I have long been interested in the effects of CBD on pets, specifically dogs as I own two Standard Poodles who have some quirks, anxieties, and behaviors that could definitely use some sort of intervention beyond training. One dog is an older male who is mellow but loud noises seem particularly bothersome and then I have a 10-month-old female puppy who is hyper and just got fixed. Both dogs were prescribed Trazadone, an old antidepressant to help calm them in these circumstances and it does help to an extent but I wanted to try something natural like CBD.
The first thing I did was to reach out to our friend Liz Merritt of Healthy Roots Hemp and Paws, and this is what she said:
Hi Jeremy!
Dr.Cinda Scott--owner of Springwater Veterinary Wellness Center in Springfield, Oregon--has been endorsing our products for a number of years, providing relief to animals that cannot find the help they need with western medicine. Though her practice primarily focuses on western approaches, Dr. Scott believes that a combined approach can provide a better quality of life for our furry family members.
Dr. Scott’s principles align with the mission of Healthy Roots Paws in that education is the key to success; the more we know about the hemp plant and CBD oil, the more educated decisions we can make about how to make our pets--and ourselves--feel holistically better. While it is true that you can find various CBD products for your pets in various stores, many of them do not contain a true full-spectrum hemp oil extract, nor do they contain the desired cannabinoids.
I would recommend the Num Nums or the oil drops. The Num Nums have calming additives so that may help as well with her high energy.
Per her recommendation, I purchased both of these products from High 5 Supply in Orchards and this was my experience.

For Juniper the puppy for calming after her spay/hernia. Started with the 5 mg Num Nums and well, nothing happened so we immediately gave her the other 20mg and surprise! NOTHING. The next day I switched to the 500mg drops and the dosing works out to about 16mg per dropper and so she had 2x 16mg with some effect.

She liked it in her kibbles and finished the whole bowl. Hyper for the first half hour and then somewhat sedated. She did not jump up as usual or chew on Carter’s ears and tail, also little interest in the outside birds on the feeder or jumping on the sliding door to scare them. She played quietly with toys, ate treats, and napped for the afternoon. After 6 hours she was ready to play with no more signs of the CBD.
I doubled the dose the next day and she was not as keen on eating it in her kibbles, but she eventually got them down. Sedated and a bit spacey, but happy to play with toys and eat treats before a long nap. Woke up kind of groggy, more toys for comfort, and about 9 hours of active CBD calming. Did not affect her stools or thirst, and back to full charge by morning.
Juni refused to eat her food with the oil on it, at what I believe to be the sweet spot of 3x droppers. It was just something about the smell or texture of the food/oil combo that turned her off and after sitting for a couple of hours, I emptied the kibbles in a bag for later and washed out and refilled the bowl to a hungry puppy. She also refused the oil direct down her throat and kind of got sick. It was critical she remain calm for her sutures to heal so we had to go back to the pharmaceutical intervention.
The good news is our anxious boy, Carter loved the puppy kibbles and responds well to just a dropper full of the oil and will eat it on command. He is less nervous and aggressive around other dogs and loud noises don’t seem to bother him and he likes to chillax on the couch. Thanks CBD for helping him tremendously.
What did I learn? CBD in animals is just like in people, it requires finding a correct dose and its effects are different for each. Juniper needed more to turn down and sedate her, while Carter seems to only need a fraction of the dose to remain calm. Overall I learned a lot and think this was a success, and I will give my poodles CBD as they need it in the future.
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