725 — Gut Health, Brain Health and the Science of Better Dogs
Gut Health, Brain Health and the Science of Better Dogs
Dr. Lobos with her own dogs Finn and Journey.
What if your dog’s digestion affects more than just stool quality—what if it influences immunity, stress responses and even behavior? Host Laura Reeves is joined by Dr. Ruth Ann Lobos, Senior Veterinarian with Purina Pro Plan, for a fascinating deep dive into the latest research on the canine microbiome and the gut-brain axis. From the real meaning of prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics to the role of MCTs in fueling the aging brain, this conversation brings cutting-edge canine nutrition science down to earth for breeders and serious dog people.
Lobos explores how modern canine nutrition is evolving beyond “just feeding a dog” and into targeted, research-backed support for digestion, cognition and quality of life.
Dr. Lobos explains that Purina doesn’t bring new diets to market simply for trendy ingredients or marketing hype—these new formulas are the result of years of research and partnerships with respected institutions like the AKC Canine Health Foundation and the renowned GI research lab at Texas A&M. Their goal is simple: support foundational health through the digestive system, since gut health affects everything from immunity to stress resilience—especially for dogs who travel, compete, or experience lifestyle changes.
One of the biggest takeaways is the clear explanation of the difference between prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics. Dr. Lobos breaks it down in a way every dog owner can understand, using a lawn analogy: prebiotics act like fertilizer, probiotics are the grass seed, and postbiotics are like compost—no longer alive, but still beneficial.
The new Digestive Support Plus formula builds on the success of Sensitive Skin & Stomach by adding a science-supported probiotic strain that is shelf-stable and effective for dogs who need “just a little more” digestive support—without jumping straight to a veterinary therapeutic diet.
The conversation also turns to senior dogs and brain health. Dr. Lobos shares the compelling research behind medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), which help provide an alternative fuel source for the aging brain. Dogs fed MCT-supported diets have shown improved learning, awareness, and cognitive function. Even more intriguing: related research has demonstrated seizure reduction in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy using higher-MCT therapeutic diets.
This episode is a must-listen for breeders, competitors and devoted dog owners who want to understand the real science behind feeding decisions—without the buzzword nonsense.
662 – Anxious Behaviors Linked to Gut Dysfunction in Dogs
Anxious Behaviors Linked to Gut Dysfunction in Dogs
Dr. Jason Gagne, board certified veterinary nutritionist, joins host Laura Reeves for a deep dive into dog food feeding trials, anxious behaviors linked to gut dysfunction and more.
“It’s one thing to open up the AAFCO book,” Gagne said. “The Association of American Feed Control Officials who set this model bill, as it’s termed and says you need this much zinc, you need this much selenium and so forth. Then pet food company XYZ, whoever that may be, goes ahead and puts that much in or hopefully a little bit more to meet those requirements.
“It’s another thing to actually be the company (Purina) that does these feeding trials. Again, as I mentioned before, we’re obtaining these ingredients, we’re formulating our diets. We have very tight control over our ingredients specifications and have very high standards for who our suppliers are. But it’s another thing to then take that diet that you make and feed it out to a colony of dogs and we do do that and we’re proud of that.
“The purpose of doing that and having that colony is to feed these diets. Because when we do that, we can measure the digestibility of our diets. We can assess the fecal quality and the fecal score, which I think is important to a lot of breeders and sporting enthusiasts. And we can even assess the performance on the diet.
“It’s not just important to meet the AAFCO requirements, but it’s more important really to optimize those recommendations for the betterment of the dog, right? We put those diets out there on the market after we’ve assessed, hey, we put this in the diet, we want to make sure it’s actually in the diet. We can analyze the diet itself, but then again, we’re analyzing what’s going in and coming out of the dog as well.
“This microbiome, what else is it doing? It’s actually been linked to behavioral issues as well when it goes out of whack, that dysbiosis as you mentioned earlier.
“We actually did do a study with dogs displaying anxious behaviors, and paired it with physiologic as well, so salivary, cortisol and we also had Holter monitors on them for heart rate. We were able to show that when the dogs were being supplemented with the bl999, they (had) a decrease in barking, jumping, spinning and pacing, which was anxious behaviors that they were displaying, versus when they were on the placebo.”
320 – You ARE What You Eat and So is Your Dog
You ARE What You Eat and So is Your Dog
Dr. Diane Brown, CEO of the AKC Canine Health Foundation, joins us again to talk about fascinating new research on the “gut-brain axis.” In other words, the microscopic bugs inside the dog’s body are being proven to interact with what’s going on in its brain.
From the CHF Newsletter: “The adage “you are what you eat” may be more profound than we ever realized. A growing body of evidence shows a complex system of two-way communication between the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and neurologic system in humans and dogs. The link between GI health and diseases such as multiple sclerosis, autism, and epilepsy has been studied in humans. In fact, patients with celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease have an increased risk of developing epilepsy. Since the community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract – known as the gut microbiome – plays an important role in GI health, what impact does it have on neurologic disease? AKC Canine Health Foundation (CHF) funded researchers are exploring the role of this microbiomegut-brain axis in canine epilepsy.”
http://www.akcchf.org/educational-resources/library/articles/AKC-CHF-Discoveries-Summer-2019.pdf
Gut microbiome
“The bacteria that live in the gut have been shown to have importance to both health and disease,” Brown said.
CHF research is determining what type of bugs normally live in the gut (literally any part of the digestive system from top to bottom). Which ones of those bugs are pathogens and which ones prevent disease is an enormous topic.
Many of us understand, for example, that antibiotics completely change the gut microbiome. But this new research is documenting associations with other disorders, including the impact of bacterial content in the gut and how it is influencing epilepsy and anxiety.
Using proprietary probiotics to manage post-antibiotic diarrhea is one thing. But Probiotics used over the course of six weeks are showing an impact on anxiety behaviors in dogs, providing a non-drug-based treatment for this frequent issue in all dogs.
Poop is cool!
Researchers speaking at a recent CHF conference even discussed using fecal transplants, delivered as an enema, to transplant healthy flora fecal material thereby improving the health of the dog.