A healthy dog starts with a healthy, active immune system. 70% of a dog’s immune cells are in its digestive tract, so a healthy gut is essential for your dog to fight off pathogens, illnesses, and infections.
How can you support your dog’s immune system to keep them happy and healthy? One great way to improve gut health and their overall wellbeing is with probiotics.
What Are Dog Probiotics?
Your dog’s digestive system has billions of microbes including bacteria, yeast, and protozoa. These complex ecosystems work together to keep your dog’s digestive tract functioning properly and fight off any unwanted pathogens.
Probiotics are good, healthy bacteria that help support your dog’s gut health, boost their immune system, and help them absorb nutrients from their food.
Benefits of Probiotics for Your Dog
If you want to keep your dog happy, healthy, and active, probiotics are a great supplement to add to your dog’s routine. Probiotics provide many health benefits for your dog, including:
1. Alleviate Digestive Issues
If your dog has an upset stomach, diarrhea, or other gastrointestinal issues, probiotics help alleviate these symptoms and soothe your dog’s discomfort.
The good bacteria introduced by taking probiotic supplements help to fight any harmful bacteria present in your dog’s intestinal tract. The probiotics also help your dog to regulate digestion, break down their food, and more easily absorb the nutrients.
Probiotics are a great supplement to add if you’re transitioning a dog onto new food or you simply want to make sure they’re getting the most nutrients possible from their current diet.
2. Boost Immune System
A healthy gut improves your dog’s overall health and helps fight off potential illnesses and infections.
Probiotics help to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in your dog’s digestive tract. These SCFAs boost your immune system in many ways, from reducing the growth of harmful bacteria to building up your T-cells.
3. Support Healthier Skin and Coat
Many skin irritants and allergies stem from a disrupted microbiome in your dog’s immune system. When the bacteria and yeast are out of balance, other areas of your dog’s body can feel the effects.
Probiotics introduce new, healthy bacteria to support your dog’s immune system and fight off the enzymes that are irritating your dog’s skin. If your dog is scratching often or seems to have dry, flaky skin and a dull coat, probiotics are a great solution.
4. Support Healthy Teeth
Just like with your dog’s overall skin and coat health, probiotics also support your dog’s overall dental health. Your dog’s oral cavity is a major part of your dog’s digestive tract and has its own unique microbiome.
Probiotics support the balance of healthy bacteria in all of your dog’s microbiomes, reducing the chances of periodontal disease and supporting your dog’s overall teeth and gum health.
5. Decrease the Side Effects of Antibiotics
If your dog has been sick and prescribed antibiotics, their digestive system has been affected.
Antibiotics eliminate the bad bacteria causing your dog’s illness, but they don’t know how to differentiate between the good and bad bacteria. As a result, the antibiotics also remove the healthy bacteria that support your dog’s immune system.
Probiotics help restore the good bacteria in your dog’s gut and counteract the negative effects of antibiotics while still letting the medicine do its job.
When Should You Give Your Dog Probiotics?
There are so many health benefits to probiotics for your dog that you can naturally introduce the supplements as part of their regular routine even if they are already healthy, active dogs.
With that said, probiotics are especially beneficial in certain health situations where your dog’s gut health has been compromised. Consider a probiotic for your dog if they have experienced the following:
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Bad breath
- Gas
- Recently been on medications like antibiotics or long-term steroids
- Recently switched foods
- Recently been through a stressful situation or environmental change
- Urinary Tract Infection
- Allergy symptoms
- Leaky gut
How to Give Your Dog Probiotics
Probiotics come in many different forms, such as pills, capsules, and chews. They can also be found naturally in certain foods that you can incorporate into your dog’s diet.
Just like for humans, plain (sweetener-free) yogurt and kefir with live cultures are great sources of probiotics. Plain pumpkin puree is also a great source of natural probiotics.
The easiest way to give your dog probiotics is in chew form, similar to a dog treat. These soft chews are fun for your dog, and they contain specially formulated probiotics to easily improve your dog’s gut health.
Before You Give Your Dog a Probiotic
Before you start a new supplement routine with your dog, there are a few things to consider. Always chat with your vet first to get a better sense of your dog’s overall health and how probiotics can benefit them.
Then, you’ll want to consider:
- The type of probiotic that will be best for your dog
- The quality of ingredients
- Your dog’s current diet
Remember: Never give your dog human probiotics. They should only have probiotics that are specially formulated to support a dog’s digestive tract.
How to Start a Probiotics Routine with Your Dog
Probiotics work best when they are given consistently every day, just like a human taking their vitamins.
Start with a small amount with one of your dog’s daily meals and monitor any reaction. If no unusual changes occur, you can increase the amount of your chosen probiotic per your vet’s instructions.
Shop Now for Healthy, Effective Probiotics for Your Dog
Made from only natural, healthy ingredients, our probiotics provide daily support for your pet’s immune system to keep them happy and healthy for many years to come.
They contain a unique blend of digestive enzymes, as well as insulin to act as a prebiotic to support your dog’s overall health.
Shop now to give your furry friend the wellness support they deserve.
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