Can Dogs Taste Bone Broth?

Recently, bone broth has become one of the top trending food items in healthy eating. We see it popping up in grocery stores, on restaurant menus, and in many Paleo and natural diets. You can purchase pre-made organic bone broth at the supermarket and it is easier and cheaper to make your own at home! 

So, can Fido taste some of this nutrient-packed superfood? Yes, they can and it will do wonders for their health. Let's find out what bone broth is, why it's so healthy, where it came from, and how you can incorporate it into your dog's diet.

Bone broth is one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can buy or make. It is healthy for both humans and dogs, making it a great food to add some extra nutrition to both your diet and your dog's. 

Bone broth is very mild in flavor, so it is likely your dog is going to love this food. It's easy to drizzle over their kibble, bake into dogs treats, or freeze in an ice cube tray for a healthy and cool frozen treat in the summertime. It is unlikely your dog will not enjoy the taste of bone broth, after all, all dogs like to chew on bones! However, all dogs are different, so there is a chance your pooch may not be crazy about the taste and flavor. 

If you want to treat your dog to bone broth, you can give it to your dog daily without any health risks or concerns. If you do buy pre-made bone broth from the grocery store, make sure it is organic and not packed with a lot of chemical fillers and preservatives because they can make your dog's stomach hurt and give them loose stools. Making your own at home gives you complete control over the other ingredients included in the broth, like the sodium level. 

Dogs generally will eat just about anything you give them, especially if you include the new food into their favorite treats, snacks, and foods. If your dog does enjoy their bone broth, your dog will most definitely let you know they like it with some positive body language signs. You can easily tell if your dog likes bone broth through how they eat this food. If they go and eat it without any snarling or funny faces, if they wag their tail like they are enjoying themselves, if they look alert and raise their ears in anticipation for more food, or even bark at your for more, you can confidently tell your dog loves the bone broth! 

Making and eating bone broth dates all the way back to American hunters and gathers. They would make bone broth out of necessity because they would never waste any part of the animals they hunted for food. 

When the invention of the pot was first created, they would add the leftover bones from the animals into a pot with water and other spices, hang it over a fire, and leave it to simmer for many hours. They knew this process would draw out all of the nutrients deep within the bones they otherwise could not extract. 

Over the years, bone broth made its way overseas and became popular in European and Asian countries as well. The health benefits of bone broth also become more widely recognized. In Ancient Greece, they used bone broth to help heal people suffering from digestive issues, The Chinese would use it to cleanse their palates, and many other cultures used it to heal a wide variety of other health issues. 

Today, many people are incorporating this magical health food into their everyday diets. From helping with bone health to joint pain to detoxifying the liver, there are many reasons why people want to go back to this staple food from so long ago. Many dog owners that claim to give their dog bone broth on a regular basis say it has helped their dogs dramatically with any tummy troubles and gut related issues they suffered from. 

Bone broth has a seemingly endless amount of health benefits for your dog. Bone broth is great for your dog's joint health. Healthy joints depend greatly on the health of the collagen, tendons, and bones in their body.

Bone broth contains a ton of a substance called glycosaminoglycans, the most commonly know one being glucosamine. Bone broth also has chondroitin and hyaluronic acid, which help protect their joints. Furthermore, the glycosaminoglycans in bone broth are resistant to digestion. This means they can be absorbed into the bone in their full, intact form. Since they remain whole, they act as hormones and stimulate cells that can help lay the foundation for collagen in the joints, ligaments, tendons, and the arteries.

Bone broth will also help detoxify your dog's liver. Dogs tend to have liver issues because their liver has to work in overdrive every day from laying on dirty carpets, walking through chemically treated laws, being exposed to harsh floor cleaners, taking flea and tick medications filled with chemicals, and so much more. To help clean out and detoxify their liver, they need something called glycine, which bone broth has heaps of! 

Bone broth will also help a dog that suffers from a leaky gut by filling in any holes in the stomach lining with a thick, gelatine-like substance, which we find in bone broth. If your dog gets sick, a great food to give them is, you guessed it, bone broth. It can help dramatically when your dog has loose stools and diarrhea. It has a ton of minerals and viamins that help boost their immune system to fight off any illness much faster.  

The good news is, your dog will probably fall in love with bone broth at first lick, so there isn't much you have to do to get them to eat this superfood. If you want to add this food into their daily diet, add it into their kibble, their raw food diet, replace the water in homemade treats with bone broth, freeze the broth in ice cube trays for a summertime treat, or simply give it to them in a bowl for a snack. There are an endless amount of ways you can incorporate bone broth into their diet. 

Of course, it is easiest to buy bone broth pre-made in the supermarket. However, you want to make sure if you do, that it's organic, non-GMO, has no artificial chemicals and preservatives, MSG, or any other ingredients that can be harmful and toxic to dogs. For instance, you would want to avoid a store bought bone broth that has onions as an ingredient, since dogs are sensitive to onions and they are actually toxic to dogs. 

The best option is to make your own bone broth at home - and it is so easy to make! All you need is an acid, like raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, water, a package of bones from your supermarket butcher, and any other nutritious, dog-friendly additions like kale, dandelion root, etc. 

Put the bones in your crockpot and add 4 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Cover the bone fully with water and add in any other ingredients you want to include. turn your crockpot on low and let simmer for 24 hours. This is necessary to draw out all of the nutrients within the bones. After it is done cooking, strain out the bones, and keep the broth in an airtight container in the fridge or the freezer.