Dogs need supplements just as much as humans. In fact, if your main food is commercial pet food, dogs need supplementation even more!
There are basic supplements that dogs require as they age, such as digestive enzymes, and others that they need throughout life, such as omega 3/6 oils, minerals, and probiotics. Why probiotics for dogs?
Your dog may look and act healthy, but…
Taming a dog is a behavior, but taming the diet of dogs has led to a growing health crisis. For a dog to be truly healthy, it must be fed a diet that resembles that of its wild ancestors, who hunted and killed fresh animals. They supplement their diet by eating grass and dirt. More on this in a minute.
The closest you’re likely to get is a raw diet consisting of free-range chicken and grass-fed beef that’s free of hormones and antibiotics. To this basic diet are added supplements that replace grass and soil. If you do that, your dogs will be healthier, happier and live longer!
Perhaps the most powerful medical quotes of all time are completely ignored by American doctors and veterinarians.
“90% of all chronic diseases are caused by an unhealthy digestive system” The Royal Society of Medicine, Great Britain
Probiotic Supplements and Gut Balance
Dannons successful ad campaign back in the 1970s suggested that the Hunzas lived to be over 100 years old because they ate yoghurt, a probiotic! It didn’t matter that the air they breathed and the soil in which they grew their fruits and vegetables and raised their meat were free of contamination, or that the yogurt the Hunzas ate had little in common with Dannon or any other commercial yogurt. However, today there is fierce competition for your dairy-based probiotic dollar. Buy Beware!
Briefly, commercial-grade probiotics, such as yogurt or acidophilus supplements, come from cattle that are not grass-fed, do not live on open pastures where they would exercise, breathe fresh air, and get vitamin D from sunlight. Instead, they live in closed, toxic environments: they are injected with growth hormones and antibiotics. If there was ever any nutritional value in this milk, it was destroyed when it was pasteurized and homogenized. People and pets with dairy allergies actually suffer from the effects of the care, feeding, and processing of commercial dairy cows. People who switched to organic milk find that they are no longer allergic!
Solving GI related problems that have not progressed to chronic is often as simple as giving them a daily probiotic! Why? Digestion and elimination are time sensitive. Too short or too long eventually leads to a health crisis.
The more processed the food, the harder it is for the digestive system to break it down. This comes at a huge cost to the good bacteria (probiotic) colonies as they struggle to find and assimilate the small amount of nutritional value.
The good bacteria not only help in the assimilation of nutrients, but provide the balance against the bad bacteria. This balance is quickly upset when your dog eats contaminated food or a bacteria-laden morsel. Heat and the slightest bit of moisture (moisture) can quickly contaminate an opened bag of dry dog food.
If you pay attention to your dog, you may see early warning signs, which can include loss of energy, gas, bad breath, itchy skin, constipation, bouts of diarrhea or vomiting, and loss of appetite. These resolve quickly with just one dose of probiotic supplementation and are preventable with daily use. Prevention saves you money in the long run.
Chronic health problems develop when bad bacteria hold the upper hand in the GI tract for a long period of time.
the ultimate probiotic
About 25 years ago, researchers noticed that wild animals not only ate grass, but also pulled it. Digging deeper into why, they found that the dirt surrounding the root structure of grasses from organic soils was associated with microflora and bacteria that had a probiotic effect in the gastrointestinal tract.
Appropriately, these microorganisms were collectively referred to as Soil-Based Organisms (SBOs).
let them eat dirt
It seems like the simple solution would be to let your dog eat grass. Most domestic dogs live in environments that do not provide these essential digestive aids. Lawns and dog parks are treated with inorganic pesticides, fertilizers, and chlorine from municipal water. These chemicals kill SBOs.
SBO versus antibiotics
Doctors know that antibiotics are toxic chemicals that kill both good and bad bacteria, yet they refuse to use probiotic treatments! If this isn’t bad enough, the side effects of antibiotic treatment for your dog are the equivalent of a kick in the nose.
Probiotics are natural living organisms of the digestive system. SBOs have been scientifically proven to resolve gastrointestinal disorders and are essential for maintaining intestinal balance. Since gastrointestinal disorders develop as a result of bad bacteria outcompeting good (probiotic) bacteria, the first course of action should be to restore the balance by administering SBO.
A few doses of SBO will quickly eliminate most cases of GI upset before a vet can see it. Also, when administering SBO there is no need to hold back food or water!
Where can you get SBO?
SBOs are not a prescription drug. They are available online, at select pet stores, and from holistic veterinarians.
The cultivation of SBO requires controlled conditions in the laboratory, using strict scientific protocols. Like the fermentation of the best beer or wine, the SBO culturing process cannot be rushed.
While almost any SBO formula will be beneficial, brands that consist of a variety of active SBO strains are more likely to quickly restore proper GI balance.
CAUTION: Things can go from better to worse, temporarily!
As mentioned above, commercial pet food is difficult to break down and digest. Consequently, it moves slowly through the intestines. Most likely, some fecal plaque has adhered to your dog’s intestinal walls. Once it gets a foothold, it thickens over time. Even fairly young animals can experience some blockage as a result of this buildup.
Regular administration of SBO will slowly begin to break up the stool. During this cleaning/cleaning process, pathogens and microbes that were covered with layers of fecal matter will be exposed and can cause bouts of diarrhea or vomiting. Depending on the buildup, it may take a few months before it is completely removed.
During this time, you will likely see your dog reach new levels of happiness and energy. She can overwhelm them until they adapt.
Most cases of diarrhea or vomiting are the result of long-term food choices that aren’t probiotic-friendly, or swallowing a pathogen-laden snack. If you administer SBO and your dog doesn’t show noticeable improvement within 12 hours, take him to the vet right away!