Apple Cider Vinegar

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Any opinions?

Apple Cider Vinegar for Dogs http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/acvfordogs.html

Every home with dogs should have apple cider vinegar. It's a remedy with multiple uses for dogs: alleviating allergies, arthritis, establishing correct pH balance. You can also give apple cider vinegar to cats and horses.

As written in an excellent, 1997 article by Wendy Volhard:

"...If your dog has itchy skin, the beginnings of a hot spot, incessantly washes its feet, has smelly ears, or is picky about his food, the application of ACV may change things around. For poor appetite, use it in the food - 1 tablespoon, two times a day for a 50 lb. dog. For itchy skin or beginning hot spots, put ACV into a spray bottle, part the hair and spray on. Any skin eruption will dry up in 24 hours and will save you having to shave the dog. If the skin is already broken, dilute ACV with an equal amount of water and spray on.

Taken internally, ACV is credited with maintaining the acid/alkaline balance of the digestive tract. To check your dog's pH balance, pick up some pH strips at the drug store, and first thing in the morning test the dog's urine. If it reads anywhere from 6.2 - 6.5, your dog's system is exactly where it should be. If it is 7.5 or higher, the diet you are feeding is too alkaline, and ACV will re-establish the correct balance.

If you have a dog that has clear, watery discharge from the eyes, a runny nose, or coughs with a liquid sound, use ACV in his or her food. One teaspoon twice a day for a 50 lb. dog will do the job.

After your weekly grooming sessions, use a few drops in his or her ears after cleaning them to avoid ear infections. Other uses for ACV are the prevention of muscle weakness, cramps, feeling the cold, calluses on elbows and hock joints, constipation, bruising too easily, pimples on skin surfaces, twitching of facial muscles, sore joints, arthritis and pus in the urine. There are also reports that it is useful in the prevention of bladder and kidney stones.

Fleas, flies, ticks and bacteria, external parasites, ring worm, fungus, staphylococcus, streptococcus, pneumococcus, mange, etc., are unlikely to inhabit a dog whose system is acidic inside and out. Should you ever experience any of these with your dog, bathe with a nice gentle herbal shampoo -- one that you would use on your own hair -- rinse thoroughly, and then sponge on ACV diluted with equal amounts of warm water. Allow your dog to drip dry. It is not necessary to use harsh chemicals for minor flea infestations. All fleas drown in soapy water and the ACV rinse makes the skin too acidic for a re-infestation. If you are worried about picking up fleas when you take your dog away from home, keep some ACV in a spray bottle, and spray your dog before you leave home, and when you get back. Take some with you and keep it in the car, just in case you need it any time. Obviously for major infestations, more drastic measures are necessary. ACV normalizes the pH levels of the skin, makes your dog unpalatable to even the nastiest of bacteria and you have a dog that smells like a salad, a small price to pay!"

Benefits to Using Apple Cider Vinegar for Your Dog's Health  

http://ezinearticles.com/?Benefits-to-Using-Apple-Cider-Vinegar-for...

I am sure you have heard of using apple cider vinegar for natural remedies in people, but have you heard of using it for your dog's health? Apple cider vinegar can help with digestion, gas, constipation, bladder stones, and urinary tract infections. It is used to deter insects such as mosquitoes, fleas and ticks. It can relieve skin conditions, and even take away the odor of skunk.

Many herbalists recommend the use of vinegar. It is recommended that you buy vinegar made from cold pressed, organically grown whole apples to get the benefit of the naturally occurring enzymes.

In it's natural form apple cider vinegar is a natural antibiotic, antiseptic, and deodorant. It helps to remove tooth tartar; prevents tooth decay and hair loss (even mange), prevents and heals gum disease.

Have I listed enough benefits to using apple cider vinegar, yet?

There are many other benefits to using apple cider vinegar. It is known to reduce common infections, aid whelping, improve stamina, prevent muscle fatigue after exercise, increase resistance to disease, and protect against food poisoning. Cider vinegar is rich in the vitamins, minerals, and trace elements found in apples, especially potassium; it normalizes acid levels in the stomach, improves digestion and the assimilation of nutrients, reduces intestinal gas and fecal odors, helps cure constipation, alleviates some of the symptoms of arthritis and helps prevent bladder stones and urinary tract infections.

You can feed apple cider vinegar daily to your dog to keep him healthy. Add to the food or water. You may need to gradually increase the amount. Start with a few drops and slowly increase each day until reaching the recommended daily dose below.

The approximate amounts recommended :

1 teaspoon - dogs up to 14 pounds 
2 teaspoon - medium dogs -15 to 34 pounds
1Tablespoon - large dogs-35 to 84 pounds

By mixing in the food or water of your dog, apple cider vinegar will restore the acid/alkaline balance of his digestive tract, getting rid of the brown spots in the lawn. A correct PH balance also helps keep away the fleas, black flies, ticks, and other external parasites. Your dog will have less chance of getting ringworm, staph infections, streptococcus, and mange. If your dog already has these problems sponge your dog's skin with a mixture of equal parts of apple cider vinegar with equal amounts of warm water. If you prefer, you can use this mixture in a spray bottle to thoroughly wet your dog.

A NOTE OF CAUTION: Do not use apple cider vinegar if your dog is sensitive or allergic to yeast or if he has a chronic yeast infection. Also, do not give to dogs with irritated intestines.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm pretty sure that if ACV or any other kind of vinegar could help at all with allergies or skin conditions, Jack's specialist would have recommended it. She recommends all kinds of other "natural" OTC products, like evening primrose oil and biotin supplements, and she doesn't sell drugs. So I have to believe that that part of this is a lot of hooey.
I'll let Adina, F Parker, or one of the other DK members with the proper educational credentials address the stuff about PH, lol.
Years ago, there was a miracle weight loss "formula" that involved ACV, and claims about what it did in the intestinal tract. That turned out to be a bunch of hooey, too.

[Amanda and Quinn]

Our specialist did recommend vinegar for Quinn's yeasty feet, but he didn't specify the type. We bathed his feet in regular old vinegar (diluted) and it actually did work. It's been a nice option for us since we've had trouble finding medications that don't mess with his phenobarbital levels. The rest of this seems a bit extreme, though.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Vinegar has long been used to help prevent the growth of yeasts. Vinegar and water was the original feminine hygiene product, lol. Plain old white vinegar. But vinegar will not "alleviate" allergies, sadly, or have any effect on them.

[Amanda and Quinn]

Didn't mean to imply that it would - sorry if it came out that way.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Not at all...I was referring to the part in the original post where they say "It's a remedy with multiple uses for dogs: alleviating allergies..."

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

i find it does help with Coopers "eye crusties" but i dont give it to her every day (only a few times a week) and it is also added to her food with oil

[Heather and Bama]

I wondered what u did for the "eye crusties". U mentioned the acvand some oil?

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I give her omega pet oil a mix of flax seed oil, pumpkin seed oil, sunflower seed oil, cod liver oil, sesame oil and rosemary extract. The oil is more for her coat - the fur on her back is much wirier and frizzy and it keeps it looking and feeling good

http://www.omeganutrition.com/products-omegapet-dogs.php

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Gee, the only thing I use vinegar for and know it works is pee on the carpet and a smelly washer. I also use it every now and then to freshen up the towels in the washer. Do a vinegar load and then rewash as normal. Front loader washers are notorious for getting stinky!!! But...I use the white vinegar! Don't know that it matters much other than color.

[Wendy and Eddie]

If your microwave starts to have that "frozen dinner" smell, leave a cup of white vinegar in it overnight and it smells nice and fresh in the morning. I wipe down the fridge with it too when I clean out the fridge and that helps keep it smelling clean too.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I don't know abut vinegar but I would definately recommnd everyone keep a bottle of rubbing alcohol around. Bandit decided to draw me a picture on our carpet with a black ink pen the other day:) But we decided to erase it with facial astringent... I didn't have any rubbing alcohol, but it did work wonders in a few minutes!!

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Good to know. I have never heard of that. thanks