Regardless of how healthy your dog appears to be, it's important that you take steps to ensure your dog's long-term health, which should keep future illnesses at bay. Along with making sure that your dog gets the right amount of exercise, you should also provide your dog with the nutrients they need to remain healthy. Some of these nutrients come in the form of probiotics, which are safe for practically any dog to consume.
What Do Probiotics Do for Dogs?
Probiotics are healthy microbes that exist in your dog's gastrointestinal system. These microbes can be either yeasts or bacteria. Healthy gut bacteria are able to fight pathogens, improve your dog's immune system, and produce other vitamins and nutrients. It's possible for healthy microbes that already exist in the gastrointestinal system to be destroyed, which can cause your dog's health to deteriorate.
If you find that your dog is experiencing diarrhea or similar health issues, probiotics may be the ideal solution for these health problems. Probiotics are available in numerous forms, which include capsules, chews, powders, yogurt, and specialty dog foods.
Six Benefits of Probiotics for Dogs
1. Dog Probiotics Can Reduce Antibiotic Side Effects
If your dog is taking antibiotics to keep infection at bay or to treat a health condition that they're experiencing, probiotics may be necessary to keep other health problems from developing. Antibiotics are unable to understand the difference between bad and good bacteria, which means that this medicine will actively fight both types of bacteria.
Without probiotics, your dog may experience gastrointestinal side effects when taking antibiotics. You can reduce the severity of these side effects by providing your dog with probiotics.
2. Healthy Gut Bacteria Can Help With Your Dog's Behavior
When your dog is suffering from gastrointestinal problems, it's likely that their behavior and mood will change. Their behavioral changes could lead to obsessive-compulsive actions. By improving your dog's health with probiotics, most of the unhealthy gut bacteria should be eliminated, which may be able to improve how your dog behaves.
3. Skin Allergy Symptoms Can Be Mitigated
Allergies have become increasingly common in dogs because of an imbalance in gut bacteria. When there's a heightened amount of unhealthy gut bacteria in your dog, they are more likely to experience allergies. As such, providing your dog with probiotics could reduce any skin allergy symptoms they may be going through.
4. Healthy Gut Bacteria Promotes Better Breath, Skin, and Coat
Since probiotics improve the growth of good gut bacteria, your dog should begin to feel and look better. Having the right balance of gut bacteria can improve a dog's overall health, which could result in better breath, healthier skin, and a smoother coat.
5. Can Treat Digestive Issues and Alleviate Symptoms
If you believe that your dog is stressed or sick for some reason, these issues could result in your dog's gut bacteria becoming imbalanced. Over time, issues like cramping, bad breath, diarrhea, and gas may develop. If your dog is given probiotics, their gut bacteria should improve, which would likely cause any digestive symptoms to be alleviated.
6. Can Prevent Health Problems Caused By Unhealthy Bacteria
If your dog has high amounts of unhealthy bacteria in their gut, it's important that this health concern is treated with probiotics as quickly as possible. In the event that your dog's gut bacteria doesn't improve, they could experience bloating and constipation. These health problems can lead to more severe issues like vomiting, a loss of appetite, and lethargy. It's possible to counteract these issues by combining probiotics with fresh water and regular exercise.
Probiotics are wonderful nutrients that can be used by dogs and humans alike. Because these nutrients can be administered in a variety of different forms, you should be able to find an option that your dog enjoys. For a great-tasting soft chew, consider the Brutus & Barnaby probiotic soft chew, which is effective for any size or breed.