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You can give your dog up to 1 ounce of bone broth per 10 pounds of body weight twice per day, once they’ve grown accustomed to it. In metric units, that’s 30 mls per 5 kilos of bodyweight twice per day.
Bone broth is gelatinous, intensely flavorful, and most dogs adore it. It’s also great for them, packed full of nutrients and healthful elements that boost immunity and joint health. It’s good for sickly or elderly dogs, those recovering from illness or injury, and fit and healthy dogs who you want to keep in peak condition.
But it’s rich, so, like with anything you introduce to your dog’s diet, you’ll need to start slowly.
All of the advice here assumes you’re feeding a homemade broth or a store-bought pet broth that doesn’t contain any salt, onion, or other nasty additives.
I make my own bone broth and you can find the easy bone broth for dogs (and cats and humans) recipe here.
What bones you use depends on what you have access to and what your dogs can tolerate. I often use rabbit backs and duck necks for my broth because one of my dogs is sensitive to so many things.
Beef marrow bones, chicken carcass, and pigs feet also work well if your dog can tolerate them.
How Much Bone Broth Should I Give My Dog By Weight?
You can give up to 1 ounce per 10 pounds of bodyweight per serving, and you can give two servings per day. So, a tiny 10-pound dog can have 2 ounces of bone broth split across two meals.
For those using metric units, give up to 30 ml per 5 kilos of body weight per serving, and allow up to two servings per day. A little 5 kilo pooch can have up to 60 mls split across two meals per day.
A 100-pound dog, such as an Akita or a Dogues de Bordeaux, can have up to 20 ounces split across two servings per day.
How Should I Start Giving My Dog Bone Broth?
When you first start giving your dog bone broth, do it slowly! Just giving them a full serving on day one could result in diarrhea, which nobody wants! Instead, give just a tablespoon or two (depending on the size of your dog) per day to see how well they tolerate it over about three days.
Then, assuming all goes well and there’s no digestive upset, you can increase the amount of bone broth you give slowly until you reach a full serving.
If you want to offer bone broth more than twice per day, you can. Just divide the total recommended amount between however many portions you want to feed.
You don’t have to add it to meals. You can get creative and make pupsicles, add more gelatin and turn it into jelly cubes, or add it to their water.
I also frequently use it as stock or to replace water in dog treat recipes, like this pumpkin peanut butter dog treat recipe, or my super-popular, super-easy fish dog treat recipe.
Can Dogs Eat Bone Broth Every Day?
Yes, dogs can eat bone broth every day. Mine most certainly do. Bone broth has so many health benefits, my dogs love it, and it’s a great way of getting medicine or supplements into the dogs without them noticing! If your dog tolerates the broth well, there’s no reason they can’t eat it every day.
And it’s so quick, easy, and cheap to make your own bone broth for dogs. The cats love it too. And, if you’re using human-grade meat, it’s great for human consumption, too.
But remember, it’s only a nice addition. Bone broth is not a substitute for a balanced meal. But adding broth to a meal as a delicious and nutritious topper definitely make boring food more appealing, even to fussy eaters.
Can You Give Dogs Too Much Bone Broth?
Yes, you can give dogs too much bone broth. Yes, it’s a beautifully healthy addition to your dog’s diet and it’s great for their joint health, gut health, immune system support, skin and coat, and overall wellbeing.
But, as your mom always said, you can have too much of a good thing.
Thick, gelatinous bone broth is packed full of goodness. And it’s all this nutritious goodness from the marrow and broken down connective tissues that makes the broth so rich, which in turn can cause tummy upsets if you let your dog eat too much. When you serve bone broth for dogs, remember that dogs have no self-control, so only put down the amount you want them to eat.
Use it as a nutritional boost to support joint health, maintain your dog’s health, help a sick dog recover faster, and to improve your pet’s digestive system, gut health, and skin condition. But don’t go mad. Use common sense and stick to the recommended amount of bone broth based on the size of your dog and how much you know that they can tolerate.
Can Bone Broth Hurt Dogs?
The benefits of bone broth far outweigh any risks. And, assuming you’ve followed my bone broth recipe or are using a high-quality store-bought product like Brutus or PrimalVore, that’s chock-full of essential nutrients, broken down connective tissue, hyaluronic acid, and amino acids, then no, bone broth can’t hurt dogs.
As mentioned above, if you give too much bone broth to dogs, you can cause diarrhea, which is temporary but unpleasant, in which case stop giving bone broth until your dog recovers, then start giving small amounts again and slowly building up to two full servings.
One way bone broth could hurt your dog is if you use bones from proteins your dog is allergic or intolerant to. If you’re making your own bone broth for dogs, be smart and only use animal bones you know your dog has no sensitivity to.
For example, one of mine is allergic to chicken, turkey, pork, and beef. So I now avoid making broth with any of those ingredients. Instead, I use deer, goat, rabbit, duck bones and carcasses as my first choices for Oscar, my troublesome furry friend with a very sensitive stomach. Phoebe, the whippety princess of the dog world is a little less problematic and can tolerate a wider range of proteins, but in general, I find less hassle simmering bones and creating a single batch of bone broth that they can both eat.
If you’re using store-bought bone broth products, make sure you check the ingredients, not only for what meat they’re using (often, even “beef bone broth” will contain chicken carcass or other meat and animal derivatives. But also check for seasonings like salt, onion, and unnecessary additives and preservatives.
RELATED ARTICLE: What Kind of Bone Broth is Best for Dogs?
FAQs
Yes, homemade bone broth is extremely good for dogs. It’s a nutritious complement to a healthy, balanced diet and it’s good for:
- Encouraging a picky eater
- Coat health
- Digestive tract health
- Gut health
- Leaky gut and a weak gut lining
- Dog’s skin health
- Sore joints
- Maintaining healthy joints
- Soothing a dog’s stomach
- Boosting your dog’s immune system
- Supporting sick dogs
Bone broth can make your dog poop if you give too much bone broth too soon, or give more than the recommended serving of 1 oz per 10 lbs of weight.
For dogs who struggle with constipation, bone broth can help restore normal bowel movements and improve both gut and bowel health and function.
Home made bone broth for dogs is safe, as long as you use a top-quality, safe bone broth recipe like mine.
If you’re buying bone broth products, make sure you choose a high-quality bone broth for dogs, like Brutus bone broth. Avoid store-bought bone broth products meant for humans, as they’re often full of salt, seasonings, flavorings, and other nasties that are not good for your dog.
Yes! You can absolutely put bone broth in your dog’s water. It’s a great way to get your dogs to enjoy the benefits of bone broth and encouraging healthy hydration levels at the same time.
Adding bone broth to your dog’s water is a smart way to encourage a sick dog, fussy pup, or elderly dog to drink more water.
Yes, bone broth can help dogs with diarrhea. Bone broth is soothing as well as being packed full of supportive nutrients. And, because it’s so palatable, it can help picky eaters want to start eating again after a bad tummy upset. It’s also hydrating and immunity boosting.
Plus, it soothes the gut lining and helps to reduce any inflammation in the digestive tract, thanks to the high concentration of amino acids.
And, if you feed broth, you can sneak in probiotics, tree barks powder, slippery elm, or pumpkin to help firm up the poop and bolster god gut bacteria, as the intensely meaty flavor of the broth helps to disguise the supplements you just know your dog won’t eat.
No, bone broth doesn’t make your dog thirsty, assuming you’re using a salt-free bone broth for dogs. It does, however, make them want to drink more broth (or water with broth in) because it tastes so darn nice, so it’s great for encouraging dogs to keep themselves hydrated.
Yes, you can definitely add bone broth to dry food, and your dogs will love you for it. Broth makes dry dog food a little more appealing and palatable. Of course, I believe in a wholefoods, biologically appropriate diet for my dogs, so I feed them raw. But if you feed dry pet food like kibble or cold-pressed, then broth is an excellent addition to your dog’s meals, providing extra nutrients, flavor, and moisture.
Related Reading: Benefits of Bone Broth for Dogs