Most dogs don’t let us forget the importance of the belly—rubbin’ it and fillin’ it. But your dog’s digestive system does way more than merely turn food into fuel to power zoomies. Keeping it happy and functioning efficiently can impact everything from your dog’s joint health and mood to the tear stains below their eyes.
While research is still very much in the puppy stage on the connection between a dog’s gut and the rest of their systems, it’s already clear that keeping the belly of the beast healthy is key to overall health. Read on to learn more—and what you can do to help keep your dog’s gut happy.
What Is Gut Health And The Gut Microbiome?
Like our gut, the dog’s gut is filled with trillions of tiny critters like bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses, microbes that make up a community called the microbiome. There are about 10 times more organisms in the intestinal tract than total cells in a dog’s body—and they’re busy.
In a healthy gut, the “good” bacteria keep the “bad” bacteria in check. They help with digestion and nutrient absorption. They help synthesize vitamins. They are linked to inflammation. And they have a profound impact on immunity—80% of a dog’s immune system resides in the gut. That’s true for humans as well.
“Dog and human microbiomes are surprisingly very similar,” says Dan Su, MS, DVM, DACVIM, a board certified veterinary nutritionist and manager, nutrition at BSM Partners, a pet food and nutrition research, consulting and innovation firm based in Bentonville, Arkansas. The two species have been living, eating and co-evolving together since the Paleolithic era, so it’s natural for them to have similar bacteria in their microbiomes.
“They’re made up of the very same bacterial species,” continues Su. “The difference is in the strain level.”
In recent years, buzz around the human microbiome has gotten louder as more research revealed connections between gut health and issues from mood and sleep to metabolism and cognition. Technologic advances empowered scientists to take a closer look at all these microbes and they were stunned by the complexity, according to Morris Animal Foundation, which has been conducting microbiome research on a number of different animal species. The number of human microbiome studies exploded.
And more and more of those studies suggest that the composition of the gut microbiome has a tremendous effect on overall health beyond the gastrointestinal tract. Human studies have demonstrated that many diseases seem to be influenced by microorganisms living in the gut, including autoimmune diseases, mental disorders and cancer.
Canine science in this area is still in its infancy, stresses Su, and the potential is exciting. Especially as the similarity between dog and human microbiomes could mean more research investment by firms seeking information about the power of the human gut, that could end up yielding results used to help dogs too.
The Importance of Gut Health for Dogs
When the balance of good and bad bacteria is maintained in a healthy microbiome, it’s able to help keep the body’s other systems running smoothly. “The gut is constantly sending neurons and hormones to deliver information to the brain, and vice versa, in what’s known as the gut-brain axis,” says Su. “It’s the communication system between the microbiome and the brain.”
