Introduction to CBD benefits for your dogs and what to expect
Since the US government legalized the use of medicinal CBD in early 2021, there’s been an overnight surge in demand for various products that were based on CBD. To satisfy the overwhelming demands, existing manufacturers pump out more and more products everyday. Not only do pet owners in the USA want to reap the benefits of this breakthrough, but everyone around the world. Canadians are no different in wanting to use CBD for their pets either!
New companies also come to capitalize on the sudden increase of popularity of CBD products. These manufacturers focus on CBD for both humans and pets, especially dogs and cats. To differentiate itself from the competitors, every company puts their own spin on the CBD products that they sell.
That’s why if you want to get CBD for your dogs right now, you will be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options available today. But all of this attention on CBD certainly raises the question, what kind of issues can CBD actually help your dogs with?
What is CBD and how does it work in dogs?
Cannabidiol (CBD) is an active compound that could be found inside cannabis and its subclass plants. CBD is a member of a family of compounds called cannabinoids. Other than CBD, there are also other cannabinoids inside cannabis. Among them is a psychoactive compound called THC.
CBD products that were made for medicinal use were often made out of hemp, instead of cannabis. The reason is because hemp has more CBD than THC within it. Even then, the amount of THC allowed is only 0.3% or less. That amount is considered to be safe to use by both humans and animals.
CBD works in a relatively similar way for both humans and animals. Upon entering the body, CBD would link up with the endocannabinoid system. This is a neural network that appears throughout our body. Through its endocannabinoid receptors, CBD will gain temporal access to the endocannabinoid system and would be able to influence certain parts of our brain and body. Here is an image of some of the locations of the receptors where dogs can get the benefits of CBD into their systems:
CBDs or CBMs what are the differences
On top of the great news that CBD has brought, as researches continue to look at what makes it work they have also identified CBM. CBM, or a Cannabimimetic , is another beneficial molecule in the oils that can really help out dogs and their owners. If you want to find out more information about this topic, make sure you read our article about what are CBMs and what they can do for your dogs. There is a lot to go over, so if you are interested it is best to read that specific article for everything you need to know.
What issues can CBD help with in dogs
1. Reducing Anxiety in dogs
One of the unique effects of CBD is its ability to induce a sense of calmness no matter what is your dog’s current emotional state. This particular effect is the one that could be used to help with anxiety and panic attacks. Whenever your dogs are in a state of panic or being anxious, CBD can calm them down.
Your dogs could experience such conditions when you take them to unfamiliar places, or maybe they simply feel uneasy due to certain situations. No matter what the reason may be, CBD is the perfect solution to make them feel at ease.
2. Helping dogs who have Seizures
The positive effect of CBD on the treatment of epilepsy for both humans and animals has been well researched for a long time. Not only that, even the FDA has officially recommended the use of CBD to treat epilepsy. And that positive effect also extends to other types of seizures as well.
You can use CBD to help your dogs whenever they experience seizures. But it would be better if you start regularly giving CBD to them before the seizure happens. In order to know the appropriate dosage and how often you should give CBD to them, be sure to talk to your trusted vets first.
3. Giving benefit to dogs suffering from Arthritis
Other than its effect on the nervous system, CBD also has the ability to treat various muscle, joints, and skin issues. The reason for this unique effect is due to the anti-inflammatory properties of the CBD. Thanks to this, CBD could help with ailments such as Arthritis, sprained ankle, rashes, and many more.
For this kind of issues and pains, it would be better to vary the use between the oral CBD, such as the CBD oil or CBD treats, with the ones that could be used externally, such as CBD spray or CBD cream. Because while Arthritis could be treated internally, rashes and swelling could heal better when treated externally. So you can help them from within their body, as well as applying treatment directly to their pained areas.
4. Other benefits of CBD usage for dogs
Other than the already mentioned health benefits, there are several other positive effects that your dogs can get from using CBD. One of the areas of your dogs brain that CBD could temporarily affect is pain management. That’s why CBD could act as a very potent pain killer. It can calm down the areas that are sending the pain messages through the neuron network, thus reducing the pain they feel.
CBD could also affect the digestive system of your dogs, particularly in order to increase their appetite. And interestingly enough, if you regularly give CBD to your dogs, you’ll notice an improvement in the quality of their fur. It will be thicker, stronger, smoother, and overall more glowing than before.
What are things CBD can’t help dogs with?
While there are a lot of benefits to using CBD there also has to be a limit to the expectations as to what it can do. While it might be able to turn back the clock for some dogs, there is also a chance that they might not respond to it. Just like a medicine, sometimes one works for somebody while it might not work as well for other people. This is the case with CBD as well. And while it would be easy to say CBD will help every dog, all of the time, the truth is that it won’t. This is why it is better to go into using CBD as a possible way to help something but not to get too upset if it doesn’t help them right away.
With CBD products for dogs, it is also important to remember that different brands have different “secret sauces.” Just like how there is Coke and Pepsi, each product maker will have their own sources for ingredients and recipe. This is why it is so important to get a product from a reputable company, with good/real reviews.
We have tested a lot of products that honestly showed no improvements for our little one. And while it might work for others, we just didn’t get the benefits that we should have. Maybe it just wasn’t the right mix for us, or whatever other variable there could be, but we try our best to give our Pug the best life possible. This is pretty much the basis of this entire blog. We want to help you cut out the trying of products that might not work, and lead you to products that we feel work the best.
But can my dog overdose on CBD?
While this is something that all people, and pet owners, ask about CBD the easy answer is no. The full answer, is
Unlike other substances, the toxic dose (20,000 mg of CBD), is not widely considered to be lethal. It may be possible – in the same study mentioned above in Current Drug Safety, lethal doses were achieved in monkeys; but, this would be unethical to study in humans.
https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/take-too-much-cbd/71920/#:~:text=Is%20a%20%E2%80%9Ctoxic%E2%80%9D%20dose%20of,widely%20considered%20to%20be%20lethal. is that
So what does this mean? To achieve an overdose resulting in death they had to administer 20,000 mgs of CBD to a monkey. Have they tried to overdose a dog with results, from what we could find the answer was no. And as they haven’t tried, nor reported, any overdoses of CBD on humans it looks to be a pretty safe thing to give dogs, pets, humans, and monkeys when within reason. We have done a full right up that goes more in depth to the topic and possibility of your dog overdosing on CBD here.
But as we have noted in the past, if you start low and slow with CBD there should be very little issues encountered. We always suggest talking with your vet prior to changing anything in your dogs life and CBD is no different. There might be upset stomachs, or other small issues. But in all honesty, a high dosed bottle might contain 1,000 mgs of total cbd. To get to the area that these tests were performed in, you would need your dog to ingest 20 bottles….
Conclusion
Due to its ability to bind with the endocannabinoid system within the body of both humans and animals, CBD could provide various health benefits to us and our dogs. From helping with anxiety, to treating seizures, and even helping with arthritis, those are just a handful of issues that CBD could help with. So if your dogs are experiencing any of those things, don’t hesitate to give CBD to them based on the recommended dosage.