CBD Dosage: This Is How Much to Give Your Dog
Did you know that the CBD pet products industry might become a $1.16 billion industry in the US by 2022, according to an estimate from the Brightfield Group? This is in large part due to many pet parents discovering that CBD has helped solve many of their pets’ health problems, such as helping to relieve the pain of dog arthritis.
If you’ve decided to take part in this trend, and you’re considering giving your dog CBD, then you might be wondering about the right CBD dosage for your dog. Especially if it’s your dog’s first time taking CBD, you want to administer it correctly.
You might have additional questions about what other benefits your dog can get from CBD, or about what potency is the right amount for products you’re buying. It’s a lot to consider, and it can be confusing, even stressful, to have to find the right information out there.
That’s why we’ve put together this guide.
By providing you with the information you need, about CBD oil’s effects on your dog and what you need to consider when calculating the right dosage for your dog, you’ll know everything you need to know. Read on to learn more.
CBD and Your Dog’s Endocannabinoid System
To understand how CBD interacts with your dog’s body, it’s important to understand the endocannabinoid system. Dogs—just like humans—have an endocannabinoid system.
Present throughout the body, the endocannabinoid system regulates many bodily processes, such as sleep, calmness, inflammation, digestion, immunity, pain, and more. It appears in your dogs (and your) guts, nervous system, skin, and elsewhere.
When the receptors in the endocannabinoid react to cannabinoids, which occur naturally in the body when it’s having a positive experience—such as exercise—there’s a positive effect in all the areas just covered.
Cannabinoid oil (CBD) is a naturally-occurring cannabinoid that comes from outside the body, and when it reacts with the receptors, the same thing happens. The result? Positive effects throughout the body, helping to ease pain or anxiety, improving immunity, and more.
How CBD Oil Benefits Dogs
So, as you can imagine, when your dog takes CBD oil, they experience many benefits of this kind. Generally speaking, CBD oil designed for dogs is used to support the following issues:
- Nausea
- Problems with digestion
- Low energy
- Seizures
- Stiff or painful joints, as well as inflammation of the joints
- Anxiety
- Stress
As you can see, there are many ways you can help ease your dog’s suffering by giving them CBD. Whether they get anxious before a vet visit, or they’re getting older and need the inflammation of their joints to be minimized, your dog will get benefits from CBD.
What to Consider When Giving Your Dog CBD
Now that you know the benefits, you’re probably curious about how much CBD to give your dog. This depends on several factors you need to consider, such as how they’ll be taking the CBD and what size they are. Let’s review these now in detail.
How They’ll Be Taking CBD
The first thing you’ll want to consider is how your dog will be taking CBD. There are many pet products out there, such as the usual CBD oil, topical creams (for application), and dog treats (AKA edibles).
When it comes to CBD oil, dosage depends on the size of your pet (which we’ll get into later). With dog treats, it depends on your dog’s metabolism, since they’ll be digesting it. The box of treats should also have some guidance.
As for topicals, it’s pretty simple; you just apply as often as you need when giving your pet CBD. They react to the skin, so start treating your dog’s pain or irritation immediately.
CBD Potency
CBD potency is important to consider. Usually, with CBD for dogs, CBD potency is somewhere between 0.5 to 1 milliliters of CBD in each milliliter of oil. For a smaller dog, you’ll want the oil to be closer to 0.5, and with a bigger one, closer to 1.
However, if over time you find that your larger dog isn’t fully feeling the effects, you might want to go for a higher potency, since you’ll go through less oil that way.
What Your Dog Needs from CBD
Another element to consider when deciding on how much CBD you’re administering is what your dog needs from CBD. If your dog has severe symptoms, then you should consider upping the dosage.
You don’t want to start too high, but try a bit more each time until you see that your dog is suffering less. You may also want to speak to your vet about combining CBD treatment of symptoms with medications for the actual cause.
How Active Your Dog Is
When thinking about how much CBD to give your pet, you also need to think about how active they are. If they run around often, that means their metabolism is higher, and they’ll burn through the CBD for pets you give them faster.
How Big (or Small) Your Pooch Is
The last thing to consider is the size of your dog. Usually, dosage is determined by weight, with most pet owners starting out at 2 to 5 milligrams of CBD daily until they see the effects of the CBD on their dog, after which they adjust accordingly.
CBD Dosage Guide
Speaking of weight…CBD dosage ultimately is determined by weight first, after which you test out what works best for your pet depending on the other factors we’ve reviewed. So, to start out, you’ll want to administer CBD according to weight like this:
For tiny dogs, who weigh between 2 to 15 pounds, you’ll want to start out with 0.5 to 1 milligrams of CBD per dose, administering it 3 to 4 times a day.
For small dogs, who weigh between 15 to 30 pounds, you’ll want to start out with 2 milligrams of CBD per dose, potentially going up to 3.
For medium-sized dogs, who weigh between 30 to 60 pounds, you’ll want to start out with 3 milligrams of CBD per dose, administered twice a day, and you can always increase it another 3 milligrams if needed.
For larger dogs, who weigh between 60 to 150 pounds, you’ll want to do the same as you do for medium-sized dogs, working your way up. If your dog really is huge, you can do a bit more, but it’s best to start off with less first. As response varies from pooch to pooch we always recommend starting low and gradually increasing the amount until you see the desired effect.
Have More Questions?
Have more questions about the right CBD dosage for your dog? Maybe you’re looking for the right products, or you want to understand more about how they’ll experience the benefits of CBD.
Whatever your questions, we’re here to answer them. Here at Okoa Pet, we’re experts in anything dog and CBD-related. Contact us today to learn more.
