One of the hottest trends in pet care is using CBD oil for dogs. Now that CBD is legal across the board, many pet owners have begun to see the benefits of using the substance with their pets. You may be even find yourself wondering, “how much CBD oil should I give my dog?”.
Unfortunately, though, it’s not always terribly clear how to use these compounds with dogs in a safe way. Even when you’re using the best CBD oil for dogs, you’ll want to start by learning a little more about its benefits and a little more about how it can be used safely with your dog.
Article Summary
Why Use CBD Oil for Your Dog?
Before we start talking about CBD dosage for dogs, it’s a good idea to start by looking a little more closely at CBD oil in general. Though it’s very safe to say that this product is among the hottest choices for a variety of different ailments, a good pet parent will always do a little bit of research before he gives his or her pet any type of medication or treatment. As such, you do need to know why you might want to give your dog any kind of CBD product regardless of the dosage involved.
“Why would I give my dog CBD oil?” It’s a common enough question among dog owners, especially if they haven’t kept up much with CBD since it’s become legal. In reality, though, it seems like you aren’t going to so much look at why you should give your dog this product as you’ll have to think about why you wouldn’t give your dog CBD oil. Though it’s not quite the miracle cure-all that some claim that it is, there are actually quite a few benefits of CBD oil for dogs.
So, why might your dog need CBD? Some of the most common reasons actually have a lot to do with your dog’s mental state. CBD is often given to dogs for anxiety and stress, for example, and it can help to keep your dog calm during fireworks or other situations in which he or she might normally get nervous or frightened. Another common reason to give your dog CBD is to help him or her deal with pain, whether that pain stems from some kind of chronic issue or is part of a recovery process.
Of course, others give their dogs CBD oil to deal with much more specific problems. CBD is known to help with issues like chronic inflammation, and there are even particular CBD oils for dogs with arthritis – a very common condition in older, larger dogs. Many people also choose to give their dogs this substance to deal with a number of different digestion problems, including not only nausea but frequent vomiting and even diarrhea.
CBD is also commonly used when dogs are suffering from major problems. It is good for those dogs who are dealing with cancer symptoms, for example, and it might even have some benefits for dogs who have epilepsy (1). With that said, though, you really need to check in with your veterinarian to determine if CBD is the right fit for your dog and whether it’s known to have any impacts on the symptoms that you are trying to treat.
Understanding How to Figure Out the Right CBD Dosage for Dogs
While it is generally thought that CBD oil is safe for dogs, it’s important that you administer the proper dosage. CBD dosage for dogs is an awful lot like CBD dosage for humans. You’re not just going to figure out a specific mg of CBD by picking a number at random; instead, you’re going to want to look at the major factors that influence how dosage is generally determined. If you’re willing to put in the effort to explore these factors, you’ll have a much easier time determining how much CBD oil you’ll need to properly dose your dog.
Generally speaking, you’re going to use three different factors to figure out how much CBD to give your dog. The first is the type and potency of the CBD in the medication that you are giving your dog. Next, you’ll take a look at the weight of your dog. Finally, you’ll want to try to think about the symptoms you are trying to treat and the impact that you hope the substance will have on your dog. Only by looking at all of these factors can you make an informed choice.
As an aside, you should never start thinking about CBD dosage without consulting your vet. This is a process that’s going to require a lot more effort than picking out the best dog multivitamins, so make sure to keep a professional looped into your treatment plan.
Other Factors to Keep in Mind
Though the three major factors discussed above are those that are going to have the most impact on keeping your pet healthy while using CBD, there are some other issues that can play a role in determining if you should go towards the higher or lower end of a dosage choice. These issues won’t ever be as important as the major factors, but they still need to be contemplated.
First and foremost, make sure that you think about whether your dog is active enough to metabolize CBD. If he or she sits around all the time and rarely moves, your dog might not do quite as well with a large dose. As a rule, bigger dogs are better able to handle more CBD and can benefit more from larger dosages.
You’ll also want to make sure that your dog is healthy enough to use CBD at all. there are certain medical conditions that can make metabolizing CBD harder as well as others that might be actively aggravated by giving your dog CBD. Again, this is why you need to make sure that your vet is part of your planning process.
Finally, you’ll want to look at the specific kind of CBD oil that you are giving your dog. Yes, CBD is generally safe but there’s not quite the kind of regulation that you might want in the CBD industry. In fact, many of these products are actually less regulated than dog food despite being categorized as medicine. If you don’t know whether or not to trust a specific brand of CBD, check with your vet for more information.
Choosing the Right Dosage (mg) of CBD for Your Dog
Before we get to the actual math of choosing the CBD oil dosage for dogs, there are a few more things to keep in mind as you get started. One of the most important is that there is absolutely no downside to giving your dog too little CBD; the worst thing that can happen, after all, is that your dog stays in the exact same condition that he or she was in before being dosed.
Always start your dog off with less CBD than you think he or she needs. Once you see how he or she reacts to the smaller dose, you can up the dose until you eventually get to the spot indicated by the guidelines. Doing this will not only help your dog to get used to CBD in general, but it will also give you a chance as a pet owner to feel safe using the product.
It’s also very important that you feel safe and comfortable during this whole process. If at any point you feel like the CBD is doing something that you don’t like, stop giving your dog the product. Though there are some very zealous believers in the power of CBD, it’s ultimately you that has to make the decision about what to give your pet.
How to Calculate the Right Dosage in mg CBD for Your Dog
This is the part where the math becomes important.
You’re going to be dosing your dog with CBD for a very specific purpose. As with all medication, dosage matters for the safety of CBD and you’re going to have to know how to calculate that dosage as well as you can. Though there are absolutely some great products out there that will do the math for you, there are others that will require you to do it on your own.
The first step you’ll take in the calculation process is to figure out roughly how much your dog weighs. The more precise you can be here, the better. It won’t really hurt your dog if you are off by a pound or two either way, but it will matter if you are off by a significant amount.
Once you have the rough weight available, you’ll apply a very simple formula that has been used by dog owners for years. The goal is to give your dog about .2 milligrams of CBD per pound that your dog weighs. If you’re looking for a formula, it’s something like this:
Dosage in milligrams = Weight x (.2)
This isn’t a tough formula to work with, but it does require an example. Let’s say that you have a fifty-pound dog who is in good health and relatively good shape. If this is the case, you’ll give your dog .2mg for every pound that your dog weighs. Since your dog weighs fifty pounds, you’ll end up giving him 10mgs of CBD.
Now we’re at the difficult part because it’s rare that you are actually going to be using a CBD product that’s pure CBD. Instead, you’re going to be using oils that only contain a certain amount of CBD. Your goal will be to figure out how many milligrams of CBD are in each milliliter of oil that you give your dog. Fortunately, this information should be readily available on the packaging of the oil that you’re using. If you can’t find it right away, you might want to consult with the manufacturer to get a clear answer.
While it’s not possible to figure out how much CBD is in every kind of oil, there are some industry standards at which you should look. Generally speaking, a 150mg formula is going to have about 5mg of actual CBD per milliliter of oil. The proportions stay the same, so a 75mg formula will have 2.5mg of CBD per milliliter while a 300mg formula will have about 10mg of CBD.
What does this mean for you? If you are the owner of the 50-pound pet above, you’d need to give your dog about 2ml of the 150mg CBD formula, or just 1ml of the 300mg formula. You’d probably want to stay away from anything like the 600mg formula just because it would be more difficult to use, while the 75mg formula might require you to give your dog too much in each dose.
CBD Dosing for Non-Medical Reasons
Not everyone is going to dose their dogs for medical reasons. If you’re looking to deal with something like anxiety or stress, it would make sense that you wouldn’t give your dog quite as much CBD. Again, this is where your best guesses will come into play so make sure that you err on the side of caution.
This isn’t to say that the formulas above can’t help your dog if you’re looking to go for non-medical usage, it’s just that your dog might benefit more than you think from lower dosages. Give your dog a lower dose, then wait to see how he or she reacts. If your dog seems less nervous or anxious, you really don’t need to increase the dosage at all.
CBD Oil Dosage in the World of Dog Treats
Not everyone gives their dogs CBD in the form of oil. CBD can be part of a great treat for your dog, and it honestly often takes a lot less work to give your dog CBD like this.
The good news is that virtually every CBD treat will give you a serving size for your dog that’s based on his or her size. If you want to do the math yourself, you can – you’re still ultimately going to use the same formula as described above, except you’ll want to calculate the amount of CBD in each treat rather than in each milliliter of the oil.
Making the Right Choices for Your Dog
It’s always very important to make sure that you give your dog the right dosage of a substance like CBD. Never give anything your dog a substance that will impact his or her health without consulting your vet and never do so without first understanding what might happen if you make a mistake. The formula discussed here is a safe and effective way to help out your pet, but don’t be afraid to give your dog less if it makes you feel more comfortable. In time, you should find an effective way to dose your dog correctly.
