Tag: Dog Care Tricks

Herbs make your best recipes burst with flavor and flowers and plants help spruce up our yards each spring. But these plants have hidden health benefits as well. Naturally occurring plants and herbs have been aids to good health for hundreds of years. Best Bully Sticks compiled a list of great herbs and plants that you can use to boost your pet’s health and can help with ailments from itchy skin, cuts, digestive problems and more!

Aloe Vera
This soothing plant has great health benefits for humans and dogs alike. Break off an Aloe plant’s spiky tendril and use the “juice” on minor cuts, scrapes and even sunburns.

Calendula Flowers
A pretty flowers, with powerful health benefits, the Calendula is a handy plant to have in your yard. This flower has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities that you can use in a few different ways. The petals can be directly applied to a wound dressing or even brewed into a tea for an antiseptic wash. You can also add the Calendula flower’s petal tea to Shea Butter or Vitamin E lotion to make an ointment. These mixtures are great for cuts, scrapes, burns and even minor ear infections. 

Ginger
This knotted root is a great way to solve your dog’s tummy issues. Whether it’s motion sickness or nausea, ginger tea and dog biscuits are great ways to give your dog ginger. To make ginger tea, simply peel and slice ginger into roughly one-inch x 1/4-inch x 1/8-inch slices. Put 5-8 slices into a pot with ¼ cup water, bring to boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Let this mixture cool and add to your dog’s food. You can even feed your dog ginger slices by wrapping them in a slice or lean meat. If you’re on a trip, pack ginger snaps for your dog. 

Goldenseal
Despite its lofty name, Goldenseal is a fairly ambiguous looking plant with a small red, berry that blooms on top. This plant inhibits bacteria from latching on to cell walls and is particularly good for body parts with mucus membranes, such as the respiratory system and mouth. Mostly just the root is used in treatments and can be used to make poultices, teas and tinctures.

Chamomile
Hyper dog? The flowers of the chamomile plant work to soothe and calm your dog’s hyperactivity, upset stomach or even nervousness. This mild and gentle plant can be used in a tincture, water or oil infusion, salve or ointment. You can grow Chamomile yourself or purchase it in any health food store.

Echinacea
This handy plant can boost your dog’s immune system when he’s feeling a little under the weather. The root of this plant is what is used most often, but the leaves, stems and flowers can be used as well. Although Echinacea is most beneficial for the immune system, it can also be of help for urinary tracts and lymph systems. But no matter how it’s given to your dog, it give your dog the boost he needs!

Herbal Remedies are wonderful tools, but you should always contact your vet before starting any herbal treatment. These remedies can be toxic if not given the correct way or can cause allergic reactions. Every dog is different, so use talk to your vet prior to any herbal treatment.

Visit back next week when we talk about Supplements For Your Dog and be sure to read our simply Home Remedies For Dogs! 

Best Bully Sticks knows it’s easy to forget that our dogs were once wild animals. They didn’t sleep half the day, they didn’t chase after plastic bouncy balls, and they didn’t wear clothes, go to the groomer or get their toenails painted. Your sweet pooch is a descendant of wild dogs and before that, wolves! You have to remember that trapped somewhere inside that cute, cuddly exterior is a wild animal! You live with a wild animal! Isn’t that more than a little strange to think about?

That being said, your dog’s descendants definitely didn’t eat that dry brown food that comes out of a bag. Not that bagged dog food isn’t good. A good food provides all the necessary vitamins, minerals and proteins your dog needs. However, owners forget that dogs are natural hunters and scavengers and ate as much vegetation and roughage as they did meat.  Dog owners sometimes have a stigma of offering their dogs human food, thinking that it isn’t good for them. The fact is, there are some very nutritional and wholesome foods that are great for your dog and you shouldn’t be afraid to share. Over the next three weeks Best Bully Sticks will take you through some natural, “human” foods that will feed your dog and his wild side. Today we’re talking about fruit!

Banana
Most families have bananas on hand in their house for a healthy and quick snack. Your dog can benefit from the same high potassium levels, fiber, magnesium B6 and C vitamins as well as all the good antioxidants in bananas that you will when eating this berry. In a pinch, bananas can help remedy a troubled doggy stomach and you can easily mix banana in with your dog’s dry food to make it more appealing. However, some dogs don’t like bananas because of the compounds that make this berry smell, well, like a banana.

Cantaloupe
This great summer melon is cool and refreshing, so give your pup the benefits of vitamin C, potassium, antioxidants and fiber that cantaloupe offers. Make sure you remove all seeds when serving to your dog. You can serve fresh or even mix it with other fruit, freeze and serve as a doggy popsicle. You might even join in on that! Read more