Puppy Education

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Omega-3 fatty acids (n-3) are so healthy for dogs that every major pet brand is adding the essential fats to their foods, treats, and supplements. The n-3 fatty acids make up a family of essential fats that dogs are unable to synthesize, the label essential indicates the nutrient needs to be obtained in the diet. As with most nutrients the compounds used to insert the nutrient into the diet determine the bioavailability and efficacy of the substance. There are 3 sources of n-3 acids, plant based, marine based, and synthetic based.

Plant based sources provide the precursor ALA that is metabolically converted to EPA and DHA primarily in the liver, marine based contain EPA and DHA eliminating the need for conversion, and synthetic based are chemically manufactured highly concentrated source of EPA and DHA.

However, enzymatic conversion efficiencies of ALA to EPA & DHA vary considerably among species and appear to be relatively inefficient in dogs, pet food companies distort this inefficiency as the reason for using fish oils to supplement n-3 acids in their formulations. Fish oil contains DHA & EPA, therefore the dog’s body does not have to convert the EFA’s however the process of converting ALA to DHA & EPA provides several benefits to the dog’s physiology.

The meaningfully lower cost of using fish oil has motivated pet food companies to market fish oil as the top source of omega-3 fatty acids however flax seed is scientifically proven to be a superior substance for dogs (Peer Reviewed Study). Although flax is cost prohibitive for the highly price sensitive dog food industry, dog supplement purveyors are far less restrained. Superior dog supplements take it a step further and utilize specific strains of flax that yield a linseed that is highly compatible with the canine digestive process. Since dogs are highly responsive to the anti-inflammatory aspects of n-3 acids at the cellular level, the inclusion of ALA substance in their diet should not be conceded to less expensive dog foods, treats, and supplements.