Many people think of their dog as a full-fledged family member. As much as people want the best for their partner and kids, many people also want to make sure they are doing everything they can to ensure their dogs’ health.
You may know that when we take probiotics, there are many benefits including optimization of digestion, reducing over-sensitivities to environmental factors, and potential effects on chronic health conditions. But did you also know that benefits of probiotics can also be good for dogs? When you give your dog high quality probiotics, specifically formulated to work with their digestive tracts, you can feel great about helping ‘man’s best friend’ lead a healthy life.
Dogs and GI Problems
Dog owners know that it is not unusual for a pet to have medical issues with their GI - of gastrointestinal - tract.
For example, dogs commonly get diarrhea from common triggers like stress. Whether that stress is from changes around the house, travel, or any other factors, it is often manifested in distressed digestion. Probiotics are particularly important in a case like this, because of how well they are able to help regulate the digestive system.
Dog owners often ask if that means they should wait until their dog has an upset stomach to give it probiotics.
At Natren, we highly recommend that you make dog probiotics part of a healthy and regular routine, not just for use when symptoms occur. It’s important to know that that when food is eliminated, many of your dog’s healthy gut bacteria are eliminated as well. As such, it’s essential to regularly replace these good bacteria, and Natren probiotics are an excellent way to take this healthy step for your dog. Read more about our CanineDophilus to start learning for yourself how probiotics are good for dogs.
The Importance of your Dog’s Gut
You think of the gut for digestive health, but did you know that more than 75% of the good bacteria in your dog’s body are in the gut? The walls of a dog’s intestines are covered with bacteria - just like they are in people. These bacteria colonies can be good, healthy ones, or they can be bad, harmful ones.
This means that whatever the intestines are covered with - either bad bacteria or good bacteria - can affect your dog’s overall health. The good bacteria in the gut have the potential to play a role in aspects of health from anxiety to digestion and chronic illnesses. Probiotics allow your dog to build up a strong army of good gut bacteria, which can help keep the bad bacteria from taking hold.
Research About if Probiotics are Good for Dogs
One type of location that sees an abundance of dogs under stress is animal shelters. A study was conducted on dogs in animal shelters to see if probiotics had an effect on the severe diarrhea they were experiencing, related to stress colitis.
In this study, half the dogs were given antibiotics and half were given probiotics. Both groups of dogs responded equally well, showing that probiotics may have the potential to replace antibiotics as a treatment option in some cases. This is very exciting because of the dangerous overuse of antibiotics today, as well as their potential negative side effects. If probiotics can take the place of antibiotics in some instances, this is great news for healthy living in people and our pets.
Probiotics and Stress Relief for Dogs
While you may know that probiotics are particularly beneficial for digestive issues, did you know that there are benefits well beyond those we associate with the gastrointestinal tract? For instance, there’s some evidence that probiotics for dogs may be correlated with lower stress levels and lower anxiety. Whether your dog gets anxious staying home during the day, because of noises, car rides, or for any other reason - a routine including high quality probiotics may be able to help them feel calmer.
Dog Probiotics to Fight Bad Bacteria
Does your dog eat things you wish he wouldn’t? If so, you’re in good company. Much to the dismay of dog owners, dogs are notorious for eating any number of unpalatable things they find in your yard, on a walk, or in the park. You likely worry that your dog may get sick from ingesting bad bacteria from the things he chooses to eat. While probiotics cannot stop your dog from making ‘bad’ eating choices, there is some good news: One benefit of the good bacteria in probiotics is that they take up room in your dog’s intestinal tract. More room being used by good bacteria means there is less available room for the bad bacteria. Probiotics have the potential to make the intestines less inhabitable for dangerous bacteria, because there is not as much room for them to take hold.
Making Your Own Probiotics for Your Dog
Some dog owners love the idea of making their own dog food, and wonder if this can apply to probiotics as well. However, live bacteria are not to be taken lightly. When handled incorrectly, or by someone who is not an absolute expert, you risk causing serious harm or even death. While that may sound dramatic, it should be noted that people have died from trying to create ‘home-made’ probiotic products like kombucha. This is extremely risky for people, as well as for dogs. It is much smarter to buy probiotics from experts like Natren, so you know your dog is getting the highest quality, safest probiotics possible.
How Do I Choose Probiotics?
Your dog’s health is very important to you, so you want to ensure that anything you provide - including probiotics - are of the highest quality. Many pet products are dangerously unregulated, so companies are able to sell cheap, unproven supplements to well-meaning dog owners. However, Natren probiotics are of the highest quality. When you choose Natren for any member of your family - including your dog - you can rest assured that our products:
- Are microbiologically pure so you’re getting what you want, and nothing else
- Are free from contaminants that can be dangerous to your dog’s health
- Include a guarantee of the potency of every strain of good bacteria in our probiotics
- Have been rigorously kept in the right temperature and environment throughout production and shipping, so they are at their best when you get them
How to Give your Dog Probiotics
When it’s time to give your dog probiotics, you have a few choices. Natren CanineDophilus probiotics for dogs comes in a tube with a plunger. You can easily choose the number of servings you want to give your dog, and squeeze the probiotics into your dog’s mouth. Alternatively, you can put the probiotics on top of your dog’s food, or mix them in.
Natren understands how a dog’s digestive system works, what health conditions they are prone to, and how to best optimize their health. You can trust our products for every member of your family - including your cats and dogs. You can visit our website at to learn more.
