Boost Your Dog's Immune System With These 3 Natural Antioxidants

It’s entirely possible to boost our dogs’ immune systems with natural antioxidants. They’re molecules that can prevent or slow down cell damage (aka free radicals) in a living organism, and are found in vitamins C & E, Flavonoids, Lycopene, Beta-Carotene. This translates to herbs & spices, fruits & vegetables, as well as plants.

Since free radicals (i.e. the damaged cells) are caused by environmental factors such as chemical pest preventatives, pesticides, over-vaccinations and highly processed dry & wet dog food, eliminating them as much as possible is one important factor in keeping our dogs as healthy as possible.

Now – I HAVE drastically minimized the pups’ exposure to free radicals by eliminating unnecessary vaccinations, switching their diet from a kibble/wet food to a balanced raw one, and using natural pest preventatives instead of chemical ones:

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Of course there’s not much I can do about air and land pollution, so I figured that adding natural supplements with antioxidant benefits to Missy & Buzz’s raw diet would offer additional protection from a variety of toxins.

K9sOverCoffee.com | 3 Natural Antioxidants That Will Boost Your Dog's Immune System

1. Bonnie and Clyde Wild Omega-3 Fish Oil

Bonnie & Clyde Wild Omega-3 fish oil is one way to include healthy fats in raw dog food

Here’s what I love about the Bonnie and Clyde Wild Omega-3 Fish Oil – it sets itself apart from the competition by using only 2 human-quality ingredients to make the oil (as opposed to pet-grade), which have not been treated with growth hormones/antibiotics/chemicals (it’s for both dogs AND cats, by the way).

Those ingredients are fish-oil extracted from wild-caught sardines, anchovies, and mackerel, AND natural Vitamin E from non-GMO Argentinian sunflowers (that’s the antioxidant).

By the way: Soy is one of the main sources of Vitamin E; however, Bonnie & Clyde Premium Pet Goods chose not to source their Vitamin E from soy because many dogs are allergic to it. #LoveIt

Missy & Buzz get their respective daily dosage of fish oil with their breakfast – Buzz (74 lb) gets 3.5 pumps, and Missy (54 lb) gets 2.5 pumps (1 pump per 20 lb of body weight).

You can find out a lot more about this wonderful fish oil in my article Invest In Your Dog’s Health With Bonnie and Clyde’s Premium Wild Omega-3 Fish Oil.

Sidenote: Vitamin E can have an effect on blood clotting. If your dog (or cat) takes blood-thinning medication or has a bleeding disorder, you should consult with your veterinarian before adding the fish oil to your pet’s diet.

2. Homemade Turmeric Paste

Turmeric is an orange spice from Southeast Asia & the Middle East with a plethora of antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-septic, and liver-detoxifying benefits.

I used to just sprinkle it over the pups’ meals until I learned that turmeric PASTE actually increases the health benefits – this is mainly due to the fact that it contains freshly ground black pepper (the ground pepper increases the absorption of the turmeric 20 times!).

Missy & Buzz each get their daily serving of turmeric paste with dinner (the paste consists of organic turmeric powder, organic coconut oil, freshly ground black pepper, & filtered water).

They can have 1/4 teaspoon of the paste per 10 lb of body weight, meaning Buzz (74 lb) gets about 1 3/4 tsp, and Missy (54) gets 1 1/4 tsp.

You can read more about the paste and how to make it in my article The 5 Key Benefits Of Organic Turmeric Paste You Don’t Want Your Dog To Miss Out On…And How To DIY!

3. Bone Broth

Bone broth is a wonderful overall immune system booster because of all the minerals that are released from the bones into the broth. I pour it over the pups’ raw dog food, but it can also be used as a dry dog food topper to entice picky eaters to eat.

I invite you to read more about bone broth in my post Bone Broth Recipe for You & Your Dog.

Final Thoughts on Natural Antioxidants for Dogs

Boosting our dogs’ immune systems doesn’t have to be complicated and can be achieved by using the 3 natural supplements I just talked about. All are easy to digest, rich in flavor, and have healing properties.