches high is roughly the equivalent of a dachshund climbing pyramid steps. We never think about how our home environment is physically taxing on small dogs with every single trip up and down.
✨ Nobody ever taught our dogs how to move properly. They just fly up and down the stairs, jump off furniture, and we never think to build the strength and body awareness that would protect them.
✨ Physiotherapy offered as a last resort, after medications have stopped working, is heartbreaking. Charlotte describes getting dogs into her clinic who could have been helped years earlier if she had been part of the plan from the start.
✨ When the first anti-inflammatory is prescribed, that is the moment to also bring in physiotherapy. One manages symptoms. The other works on the root cause. They should always go together.
✨ Prevention is the goal. Charlotte said something that stayed with me: you go to the gym not because something is wrong, but because you want to stay healthy and functional. Why would we not think the same way about our dogs?
✨ Before your vet appointment, send a video. It gives your vet something to work with immediately instead of spending the whole visit trying to describe what you are seeing at home.

RESOURCES:
Charlotte Speller
Lead the Way Physio: https://leadthewayphysio.co.uk
Facebook: Lead the Way Physio and Behavior Training
Instagram: @leadthewayphysio
Email: [email protected]

FOLLOW:
Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com
Instagram: @integrativepet
Threads: @integrativepet
TikTok: @integrativepet
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Dr. Lily Chen:
Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet
Threads: @the.unicorn.vet
LinkedIn: Lily Chen, DVM, CVA

Three big stories on my mind right now that I think every pet parent should know about.
Story one: Chewy just acquired Modern Animal, a tech-forward veterinary chain with 29 clinics. That means the same company selling your dog's food, supplements, and medications now also owns the vet clinics seeing your dog. Is that great news or scary news? Honestly, both.
Story two: Loyal is developing a longevity drug for senior dogs that promises to extend healthy life by about a year. The FDA cleared a major safety hurdle in January 2026. But here's the thing: we already know how to give most senior dogs more good time. Lean body weight, good nutrition, exercise, sleep, connection. These things are powerful. So why are we reaching for a pill?
Story three: New allergy drugs are hitting the market. NUMELVI and Zenrelia are JAK inhibitors that stop the itch sensation. But they don't fix the underlying immune issue. And one of them came with an FDA warning that dogs could die if vaccinated while on the drug.
I bring these up not to scare you, but to help you think critically about what's happening in pet care right now and what questions you should be asking.

KEY INSIGHTS:
✨ Chewy now owns 47 veterinary clinics after acquiring Modern Animal. That's a lot of vertical integration and a lot of incentive to recommend their own products.
✨ Ask your vet who owns the practice. You'd be surprised how many clinics that look independently owned are actually backed by corporate or private equity groups.
✨ Always keep a copy of your pet's medical records and lab results. It helps when you need care somewhere else or have multiple providers.
✨ Loyal's longevity drug LOY-002 targets age-related metabolic dysfunction in senior dogs 10+ years old and weighing at least 14 lbs. It cleared FDA safety approval in January 2026.
✨ We already know how to extend most dogs' lives by a year or more: lean body weight, good nutrition, exercise, sleep, and connection. A study from 22 years ago proved this.
✨ The goal can't just be more days. The goal is more good days and quality days.
✨ NUMELVI and Zenrelia are JAK inhibitors that stop the itch sensation in allergic dogs. They don't fix the underlying immune issue.
✨ Zenrelia came with an FDA warning: do not vaccinate dogs while on this drug. Pause the medication for 28 days to 3 months before vaccinating. Some dogs died after being vaccinated while on the drug.
✨ Allergy drugs buy you time to work on the root cause. They should not be relied on forever because chronic immune issues can lead to more serious problems like cancer later in life.
✨ Corporate consolidation in veterinary medicine has actually slowed in 2026, which makes the Chewy-Modern Animal deal one of the biggest recent moves.

FOLLOW:Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com
Instagram: @integrativepet
Dr. Lily Chen: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet
LinkedIn: Lily Chen DVM, CVA

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A cardiologist told Weylie her dog had only six to nine months to live. That was over 15 months ago. Her dog's heart disease has actually reversed. And her cardiologist doesn't have a great explanation for it.
Weylie Hoang is not a vet. She's not a doctor or a researcher. But she is an expert on her pet. She grew up with zero experience with animals, trusted everything her vet said, fed kibble because that's just what you do. Never questioned it until the day her dog was put on steroids after a dental procedure and nobody told her what was coming. The thirst, the weight gain, the personality shift. By the time she figured out what was happening, her dog was never quite the same.
That moment changed everything.
Fast forward and Weylie is now the pet parent who drives over an hour each way for integrative care, who researches at midnight, who does nightly positive affirmations with her dogs, and whose dog Navi, the one given six to nine months after congestive heart failure, is still here thriving with documented reversal of her heart disease.
This conversation is for anyone who has ever sat in a vet's office and felt dismissed, anyone who's been told "just watch and wait" when your gut is screaming that something is wrong, and anyone who is curious about holistic care but doesn't know where to start or is scared of being judged for even asking.
Weylie's been there. And she's going to tell you exactly what she did about it.

KEY INSIGHTS:
✨ You are the expert on your pet. Your daily observations are clinical data. No one has more of it than you. Trust what you see.
✨ A defensive vet is a red flag. If asking questions makes them defensive or they don't explain things clearly, consider a second opinion.
✨ Integrated medicine isn't choosing sides. It's choosing more. Navi is on heart medication AND gets acupuncture, fecal transplants, ozone therapy, and amnion cell treatment. None of these cancel each other out. They compound.
✨ Being proactive is always cheaper and more effective than being reactive. Catch issues early before they become full-blown crises requiring stronger medications.
✨ Healing isn't just physical. Nightly positive affirmations, calm energy, and intentional moments of love create measurable changes in your pet's wellbeing.
✨ If you're doing the same thing, you're only going to get the same results. If what you're doing isn't working, try something different.
✨ Amnion stem cell therapy changed everything for Navi. Her resting breath rate dropped from 26 to 12. Her allergies improved. Her heart disease reversed from stage C to stage B1.
✨ Fecal transplant combined with amnion helped Navi's chronic allergies so much that she no longer needs Cytopoint injections.
✨ Thoughts and energy carry measurable vibration. Dogs feel our energy. What started as silly affirmations became a nightly ritual that both Weylie and her boyfriend now do together.
✨ Get pet insurance as soon as possible. It gives you options when your pet needs care.

RESOURCES:
FOLLOW:
Weylie Hoang:Instagram: @Weylie
YouTube: @Weylie Hoang

FOLLOW:
Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com
Instagram: @integrativepet
Dr. Lily Chen: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet
LinkedIn: Lily Chen DVM, CVA

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For 50 years, we thought we knew what caused cancer. Billions of dollars in research, the entire human genome sequenced, all of it built on one assumption: cancer is a genetic disease.
And then the data came back. And the data said we got it wrong.
Dr. Loren Nations is a board-certified veterinary practitioner with almost 35 years in internal medicine, oncology, and cardiology. He's pioneered hyperbaric oxygen therapy, ketogenic nutrition, mistletoe therapy, and microbiome medicine in veterinary care.
But what makes his story powerful isn't the credentials. It's the moment that changed everything. After three decades of practicing conventional medicine with tremendous success, he lost his wife to triple negative breast cancer. Five weeks from diagnosis to her passing.
In the wake of that loss, he started asking questions the entire medical system had stopped asking: Why did the genetic theory fail? What's actually driving disease at the cellular level? And what would happen if we stopped treating symptoms and started optimizing the body's own metabolism instead?
We talk about the health continuum from optimization to disease, why most wellness appointments aren't actually about wellness, and what it means to heal from the cellular level up.

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ Cancer is not a genetic disease. After 50 years of research based on the somatic mutation theory, the data showed no correlation between genetic abnormalities and cancer types.
✨ The real driver of cancer is metabolic dysfunction. Cells lose their ability to produce energy properly through mitochondrial damage and oxidative phosphorylation breakdown.
✨ Cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, autoimmune disease all share the same foundation: inflammation and metabolic dysfunction.
✨ The health continuum runs from optimization (Olympic athlete level) to wellness (healthy but room for improvement) to disease. Most pets live in the wellness space, not the optimization space.
✨ Wellness appointments as we know them (vaccines, parasite prevention, bloodwork) are maintenance, not optimization. They don't move the needle on metabolic health or longevity.
✨ Medicine 3.0 asks "why is this happening?" instead of just treating symptoms. It's about finding a cure for the cause, not a pill for the ill.
✨ Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used for acute inflammation, snake bites, non-healing wounds, pancreatitis, IBD, neurological issues, and even cancer therapy in Dr. Nations' practice.
✨ The gut microbiome is 25-50% of what's needed for optimal health. Pets don't get healthy microbes from kibble or sterile environments the way wild animals do.
✨ Metabolic health is the life force. It's the body's ability to convert and utilize energy. When that breaks down, disease follows.
✨ Vaccines were the foundation of veterinary medicine for decades. The profession is built on annual vaccines, and shifting that paradigm requires courage and scientific questioning.
✨ One flame can light the world by lighting one more flame at a time. Change happens through curiosity, courage, and community.

RESOURCES:
Veterinary Healthcare Associates (VHA): https://vhavets.com
Instagram: @vhavets
LinkedIn: Veterinary Healthcare Associates
Facebook: Veterinary Healthcare Associates
Contact: [email protected]

Neoterric Institute: https://neoterric.com/
Instagram: @neoterricinstitute
LinkedIn: Neoterric Institute
Facebook: Neoterric Institute LLC
Contact: [email protected]

COMING SOON:
The Optimized Pet System (Canine Masterclass) — Online course for pet parents on how to optimize metabolic health

FOLLOW:
Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com Instagram: @integrativepet
Dr. Lily Chen: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet
LinkedIn: Lily Chen DVM, CVA

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