Probiotic Digestive Bites

Digestive issues are a common issue to have at one point or another for all dogs. There are many reasons as to why your dogs digestion might get out of whack. When you do realize your dogs digestion is having difficulties, there are simple things you can do to help support their digestion and rebalance it over time.

Some common reasons:

• Antibiotic use
• Food sensitivities
• New food introduced into the diet too quickly
• There are more serious issues that should be researched more indepth and seen by your vet and / herbalist

Symptoms your dogs digestive is having trouble:

• Gas
• Foul gas
• Bloating
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Undigested food in bowel movements

Let's look at a simple recipe for non-cooked, frozen probiotic digestive benefiting bites that your dog will love!

What you'll need:

• Greek Yogurt - 4 TB
• Pumpkin Puree - 2 TB
• Psyllium Husk - 4 tsp
• Tea of your choice - 2-4 TB - Slippery Elm, Peppermint, Chaga Mushroom, Reishi Mushroom, Turkey Tail Mushroom, Fennel, Dandelion Root, Dandelion Leaf, etc.

What you'll do:

1. Mix pumpkin puree and psyllium husks until blended.
2. Add greek yogurt
3. Add your choice of tea slowly, until mixed in thoroughly
4. Pour into silicon molds or ice cube trays
5. Place in the freezer until hardened
6. Pop out and store in separate container or leave in trays/molds until needed

The wonderful thing about this recipe is that these measurements can be altered to whatever ratio feels right to you. If you want less tea or no tea at all, you can still pour the thicker mixture into the molds and it will come out just fine. If you want to add more liquid, that will be fine too. Either way, the mixture will freeze and your dogs digestive system will start to come back to balance.

Why these ingredients:

• Greek yogurt - Naturally probiotic. Yogurt contains beneficial bacteria that is critical for digestive function. The more good bacteria they have in their digestive tract, the less bad bacteria can take over. Beneficial bacteria also helps break down food, assimilate nutrients and overall keeps the digestive tract "in-check"
• Pumpkin puree - Pumpkin is high in insoluble fiber. Insoluable fiber helps move waste along and creates a firmer bowel movement. This is especially beneficial when your dog has diarrhea but also with constipation. Even though dogs eat a lot of meat, they still need roughage to help everything move efficiently. Pumpkin also provides a high amount of Vitamin A.
• Psyllium Husk - Psyllium husk is an insoluble fiber that helps bulk up loose stool, move food through the intestines and effectively activate the anal glands. When a dog has loose stool for too long, their anal glads don't get the  opportunity to release which can cause more problems.
• Slippery Elm - Slippery Elm helps normalize intestinal action, soothes the digestive tract, combats constipation and diarrhea and is known as a beneficial fiber. When added to cool water it creates a demulcent liquid that coats, heals and soothes the mucous membranes from top to bottom.Most common digestive issues that your dog will deal with can be balanced out simply with a healthy amount of probiotics, prebiotics and fiber. There are always more options to try if these are not enough. These Probiotic Digestive Bites are a great place to start.

Now, it's time to give them a try!