CBD oil for dogs: Our Experience!
Since we started giving CBD oil to our dogs, we always get messages from people asking how it is going and if it’s working. We’ve been promising to share our experiences for a while now, and this blog post is finally out! ;)
First things first...
What is CBD oil?
CBD is a short name for Cannabidiol, and even though it comes from Hemp, CBD is not psychoactive, and it’s completely legal in Ireland. According to Modern Dog Magazine, CBD can help dogs in many ways, such as reducing anxiety, seizures, pain, and inflammation and improving skin conditions.
Why did we decide to give it to our dogs?
Well… the main reason was that Scooby is reactive to other dogs. He gets very anxious around dogs, and we were hoping to find something to work synergically with his training, to help him cope better with his feelings. And then, why not try with Mona too? She can get anxious when visiting a new place or during stressful situations like a vet visit or fireworks.
What do we think has changed?
Scooby and Mona are taking CBD oil since January; it means it's been 3 months now. Behaviour is hard to measure, especially with a reactive dog (there are good days and bad days), but Scooby has been improving a lot in general. We always say that it’s not magical, he isn’t going to stop reacting at off-leash dogs running to his face, but we feel that he can focus on us most of the time that we need him to do it. Does he still get anxious? Yes, but we can see an improvement in his recovery time from these situations. It feels that he can “let go” more easily. There are even the days when he can ignore something that is usually a trigger for him.
But with Mona, the main difference was that she is much more tolerant with Scooby now. Mona and Scooby started to live together in March/2021; they were always “only dogs” until that time, so she has some difficulties accepting that there is another dog in the house. She used not to let him come close to her; if both of them were around us, Mona would walk away just to avoid being close to him. Now, Mona can even cope with a bit of physical contact between them, laying down close to each other.
The dream is that they end up cuddling; fingers crossed, it will happen someday!
Did we notice any side effects?
One of the things people ask us and we were worried about when we started giving CBD oil to our pups is if they would get drowsy or lethargic, and that’s not happening AT ALL. Their energy and personality hasn't change a bit.
Does your dogs like taking CBD oil?!
CBD time is possibly their favourite time of the day. We usually give it to them on a licking mat with peanut butter with their mid-day meal. So they usually get very excited when I say it’s CBD time.
Which CBD oil do we use?!
We are currently giving our dogs Hemp Heros CBD drops for pets. They also have CBD Infused Pooch Butter for dogs that is enriched with essential minerals to aid joints and movement, we are looking forward to tring this too. All their products are available on their online store, and you can get 10% off using the code "pfdublin" at check out.
Click here to check their website.
Have you tried CBD oil for pets? Comment below your experiences!