Garlic for Dogs: Benefits and Cautions

Is It Safe?

Posted by Karen (Reading, UK) on 10/02/2008
★★★★★

I have given garlic to all my dogs and they never have fleas or worms, and live long healthy lives. One Golden Retriever in particular was a real pig and would raid the shopping bags while you were getting the rest in. At one time he consumed 2 loaves of bread in a couple of gulps, another time a pound of sugar! Not to mention a lot of unspeakable stuff he would find in the fields. He had no ill efects and he lived to 17. Dogs usually have pretty strong stomachs! I do feel vets and feed manufacturers have a vested interest in bad mouthing anything natural. Our stable cats never have jabs or wormers and live to ripe old ages. They scrap and get a scratch or an absyss, but this disappears in a day or two on it's own, without sixty quids worth of antibiotics!

Is It Safe?

Posted by Cynthia (Pineville, LA) on 09/28/2008
★★★★★

hey my dad has been sprinkling garlic powder on his dogs food for about 16 yrs now. He used just enough to cover the top of food shake it into dry food or mix into canned.

Is It Safe?

Posted by Anna (Hollywood, USA) on 09/10/2008

Hi - I am learning a lot from this blog. I have two German Sheps with bad fleas. Commercial meds don't work and I want to use garlic. But, I don't know how much to give them and how often. Advise, please? Thanks!

General Feedback

Posted by Estelle S. (USA) on 09/06/2008

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...

EC: Thanks, Estelle. We were shocked when we visited the website and found the following page: http://www.garlicvalleyfarms.com/garlicfordogs.html

The entire page was plagiarized from Earth Clinic. Pathetic way to sell products, no? We have requested that they remove our copyrighted content immediately.

Is It Safe?

Posted by RhyDonna (Denison, Texas) on 09/02/2008
★★★★★

About the garlic being harmful, I fed my dog garlic for 20 years. She lived to be 21 yrs old. I also give it to the dogs I have now. Anything, anything is lethal in large amounts, you can even o.d. on water if you drink to much. Onions are considered lethal because of the chemical in it that makes humans sleepy, thats why onions can kill a dog, but not garlic. Like I said, my dog lived to be 21yrs old. She never had any problems.

Is It Safe?

Posted by Carlos (Lisbon, Portugal) on 08/27/2008
★☆☆☆☆

I have done some searching online to find the pros and cons of Garlic and pets. I have come across a few links that suggest that Garlic can be fatal to pets - see below;

Garlic is part of the onion family (alliaceae) along with leeks and shallots. There is ample research available which indicates onions can be harmful, if not deadly, to our pets. In the last five years, more and more toxicity studies are being conducted on garlic and all seem to indicate that it, too, can pose serious health risks when fed to cats and dogs. A 2003 study on Grape and Raisin Toxicity in Dogs, published in the Australian Veterinary Journal begins, "The list of commonly available human foods toxic to dogs continues to grow. Grapes and raisins can be added to onions, garlic, chocolate, and macadamia nuts as posing dangers when ingested in excessive quantities." [1] Unfortunately, no one knows what constitutes "excessive quantities".

In an article on Onion and Garlic Toxicity in Dogs and Cats, Jennifer Prince, DVM states: "Garlic and onion are used as flavor enhancers in food. Since the toxic amount is unknown, it is recommended not to add it to your pet's food. These ingredients can cause Heinz body anemia, resulting in a breakdown of the red blood cells and anemia." [2]

Although the exact toxic dose is not known, studies unanimously agree that foods containing garlic should not be fed to dogs.

Full report available here -
http://www.petsbynature.com/Garlic.htm

Fleas and Ticks

Posted by Karen (Hatfield, Pennyslvania) on 08/10/2008

I have 2 dogs. One 6 yrs. and one 5 months. They have fleas. I wanted to give them garlic but after reading all these different opinions Im totally confused.I just lost 2 dogs. One(14 yrs) to cancer and old age and one(2 Yrs) to kilo thorax. I dont want to lose any more. But I also have 9 cats and cant afford to buy flea control besides I dont trust the chemicals in them.

Fleas and Ticks

Posted by Kate (London, ON) on 07/28/2008
★★★★★

I read the topic about garlic and dogs. Needless to say, I had to try it just because I don't believe in all the chemicals that the vets recommend and personally I think they cause alot more harm then good. Leaning towards the natural approach, both my dogs had fleas. I mixed olive oil and garlic powder. I have my lab (the one with the worse case of fleas) a small clove of garlic. The 8 month old pup I didn't give him any. So far my lab has not SCRATCHED ONCE, in the last hour. He was constantly scratching every 3-5 mins. This would go on all day. Finally I bathed them with the oil/garlic powder and then washed them with dish soap. All is well and they are both very happy dogs.

Worms

Posted by Donyale (Columbus, Ohio) on 07/21/2008
★★★★★

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.

Is It Safe?

Posted by Melissa (Wellsburg, WV) on 06/18/2008
★☆☆☆☆

I hate to disagree with anyone about a flea remedy that works for them, but I feel I must say something about the people who support garlic as a cure. I found out the hard way that garlic can severly injure and even kill dogs. Our dog, Chewie, got a hold of a garlic builb and managed to eat most of it before my husband caught him. We didn't think anything of it, he gets into things all the time, but not even an hour later he started vomiting and shaking. He couldn't hold anything down, not even water. It was too late to take him to the vet at that point, so we had to wait untl morning. When we did him to the vet, the vet was just as confused as we were until we told him about the garlic. Then he said, "Oh, that's it."

He explained that certain plants, like garlic and onion, are actually lethal in certain doses. We were lucky because Chewie vomited so soon after eating it. If he hadn't he could gone into renal failure and died.

I don't want to sound like a spoiler for all those who support giving garlic as a flea remedy, but I just don't want someone to loose their pet by giving their dog too much.

Fleas and Ticks

Posted by Miles (Oceanside, California) on 06/16/2008
★★★★★

I use to have a German Shepard, and every year around summer time he would become infested with fleas. Flea/tick shampoo was pretty much useless, as I would have to bathe him with it 4-5 times before all the fleas were gone. However, the eggs would still live on, so a week later he would be infested all over again. I had enough so I took him to the Vet, who strangely gave me garlic pills to give him. He told me most Vets don't recommend it, but he has been giving his dogs garlic for years and they've lived healthy lives. My dog hated it, and it was very difficult to get him to swallow it(even if I put it in the back of his throat, or wrap it in a treat). So I started chopping cloves daily and mixing it with plain white rice(the chopped garlic sticks to the rice so he has to eat it). About a week later, I started to notice something...no more fleas! The only side effect I saw(or smelled) was a bitter smelling flatulence. Every year, around mid-May, I would chop cloves and mix it with rice daily. My neighbor said I was "killing" my dog slowly, but his dog always was sick or had some kind of problem, and he would feed her as much RX pills as your average American family takes(needless to say that's a lot). Of course, his dog died, and it was very sad because he thought synthetic man-made pills wasn't the reason. His exact words were something like "she was an unlucky dog". She never even got to see 10, she died at 9 years old from complications, and they had to put her down. However, my dog lived to see 17, and every time I would take him to the vet they would tell me how healthy my dog was, how healthy his coat looked, and they could never find worms. I only gave my dog garlic daily between May-August, so maybe excessively giving them garlic might lead to anemia. However, I don't believe that since some of my friends give their dogs garlic daily year-round and they're healthy. I now have a year old Boxer, who like many Boxers, has minor digestive problems. When he was a pup he would vomit alot and get diarrhea. He also started getting fleas(not nearly as bad as my Shepard) around 6 months, so I started the garlic treatment with him too. To my surprise not only did it get rid of the fleas, but it cured his digestive problems! I thought the garlic might give him diarrhea, but I wanted his fleas gone so I took a chance. I couldn't believe it, he no longer vomited or had diarrhea after feeding him cloves daily with a cup of white rice. I can honestly say garlic is NOT fatal or even harmful to dogs. Whoever published that statement that it is, was probably just trying to market a new pill for dogs, or doesn't want you to know that $2 a month will cure/treat symptoms that most vets charge $200+ for. Last time I checked, I never heard of anyone getting negative side-effects from natural medicine, but how many negative side-effects are there in your prescription and OTC medicines? Exactly! So to all you "experts" who wanna tell me that some world-renown vet said it's harmful, save your breath. I really don't care. I've seen the results, and it continues to work for me and my dog, and that's all that really matters.

Fleas and Ticks

Posted by Kathy (Cypress, TX) on 06/13/2008
★★★★★

To keep fleas off my 70 lb. dog, I juice fresh raw garlic and add 1/8 teaspoon of it to a raw egg yolk. He eats it joyfully. NO MORE FLEAS. Fleas hate the smell of garlic. I may carefully increase the amount of garlic juice some in the future because he is 70 lbs. He eats his food joyfully. He also loves greens such as Alfalfa powder, Wheatgrass powder, Barley powder, etc. Dogs need greens too!

Is It Safe?

Posted by Suzana (Wellington , Florida) on 06/10/2008
★★★★★

I was born in Europe and we always use to give garlic to dogs when they had worms. I have never ever witnessed anything but good results. It worked every time, most times within 24 hours some other times it would take a few days. The dogs lived very long lives, over 20 years of age. when I came to USA I noticed that a dog's life expectancy is more around 15 years and even less depending on the breeds. That is very sad. Now since National Geographic announced that garlic is bad it seems that everyone is ready to throw away hundreds of years of experience. Garlic cannot become bad from one day to an other. I personnaly don't know what I would do without these natural remedies that have worked for ever. I have yet never seen myself a dog who had adverse effect from garlic but I did see many dogs who went into epilepsy after receiving a conventional deworming :( I wish everyone would do more research before jumping to conclusions and believing everything. Sometimes what we hear is just half the truth... and of cousre we are missing the most important half, so we should look for it. The industry has done a spectacular job until now making us believe that what is natural is bad, synthetic is better, fresh real food is bad (they call it human food to make sure you lost your argument before even arguing it), pet food made from scraps(of "human food"), fillers and preservatives is better. Mentionning garlic among other bad foods for dogs does not make the fact that garlic is dangerous more true but it is more convincing.

Is It Safe?

Posted by Mary MD (Binghamton, USA) on 06/10/2008

Sorry you lost your dog. It sounds to me though that there is no definitive proof that it was the garlic which caused the ulcerations in his stomach. So, please don't blame yourself. Dogs which have never been fed garlic get stomach ulcers. It's true that massive amounts of garlic
can be an anticoagulant thus thinning the blood, but so can aspirin and ibuprofen in humans if taken in large amounts. I doubt it was the garlic regardless of what your vet said. I've given my dog and cats garlic for years without any adverse effects. Recently I took in a stray mother cat with mastitis and a softball sized ulcer on her underbelly. If left outside she would have died from infection, but she didn't. I gave her 3/4 tsp of garlic daily for 2 weeks and she recovered completely. The large gaping wound closed, and she is healthy and happy. Garlic is a strong antibacterial and antiviral agent.

Worms

Posted by Diane (Foley, Alabama) on 06/03/2008
★★★★★

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!!

Fleas and Ticks

Posted by Rod (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) on 05/20/2008
★★★★★

My two dogs, a five year old and an eleven year old always have had Garlic for repelling fleas and thicks, digestion and overall good health. The big pharmaceutical companies don't want people to know this, but do your research on the net. Garlic is great and cheap, but also uncommon sense tell us to be cautious with anything, allergies to just about anything can occur.

Is It Safe?

Posted by Gabrielle (Elgin, Ontario Canada) on 05/16/2008
★★★★★

My 86 lb golden lab chow cross is almost 13 yrs old. Since he was a year old I have been making his dog food - boiled chicken, rice & raw chopped veggies (carrots, zuccini, bell pepper) - I sprinkle dried herbs (basil, rosemary, oregano) & garlic powder into chicken boil. Vets always comment on how healthy my dog is for his age and how nice his teeth are. He is slowing down now but to me it is obvious that the garlic has not harmed him in any way. And I always have lovely chicken broth for myself!

Is It Safe?

Posted by Dee (West Warwick, RI) on 05/04/2008
★★★★★

I do agree with Cheryl about the things on her list or (National Geographic magazine list). Except for the garlic. For a dog to become anemia by using garlic it would have to have an enormous amount of garlic. In the of Animal Wellness magazine February 2008 issue, is an article on the benefits of feeding garlic http://www.Animalwellnessmagazine.comrnrnAnother good article is http://www.petstyle.com/dog/health_well_article.aspx?id=2030§ion=Feeding amp Nutrition

I have two dogs 8 & 9yrs old; both get a clove of garlic daily. Small clove mix in raw meat for my little dog 25lbs and on or two cloves mixed in raw meat for my big dogs 60lbs, during the tick season, usually May thru July, Aug. When the tick season ends, I don't give it to them. I have had no side affect or problems with fleas & ticks. At first I had concerns about feeding garlic, after doing much research and reading different forums. I feel very confident garlic is safe to give my dogs. Dogs, like people, are different and each one has a different chemistry. What works well for one may not work for another? It's always best to do the research and use good common since, there's pros and cons for everything. You have to feel comfortable with your choices. But for me, garlic is the best tick repel I can use; I feel it's safe and has no harmful side effects.