Natural Health for Pets

// 03.07.2008 at 7:28 am //

Supplementing Your Dog’s Diet - Glucosamine

This comes from my For the Love of the Dog site;

Although I am not a proponent of commercial dog food, I will admit that most high quality dog foods do have most of the vitamins, minerals and whatnot your dog needs. As you stand in the store pondering the plethora of varieties of dog food for your dog’s diet, your mind can truly become overwhelmed. The numerous ingredients in dog food simply complicate things even further. Who really knows what all of those ingredients really mean? You see glucosamine on some of the dog food labels. That sounds a bit familiar. What exactly is glucosamine and why should it be in your dog’s diet?

You have probably heard of glucosamine in the news. Glucosamine has been beneficial to joint health in humans. Research has also shown that glucosamine in a dog’s diet can be beneficial to your pet’s health.

Glucosamine is a dietary supplement that has been shown to encourage good joint health. This supplement helps to maintain good joint cartilage. Glucosamine is one of the key building blocks to produce joint lubricants. The joint lubricant helps to keep the joints moving and functioning with ease. Glucosamine in your dog’s diet will ensure your pet’s joints work at their peak performance levels for years to come.

How does glucosamine work to help your dog’s joints? Glucosamine hydrates and lubricates your pet’s joints. The added hydration and lubrication will help to prevent arthritis in your dog. For this reason, glucosamine is a good supplement in your dog’s diet.

Pet owners of large breed dogs that are predisposed to having joint and hip problems should especially consider adding glucosamine to their dog’s diet.

Glucosamine is typically safe as part of a healthy and balanced diet. Your dog’s diet should include glucosamine to encourage joint health. Your pet will not suffer from side effects or interactions with medications when glucosamine is part of your dog’s diet.

Today, many high-quality dog foods, manufactured by reputable companies, have already added glucosamine to their food products. Animal nutrition reports have discovered the benefits of glucosamine in your dog’s diet and dog food producers have quickly responded. If you find that your dog’s diet does not contain glucosamine, or you feel your pet could benefit from additional supplementation in the diet, you should have no problem locating glucosamine supplements for your pet.

Glucosamine supplements come in numerous forms. You can even give your dog a treat specially designed to supplement your dog’s diet with glucosamine. The tasty treat eliminates the trouble of dosing your dog with pills.

You can give your canine companion glucosamine tablet or pills that you would take yourself purchased from a health food store or wherever you purchase supplements. The advised dose is 1/4 of a 500mg tablet once daily per 10 lbs of body weight. It helps to rebuild the cartilage and delay further cartilage breakdown.

So start protecting your pooch’s joints now to avoid problems later with a little natural health help!

// Tagged Article, Food and Nutrition, Health, Herbs, dog's diet, glucosamine, Health, supplements