Benefits of Probiotics for Dogs

Probiotics for dogs are bacteria that are beneficial for the digestive tract. There are billions of them in your dog's gastrointestinal system and what do they do? They contribute greatly in food digestion, making vitamins & nutrients, fighting off pathogens, and strengthening the immune system.

In this article, Pet Parents® has come up with the many benefits of probiotics for dogs, when they are best used, and how you can give it to your furbaby.

Probiotics are known to be beneficial bacteria. As stated by Forever Vets, the word probiotics literally means “life promoting.” It refers to a class of bacteria that are often found to be naturally living inside your dog’s body, and that play a role in improving or maintaining health, helping boost their immune system, aid in digestion, and produce certain vitamins and nutrients.

Dog Probiotic Chews & More

Probiotics for dogs come in several different forms. You might find dog probiotics in:

• Yogurt or kefir with live cultures
• Dog foods
• Powders
• Capsules
• Supplement Chews 

Generally, dog probiotic chews and supplements are the best probiotic for dogs in terms of form. We'll discuss why chewable probiotics for dogs are generally best in this form later in the the article.

Are Probiotics Good for Dogs?

Probiotics are live microorganisms, typically from Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium groups and other species. As illnesses, an unbalanced diet or antibiotic treatments increases bad bacteria in the body, probiotics balance out the bad and good bacteria in the body of your furbaby. That's why probiotics are so important. Probiotics are known to have the following benefits:

• Probiotics better your dog's skin and coat health
• They stabilize and boost the immune system that results to minimized allergy symptoms
• Dog probiotics enhance the digestive process and facilitates detoxification
• Probiotics for dogs help relieve irritable bowel syndrome and constipation
• Dog probiotics reduce the occurrence and duration of diarrhea that is linked with antibiotic use
• They help provide the needed chemicals that are needed to produce biotin, B group vitamins and folic acid
• Probiotics for dogs improve mineral metabolism to help dogs achieve healthy bone stability and density

Good bacteria are any bacteria that offer benefits to the body and enhance health. While Bad bacteria are pathogenic bacteria that they may cause infections, make your dog sick or, in some cases, can even cause death!

Why Use Dog Probiotics?

Probiotics support proper digestion in your dog as well as the proper distribution of vitamins and minerals throughout the body. It also help aid your dog's body process critical nutrients like Vitamin B12. Probiotics are also known to synthesize important hormones that can support your dog's body system and help balance out the helpful and harmful bacteria.

Can Dogs Take Human Probiotics?

Can you give dogs human probiotics? Technically, yes. Human probiotics for dogs, however, are not necessarily going to provide the same ideal benefits. As you might imagine, human probiotics are targeted at human health and specific needs so it is not the best probiotic for dogs. You should also be careful to check human probiotics to ensure that they do not contain any ingredients or additives that are not dog safe. So, while you can get human probiotics for dogs, it is more effective to get a high-quality dog probiotic. These will be better suited to your dog's needs and provide more benefits to your dog than human probiotics.

Finding the Best Probiotic for Dogs

In this era of convenience, probiotics are now available in many forms aside from yogurt and kefir (as mentioned above). But what is the best probiotic for dogs? There are a lot of ways you can provide your probiotics to your furbaby and although the type of probiotic you should give your dog depends on their size and personality, one of the most recommended are probiotic supplements as you are sure that the dosage of probiotic is right to give your dog optimum benefits.

Generally, dogs do not enjoy taking pills, so supplements in the form of probiotic dog chews are an excellent choice. Choosing the right probiotic supplements can be overwhelming, too, as you do not want to give your dog lots of fillers and artificial ingredients. If you are searching for a high-quality probiotic chew for dogs, Pet Parents® offers Probiotic SoftSupps®, supplement probiotic chews for dogs that contain:

Proprietary Probiotic Blend. Consists of powerful Probiotic blend that helps prevent disease, improve digestion & nutrient absorption, & strengthen the immune system.

Pumpkin. Loaded with fiber, vitamins, & minerals that support the digestive tract, helping relieve an upset stomach & treat diarrhea & constipation.

Fructooligosaccharides. A natural substance that promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria, supports digestive & immune health, & helps with healthy detoxification & excretory processes.

Super Ingredients. Additionally, these probiotic supplements contain branded ‘Super Ingredients' that are clinically proven ingredients that go through a proprietary process. These ingredients increase the supplements’ efficacy & are more effective than other probiotic supplements in the market

Probiotic Wellness for Dogs

Finding the best dog probiotics for your furbaby will help improve your dog's overall health. Dog probiotic chews can be given daily to help keep regular gut health and even support allergy relief for your dog. 

A happier and healthier dog has a healthy gut with good bacteria that helps in breaking down food particles and promote healthy digestion, as stated by The Spruce Pets. But if the case is the opposite and your dog’s gut become unbalanced with bad bacteria overtaking the good ones, it can be a mess in there. This, then, is where supplementing your dog’s diet with probiotics can make all the difference in the world.