How To Tone Your Dogs Nervous System With Oatstraw Bone Broth

The nervous system is the electrical system of the body. This is the same for humans, dogs, cats, horses, etc. Simply put, when the electrical system in the body is taxed, overworked or misfiring, a very common symptom arises called.. anxiety. Just like humans, our dogs can get anxiety too. The term "anxiety based behaviors" is a variety of symptoms our dogs exhibit if they are feeling anxious.

Some of these anxiety based behaviors look like:

  • Whining

  • Excessive barking

  • Shaking

  • Reactivity

  • Pacing in the car

  • Not enjoying people or dogs company

  • Chewing up their crate

If your dog is exhibiting these behaviors, then it's fair to assume that they are feeling anxious in certain situations. All dogs are different, just like humans and can feel anxiety for different reasons and express them in different ways.

Now, how can we help tone our dogs nervous system?

I like to use an herb called Oatstraw. Oatstraw feeds and soothes the nervous system through its calming properties as well as its mineral content. It is considered a nervine, which is a classification of herbs that nourish and support the central nervous system. Since Oatstaw also contains a wide variety of beneficial minerals, it calms AND nourishes the central nervous system. Over time, feeding Oatstraw can strengthen and stabilize your dogs nervous system.

There are a variety of ways you can feed this herb to your dog. Some are as a tea, in a capsule, powdered over their food or my favorites, as an extract and infused into bone broth. I want to go over how to make it as a bone broth since it is usually the easiest way to feed any herb. The flavor of bone broth is overwhelming to dogs (in a good way!) and even the pickiest of dogs tend to eat almost any herbs when their infused into bone broth! Let's get into it..

What you will need:

  • Oatstraw - the herb
  • Chicken, turkey or beef bones
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Water
  • A crock pot

What you will do:

  1. Place bones into the crock pot
  2. Pour a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into the crock pot
  3. Fill the crock pot with water
  4. Turn on low and let the medicinal compounds of the bones infuse the water overnight
  5. Turn the crock pot off
  6. Pour in the oat straw and put the lid on
  7. Let it sit for at least an hour
  8. Strain out the broth
  9. Pour into a mason jar or another container of your choice
  10. Pour some over your dogs meals and watch them enjoy!

Some other times in a dogs life that this recipe could be of great benefit would be upon adoption, if they are in a car accident or get attacked by another dog. All of these situations rattle the nervous system and create a sense of insecurity and fear within the dog. Just like it would you or I. Dogs want to feel safe, just like we do. Supporting their nervous system by feeding medicinal, calming herbs is a great place to start showing them they are safe.

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