Build a healthy immune system in your puppy

A dog with a well-balance immune system is said to be a healthy, happy dog. A healthy immune system is a sure way of keeping diseases like diabetes, infections, osteoarthritis and even cancer at bay. Come, let’s read a little more about the immune system.

The immune system: a watchdog for your dog

The dog’s immune system acts like a watchdog, keeping an eye on potentially harmful germs like viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. It catches them and eliminates them before they can cause any serious damage. The immune system’s job is also to monitor cells and make sure they’re working just fine. As you can see, the dog’s immune system is the backbone of your dog’s health. And if that gets compromised, your dog’s health may become compromised too, increasing the chances of serious illnesses. An immune system that’s unbalanced for extended periods of time can lead to chronic inflammation, which can open up the gateway to disease. Diabetes, a few liver and heart conditions, asthma, osteoarthritis, and cancer are some diseases that you dog’s weakened immune system could lead to. Before you start to worry, there are simple, easy and natural ways to ensure this does not happen to your furry companion. Here are a few easy ones that you can begin with today.

Encourage exercise through play

The best way to give a boost to the immune system is through exercise and play. Excess fat, even small amounts, weakens the immune system. Fat is responsible for secreting inflammation-promoting hormones.Exercise burns fat, which can keep inflammation under check. Encourage your dog to exercise. Dogs by nature are active creatures, and engaging them in fun activities is a great way to get them to exercise. You can include games like retrieving, doing scent work, learning new tricks or just boisterous rough-housing. Check with your dog’s veterinarian before embarking on an intensive exercise program.

Groom and massage your dog

Do not underestimate the benefits of touch for your dog. Any contact, through grooming, petting or massage can benefit your dog as it promotes relaxation and healing, which goes on to impact the overall health of your pet. There might not be many studies that talk about the effects of massages on dogs, but the studies on humans have shown that massage can help reduce the presence of stress hormones in the body.Additionally, even a mildly-pressured massage can improve the overall immune function, which increases natural killer cells and natural killer cell activity. By a slight stretch of imagination we can believe that dogs too could experience the same benefits as we do with a massage.

Give your dog the right foods

We are what we eat, and this is true of our dogs too. Dogs are meant to eat a moist, meat-based diet. Most commercial dry foods contain least 40 percent starch. And there lies the problem. Starch promotes inflammation. If you must feed some starch, make sure it comes from vegetables and legumes, like potatoes, sweet potatoes and lentils, which are not as inflammatory as starch from grains. Ideally your dog should eat a grain-free, starch-free diet that includes fresh meat and vegetables. Your dog needs to get a good amount of fiber and live bacteria (only possible from fresh foods) to maintaining a healthy microbiome. Remember, a diet consisting of just meat and bones is not sufficient.

Consider adding certain supplements

You can improve the effectiveness of the immune system by adding a few supplements to your dog’s diet. Do not buy artificial supplements; instead try and use them in their natural form as far as possible. Also, don’t overdo it as some ingredients can work against each other. You can check out probiotics which add beneficial microorganisms into the digestive tract. A healthy gut flora is the best way to improve gut immunity, which leads to improved immunity.Your dog’s microbiome is different from yours. So adding the same supplements as you take or including curd in the diet might not help. Ask your vet for a recommendation. Fish oil contains inflammation-fighting omega-3 fatty acids. However, getting this in the right amounts is difficult, so you can give fish oil supplements. Curcumin is an active ingredient in turmeric. It contains anti-cancer properties, along with being anti-inflammatory and a pain reliever as well. Always buy supplements from companies that use high-quality ingredients and where the products have been tested for purity

Have you given thought to BARF – Basic Ancestral Raw Food?

The best way to help your dog’s immune system in good shape is to feed your dog a balanced, species appropriate food. And the best option is raw. A part of the wolf family (yes, even your sweet Lab or lap-sized Apso), your dog needs and will thrive only on a raw diet. Raw food is a natural food and it contains the exact mix of all the nutrients and goodness that a dog would get if it were a wild creature. More importantly, it doesn’t have any of low quality protein that is not good for your dog. You can make your own raw food in the right proportion, or you can buy commercially prepared raw food for your diet. Whatever you do, eliminate or limit the amount of bad protein from your dog’s diet. And watch your furry companion turn into a happy, healthy dog.