You love your dog.

You do whatever it takes to keep him happy and healthy.  And when he’s sick, it breaks your heart.

So when you heard the rumors about the incredible health benefits of coconut oil for dogs, it got your attention.

So what are these supposed health benefits?  And is it the real deal? Or just hype?

After a bit of research, here’s what I found out:

The claims are BIG.  If coconut oil can really do everything it claims to, it has the potential to literally give a sick and aging dog a new lease on life.

🍈Raw Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Coconut Oil.

cleared-up infections; expulsion of worms; and improved overall health. 

coconut oil elevates metabolism and boosts energy by helping to regulate the thyroid. coconut can help protect against illnesses and speed up the healing process. Other benefits of coconut may include; an improved skin and coat; improved digestion; reduction in odor; and minimized allergic reactions. Coconut oil can even be used to help kill worm eggs and rid your pet of ear mites.

NOTE:When coconut is introduced to your dog's diet, he or she may go through a detoxification process. This is due to coconut's antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antimicrobial properties. To ensure this process is gradual you should introduce it slowly.

Coconut oil isn’t the only coconut product good for pets. Fresh coconut meat or shredded coconut is rich in dietary fiber and also contains some oil. Coconut milk and coconut water are other products that your pet may enjoy.

Great for dogs for general wellness. Just add a teaspoon to their water/Food bowl daily.

What Kind of Coconut Oil?

For external  and Internal uses, an unrefined virgin coconut oil is best. Here we will provides more information about the benefits of coconut oil and the difference in the types of coconut oil.

In particular, there are 5 benefits that I think you’ll find most intriguing:

5 Ways Coconut Oil Makes for a Healthier Dog

1. No More Wet Dog Stank

Ever notice that no one else likes your dog except you?  It’s probably because your dog stinks.

Coconut oil fixes that. It's one of the most common testimonials you will hear from dog owners: Coconut oil eliminates dog odor.

Apparently it works because of the anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of lauric acid, which coconut oil has lots of.

Apply the occasional coat of coconut oil to your dog’s skin and fur, and notice how that sour dog stench disappears within a few days.

2. No More Parasites

Those damn blood suckers. They’re the one thing than can make you regret owning a dog.

And coconut oil kills them.  Fleas, ticks, and even the dreadedmange…all dead at the hands of this magical oil.

How does it work? The theory is that the fat in the coconut oil suffocates them.

Just try it once on your dog and you will be amazed.  Apply it liberally to your dog’s coat,  and let it sit for several hours.  Try doing it while he’s sleeping so he doesn’t lick it all off.  After a couple hours, rinse him off and you’re done.

Repeat this process every week, or as often as necessary, and your flea and tick problems will be a thing of the past.

3. Regain that Beautiful Fur and Skin

Coconut oil can also be used as a topical treatment for virtually common skin condition in dogs.

• It can be used to disinfect cuts and significantly speed the healing process.
• It can help to clear up common skin irritations such as rashes from excessive scratching.
• It can be used as a moisturizer to soften up dry cracking skin on the dog’s nose, feet, and elbow pads.  (This one is especially useful.)

You really don’t need any scientific studies to tell you whether or not coconut oil is effective for these treatments.  Just try it for a few weeks, and the results will either be apparent…or they won’t.

Decide for yourself.

4. Bye Bye Chronic Disease

Dogs are just like us…they get old, and they get sick.  And it’s sad.  For ourselves, we go through enormous lengths to stay young and healthy for as long as possible.  Could coconut oil be a way for us to do this for our dogs as well?

Here is a list of some of the supposed health benefits of using coconut oil as a daily dietary supplement:

• Reducing the risk of certain cancers
• Improving digestion and alleviates various digestive related disorders
• Promoting normal thyroid function
• Relieving arthritis

Could a few daily teaspoons of coconut oil really accomplish all this?

They’re BIG claims.  And as far as I can tell, there has been little scientific study done yet to back it.  But it’s enough to make me want to at least try it.

Here’s why:  The cost is low.  The risk is zero.  And the potential benefits are enormous.

5. Stay Lean and Fit for Life

Let’s face it, obesity in dogs is becoming just as common as obesity in humans.  And it’s just as unhealthy for them as it is for us.

Coconut oil could help your dog shed those extra pounds.  Try it.

With a daily dose of just a few tablespoons, and you should notice a slimmer, healthier dog in just a few short weeks.

Worth Trying? or Not?

Ok…now you know all the supposed health benefits that coconut oil could have for you dog.  Is it truth or just hype?

For me personally, I was betting truth.  So I tried it on my dogs.  The results were nothing short of spectacular.  They are thinner, more energy...

My suggestion is…Try it for yourself Just buy one jar.  It’s a cheap investment, especially when you consider the potential gains it might have the quality of your dog’s life.

👍If You Have a Flea Problem🍃🍈

Effective flea-control programs employ a multifaceted approach that treats the environment as well as the animal. The following are nontoxic and natural ways that you can help control fleas:

 🍈• Gentle herbal shampoos are effective and can be used as often as once a week, although too-frequent bathing can dry out animals’ skin. When shampooing, use warm water and begin with a ring of lather around the animal’s neck so that fleas cannot climb onto the animal’s face. Flea-pesticide shampoos and dips are dangerous and are not necessary because soap and water kills fleas.

👍• Dogs can be given extra flea-repelling muscle with herbal dips. Avon’s Skin-So-Soft lotion is helpful when diluted with water (in a 1.5-to-1 ratio) and used as a rinse. It also helps to soothe inflamed hot spots. Veterinarian’s Best hotspot spray, which contains tea tree oil, aloe vera, and chamomile, is also soothing and healing.

👍👍• To make an effective natural insect repellent for dogs that can be applied daily, add five drops each of tea tree oil, citronella oil, rosemary oil, peppermint oil, and eucalyptus oil to one cup of water, shake it, and put it in a spray bottle. (This smells great, too.)

👍• Black walnut is a very effective flea repellent for dogs when given orally several times a week. It can be purchased in capsules or in liquid form. Give only the minimum effective dose because it can be toxic in higher doses.

• Flea treats are another supplement that can be given to repel fleas—the main ingredient is B vitamins.

• A fine-toothed flea comb is essential and should be used daily to catch fleas. Keep a bowl of soapy water on hand and dip the comb into it after each sweep, or catch the fleas, put them in a container, and then freeze it.

• Vacuum rugs and furniture frequently and launder animals’ bed covers weekly, if necessary, during the flea season. Flea eggs can be collected by vacuuming but can still hatch in the bag, which should be sealed and thrown away, or put in the freezer in a plastic bag after each vacuuming.

• Diatomaceous earth, a powder composed of the fossilized remains of single-celled algae, can be sprinkled on carpets to eliminate fleas safely. Diatomaceous earth is harmless if ingested but should not be inhaled. When applying, remove animals from the area and wear a protective mask. Let the powder sit at least several hours before vacuuming. Look for diatomaceous earth at garden, animal supply, home improvement, and health-food stores, but never use diatomaceous earth that has been chemically treated for use in swimming pools. Ordinary table salt or borax can also be used on carpets and should be vacuumed up the day after use.

• Products containing beneficial nematodes (microorganisms that eat flea larvae) can be sprayed on lawns and, unlike many toxic treatments, are perfectly safe for animals, birds, and humans, as well as “friendly” garden dwellers, such as earthworms and ladybugs. Brand names such as Interrupt can be found in pet stores and in the lawn-and-garden sections of hardware stores and supermarkets.

 The Heavy Artillery

For some dogs and cats, just one flea bite can trigger an uncomfortable and damaging skin reaction, so even stronger flea control may be necessary. Insect growth regulators (IGRs), although unfortunately required by law to be tested on animals, are a safe alternative to pesticides. Sold under the brand names Ovitrol, Fleatrol, Precor, and Archer, IGRs contain insect hormones that disrupt the life cycle of the flea by preventing eggs and larvae from developing into adults. IGRs are available from “pest”-control supply companies as well as companion animal supply stores, catalogs, and online. They should be applied to carpets and wooden floors—but not to animals. Another IGR, Program® (lufenuron), is administered to animals orally once a month. However, some animals have suffered adverse reactions to this and other long-term flea control products, so they should be considered for use only in extreme cases.

👍🐾🍈Summer – the perfect time for our dear animal companions to play outside. For a long time now, we’ve been using “Frontline“, a vet recommended flea and tick protection. But as it happens so often, you don’t realize how bad something is until you inform yourself. And when I did, I found out, that a lot of those vet recommended tick and flea treatments are in fact dangerous for dogs. The active ingredients in Frontline might supposedly produce cancer, organ damage, nervous system damage, reproductive damage and skin problems. It was clear for me that I wanted to find an alternative to this chemical cocktail. Nevertheless, not protecting my dogs against fleas and ticks was not an option either, since it is known that they can pass on diseases which might lead to death in some cases.

After hours of research in the world wide web, I finally found something that would be so helpful and awesome that I need to write a post about it: All you need, to scare the ticks and fleas away, is coconut oil! I was more than surprised that this insect repellent still seems to be a secret among dog guardians. After all, maybe not that surprising, because the pharma industry is earning millions with their medication and wouldn’t like the fact that there might be a much cheaper and natural insect repellent. In fact, coconut oil is not only cheap and natural, it also has a neutral scent and is healthy for the dog and its fur. I didn’t read about any negative experiences and the only disadvantages seem to be that your dogs fur might look a bit wet wherever you apply the oil and that you have to apply the oil every day, but with all the advantages, I really don’t mind this.

This is how it works:

The tick and flea repellend component of coconut oil is “lauric acid”, so it is important to use a pure and unprocessed product. Regular coconut oil/fat from the supermarket works just fine, but the greener option would of course be an organic coconut oil/fat. I rub about half a teaspoon (or even less) of coconut fat in my hand palms until it becomes liquid (takes seconds) and then apply it on my dogs higher and lower back, on the lower legs and the stomache. In the beginning I applied the fat before every walk, but now I found that it’s enough if I do it once a day. Our Dogs hasn’t had any ticks or fleas since I use the coconut fat and that ‘s an even better result than the results we had with Frontline/Revolution Oh, how I love to find out about secrets like this one! : )

HAPPY DOG! HAPPY TIME!

It would be interessting to know what kind of experiences you made with insect repellents. Have you tried any natural repellents before?

🍈👍Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

From a health perspective, coconut oil’s health benefits are attributed to its unique mix of fatty acids – namely lauric,capric and caprylic acids. Unlike other oils, the majority of coconut oil’s fatty acid composition is that of medium chain fatty acids. These get burned up quickly for energy and are not prone to being stored as fat, or clogging artery walls, and adding a risk for heart disease, as is the case with most other fat sources.

Coconut oil also has antimicrobial, antifungal and antibacterial properties.

A quick list of its health benefits include:

• Topical use on skin; moisturizes, nourishes and alleviates various skin conditions
• External use on hair; nourishes, aids proper scalp health and hair growth
• Helps prevent heart disease based on the unique blend of fatty acids
• Helps regulate cholesterol
• Enhances proper thyroid function
• Protect against the incidence of Alzheimer's and may actually reverse it
  
• Enhances proper digestion, helps alleviate IBS and Crohn’s symptoms
• Helps with weight loss based on how it is metabolized and used
• Helps with the absorption of other vitamins and minerals during digestion
• Enhances and maintains a healthy immune system
• Helps fight pathogenic bacteria, fungi and viruses
• Speeds up healing of bruises and infections
• Used as a form of aromatherapy for stress relief
• Contains antioxidant properties to fight free radicals, help against premature aging, etc.
• Easily converted into usable energy for the body, not stored as fat
• Helps in preventing kidney and gall bladder diseases, helps in dissolving kidney stones
• Helps in controlling blood sugar and improves the secretion of insulin
• Helps prevent and treat diabetes
• Helps in absorption of calcium
• Helps prevent tooth decay
• Helps boost metabolism
• Alkaline forming
• Helps in boosting energy and endurance
• Excellent source of healthy fats
• Healthy choice for all diets, including vegan and vegetarian

Uses of Coconut Oil

There are so many varied uses for coconut oil. The most common one is to use a tablespoon (plus or minus) for cooking, like stir-frying. But really, whether one is making scrambled eggs, or sautéing mushrooms, coconut oil works in all these cases. Wherever one uses an oil for cooking, coconut oil can take its place and offer a much healthier meal.

Coconut oil is used in numerous raw desserts, smoothies, salads, and sauces. It truly has a multitude of uses, and that is mostly thanks to its delicious taste – that is of course assuming you like the taste of coconuts.

However, to get the true coconut flavor, aroma and benefits, one must pick an unrefined organic extra virgin coconut oil. Refine coconut oils are processed coconut oils, devoid of almost any flavor or aroma, and not as nutritionally dense as the unrefined ones. If one is interested in optimal health, an unrefined, virgin oil is the way to go. The scent and taste is often very subtle, if at all noticeable depending on the recipe or meal it is used in.

It is also important to note, that as more and more people begin to learn about this incredible oil, there is no doubt that companies will try to market products made using coconut oil. Be very conscious of reading all labels, as processed or industrial grade coconut oil defeats the health purpose, just like any other processed food. Just because a food is made with coconut oil, does not automatically make it healthy. The real benefits lie in using this oil in its unrefined version. 

Coconut oil can also be applied directly to the skin or scalp for healing or nourishing properties, or used for massageand aromatherapy purposes.

Coconut oil makes an easy and healthy alternative to butter, as it is solid at room temperature (as long as it is not over about 24 degrees Celsius.)

Coconut oil today is available widely across North America, whether in health food stores, or online stores, including Amazon.com. As for price, yes coconut oil can be pricey, but when it comes to health, it is well worth it. If anything, perhaps it can motivate us to stop cooking/frying our food as much and enjoy more foods in their most natural, nutritiously dense state.

Recommended Virgin, Organic Coconut Oils

Available in our Kennel for your conveniance!