Did you know that probiotics are essential for your dog's health? In fact, probiotics can provide a wide range of health benefits, from helping to improve digestion and gut health to boosting the immune system. This blog post will go into depth on the many benefits of probiotics for dogs. We will also explore how to choose the right probiotic supplement for your pet and how to incorporate it into their diet. So, if you are looking for ways to keep your pup healthy and happy, read on!
What Are Probiotics and How Do They Benefit Dogs?
You’re probably wondering what probiotics are in the first place, and probiotics are microorganisms that live within the digestive tract. There are billions of different live bacteria that live within the gastrointestinal system of animals, and these healthy gut bacteria balance the internal environment to prevent diseases and promote overall better health for your pup. Some benefits of probiotics for dogs are strengthening their immunity, helping break down their food, and absorbing vitamins and minerals. Some other benefits of probiotics for dogs are they can help reduce anxiety and stress and improve diarrhea and allergies within your pup.
Probiotics for Digestion
One of the most well-known benefits of probiotics is their ability to aid in digestion. Probiotics can help dogs who are suffering from digestive issues like diarrhea, vomiting, and gas. They work by promoting a healthy balance of gut bacteria, which helps the digestive system to function properly. If your dog is having trouble with his digestion, probiotics may be able to help.
Probiotics for Immunity
Another benefit of probiotics is that they can help to boost immunity. The good bacteria in probiotics can help to fight off infections and disease-causing bacteria. This can help to keep your dog healthy and prevent him from getting sick. If your dog's immune system could use a little boost, probiotics may be a good option for him.
Probiotics for Anxiety Relief
If your dog suffers from anxiety, you may be wondering if there's anything you can do to help him feel better. While there's no cure for anxiety, some dog owners have found that giving their dog probiotics can help to ease his symptoms. Probiotics work by reducing stress hormones in the body, which can help to calm an anxious dog. If your dog is struggling with anxiety, talk to your vet about whether or not probiotics may be right for him.
How Do I Know If My Dog Needs Probiotics?
This is a very common question when pet owners are looking into making a better diet for their dogs. When the balance of your pup’s gut bacteria is off it can cause many health problems and cause a wide range of symptoms. You can look out for a few signs if your dog lacks probiotics in their diet. These include; your dog constantly itching, having dry or flaky skin, constipation, bloating, and diarrhea. It is important that your dog gets a well-balanced assortment of probiotic strains and you should speak to your vet regarding recommendations for probiotics that suit your dog’s microbiota.
Types of Probiotics
There are many different probiotic products on the market so it is important to research what product is best for your dog’s body. It can be overwhelming with the number of probiotics on the market which is why at Dog Child we make it easy and include probiotics and prebiotics in our Meal Mixes & Essential Nutrient Mix. This aids in keeping your dog’s gut healthy and helps with digestive issues.
Some types of probiotics include; Bifidobacterium animals, Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, and Bacillus subtilis. These help balance your pup’s stomach to ensure that they have good bacteria for your dog’s gastrointestinal tract (gi tract).
At Dog Child, we include Bacillus Coaglans in our mixes. This unique Bacillus strain is resistant to heat and cooking and has been included to help promote efficient digestion. Probiotics appear to work by coating the intestinal lining and thereby acting as a barrier against the adhesion or translocation of pathogenic bacteria. They also secrete organic acids, thus lowering intestinal pH and inhibiting pathogens, plus a wide range of antimicrobial compounds, which also have a role in inhibiting pathogens. They also gobble up utilizable compounds before pathogens can use them, and in doing so improve stool consistency.
Benefits of Dog Child’s Probiotics
The probiotics that are included in Dog Child’s Meal Mixes are acting as a team providing a healthy digestive environment which is the key to maximizing food digestibility and efficiency. They may help maintain a healthy digestive and intestinal environment, help maximize food digestibility and efficiency, help promote beneficial bacteria development and help reduce pathogens’ presence in the digestive tract. Providing a healthy digestive environment is the key to optimizing feed efficiency and global health and doing it naturally is improving the chances of success impressively.
Even if a dog eats the best ingredients available, these will not be utilized properly if the digestive system is functioning poorly. Providing a healthy digestive environment is the key to optimizing feed efficiency and global health and doing it naturally is improving the chances of success.
Side Effects of Probiotics
There can be some side effects when it comes to probiotics especially when your pup first starts a new probiotic supplement. Some of these may include; irritable bowel discomfort, diarrhea, gas, bloating, constipation, and nausea. So it is important to find a probiotic that works well for your dog. Once you are able to find a probiotic that works well for your pup, he/she will be able to thrive and benefit positively from probiotics.
How Dog Child Has Incorporated Probiotics Into our Products
At Dog Child, we created Meal Mixes, where you can easily make fresh dog food in the comfort of your home. You add a scoop of our Dog Child Meal Mix, your pup’s favourite protein, water, and oil. What makes Dog Child stand out is that we incorporate probiotics into our Meal Mixes and help promote your dog’s microbial digestive health. Our Meal Mixes have all the essential nutrients that your dog needs to thrive. They have been formulated with pet nutritionists and vets. Our Essential Nutrient Mix includes +75 whole-food sourced nutrients with a proprietary blend of probiotics & prebiotics for gut & digestion. Our products give dog owners the peace of mind that their pup is getting everything that they need in a meal that is simple, nutritious, and delicious that promotes overall health.
The following unique ingredients are in Dog Child’s Meal Mixes acting as a team providing a healthy digestive environment which is the key to maximizing food digestibility and efficiency.
- may help maintain a healthy digestive and intestinal environment
- may help maximize food digestibility and efficiency
- may help promote beneficial bacteria development
- may help reduce pathogen's presence in the digestive tract
FRUCTO-OLIGOSACCHARIDES (FOS) Prebiotics
Since the value of probiotics (good and friendly bacteria) became widely accepted, interest in substances that support their growth in the intestine has grown. These are essentially carbohydrates that are not digested in the stomach or small intestine (i.e. non-caloric) and not utilized by pathogens. Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) are carbohydrates derived from chicory roots, sugar beet or sugar cane and used as a food source for the naturally present good bacteria as well as probiotics which could be added to food as a supplement. They aid digestion by allowing these beneficial bacteria and probiotics to lower intestinal pH (which means providing a more acidic environment). This inhibits both pathogens and putrefying bacteria and thus reduces stool odour. The prebiotic/beneficial bacteria tandem is also believed to have a positive impact on immune system function.
Yeast Extract
Mannan-oligosaccharides are carbohydrates derived from yeast's cellular wall, which can help limit the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria (such as salmonella and E. coli mainly). These bacteria will attach to MOS instead of becoming attached to intestinal wall cells and are then excreted with stools. MOS also stimulates the production of mucin, a protein present in the mucus that coats and protect the intestinal wall (lining) and represents the first line of defence against invaders such as bad pathogenic bacteria as well as toxic matter. Mucin plays a major role in maintaining a healthy, beneficial microbial population.
Bacillus Coagulans Probiotics
As discussed above, probiotics are microorganisms that contribute to digestive and intestinal health, also known as "beneficial bacteria." Most of the organisms that have been studied for this purpose are bacteria, mainly strains of Lactobacillus, Bacillus and Bifidobacterium. We include a unique Bacillus strain.
We encourage you to test out our products today.
