11 Best Remedies To Help Your Dog Breathe Freely During Smoke Season

During the late summer months in California and other surrounding states we experience a 5th season - fire season.

These fires and the massive amounts of smoke created spread from northern to southern California and affect humans as well as all animals, wild and domesticated. Just like we should be taking care of our lungs and supporting the oxygenation of our blood during these times, we should also be supporting our pets bodies too.

Let's get into which herbs will benefit our pups and why. Then we'll go over some ways to utilize these herbs to make it easy to feed to your pets.

Lung supporting herbs:

• Mullein
• Soothes inflamed lung tissue
• Prevents coughing until inflammation has receded
• Helps release mucus that has built up in the lungs
• Wild Cherry Bark
• Supports the release of mucus
• Reduces vascular tension in the lungs
• Decongestion properties
• Contains quercetin that helps with histamine reactions and inflammation response
• Osha
• Helps clear mucus from sinuses and lungs
• Promotes expectoration
• Relieves congestion
• Makes breathing easier
• Increasing blood circulation to the lungs

Chlorophyll is the photosynthetic compound found in green plants and algae. This compound helps the body in a variety of ways including:

• Oxygenating the blood
• Improves the quality of red blood cells
• Helps the body acclimate to high elevations
• Improves the immune system
• Wound & skin healing
• Counterbalances fungi in the body
• Detoxifies the body

Let's focus on oxygenating the blood during fire season. When the air is full of smoke, the body is clearly not receiving as much oxygen. When we can support our circulatory system and help the body receive more oxygen on a cellular level, the body is able to utilize more oxygen for normal bodily functions.

Herbs and food high in chlorophyll:

• Spirulina
• Chlorella
• Alfalfa
• Spinach
• Collard greens
• Broccoli
• Parsley

Ways to utilize these herbs for your favorite pups:

• Make an herbal tea and pour in your dogs food - When you make an herbal tea, you are extracting the medicinal properties into the water. This water can be consumed like tea, mixed into food dishes, baked into dog biscuits, mixed into jello bites and frozen into dog treats / food toppers.
• Leaves - Pour boiled water over leaves and steep
• Bark & Roots - Simmer in water for 10-15 minutes
• Marshmallow - Mix in with COOL water overnight in the fridge
• Spirulina & Chlorella - Mix with cool water and it's ready to use immediately
• Combine in with bone broth recipes - Make bone broth like you normally would but add any of these herbs and foods into the mixture. Strain bone broth as normal and serve. This bone broth can be used in meals, made into dog biscuits, made into jello bites or frozen into ice cubes.
• Buy or make an extract of a combination of these herbs and mix into your dogs food.
• Buy or make a powder of these herbs. This powder can be made into treats, made into a tea to be utilized in any of the ways above or mixed directly into your dogs food.
• Mix vegetables into your dogs meal. Broccoli, Collard Greens and Spinach are great addition to your dogs diet any time of year but especially during smoke season! Ideally, lightly cook or steam these and mix in with your pups meal. These foods are harder to break down for dogs and humans! More nutrients are absorbed when they are lightly cooked.

By utilizing any of these ideas you will be helping your dog feel more comfortable and breathe more freely in these smokey times.