The short answer: A healthy adult dog that eats a complete food already gets what it needs. Complete food is by definition made to be sufficient as the whole daily ration. Supplements do the most good in three situations: when the diet is not complete, when the dog has a specific need where there is research to support it, and when the vet recommends it. And in one situation you should be extra careful: when the dog is a growing puppy.
Start with the bowl, not with the jar
Before you buy anything, look at what the dog eats today. Under the EU feed rules there are two kinds of feed. Complete feed is composed to be sufficient as the whole daily ration. Complementary feed, where almost all supplements belong, contains more of certain substances but is sufficient only if given together with other feed1.
That means a supplement is never meant to replace a complete diet. If the dog's food says "complete feed" and the dog is healthy, in good condition and has a normal energy need, there is no nutritional gap to fill. Then the question is not "which supplement is missing?" but "is there a specific need?".
Three situations where supplements can be right
1. The dog eats home-cooked food. Here the need is greatest, and it is well documented. When researchers at UC Davis analysed 200 recipes for home-prepared dog food, from books, websites and vets, 95 percent were below the recommendation for at least one essential nutrient. Only five of the 200 recipes covered the whole need according to the National Research Council guidelines2. If you cook the dog's food yourself, a balanced vitamin and mineral supplement is therefore often necessary, not optional. Ask the vet or a feed specialist to calculate the recipe.
2. The dog has a specific need where there is support. The clearest example is joints in older dogs. A systematic review from 2022 weighed together 72 studies on dogs and cats with osteoarthritis. Omega-3, both in enriched food and as a supplement, had the clearest support. Several other popular joint ingredients had weaker or contradictory support3. The lesson applies to all supplements: ask what need the product is meant to meet, and whether there are studies on exactly those substances. The supplement is a complement to the vet's assessment, never a replacement for it.
3. The vet recommends it. The World Small Animal Veterinary Association, WSAVA, recommends that the dog's diet be assessed at every vet visit, in the same way as temperature and pulse. Growing, pregnant and older dogs are singled out as groups that need extra close follow-up, and supplements should be part of the review4. If you get a recommendation there, you have a concrete need to start from.
Key insight: The right question is not "should my dog take supplements?" but "what need is the supplement meant to meet?". If you cannot answer that, the dog probably does not need anything.
When to wait or refrain
Growing puppies. More is not better when the skeleton is growing. In classic studies at Utrecht University growing Great Danes received extra calcium over a long period, and it disturbed the development of the skeleton5. A puppy that eats a complete puppy food should not have extra calcium or minerals unless the vet says so. That applies especially to large breeds.
Several products at once. If you give two or three supplements the same substance may be in several of them. Turn the jars around and compare the contents before you combine.
When the dog is ill. Vomiting, diarrhoea that does not pass, sudden lameness, lethargy or changed appetite are matters for the vet, not for a supplement. A complementary feed treats no diseases.
If you decide to: how to go about it
Note how things are today. How the dog gets up, how the coat feels, how the stomach works. Then you have something to compare with.
Start with one thing at a time. If you change food and start two supplements in the same week you will never know what made the difference.
Give the right dose by weight, and give it time. Most supplements need four to six weeks before you can judge them.
Tell the vet what the dog is getting. It belongs in a complete diet review.
Related
The 42-day guarantee. If you have used a product as directed for 42 days without seeing what you hoped for, you get your money back. You do not need to return the product.
That was the short answer. If you have a question about your own pet, email us. We reply within 24 hours.
Read on:
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the placing on the market and use of feed, Article 3. EUR-Lex.
- Stockman J, Fascetti AJ, Kass PH, Larsen JA (2013). Evaluation of recipes of home-prepared maintenance diets for dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 242(11), 1500 to 1505. doi:10.2460/javma.242.11.1500.
- Barbeau-Grégoire M et al. (2022). A 2022 Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Enriched Therapeutic Diets and Nutraceuticals in Canine and Feline Osteoarthritis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(18), 10384. PubMed.
- Freeman L et al., WSAVA Nutritional Assessment Guidelines Task Force (2011). WSAVA Nutritional Assessment Guidelines. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 52(7), 385 to 396. doi:10.1111/j.1748-5827.2011.01079.x.
- Hazewinkel HAW, Goedegebuure SA, Poulos PW, Wolvekamp WThC (1985). Influences of chronic calcium excess on the skeletal development of growing Great Danes. Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association, 21, 377 to 391.
Herbiovet products are complementary feed for pets. They are not medicines and do not replace veterinary care. The studies above concern the substances named there, not Herbiovet products.