Natural Anxiety Relief for Dogs: CBD Dog Treats

CBD oil in the form of CBD dog treats, is a lot easier to administer to your dog, trust me. 

If you haven't heard all of the health benefits of (Cannabidiol) CBD you've been living under a rock. CBD is derived from the cannabis plant without the THC (the stuff that gets you high). CBD oil has been making it's way into mainstream health the past few years providing benefits such as:

My handsome boy, Chewie.

• Pain relief
• Anxiety and depression reduction
• Alleviate cancer related symptoms
• Topical uses for skin: reducing acne, soothing skin irritations, etc. 
• The list goes on and on

Shelter CBD developed treats to help your dog receive the same benefits humans can from CBD. I partnered with CBD to help my dog Chewie who suffers from extreme anxiety and my other dog Leia who only exhibits anxiety during fireworks. 

I chose to work with Shelter CBD for these reasons:

• They use broad spectrum CBD
• Treats were formulated by vets
• The hemp used is water-soluble hemp powder and contains the same proprietary formulas used in CBD products for humans

  

  My pretty girl, Leia.

• Beef flavored, and pet approved.

Read more about Shelter CBD ingredients here. 

My Anxious Pups

Like I mentioned before my dogs have anxiety. One in particular. Chewie. He's a sweetheart but OMG he's obnoxiously anxious. Cries when he can't see you in the bathroom. When the baby fusses in her crib he paces circles around the house till we go get her. God forbid we ever watch animals on the tv. He'll spot them from a mile away and bark continuously until we change the channel.

Leia on the other hand, is relatively calm, most of the time. She'll bark at passersby but that's the extent of it. ...until fireworks start. 

They love Jeep rides.

Que, my own anxiety. Twice a year, I start to get anxiety about the holidays that involve fireworks, 4th of July and New Years. Every year I panic about how my dogs will react to what seems to be the sounds of impending danger. 

Each year they act a little differently depending on what's going on in our house. NYE 2019, I was pregnant so it was just my husband and I on the couch and the dogs curled up in my lap and shook and whined all night. Last year for 4th of July, we had some people over and the dogs paced back and forth barking with every explosion. Needless to say, they hate fireworks. 

This year I decided to take preventative measures.

Step 1: Introducing the Treats

I started giving the dogs, Shelter CBD treats a few days before the 4th of July.

The container comes with 30 treats. Since I have two dogs I wanted to start giving them the correct dosage a few days prior and be able to have enough left over to give them a second dose on the actual day of the fireworks. 

Per Shelter CBD's dosage recommendations on their website (read more here), Both dogs are about 60 lbs, so they would need 2.5 treats. On the day of, I gave them 2.5 treats, twice. 

Step 2: Evaluation

Over the few days I was giving the dogs the treats, I kept notes on their behavior and interactions with the treats. 

June 30, 2020 (Day 1)

I had the pups sit for a treat and they gobbled them up as if it were any other treat.

Chewie looking out upon his kingdom.

"Gobbled" might not be the correct verb,...it was more like they inhaled the treat. They seemed to really like the flavor. 

As far as the effect it had on their nerves, I didn't notice any difference the first day. 

July 1-2, 2020 (Days 2 and 3)

These days yielded the same results as the first day. By the third day of no noticeable difference in their demeanor, I was becoming skeptical about the product.  

July 3, 2020 (Day 4)

By the fourth day, the dogs were expecting their morning treat. After, their usual morning routine, I took them outside to run around the yard. Five minutes after finding a nice place in the sun, where they could look upon their grassy kingdom, something remarkable happened.

A neighborhood boy zoomed by our fence on his motorized scooter, while this would normally send both of my dogs into a tizzy, Leia merely looked up and barked.Chewie still charged the fence and barked until the boy was out of sight but I noticed it was with less ferocity than usual. 

"Hmmm," I thought to myself, "were the CBD treats actually working their magic on my doggies?"

Step 3: Results

July 4, (Day 5) The Day we've all been waiting for.

The morning of July 4th I gave them their first dose of the day. My husband and I were watching tv on the couch with our dogs and a commercial with an animal came on. Now this really might not sound like a big deal to you, but in our house we frantically change the channel before it triggers Chewie into acting like a wild bear protecting a cub. I have scratches on the buffet table below the TV to prove it. 

But this morning, instead of springing off the couch to attack the two dimensional cartoon cat on the TV screen, Chewie just lifted his head and growled under his breath. Now, I wouldn't call this a 100% improvement, but it's definitely getting us somewhere.

A few hours before it got dark, I gave the dogs their second dose of treats. The fireworks show put on by our neighborhood, started promptly at 9 pm. Instead of the dogs running up and down the fence line barking at the explosions in the sky, they relatively kept their cool. 

Both dogs were sitting on a bench next to me prior to the show. Once the fireworks started, Chewie jumped down and walked to the edge of the patio and let out a little cry, but after the initial few minutes, he sat down and watched the show. Leia, just laid next to me unphased.

About 10 minutes in to the fireworks, I went to the edge of the patio to love on Chewie, and he wasn't shaking or anything as expected. While he couldn't take his eyes off of the sky, he was really calm.

Product Review:

Partnering with Shelter CBD meant they sent me a free bottle of treats in return for my review of the product. 

Regardless if I am paid to review something or gifted and item, I will always give my honest review. No one likes being lied to by advertising. 

My honest review is that Shelter CBD treats work. They are not a cure all for anxiety. My dogs didn't suddenly become completely docile and unbothered by strangers near their yard. But the product DID make their anxiety more manageable. I would highly recommend these to anyone with an anxious pup. 

You can purchase here. They also offer a monthly subscription service so you won't forget to reorder.

Another point I almost forgot to mention is the company's mission,

Our mission is to improve the lives of dogs all over America by providing access to high quality hemp derived CBD dog products while funding charitable efforts to provide CBD to dogs in shelters. We believe CBD holds the key to reduce anxiety in animals to such a degree that it increases their chances of being adopted from shelters and increases their ability to socialize and integrate into their forever homes.

When you purchase CBD products for your dog from Shelter CBD you can know that in addition to providing relief to your best friend you are also contributing to changing the lives of dogs in shelters all over the country.

If you're interested in trying CBD treats for your dog, try these. A product that works and a company that gives back! What's there to lose?

Have you tried CBD treats for your fur baby before? Let me know in the comments. 

XoXo, Meg

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