Kelp has many benefits for dogs!
It’s a seaweed that’s known as a powerful whole food nutritional supplement, both for dogs and cats (and us humans, too!).
The Benefits Of Kelp For Dogs
Kelp is a great source of fiber and a great anti-inflammatory food. It’s also naturally rich in vitamins, minerals, trace elements and amino acids like iodine, calcium, magnesium and zinc.
That said, it:
- Strengthens the immune system
- Helps aid digestion
- Promotes healthy skin and coat
- Reduces shedding
- Helps with skin allergies by reducing itching
- Supports a healthy thyroid
- Alleviates arthritis pain
- Reduces joint inflammation
- Repels fleas
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How Much Kelp Can I Give My Dog?
You can feed kelp to dogs of all ages, including puppies and seniors, and the exact amount depends on your dog’s weight.
That said, dogs can have 1/4 teaspoon of kelp per 10 lbs of body weight per day, but shouldn’t eat more than 3 teaspoons per day.
Just FYI, cats can have 1/8 of a teaspoon per 10 lbs of body weight per day.
Where To Buy Kelp For Your Dog
I used to buy a a mix of kelp, celery seed powder, alfalfa powder, flax seed powder and parsley from a brand called Kelp Dog.
However, they went out of business and now I buy my kelp from Raw Paws Pet Food. This particular kind is certified 100% USDA Organic Icelandic Sea Kelp and doesn’t contain anything else besides dried kelp.
A resealable 8 oz bag costs $10.00 and comes with a teaspoon scoop. That makes it easy to measure out your pup’s respective amount of kelp.
Each bag holds approximately 65 teaspoon scoops of kelp.
Like I said in the previous section, dogs can have 1/4 teaspoon per 10 lbs of body weight. My pup Wally weighs 38 lbs, so he can have just shy of a teaspoon of kelp per day.
With that in mind, one bag lasts him a little over 2 months!
How To Feed Kelp To Your Dog
You can simply sprinkle the kelp over your dog’s food, regardless of whether it’s dry dog food, canned, homemade, or raw.
I personally feed raw dog food, so I just sprinkle it over Wally’s raw meals and then mix everything together. He usually gets his kelp with dinner because I have a tendency of forgetting it in the mornings as I’m still waking up when I feed him, lol!
Sometimes I also make homemade treats with kelp.
Easy Raw Dog Food Recipe With Kelp
Here’s a SUPER easy raw dog food recipe with kelp for you that I feature in one of my raw dog food ebooks, 20 Raw Meals for Dogs.
It only consists of 2 ingredients: complete chicken and organic Icelandic kelp!
Both ingredients are from Raw Paws Pet Food!
Below are daily feeding guidelines for the complete chicken for dogs:
0 to 30 lbs : 4 oz for every 10 lbs
30 to 100 lbs : 3.2 oz for every 10 lbs
above 100 lbs : 2.8 oz for every 10 lbs
If you notice that your dog starts filling out too much, reduce his daily food amount by 1-2 ounces. Likewise, if he’s getting too thin and his ribs are visibly showing, increase his daily food amount by 2-3 ounces.
Tip: You can save 15% off your Raw Paws Pet Food orders with my affiliate discount code K9Savings at checkout.
Advanced Raw Dog Food Recipe With Kelp
This next raw dog food recipe is more advanced and consists of multiple ingredients:
- Kelp
- Duck head (raw meaty bone + eyes + brains)
- Mackerel head (including eyes + brains)
- Duck hearts (muscle meat)
- Bison green tripe (muscle meat)
- Pork jowl (muscle meat)
- Venison meat (muscle meat)
- Venison spleen (secreting organ)
- Goat liver (secreting organ)
The kelp is from Raw Paws Pet Food.
I got the duck head, mackerel head (whole mackerel that I cut into smaller pieces), duck hearts, bison green tripe, pork jowls and goat liver from Raw Feeding Miami.
Tip: Take 15% off your Raw Feeding Miami order with my referral discount link.
The venison cuts are leftovers from last hunting season (my boyfriend hunts).
What Are The Side Effects Of Kelp For Dogs?
It’s important not to feed too much kelp, so please follow the feeding guidelines I mentioned earlier: Dogs can have 1/4 teaspoon per 10 lbs of body weight per day.
That said, their daily kelp intake should not exceed 3 teaspoons of kelp.
Dogs who eat too much kelp can get diarrhea and suffer from hyperthyroidism since kelp is naturally high in iodine.
Hyperthyroidism happens when your dog produces too much of the thyroid hormone, and symptoms are weight loss, anxiety, and diarrhea.
Depending on where the kelp is sourced, it can contain harmful metals. That’s why it’s important to only buy kelp that’s been thoughtfully sourced from clean, deep waters.
Kelp that’s safe to feed is harvested off of the coasts of Hawaii, the Northwest USA, Canada, Iceland and Norway. This kelp is considered much less contaminated by industrial pollution than kelp from the Southern Pacific Ocean.
The Benefits Of Kelp For Dogs: Bottom Line
Kelp for dogs has a plethora of health benefits!
It helps support a healthy thyroid, reduces skin allergies and itching, makes dogs shed less, helps aid digestion, reduces joint inflammation and arthritis pain, and also repels fleas!
Kelp is readily available in powder form and easy to feed. Just sprinkle it over your dog’s food and mix it all together.
Do you feed your dog(s) kelp? You can let us know in the comment section below!
Related Reading:
Boosting the K9 Immune System with Banana Kelp Dog Treats
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