Boosting Your Dog's Immune System: Tips for a Happy, Healthy Furry Friend

Dogs can also have low defenses

The immune system is responsible for protecting us from a wide variety of infectious agents (bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses.) When for various reasons you are depressed, we get sick more often and more easily.

In addition, as nothing is perfect, due to failures in this system arise the so-called auto-immune diseases, as is the case of asthma, lupus or diabetes.

It is the same with dogs. If their immune system is weakened or misfiring, different signs will begin to appear that something is wrong with their health.

Improving your dog's immune system will help keep him away from potential health complications.

Signs that your dog's immune system is low

Pay attention to the following recurring signs in your furry, as they may be indicating that his defenses need to be strengthened:

• Ear infections
• Allergies
• Miscellaneous dermatitis
• Conjunctivitis

What causes a weak immune system in dogs

The factors that cause a dog's immune system to be weakened can be either physical or psychological. External reasons cannot be ruled out either. Among them:

Exposure to sudden changes in temperature or an excess or lack of humidity in the environment

• Pollution
• Internal and external parasites
• Stress
• Nutritional deficit

Be especially careful with puppies or older animals, as their immune system is weaker.

Tips for improving your dog's immune system

There are many things you can do to improve your dog's immune system. So, keep in mind the following topics, which are sure to help strengthen your dog's defenses:

Food as a basis for good health

Feeding is a critical determinant of a dog's health and proper functioning of the immune system. If the defense cells or white blood cells do not have the nutrients they need, they will not be able to function effectively.

It is not only a nutritional deficit that decreases the immune response, but also the intake of toxic or poor quality substances, which is often the case when we feed our dog a poor quality commercial food.

If you want to feed your dog's defences you should choose one of the following options:

High quality food
Organic food
Homemade food (under veterinary supervision)
BARF Diet (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food)

Daily physical exercise

A dog needs to exercise daily (within its possibilities and limitations) for many different reasons, stress management being one of the most important, since a dog that does not exercise is a dog that can get stressed very easily.
Stress in dogs is a condition that directly decreases the activity of the immune system. Why? The dog's body releases various hormones, which occupy receptors on white blood cells and prevent them from recognizing and dealing with a pathogen. Daily walks and exercise should be one of the main things you do for your dog.

Immune boosting supplements for dogs

Another option when it comes to improving your furry's immune system are vitamin supplements. Although ideally the vitamin requirements should be covered through a balanced diet, in some cases the dog can be given this type of supplement.

But keep in mind that they should only be given on veterinary advice, as an excess of vitamins can be toxic and end up being more harmful than a lack of them.

If your dog is still giving off signs that something is wrong with his defenses, it may be time for the vet to suggest more specific tests to find the source of the problem.