Laurie's Blogs.

By chance, I came across an article that researched exactly this topic.  Are supplements of any use in dogs, and in particular working dogs?

The article on this subject is available in full text format at:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6570027/

Menchetti L, Guelfi G, Speranza R, et al.  Benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of German Shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course.  PLoS One. 2019 Jun 14;14(6):e0218275. 

So basically, the researchers fed 7 dogs their basic basal diet, and a different set of 7 dogs the basal diet plus a daily nutritional supplement for 3-months.  All dogs were German Shepherds, 2-3 years of age, all born and reared in the same place, and trained / used as drug detection dogs.  At the end of the trial, they evaluated heart rate (HR) during treadmill exercise and the subsequent recovery period. As well, blood samples were collected before starting the nutritional supplement treatment, before and after the treadmill exercise and following recovery.

What was in the supplement?  Amino acids, carnitine, vitamins, and octacosanol.  (Iken Up, Teknofarma, Torino, Italy)

What did they find?  Dietary supplementation proved effective in improving the physical fitness of drug detection dogs by exerting beneficial effects on HR recovery, energy metabolism and biomarkers of muscle damage. 

•Lower HR after recovery, lower Time constants of HR Decay, and higher Absolute HR Recovered.

•Lower concentrations of creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), & non-estrified fatty acids (NEFA) – suggesting a reduction in muscle damage and improvement in energy metabolism.

Well, this is brilliant information!  Honestly, I didn’t know if supplements (other than joint supplements) were truly beneficial for any dogs, let alone active working (or sporting dogs).  Nor did I know that such research had been done!  What rock have I been living under????

So, I started to dig around to see what else I could find!

Pelligrino et al. Physical response of dogs supplemented with fish oil during a treadmill training programme. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2019 Mar;103(2):653-660.

•In this study, supplementing with fish oil and then training dogs on a treadmill for 30-minutes, twice a week, for 12 weeks resulted in lower HR values (pre-exercise and post-exercise), lower post-exercise rectal temperatures, and higher thigh circumference was noted as compared to the control group.

Burri L et al.  Effects of dietary supplementation with krill meal on serum pro-inflammatory markers after the Iditarod sled dog race.  Res Vet Sci. 2018 Dec;121:18-22. 

•Here, the blood of two Iditarod teams were compared for omega-3 index, inflammation (CRP) and muscle damage (CK).  One was fed a seafood-based supplement from Krill, rich in omega-3 phospholipids and proteins for 5-weeks prior to the start of the race, and the other one did not receive supplementation.  The supplementation group had a higher omega-3 index pre-race, did not raise as high in the values indicative of inflammation post-race, and had a non-significant trend towards reduced muscle damage.  However more controlled studies are needed to confirm these findings.

All in all, I think there are some hidden gems in these papers.  Dietary supplements have beneficial effects that may aid in performance and recovery.  So, now if or when your asked about dietary supplements by a sporting dog owner / handler, you can feel comfortable saying that research is showing that they are indeed useful!