Cannabidiols

Cannabidiols
What Are Cannabidiols and How Can My Dog Benefit from Them?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the major non-psychoactive cannabinoids produced by a number of plants with the most notable being Cannabis sativa L. It is 100% natural, 100% safe, and 100% legal.

Background and Physiological Details:

Dogs, and all mammals actually, have an endocannabinoid system (ECS) whose function is to receive and process nutritional cannabinoids. The ECS is involved with a number of physiological processes including mood, pain-sensation, nausea, memory, appetite, and inflammation. ECS cannabinoid receptors are broken down into two types, CB1 & CB2, and are located in various parts of the body:

CB1 receptors are located in the brain, vascular system, lungs, muscles, gastrointestinal tract, and reproductive organs
CB2 receptors are located in the bones, spleen, skin, and glial cells
CB1+CB2 receptors are located in the immune system, bone marrow, liver pancreas, and brain stem.
Focusing on the brain of the dog, cannabinoid receptors are located in:

Brain Stem – This, of course, involves many functions, but notably blood pressure & heart rate, pain sensation, muscle tone & movement, and vomiting reflexes.
Amygdala – Involved with emotions
Cerebral Cortex – Memory, thinking, overall awareness & consciousness
Basal Ganglia – Controls motor skills & learning
Hypothalamus – Metabolic activities such as appetite
Hippocampus – Memory storage and recall
Cerebellum – Controls coordination and muscle control
Summary:

Cannabidiol benefits in humans are well known and multiple and can also have many significant and useful benefits for dogs. Keeping in mind that most of the feedback is based on human trials and human observations of animals given cannabinoids as we cannot ask our dogs if they feel, for example, less joint pain. However, there is a growing and significant level of agreement on at least certain key benefits among experts and dog owners - though those benefits may vary from dog to dog (just as with humans).

Most agree that the following benefits are provided by the use of cannabidiols in dogs:

Anxiety relief
Joint pain relief
Appetite stimulation
Generalized pain and inflammation relief
Serving suggestions: We suggest starting with a smaller serving than noted and working quickly towards the serving suggestion.