Best Probiotics for Dogs
Best Overall – Nom Nom Probiotic Support for Dogs
Food type: Powder
Life stage: Puppies (8 weeks +) to adults.
Key things:
- Made in the USA
- Feeding instruction: Mix one scoop into food once every day (for any size dog).
- Storage: Keep away from light, high temperatures, and moisture. Refrigerate after every use.
- Probiotics included: Inulin (prebiotic), Bifidobacterium animalis, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. reuteri, L. fermentum, L. rhamnosus, and Pediococcus acidilactici.
Nom Nom Probiotic Support is our top pick for its top-quality ingredients, reasonable price, and excellent customer reviews. The supplement has been formulated by expert veterinary nutritionists and microbiologists for the overall wellness and weight management of dogs.
The full-spectrum probiotic formula helps balance the microbiome to boost digestion, nutrient absorption, metabolism and immunity. It contains seven probiotic strains of live bacteria, making it one of the best probiotics for your dog’s digestion and intestinal health.
Nom Nom Probiotic Support for dogs is sold in 30 servings per container, providing a month’s supply.
Best For Diarrhea: Purina Pro Plan FortiFlora for Dogs
Food type: Powder
Life stage: Puppies and adult dogs
Key things:
- Made in the USA
- Feeding instruction: Sprinkle once-daily pre-measured one packet onto your dog’s food.
- Storage: Store at room temperature. Doesn’t need to be refrigerated.
- Probiotics included: 100 million CFU per gram of Enterococcus faecium (Other ingredients: vitamins E, B, and C, antioxidants, beta-carotene, and zinc).
Purina Fortiflora probiotics for dogs is highly recommended. It’s carefully crafted by veterinarians, nutritionists and researchers. This safe and effective nutritional supplement is formulated for dogs with poor intestinal health and diarrhea. It contains a guaranteed level of live microorganisms for promoting beneficial intestinal microflorA proprietary microencapsulation process ensures the stability of the microorganisms until they reach your canine’s intestinal tract. Purina probiotics for dogs have antioxidants to support your pet’s immunity.
Best Probiotics for Dogs with Allergies: PetLab Co. Probiotic Chews
Food type: Wafer (Pork flavor)
Life stage: Dogs of all ages
Key things:
- Made in the USA
- No fillers, artificial additives, and allergens
- Feeding instruction: Dogs weighing under 25 lbs – 1 Soft Chew per day; 25 – 75 lbs -2 Soft Chews per day; Over 75 lbs – 3 Soft Chews per day
- Storage: Store in a cool, dry place, and keep it away from direct sunlight. Keep away from children and animals.
- Probiotics included: Bacillus coagulans, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus reuteri, Streptococcus thermophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum
PetLabCo.’s Probiotic Chews contain a unique blend of ingredients, antioxidants & live cultures for your dog’s healthy gut flora. It’s formulated with eight strains of beneficial, giving your furry companion a comfortable, healthy, and active lifestyle. You get 30 chews per tub, and your dog will love to chew these healthy and tasty bites.
Live, active bacteria in the supplement promote healthy yeast production. Easily-absorbed antioxidants support bowel health and provide seasonal allergy support to your furry friend. The combination of inulin, honey, pumpkin, and eight strains of beneficial bacteria supports coat comfort and skin health.
Best for Bad Breath: Doggie Dailies Probiotics for Dogs
Food type: Grain-free chews (Available in two flavors: duck and pumpkin)
Life stage: All ages and sizes
Key things:
- Made in the USA
- Feeding instruction: Dogs weighing under 15 lbs – 1 chew; 15 to 30 lbs – 2 chews; 30 to 45 lbs – 3 chews; 45 to 60 lbs – 4 chews; 60 to 75 lbs – 5 chews; 75 lbs + – 6 chews
- Storage: Store in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.
- Probiotics included: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus lactis
An unhealthy gut environment is the major cause of bad breath in dogs. Doggie Dailies Probiotics contain canine-targeted probiotics and strains. It supports your dog’s gut health and aids the absorption of essential nutrients.
The best part is your dog will love to eat these delicious soft chews, helping them get rid of bad breath in a happy, comfortable way. Every chew is infused with 1 billion CFUs (colony-forming units). It also contains cod liver oil and salmon oil for your canine’s coat and skin health. So, it’s one of the best probiotics for dogs’ skin.
The dog supplement also helps restore “healthy” bacteria after antibiotics. You’ll start seeing benefits in 3-6 weeks.
Best for Small Puppies: Pet’s Choice Pharmaceuticals Puppy Booster for Dogs
Food type: Powder
Life stage: Puppies
Key things:
- Made in the USA
- Feeding instruction: Mix 1 tbsp with 1 gallon of water.
- Storage: Store at room temperature to keep it fresh. Keep away from children.
- Probiotics included: Dextrose, Dried lactobacillus (acidophilus), dried lactobacillus (lactis), Dried (enteroccus). It also contains lactic acid bacteria with 6 billion CFUs per Pound.
Best For Dogs With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Four Leaf Rover Gut Guard
Food type: Powder
Life stage: All ages and sizes
Key things:
- Made in the USA
- Feeding instruction: Dogs weighing between 1 to 25 lbs – ¾ tsp daily; 26 to 50 lbs – 1 tsp; 51 to 75 lbs – 1 1/2 tsp; 76 to 100 lbs – 2 tsp; 101 lbs – 1 tsp
- Storage: Store in a cool, dry place.
- Probiotics included: Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus subtilis, and Pediococcus acidilactici
Best Budget: Fera Pet Organics USDA Organic Probiotics + Prebiotics
Food type: Powder
Life stage: All ages and sizes
Key things:
- Made in the USA
- Feeding instruction: Dogs weighing between 5 to 15 lbs – ½ scoop per day; 15 to 60 lbs – 1 scoop; >60 lbs – 2 scoops.
- Storage: Store in a cool, dry place.
- Probiotics included: Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Casei, Saccharomyces Boulardii, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Bifidobacterium Infantis, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium Bifidum, Bifidobacterium Longum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, Streptococcus Thermophilus
- Prebiotics included: FOS (fructooligosaccharides), Organic Inulin derived from Agave, Organic Acacia
Best For Yeast Infection: TummyWorks Probiotic Powder for Dogs
Food type: Powder
Life stage: All ages and sizes
Key things:
- Made in the USA
- Feeding instruction: Add to your pet’s food. The quantity depends on your dog’s weight. Dogs weighing up to 15 lbs: 1/2 a scoop per day; 15 to 49 lbs -1 scoop; > 50 lbs – 2 scoops
- Storage: Store at room temperature, but it’s best to keep it refrigerated.
TummyWorks is a special formula and one of the best probiotics for dogs with a yeast infection. It’s packed with ten powerful probiotics and six digestive enzymes. These ingredients make it effective in relieving yeast infection and promoting gut health.
The supplement also boosts immunity and helps with allergies, hot spots, and itching in dogs. So, it also makes an excellent probiotic for itchy dogs. The tasteless powder mixes easily with food. So, your picky dog won’t be able to detect it. The supplement is suitable for both dogs and cats.
Benefits of Probiotics for Dogs
What do probiotics do for dogs? The answer is – Exactly what probiotics do for humans.
Like us, dogs also have a gut system filled with bacteria that can profoundly influence their overall health. Probiotics help maintain an appropriate balance of good bacteria in your pet’s gut.
Check below the benefits of probiotics for dogs:
- Alleviate bloating and digestive issues caused by illness or stress. Illness and stress in dogs disrupt the balance between healthy and unhealthy microbes in their gut. This leads to conditions like dog diarrhea, gas, bad breath and cramping. Studies show that probiotics for dogs can reduce the duration of diarrhea from seven to four days.
- Decrease negative effects of antibiotics. While antibodies fight infection, they may negatively affect your dog’s gastrointestinal health. So, start giving them probiotics a few days in advance to curb the side effects of antibodies.
- Reduce allergies. Allergies are responses to the improper immune system and imbalanced gut bacteria. Best probiotics for dogs may lessen allergy symptoms.
- Promotes good behavior. Bad gut means a fussy and annoyed dog, and a healthy gut means a happy and healthy pet. So, as mentioned above, probiotics promote good gut health, making your furry companion feel comfortable, happy and healthy.
- Healthier teeth, breath and coat. Giving a daily recommended dosage of probiotics will make your dog healthy from the inside. Better internal health means a healthy body outside.
Signs Your Dog Needs Probiotics
Following are ten most common signs that you need to buy advanced probiotics for dogs:
- Diarrhea
- Gurgly noises coming from your pet’s gut
- Bad gas
- An inconsistent poop schedules
- Your dog eats kibbles or dry food
- A yeasty dog
- Your dog needs immune support
- Seems anxious
- Your dog is on antibiotics
What to look for when buying probiotics for dogs?
You must probably be wondering how probiotics are beneficial for dogs. The healthy bacteria are known as probiotics and help your dog’s digestive tract, itchy skin, stress, allergies, and much more. So, let’s narrow down a few considerations when buying probiotics for dogs.
Multiple Strains of Probiotics are Beneficial: Having probiotics with multiple strains of healthy bacteria benefits the overall body of your paw-some friend. Each bacteria has unique properties which target various issues of gut health and other systems. So, check the ingredient panel, which has bacteria like:
- Enterococcus faecium
- Lactobacillus acidophilus
- Lactobacillus casei
- Lactobacillus plantarum
- Bifidobacterium bifidum
- Bifidobacterium animalis
- VSL#3
Check Flavors: Generally, probiotics are not delicious enough for furry friends. Therefore, the probiotics manufacturers add flavors, like a fruity or chicken flavor, adding taste to your dog’s diet. However, you must check the ingredients and choose the non-vegetarian flavors your dog loves.
Having an unidentified protein and a mix of flavors is not good. A single taste with multiple bacterial strains is a good choice.
Choose Probiotics Which Also Contains Prebiotics: You must know that probiotics work when they have a good food source. It can be in the form of beans, peas, chicory root, Jerusalem artichoke, etc.
But, if your furry friend refuses to have them, you must look for probiotics having prebiotics. The probiotics will feed on prebiotics and elevate your dog’s health—for example, the presence of inulin in probiotics.
Consider the Form of Probiotics: Probiotics are available in various forms, which include capsules, powders, dog food, soft chewable, etc. Depending on the nature of your pet, choose the right form.
For example, the powder is easily dissolvable in food, and dogs also easily intake soft chews. Capsules can be tough, but it depends on the individual nature. So, choosing the right form will help you make the best out of it.
Always Check the Colony Forming Units (CFU): The lining of the dog’s gut is highly acidic, and many probiotics don’t survive it. So, always check for the colony forming units (CFU) while selecting the probiotic. It should be at least 3 billion CFU. This will help you choose the most effective probiotic for your furry friend.
FAQ
What is CFU in probiotics for dogs?
Can dogs take probiotics for humans?
What is the difference between prebiotics and probiotics for dogs?
Prebiotics are non-digestive substances that fuel the growth and sustainability of probiotics. In contrast, probiotics are live bacteria similar to the ones present in your dog’s digestive tract. Using a combination of prebiotics and probiotics for dogs keeps the canine colon, intestines, sensitive stomach, immunity and overall digestion doing well.
