I love my work as a dog trainer but I equally love finding solutions through nutrition and supplementation that affect the behavior and well-being of my canine clientel. As of right now, I am focusing on hemp CBD extracts. After hearing stories from friends and colleagues about how cannabinoids helped with noise phobias around the 4th of July, I started getting really interested. While I already support the use of medical marijuana for certain human ailments, I hadn’t quite taken the leap regarding cannabis and pets.
I’ll skip the scientific stuff as much as I can for this article as I generally want to start a discussion at this point. CBD is a cannabinoid derived from either legal industrial hemp or cannabis. While cannabis has its place in this discussion I only want to talk about hemp for now. Hemp, which is already a great source of nutrition as it’s high in Omega’s is also rich in cannabinoids. Cannabinoids naturally bind to sites throughout our bodies called CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB1 receptors reside mostly in our central nervous system and CB2 receptors throughout the organ systems. Different formulas of CBD rich oil have other cannabinoids like CBN or CBC as well as flavinoids and terpenes that many believe give the CBD a fuller longer lasting effect. THC should not be a factor with hemp.
CBD (Cannabidiol) is only one of the 85 cannabinoids identified in hemp and cannabis but it is now the sought after medicine that cancer patients, epileptics, and others with anxiety disorders like PTSD are using instead of pharmaceuticals and their excessive side effects. In pets I have found success using it for similar issues with anxieties as well as some others you may have not thought of. Here is a list of some of the possible uses for CBD.
- Separation anxiety
- General anxiety disorder
- Noise phobias ( fireworks)
- Car ride anxiety
- Fear aggression
- Loss of appetite (helps with chemotherapy)
- digestive issues like (IBS, inflammation)
- Joint pain, strains and sprains
- Skin inflammation and pain
- Epileptic seizures
- Muscle spasms
- cancer proliferation
With a list like this you can see why anyone would be interested in this supplement. In the last few months alone I have seen CBD as a great tool for multi-dog households and timid and fearful dogs. One of my own dogs had a major turn around on car rides and when I went on a long road trip all 4 of my dogs were angels for 5 straight hours. Previously we had problems with some anxiety. My chihuahua had some ankle/foot pain and instead of a a vet visit we remedied our issue with a high quality CBD oil given twice a day. Five days later she was fine and has been running around great for 6 months with no issues. I noticed better results with CBD oil in my clients dogs and my own this last 4th of july. There are no side effects even in very high doses other than mild tiredness in some dogs. It does not leave your pet feeling drugged.
I’ll have more to talk about regarding CBD in the future.
Be well and wag tail,
Bryndon Golya OC Canine Coaching www.OCcaninecoaching.com www.allpawsessentials.com
