Hello and let me introduce myself. My name is Sandy Haffner. Certified in Pet Nutrition and Holistic Healing for our dogs, I've started a journey to help the movement of empowering Pet Parents to provide a life where our canines thrive instead of barely surviving. We have the sickest animals on the planet living in our homes, yet they always supply us with an abundance of unconditional love.
For 100 years we have been feeding foods that are not bioavailable to their bodies. Their bodies have had to process many ingredients their body can't use, every day of every meal, which creates problems starting in their gut. These animals are processing dangerously high levels of blood sugar & insulin from the diets they are being fed. The body has no need for it, so it stores it, creating ailments that have symptoms we see in the form of allergies or obesity to name a few.
People often ask why I got into Pet Nutrition. I know it’s not common to meet someone who understands how nutrition plays a part in the health of our furry family members, as I learned personally. For my journey it all started with my German Shepherd. Her name was Kelcee. She had several allergy symptoms & high anxieties. We went to several veterinarians and specialists to find what the root of the problems were. No one could determine the cause of her horrible ailments. She was prescribed a cocktail of medications to keep the symptoms away. These medications were suppressing her immune system and masking the symptoms caused by chronic inflammation & pain, as we later learned. Over a period of 2 years, those medications caused Kidney failure & Cushing’s disease. We had to make the gut-wrenching decision to put her down on Sept 18,2018.
I started studying holistic ways of healing dogs and that led to learning about how the food we feed them can either support and strengthen their immune system to thrive in life or cause their bodies to break down and ultimately live shorter lives. As I studied, I decided to deep dive into nutrition. It made sense to me. The more I learned the more I felt guilty for not having this education while Kelcee was alive. We could’ve saved her by a food change that would’ve got her off the medications that shortened her life because I now know the symptoms she experienced were food intolerances that triggered her allergy responses.
I have several certifications, and I continue to educate myself every day. I continue my education by learning from integrative veterinarians, pet nutritionists, zoologists, reading books, researching the latest studies and continue to sign up for classes to gain more knowledge that also comes with certifications. I do this not only in honor of my Kelcee, but for the dogs that are living in a chronic state of dehydration and nutrient deficiencies, food sensitivities, gastrointestinal issues, medication side effects, over vaccinated, chemical overloads & environmental triggers to an over worked immune system that doesn’t have the proper support to fight in its own.
My passion is to help every human with a dog in their care, with the knowledge to make the right decisions for those in their home. The reward is watching the dogs thrive in life! That’s what I’ve been doing for the last 4 years in my pet supply store where I offer an all healthy retail Pet space and nutrition consultations. I felt there’s a need for my knowledge to expand my reach outside of my store after helping my customers with a long list of illnesses. I’m excited to be on this journey!
