Garlic for Dogs: Home Remedies and Safety Issues

My kelpie/border-collie suffered badly from an allergic reaction to grasses in spring, scratching her itchy skin until she had sores and needed vet treatment (cortisone, I think). Having suffered all my life with sneezing and runny nose in spring, . I had begun taking a horseradish and garlic capsule twice daily which cured me. So I began giving it to my dog, twice daily during spring and once daily for the rest of the year like me. She had no more trouble with itchy skin, or fleas and lived to be 16, suffering only from arthritis in the last couple of years. My new pup is only 5 months old and scratches regularly but not badly yet. I am wondering how old she should be before giving her the same capsules.

I need to retract my comment I made about giving my pet garlic, it was a one time deal when I read an article about thin skin things such as onions and or garlic/ Not good.... http://www.petguide.com/health/dog/the-shocking-truth-about-dogs-and-garlic/

I sprinkle garlic powder on my dog's food every morning and have never had any problems. It gives it an extra taste that they like and I have never had any problems with fleas on them. I even have a friend who works at a shelter and does animal rescue work and she not only takes garlic supplements herself to protect her when she's working with the animals come in but she also adds it to the food of the shelter animals. I think there are so many people out there that are against holistic medicine that they bash things without knowing if they truly work or not.

A few months back I was fostering a German Shepherd who was a heavy HW positive and it was going to be several months before he could begin treatment. I got online and found a wonderful holistic treatment and within the first week, his appetite had increased dramatically along with his energy level and his coat. He went for his 1st treatment about a month later and when he was tested, the vet said that they had never seen anything quite like it, but the baby heartworms were dead and there were only a few adults left.

So I do believe in the power of holistic treatment!

I have to agree. I chop up 1 to 2 cloves for in each of my dogs food dishes, once a day. They are about 85 lbs each. My one dog has tumors, and before I started adding the garlic, was showing signs of arthritis. Now, at 15 years old, my baby is bouncing like a puppy. I have been feeding both my dogs garlic for about 5 years, and it has shown nothing but positive results!

I appreciate this wonderful website! I have 6 Scottish Collies & 2 Border Collie dogs. I was using a very expensive wormer, 1 pill every month., for all my Collies, because I was told that Ivomec would kill them. That is not true, if given in the correct dosage for the weight. BUT I now give ALL of them 1/4 tsp. granulated Garlic( not just any garlic! ) ONLY regular Garlic, per day. I sprinkle it on their food, they stand back for me to sprinkle it on their food.

It got rid of all the worms & eggs! in 5 days. NOW my dogs have a shiny coat & are gaining weight.

My vet says tape worms won't really hurt my dogs, just round worms & hookworms. YUK.

I really like the information on this website & the information shared from the people who write on about their experiences! Thank you all. Jean in Ga.

Garlic Oil: I give my 130lb shepherd/dane 3 tablets 2 times a day and when I ran out the fleas where horrible, he had sores and all. started back on the regimene and within 3 days a drastic improvement

i have use garlic on my dog for years and they have no fleas and very heathly.and havent had to treat my home for fleas in years and i bath them in tea tree shampoo that adds to help flealess in tenn....just a speakle of garlic powder on their food each day

Garlic to control fleas and ticks in dogs.

Vets are misinformed. A dog or cat would have to eat vast amounts of garlic to lower their red blood cell count. If you are still unsure I would suggest rubbing garlic puree between the shoulder blades of your cat or dog - this will deter fleas as well as feeding garlic to your pets.

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Theresa

The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.

About Theresa

Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.

Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.

Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and  fueled  her quest for the knowledge held in lore,  and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.

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(Mpls., Mn) on 10/01/2015

There have been many warnings about feeding dogs garlic because it contains the same substance that is found in onions, and onions have been directly linked to deaths in dogs. I found this info which may further help explain why garlic is safe to feed most dogs.

The onion connection

The confusion surrounding garlic arises primarily from its close ties to the onion family. Onions have a high concentration of thiosulphate, a substance that can trigger hemolytic or Heinz body anemia in dogs, a condition where circulating red blood cells burst. When it comes to onions, a single generous serving can cause this reaction.

?Onions are only one of the substances which can cause Heinz body anemia, " adds Wendy Wallner, DVM. ?Other substances such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and benzocaine-containing topical preparations can also cause Heinz body anemia in the dog." Benzocaine probably accounts for many cases of the illness because it is prevalent in creams often recommended for allergy-suffering animals. It is absorbed through the skin and builds up in the bloodstream. In fact, this substance is often likely to have been involved in cases where garlic was suspect.

Garlic itself simply does not contain the same concentration of thiosulphate as onions do. In fact, it is barely traceable in garlic, and is readily excreted from the body.

Source: http://animalwellnessmagazine.com/is-garlic-safe-or-not/

Has anyone tried or is familar with Allicin garlic vegetarian capsules for a dog?

Whenever we have a problem like this we follow the money trail. Vets have no benefit from telling owers to give their pets garlic instead of buying "flea medication" They won't tell you vaccines have horrible consequences, they won't tell you that flea meds and other meds have side effects, like kidney failure!

I used garlic on my dog for whipworms successfully, when a natural cure is said not to really exist. Not to mention, Drs, I'm not sure about vets, CANNOT reccomend supplements to patients without being a risk for losing their license! This information is first hand from an MD. And if we look at Drs that have gone against conventional medicine often pay a steep price. The internet, for all you claming the internet is not a good source of information, is the BEST place to find truth, because we are not getting it from Drs and we are definitely not getting it from the mainstream media!! We are lied to everyday people, wake up!

I like Earth Clinic very much. It is a place that anyone can go to get information from a variety of people. On a variety of subjects.. My opinion is : for people that say ( shame on you Earth clinic) are just fearful of what you can't see. No one suggest you do anything. IT is a place you can get other peoples opinions. What you do with it is up to the individual. So stop blaming Earth Clinic & be thankful we have this website. I am! I use it from people who has had alot of experience on the subject I need to know about. Jean

"... but garlic is DANGEROUS for dogs, & I would hate anyone to go through what I did with my poor little dog, thank god she survived - $10,000 later."

With all due respect, would you care to scan and upload all your dog's relevant medical records, including all lab analyses/reports, which surely demonstrate, beyond reasonable doubt, that garlic was the sole culprit of all her problems? :)

Cheers!

Reply to Mary Ann from Slidell LA 6-13-2011. Garlic is a natural blood thinner. Just like any natural supplement or vitamin, ya just don't wanna over do it. An old down-home Vet once told us, that garlic is good for getting rid of fleas and scratching because of fleas...

We give our dogs the Brewers Yeast and Garlic pills found at pet stores. They help with dandruff and give them wonderful coats and keep the fleas away. At first I crushed them and mixed them with food, but now I just drop the tablets in the food and they eat them right up. It has worked very well for our dogs and I'm not concerned at all about the garlic. I haven't found much that says it's bad, other than that link futher up in this thread, and it's science seemed way off.

How do you get your dog to take either one? When I put Apple Cider Vinegar in h20 he won't drink and if he smells garlic, same thing.

I know that previous comment is an old one, but I need to say that it is completely incorrect. Brewer's Yeast is rich in Omega fatty acids, B vitamins and antioxidants. It improves health and the immune system and can help repel biting insects like fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes. Limit it to a teaspoon or one tablet a day.

We discontinued the use of Frontline because it is toxic. We began adding a teaspoon of garlic oil to our dogs dinner. We haven't found a tick on her since. Prior to using garlic oil, and even when the dog had Frontline on her, we pulled ticks off of her regularly. My dog is in perfect health and has never had a negative reaction to the use of garlic oil.

I was trimming my Bassett Hound's dewclaws and noticed under his tail, was some worms with "melon seed like pods". I immediately got him a "loaded" hot dog, loaded with 2 garlic capsules. I gave this to my other dog as well. I am not sure what type of parasite he has but he is not longer whining constantly, rubbing his backside on the ground, and the area beneath his tail no longer looks like an expressway. He was very happy and "bouncy" this morning even though he is at least 12 yeaars old. I dispensed another round of "loaded" hot dogs this morning and will repeat on a daily basis. I have 4 horses and give them garlic daily in their grain and their fecal tests come back negative on a 6 month basis. Garlic is a God send!!!

To whom it may concern at this site!! i have been researching garlic as a natural treatment for worms in my dogs . when i came upon a website www.garlicvalleyfarms.com it gives a section on testimonials. as you read them , they all appear to have come from your site. it seems to me this website www.earthclinic.com should be aware of the www.garlicvalleyfarms.com website because it's selling a product .. some of the people doing this research might come across your site and then theirs as i have and then assume you are supporting or backing their product , because you have the same testimonials.. something to look into and check out... signed: estelle, a newcomer interested in true research...

I have 4 wolves. One is a Timber wolf/ German Shepard. The other three are all in the high 90's as far as the wolf. Very little dog if any. About three weeks ago my husband and I thought our babies may have worms. So we took a stool sample to our vet and he told us that all four of the wolves had hookworms. The meds for all four of our wolves would have cost us $65.00 in all for all of them.Now my husband and I are not rich people so I did some nosing around on the internet and read up on Garlic cause a very wise old friend of mine once told me that Garlic can expel worms in dogs and Garlic can also prevent a worm infestation. So before I gave my wolves Garlic I looked it up on the internet and did my research. After two days of research I broke down and went to the store and bought some Fresh Garlic in clove form, came home and gave one clove each of Garlic to the wolves and in four days later in their stool were these live hookworms. Garlic will not kill the hookworms, what happens is that the Garlic cleans out the digestive track, now worms need a unclean place so they can thrive. Now by using Garlic to clean out the digestive track the worm will fall off the intestinal wall.The garlic also makes the blood of your pet taste and smell very foul. In my opinion Garlic is a wonder drug that is not only good for us humans to take daily but it works wonders for our four legged friends as well.

YES GARLIC MAKES THE BLOOD TASTE AND SMELL FOUL TO FLEAS TICKS MOSQITOES!!!

My female gave birth to 5 beautiful pups and of course she got worms, white ones, we started giving her chopped fresh garlic and within 3 days the worms were gone. The pups are 5 weeks and they have no worms either. Mother nature is very powerful!!

I have been sprinkling garlic powder on my dogs (home cooked) food since I got him aged 6 months. He's never had a flea. Recentley I ran out (of GP) and it was a week before I replaced it (me casually thinking all would be ok) During that week he got worms, when I put him back on the Garlic Powder the worms were eradicated. It works for me.

You Are So Right Amy!! People Don't Look Up The Fact's , It's to Easy To Get The Heresay............. Don't Be Ignorant! State The Fact's!!

We have a 7 pound Chiwawa (can never remember the correct spelling) with fleas. I would like to start giving her garlic. How much and how often should we give it to her? Should I use whole garlic, or can we use powder? Should I be concerned about additives in garlic powder? Could I put the correct size piece of garlic in a piece of cheese? Thank You for your Assistance, Debby

Well, I'm sorry I don't know what a chis is. How big is it. My Chiwawa is about 7 pounds. I've read a few things about garlic being toxic for dogs, so I want to be sure I'm not giving her too much, but of corse want to give her enough to be effective. So how much for a 7# dog?

Also, she's a pretty "picky" eater, so I'm thinking it may keep her from eating her food, or she'll eat around it. If that happens, would it be OK to just "hide" it in a chunck of cheese; she loves cheese.

Thank you for all your other helpful information, very helpful.

You wouldn't know of any natural methods to get rid of them in the yard. We usually have very heavy freezes here, but haven't had them for a few years and I'm thinking that's why we're having such a flea problem. I really don't want to use chemicals in our yard, but may have to resort to that if this doesn't work :( Any suggestions?)

Thank you, Debby

WARNING!

Just wanted to mention here... on using that diatomaceous earth, make sure its food grade! The other one is very dangerous to use around our animals. Linda

I was affraid to give my little Mitzi the garlic because of some of the testimonies about it causing long term bad effects. I called my vet and she said that a lot of her customers say they use garlic, but she couldn't tell me how much. I sure hope this helps as my poor dogs (We also have a very large Boxer, Spanky :) are just miserable.

Thank you for taking the time to give me all this helpful imformation... I'm going to try it... We, Mitzi, Spanky, my husband and myself, Debby, sure hope it helps :)

Blessings to You and all your little 4 legged friends! Debby

Garlic IS deadly for dogs. My poor sheltie just died a few days ago from eating 3.5 ounces of dried garlic he got into. He was totally healthy and fine before that. He was throwing up, became lathargic and with 8 hours was DEAD. I wish I would have know it is toxic to dogs, I would have taken him to the vet and they could have used charcoal on him, blood transfusion to replace the bursting blood cells and/or oxygen treatment. It causes a certain type of anemia and eventually kidney failure.

I trust the AVMA more and they clearly state that foods containing garlic should not be fed to dogs! Stop telling people it's safe! See for yourself, the research has been done! Some people have had their dogs die because of garlic! This is so irresponsible on your part!

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/ajvr.2000.61.1446

"Frank M." What you gave your dog was salt with a garlic scent, that is a poison to any animal and over time even to humans. I believe these comments target the"Real" fresh garlic. Therefore I start my dogs off with a very small piece of fresh garlic every other day because they are small.

Some times saving money is well worth the effort for our pets and there is no guarantee that vets.are 100% fool proof. While doing numerous web searches to find the correct treatment/s we should know what is good and what isn't.

Good Luck with your journey.

I've been giving garlic in small amounts to my pets for years. Are you sure it wasn't gmo steak? See, Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of our Lives on you tube.

I had a small terrier for 17 years and sprinkled garlic on his food resulting in no fleas or tics. Same with the lab I had for 15 years.

I just want to throw in my two cents about garlic. I have always had German Shepherds. Back in 2007 I had a GS pup and had him on a heartworm pill. Each time I gave him the pill, he would vomit and over several months I saw him and sicker and sicker. Ok enough of these pills so thru my neighbor who was a Ft Lauderdale K9 officer, he told me about a company in Maryland that sells garlic tabs. I don't want to say their name but they do have a following. Anyway I put the dog on the garlic tabs. He had no fleas or ticks or heartworms and of course the vets were not enthusiastic about this. He lived to almost 15 yrs old and died from old age. Circumstances drastically changed in my life and I left Ft Lauderdale and relocated to a semi rural area. Lots of wooded acreage.

In February of this year I got another GS pup and of course I continued with the garlic tabs. Recently I saw him scratching a lot and I thought perhaps I should change his food and he does like to play in the dirt. I brush him everyday. I couldn't see any fleas so I didn't think much about it. The last few days he didn't seem right so yesterday I took him to the vet. Imagine my horror when vet said he has a major flea infestation and ticks and I was unable to see them because his coat is so thick. We had to wait a few minutes for the heartworm test and all I could think was he has heartworms if he has fleas and ticks. The garlic failed me. I was faithfully giving it to him everyday and extra because of the mosquito population in this area. Thank God he did not have heartworms. The vet shaved some of his fur off and placed it on a paper towel where I saw all these fleas and flea poop. OMG!

I had no choice but to put him on these heartworm pills. The treatment for heartworm is incredibly expensive and what the poor dog has to go thru is horrible and they might not survive. I read an article on Dr Mercola site that where garlic fails is that heartworm is in the blood not the digestive tract. In closing, garlic failed.

My 25# Cocker Spaniel tried to eat a, Arizona Bark Scorpion (Centruroides exilicauda) (The worst kind in North America) last night. She and the Scorpion survived the encounter, but the antivenom for these Scorpions is not recommended for dogs. So, rather than wait for her to develop symptoms that may be treated; (seizure, muscle tremors, breathing and digestive difficulties) I gave her Garlic to fight the poison from the Scorpion. It is believed that the thiosulfates that are toxic to dogs (the can cause the red blood cells in the body to burst) also fight the venom itself. My hope is that the thiosulfates will fight the venom before affecting her blood cells. Right now she is unusually sleepy, but otherwise there have not been any other signs of toxins (Garlic or Venom).

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Do not poison your dogs!!! 1/4 teaspoon Minced Garlic- Mixed with food - twice a week is all you need. During summer or heavy infestation increase slightly. Takes a few days but it works once the garlic is in the blood stream.

Here is some information I would like to share, as I was thinking about this for my dog. Thankfully I did a web search first.

http://www.petguide.com/health/dog/the-shocking-truth-about-dogs-and-garlic/