These are the dietary supplements that I have given all my dogs for many years. They get it with their meal 3 times a week to prevent internal parasites. I also added a bonus to this page: how to make bone broth for your dogs. Once again… I am not a vet and I do not play one on TV. I’m just a long time breeder and prefer simple, homemade solutions to common canine problems. That includes preventing parasites in dogs.

 Way back when, in the land before time, I only used one or two supplements but the more I researched, the more I found that I wanted to add to my shelties’ raw food diet. 

Initially I would measure each ingredient out into each one of my dogs’ bowls on a regular basis. That quickly became really annoying. A quarter teaspoon here, a half teaspoon there; multiple bowls and multiple supplements multiple times during the week. YUK!

So I decided to premix it all up, divide the portions to single serving sizes and refrigerate them. 

Now I don’t even have to wait for a day where they get their meal in a bowl as opposed to whole chunks of meat. (I’m always looking for an easier way.) I can just hand them the supplement as a treat.

These are the homemade supplements I like to give my pups 3 times a week:

Recipe for Dog Food Supplements

• Ginger 1/2 tsp (for heartworm prevention)
• Olive Leaf 1/2 tsp (antibacterial, antifungal)
• Seaweed 1/4 tsp (for iodine, thyroid function, dewormer)
• Probiotics 1 tsp (for gut health and good digestion.)
• Coconut oil 1 tbs (For giardia and coccidia). It is also an antifungal, antibacterial food.
• Pumpkin seed 1 tbls (for tapeworms)

You can see why I started pre-mixing this all up. Not to mention the powdered dog food supplements can billow up when using them dry and having the dog breathing them up doesn’t seem like a good idea.

It was a tougher job than I thought, with the blender causing the pumpkin seeds to heat up as they were ground. Smaller batches make for an easier job and a finer powder which is better for the dogs to be able to digest. I also found out the Vitamix dry grain jar mixes dry contents better. Otherwise, little pieces of pumpkin seed look white in the mix and if not digested would look like little tapeworm segments. UGH! So try to grind well or buy the powder. 

All my shelties ate the dog food supplements without any fuss. When the cotons first arrived here they weren’t sure what it was and took a while to decide it was okay to eat. But now they are all on board.

Mixing The Homemade Supplements

OK, so first thing I did was convert everything to a ratio so I could mix in mass quantities:

• 1 part Ginger
• 1 part Olive Leaf
• 1/2 part Seaweed blend ( 1/8 kelp, 1/8 dulse, 1/8 Irish moss, 1/8 spirulina)
• 2 parts Probiotics
• 6 parts Organic, Cold Pressed Coconut oil 
• 6 parts Raw Pumpkin seed

Over time, I reduced the amount of coconut oil from the 6 parts listed above to just enough that it coats all the powder and I can press the mix into silicone molds, so probably closer to 4-5 parts oil. I was finding that I couldn’t keep the powders in suspension long enough to get it evenly into silicone molds.

Use the “parts” as any measurement you wish, tablespoons, cups, whatever.

Grind the raw pumpkin seeds in the blender ’til fine. Mix all ingredients together.

Pour the mixture into small silicone molds, place in the refrigerator or freezer until solid. Pop one out into each dog’s dinner bowl along with their meal. No need to mix with the food. My guys just gobble it up.

The molds I use hold about 2 tsp.

I purchase just about all my ingredients at Starwest Botanicals.

The Track Record On Preventing Parasites In Dogs

2016: Having done this for a while, I reduced the dose of ginger (to what is in the recipe above) and reduced the frequency to 3 times a week, year round. So far, the 4DX screening has been negative, including heartworm, and fecal have been negative for intestinal worms Only time will tell how this experiment will pan out in the long run.

2017, 2018, 2019: All heartworm and intestinal worm tests for my dogs are still negative.

2020: Got lazy and forgot to make more food supplement for a few months and ended up with one dog testing positive for intestinal worms. Heartworm was negative. Treated all dogs with fenbendazole and got everyone back on the food supplement. 

2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025: All heartworm and intestinal round worm tests for my dogs are still negative.

Now, whether my dogs are just lucky enough not to have come in contact with the right female mosquito who happens to be carrying heartworm and lucky enough not to come in contact with dogs that have intestinal parasites, or whether the supplement actually works is up for discussion.  

According to the data from The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) which is an independent council of veterinarians, veterinary parasitologists, and other animal health care professionals established to create guidelines for the optimal control of internal and external parasites that threaten the health of pets and people, in 2023 there were 195,078 positive heartworm tests out of the total tested of 19,295,283. This is just over 1%. 

In Delaware, where I live, there were 375 positive cases out of 67,027 total tests which is only 0.56%. You can go to this page and find your State’s statistics. Whether the numbers are low because everyone uses heartworm medication or because the disease isn’t easily transmitted is unknown.

Bone Broth – Another Awesome Dog Food Supplement

I wasn’t sure whether I should consider this a supplement or just part of their normal real food diet. Since it isn’t raw, I’m leaning towards calling it a “supplement”.

I remembered from years ago how bone broth was touted as “good for what ailed you”. Even if you are not feeding a raw food diet, at least there are benefits from whole bone that any dog can have by using the broth concentrate.

Its tempting flavor and aroma can assist in rehydrating a dog suffering from diarrhea or recovering from surgery, and easy to digest.

Understand that a dog fed a raw food diet is making his or her very own bone broth in their digestive tract. Whole bones are crunched, swallowed and enter the stomach where gastric acid leeches out all the good stuff which is then digested. The remains exit the south end of the dog as unneeded material. So as a general rule, bone broth wouldn’t be a necessary dog food supplement if your dog is healthy and fed a raw food diet. 

However, being a “belt AND suspenders” kinda person, I thought it might not be a bad idea to add this to the general menu for all my shelties in spite of them being raw fed. 

What’s Bone Broth Good For? While It Doesn’t Prevent Parasites In Dogs, It’s A Good Thing

Bone broth is known to have the following:

• Glycine – which aids digestion, helps the liver detoxify the body
• Gelatin – which can reduce the amount of protein needed by the body substantially and reduces leaky gut which has been known to lead to food allergies
• Minerals – something the modern diet is woefully lacking
• Glucosamine, chondroitin and hyaluronic acid – you know these as great joint repair substances
• Show dog breeders feel gelatin will help build a thick, full coat

Bone Broth Recipe

The recipe below is incredibly simple. So simple, I’m not sure you could even call it a recipe. Julia Child has nothing to worry about. 

1. Take bones left over from your roast chicken, or other meat such as lamb, pork or beef. If you don’t many, save them in the freezer til you get a crock-pot full. Or buy beef soup bones. (At this point in time I ONLY use beef carcasses from grass fed, grass finished sources. I figure in the process of leaching out all the goodness the bones have to offer, those bones from conventionally raised cattle could also harbor toxins.)
2. Roast the bones in the oven for about 45 minutes which gives it a great flavor. Oh, did I mention? My dogs and I share the same bone broth and I like my bones roasted.
3. Put the bones in the pot and fill with water just enough to cover the bones, add about 2 tablespoons of vinegar (I like to use the organic Apple Cider Vinegar). The vinegar makes the water acidic enough to leech the minerals and gelatin out of the bone.
4. Turn the crock-pot on high to get it simmering, then turn it down and leave it to cook for at least 24 hrs or, if you use an Insta-pot you can use high pressure for 4 hrs.
5. When it’s done, strain all the bones, fat and meat out of the broth.

I found the quickest way to strain it is to ladle out the liquid into one of those fat separator containers. It has a coarse strainer on top to catch the big chunks of bone and I simply open up the bottom to let the broth go thru to a bouillon strainer which strains it further. The strainer is sitting over a large pitcher that holds the final product.

I add a little salt for flavor.

You will know you’ve done it right, if you put a little of it in the refrigerator to cool and it turns into a gel.

Pour the broth into silicone molds and freeze for individual servings.

So that’s pretty much how I spend my free time. You?