Welcome back to this week’s drip! I have always talked about what CBD can do for you, but lately I have been receiving a ton of questions around CBD for dogs, how much to give and whether or not it’s safe so I thought why not show some love to our furry friends this week! I feel a lot of times, I give facts and reference medical studies, but for today, I would like to share a little bit about Coco, our family dog. Dogs are mammals just like us, so it should be no surprise that plant medicine can have profound therapeutic effects on our furry friends, just as it does us. For this week’s drip we will be talking about; why dogs use CBD, how much CBD to give dogs, ways to give your dog CBD, and share a little bit about Coco’s story.
Coco is one of the sweetest dogs, part King Charles Spaniel, part mystery – he is a rescue dog, so we’ve never been quite sure of his bloodline. He has been a part of our family for the last 12 years, and is quite the bundle of joy! Always jumping up and dancing on his back legs to greet you the second you walk in the door – no matter the hour, or guest, Coco is quite the greeter. Being a rescue dog, Coco was prone to anxiety, especially separation anxiety, and hated going to the Vet, nevertheless we learned to love him in a way he understood. Over the past year, we noticed signs of Coco’s aging as well as digestive problems and hotspots. We took him to a couple different Vet’s only to hear similar responses; this comes with age, his hair may never grow back, as well as him needing daily medications, etc. Being a plant advocate myself, I thought there must be a better solution. Let’s say he does need daily supplements to keep him feeling his best, but why not give him what I would want? Plant medicine, whole, all natural foods, a balanced diet with plenty of fresh air and exercise, so this is what we did and here’s what happened.
First, there are a variety of reasons you may be wanting to try CBD with your dog, anxiety, boost their immune system, regulate mood, sleep schedule, fight inflammation, digestive health, etc. Dogs have an endocannabinoid system (ECS) and produce endocannabinoids naturally, just as we do. This is why it is important to nourish your dog’s ECS, which will in turn create balance throughout their body.
Coco’s ailments and what we were working on treating for him was what drove our method of consumption. Our vet had explained how important gut health is, especially as they age, and had recommended an all-natural probiotic chew to incorporate 2xs per day. To start, we gave coco ½ of a probiotic chew dripped with 5mg of CBD oil. We did this 2xs per day. Within just a few days we begin to notice improvement in his gut health, less gassy, normal bowel movements, and (this was probable the one I was most excited about) no more accidents in the house! Coco was visibly feeling better, but I knew we still had a ways to go.
Giving our dog CBD oil was new to us, I was a little unsure how much to start with, and with Coco being only 18lbs, I wanted to be sure to talk to our Vet about dosage. The good thing about CBD is that it is non-psychoactive (meaning you and/or your dog will not get high!), you also cannot overdose on CBD. Your body can only metabolize so much CBD, anything more will be expelled as waste. With that said, we were treating mild symptoms for Coco so we started with a low dose of 2.5mg per 10lbs, which came out to about 5mg for Coco. Below is a chart I have made, based on what our Vet has recommended.
When giving your dog CBD Oil it is very important to keep in mind what symptoms you are trying to treat. You will want to start at a low dose, increasing potency based on moderate to severe symptoms. Additionally, your dog’s weight and size will play a huge factor in determining dosage. General rule of thumb, you’re going to want to start around 2.5mg of CBD per 10lb weight of your dog, after 5 days or so you may want to increase dosage.. During this trial phase you should always record how much you give your dog, and keep a journal of your dog’s behavior to help you understand if the current dose is working or if perhaps a little more is needed. It was noted that you could go up to 10mg of CBD per 10lbs, for severe symptoms but it could cause feelings of sedation in your dog. But again, this is a case by case basis and it is always best to speak with your dog’s vet prior to making dietary changes.
Coco has been using Organix Supply Co. 500mg CBD Oil, for about 60 days now, which I really wish I had taken photos of when we first started this journey. I have included one below of where we are today, as you can see his hotspots have healed – however the hair has yet to grow back. I will continue to document his journey, and will provide an update to this blog via social media in another 60 days. To help treat Coco’s hotspot we actually dripped a little bit of oil directly onto the affected area, my sister would do this every evening for Coco. Oil goes such a long way, she drips about a 1/3 of a dropper full onto his skin lightly rubbing it in..Coco just thought he was getting some extra cuddles in :) . After about 8 days or so, we did notice the itching/scratching and raw/redness had pretty much gone away. Overall his irritability for the affected area has seem to subsided – now we are just focused on growing his hair back.
Currently, we are still giving Coco 5mg of CBD oil via a probiotic chew, 2xs per day + applying about 5mg of CBD oil directly to his skin 1x per day. In total this is about 15mg of CBD per day.
I believe our pets deserve just as high of a quality product as we do. All of our products are all-natural, hemp derived, and do not contain any flavors, additives, sugars, or dyes. Our focus is to provide you, and your dog, as many benefits of the whole hemp plant, without anything extra.