For thousands of years, cultures around the world have simmered bones for broth. A slow-simmered broth made with meaty bones is real food that nourishes the body. It is liquid gold. Not only will it help you thrive it will help your dog thrive too.
What is Bone Broth?
Bone broth is a nutrient-dense supplement or treat that is suitable for dogs from puppies to retirees to those that are healthy and those recovering from illness. It is a liquid of gently cooked bones and connective tissue, which becomes gelatinous when cooled. It is easily absorbed by the body, so that your dog benefits from the vitamins, minerals, and other healing properties of bone broth.
Nutrients found in bone broth include:
- Calcium
- Phosphorus
- Collagen
- Glucosamine
- Chondroitin sulfate
- Cartilage
- Amino acids
Benefits of Bone Broth for Dogs
Here are number of benefits that will help you consider including it as part of your dog's feeding regime.
Supports the immune system – Your dog’s body needs amino acids to maintain a healthy immune system and produce antibodies that fight infection. Bone broth is rich in amino acids, which helps your dog’s immune system function properly.
Anti-inflammatory – The amino acids in bone broth are known to fight inflammation, both acute and chronic.
Supports a healthy gut – Dogs with digestive issues may see improvements with consuming bone broth because of the amino acid glutamine, which supports the gut microbiome.
Ease joint pain and inflammation – The collagen in the bones used for bone broth is a natural source of glucosamine, which is known to keep cartilage healthy and may ease joint pain.
Supports bone health – The collagen and minerals enable bone health.
May support muscle growth – According to Dr. Karen Becker, DVM the gelatine in bone broth may support the growth of muscles.
Entices picky eaters - The rich meaty flavour of the bone broth is known to convince even the pickiest of eaters to eat their food.
Nourishment for sick dogs - Bone broth helps rehydrate a dog that is recovering from illness or refusing to eat. It is very gentle on the body, while still being very nutritious. It offers your dog a simple way to keep their fluids up and gives them a boost of nutrients when their body is need of them.
Potential liver detox - Bone broth may help your dog detoxify their body from environmental pollutants due to the large amount of the amino acid glycine found in bone broth.
The liver is the master organ of detoxification...The liver was never meant to suffer this onslaught (chemicals, poison, foods with toxic and synthetic ingredients) and its capacity to detoxify is limited by the availability of the amino acid glycine. Guess what has tons of glycine? Bone broth!
Make your own bone broth
Easy Bone Broth
Yields approximately 1kg to 1 1/2 kgÂ
2kg any bones (feet, neck, marrow, joint, knuckle bones)
3 litres water (ideally filtered)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Optional: carrots, celery and other vegetables for an extra boost of nourishment
- Place bones in a slow cooker.
- Add water to cover contents.
- Add apple cider vinegar.
- Cook on lowest setting to maintain a low and gentle simmer. See below for timings.
- Discard bones and strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove any splintered or small bones.
- Quickly cool with an ice bath. Fill a sink or large bowl with ice and water. Add bowl with bone broth to cool the broth fast and reduce the risk of pathogens.
- Continue to cool in refrigerator.
- Skim and discard fat.
- Serve and portion into smaller containers and freeze for later.
Slow cooker times:
Chicken and Turkey bones: 18 to 24 hours
Beef, lamb, goat etc. bones:Â 36 to 48 hours
Tip:
When cooking bone broth place outside in a well ventilated area. This will prevent your house from smelling and your family protesting about the smell.
How to feed bone broth
Bone broth is not a balanced diet, but is best used as a supplement and treat for your dog. There are number of ways to include bone broth into your dog’s feeding regime.
- Use warm bone broth to hydrate a kibble-based diet or rehydrated freeze-dried or dehydrated diets.
- Pour bone broth over a fresh whole food diet for an excellent source of hydration.
- Serve on its own, especially to those dogs refusing to eat or recovering from surgery or illness.
- Freeze into ice cube moulds to serve on a hot day to help cool your dog down.
- Mix bone broth into blended vegetables or fruit to encourage your dog to eat the functional carbohydrates.
- If you make the bone broth for your dog, let them lick the bowl after you portion the broth.
Alternatives to Bone Broth
Yes, there are simple alternatives to feeding your dog bone broth, but the benefits of a broth far outweigh the convenience of the alternatives. The alternative to feeding bone broth to your dog is giving them a supplement in pill form. Instead of a pill let your dog lick up a bowl of bone broth because it is packed with more benefits than a supplement.
According to Dr. Catherine Shanahan, author of Deep Nutrition, there are two reasons to feed your dog bone broth over a glucosamine supplement:
"First, the low heat used to slowly simmer the nutrient material from bone and joint is far gentler than the destructive heat and pressure involved in the production of glucosamine tablets. Second, instead of extracting only one or two factors, broth gives you the entire complex components, plus minerals and vitamins. Broth’s nutritional complexity makes it a nearly perfect bone-building, joint-health-supporting package."
It is worth noting, that there may be times a glucosamine supplement will be more beneficial than bone broth. If you suspect your dog needs more support contact your holistic or integrative vet or canine nutritionist for further guidance.
We highly rate the use of bone broth in dogs diet, which is why we include it in our blends. Original Blend and Winter Blend are a great options for those dog parents that may not have the time or space to make their batch of bone broth.
Are you ready to try bone broth for your dog?