Choosing the Right Supplements For Your Dogs
Choosing the right health supplements for dogs is not an easy task. You can find many different types of nutritional supplements for pets on the market today and choosing one can be a tad confusing to say the least. So, in this article, I am going to give you some tips to choose the right supplement for your dog.
No chemicals
Do not choose any product that contains chemicals. They are undoubtedly bad for your dog’s health. No matter how popular the manufacturer may be, if their product contains chemicals, preservatives, artificial flavors, or coloring agents, stay away from it. This is an important thing you need to keep in mind while choosing a health supplement for dog.
Go natural
Natural health supplements are a much better choice than supplements that contain artificial chemicals. High quality herbal supplements, in particular, can be very good for your dog’s health. Speaking of herbal supplements for dogs, here is a small word of caution – some products are labeled ‘organic’, but they actually contain some chemicals. So, make sure you choose products that are 100% organic.
Ingredients to Look For
Huang Qi, Mistletoe, Milk Thistle, Indian Ginseng, and Echinacea Purpurea are some of the herbs you should look for in pet health supplements. These herbs can increase your dog’s disease resistance capacity, increase its energy levels, improve the functioning of its vital organs, and increase its metabolic rate. A number of clinical trials have been done on these herbs and their safety and efficacy have been well documented. So, choose an herbal supplement for dog that contains a combination of all these herbs.
Extraction method
A lot of pet health supplement manufacturers use outdated methods to extract the active ingredients present in medicinal herbs. They also use harsh chemicals in their extraction process. This is something that herbalists and naturopathy practitioners does not approve of. They say that active ingredients should be extracted using what they call the Full Spectrum Method.
This is an advanced method which does not use any harsh chemicals. The active ingredients extracted using this method do not lose their potency. So, before choosing health supplements for dogs, make sure you visit the manufacturer’s website and look for details regarding the extraction process.
FDA guidelines
Always choose a product that is approved by the FDA and meets the standards set by the DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health Education Act). Make sure the supplement is manufactured in a GMP (good manufacturing practice) compliant laboratory under the supervision of a qualified pharmacist.
It is also a good idea to verify if the ingredients of the product are listed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States. Not many products on the market today meet these criteria. So, you need to be careful and choose nothing but the best nutritional supplement for dog using these guidelines.
Health supplements are usually meant for long term use. In fact, pet health experts suggest making these supplements a part of your dog’s diet. So, if you choose a low quality product, you will be basically giving your dog a small dose of chemicals and other harmful substances every day. This is why you need to be really careful while choosing nutritional supplements for dogs. So, use the tips given in the article, choose the right product, and take good care of your dog.
