Did you know that 90% of the calming hormone serotonin is produced in the digestive tract?

We want your dog’s body to have as much of this happy hormone as possible, in order to contradict the massive cortisol response they get every day from being reactive…and it all starts in the gut.

Microbiome health is SO important, and more and more studies are coming out that shows the bad effects dry dog food has on the gut. The high starch content combined with bad quality ingredients make a great combination for bad bacteria to grow in the gut.

So, how can you support your dog’s gut in the best way?

1) Feed at least 20% raw food.

What you want to do, in order to boost serotonin, is to feed fresh ingredients to your dog. Both fresh meat and vegetables have great fibers and bacteria for your dog’s gut which will improve gut health and produce serotonin.

Even if you can just feed 10% fresh, it’s better than nothing and will make your dog happier and healthier.

2) Add probiotic food or supplement

Probiotic foods like kefir, kombucha or fermented vegetables are excellent sources of good bacteria for your dog. Many can be made at home for very little cost, just stay away from dairy based kefir in case your dog doesn’t process dairy very well.

You can of course also buy probiotics for your dog in powder form. You can choose a brand for dogs or humans, it doesn’t really matter because many of the bacteria strains you use for humans also will help dogs.

3) Decrease your dog’s daily stress

Lowering you dog’s daily stress levels will help stabilise your dog’s gut. In stress your dog’s gastro intestinal tract will ignore the slow and meticulous process to pull out all the good nutrients in the food and speed it up instead, which often leads to diarrhoea and in the long run your dog will lose out on a lot of good nutrition.

I know that dog food is very confusing and it’s not black and white, so ask me any questions you have about dog food in my Insta/FB DMs and I will get back to you with my honest answer.

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A post shared by Ulrika Marwick – Calmness expert for reactive dogs (@ulrika.reactive.dog.coach)