Bone Broth for Dogs: Benefits & Recipe

News flash! Instead of squeezing every last drop of juice out of fruits and vegetables, trendy people are now slow-simmering bones for hours and sipping rich-flavored broths as a result. It’s the latest healthy diet craze, but here’s another news flash! Bone broth for dogs has been popular for years and here’s why.

Bone Broth Benefits for Dogs

Repairs Skin, Hair, Joints & Leaky Gut

Bones are packed with essential vitamins and minerals. When bones are cooked slowly, valuable nutrients are released into a tasty broth. What’s even more exciting is that bones are full of collagen, which is a protein found in connective tissues of animal bones that helps repair skin, hair, joints and leaky gut as well as make it easier to digest gelatin. Interestingly, some people swear collagen erases wrinkles too.

While dogs couldn’t care less about wrinkles—I think—bone broth for dogs can help soothe and repair a painful digestive system and repair joints for pets in need.

Supports and Repairs Joints

When my Rottweiler had surgery to repair his torn ACL, my veterinarian friend suggested feeding my dog bone broth every day to support and repair his joints. Now, both of my dogs thoroughly enjoy drinking bone broth daily, and surprisingly it really soothed my Rottie’s IBS tummy, meaning less gas and pain.

How to Make Bone Broth for Dogs

First, you need bones. You’ll need enough bones to cover the bottom of a slow cooker or pot. Fortunately, bones are pretty cheap at the grocery store. As for which types of bones to simmer, this is usually determined by availability.

If you’re struggling to find raw bones, check local Asian markets or raw dog food dealers who deliver in your area. For my bone broth recipes, I’ve used large beef marrow bones, chicken backs, chicken leg bones and even chicken feet.

Ingredients

Bones
Raw apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Layer the bottom of a slow cooker or pot with bones.

2. Fill pot with water. Water level should be a couple of inches above the bones.

3. Add ½ teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar. Acid helps bones release valuable nutrients.

4. Simmer bones for at least 12 hours. I usually cook bones for 24 hours, and I use a slow cooker (crock pot).

5. After 12-24 hours, allow the bone broth to completely cool before straining out the bones.

Never feed your dog cooked bones. These bones can crack and splinter in your dog’s mouth, throat and intestinal track. I recommend throwing away all cooked bones.

6. Once you’ve strained the broth, pour it into canning jars and store in your refrigerator. Freeze excess bone broth in plastic containers. For more information, check out this bone broth recipe. It’s the one I use. 🙂

If You Don’t Have Time to Make Broth

In the beginning, I wasn’t convinced bone broth for dogs would make a difference in my dog’s health. Rather than making broth, I’d buy Honest Kitchen’s Bone Broth online. It’s a dehydrated bone broth that contains turmeric, pumpkin and parsley.

It’s super easy to make; just mix dehydrated powder into hot water and serve once it’s cooled down. Just a heads up, it can get expensive quickly for large dogs. A can of bone broth would cost us $14, and we used one can per week.

Don’t be fooled by grocery broths or stocks. These packaged broths contain onions or onion powder, which is deadly for your dog. Plus, packaged or cubed broth products contain chemicals, tons of salt and preservatives. Yuck!

RELATED: Can Dogs Eat Mushrooms?

Feeding Your Dog Bone Broth

Those who feed bone broth to their dogs regularly recommend ¼ cup per 25 pounds daily. You can pour it over your dog’s meals or serve it as an afternoon snack. One thing is for sure, your dog will love bone broth!