# Salmon Oil Dosage



## Lauri & The Gang

I wanted to bring this topic into it's own thread.

Here's the recommendation I give:

1000 mgs of oil per 30 pounds of body weight per day for a *healthy* dog

1000 mgs of oil per 20 lbs of body weight per day for a dog recovering from an illness or surgery

1000 mgs of oil per 10 lbs of body weight per day for a dog with a *chronic *illness


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## Jax08

That's great Lauri! I would go with those dosages as well as a general rule of thumb.

If anyone wants to get more in depth and actually figure out the ratio's like I did (because I'm anal about details), please PM me for the thread to another board where there are lots of links for all the info. I don't have time to copy it over.


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## Jax08

Here's one part of it.



> DogAware.com: Supplements for Dogs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> One form of omega-3 fatty acids called ALA is found in flax seed oil, but dogs cannot use ALA unless it is first converted to EPA. At best, dogs convert 15% of ALA to EPA, and some dogs may not be able to make this conversion at all. For this reason, fish oil is a much better source of omega-3 fatty acids for dogs than flaxseed oil.
> 
> Recommended dosage is 1000 mg fish oil (containing 300 mg combined EPA/DHA) per 30 pounds (14 kg) of body weight. Maximum dosage for dogs with health problems would be 1000 mg fish oil (300 mg EPA/DHA) per 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of body weight.
Click to expand...


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## Castlemaid

Lauri & The Gang said:


> I wanted to bring this topic into it's own thread.
> 
> Here's the recommendation I give:
> 
> 1000 mgs of oil per 30 pounds of body weight for a *healthy* dog
> 
> 1000 mgs of oil per 20 lbs of body weight for a dog recovering from an illness or surgery
> 
> 1000 mgs of oil per 10 lbs of body weight for a dog with a *chronic *illness


I was in the past giving 1000mg per day. This year, for some reason, my dogs had very dry skin and were very itchy. After talking to some people, I upped the dosage to 2000mg for Keeta (she was not as itchy), and 3000 to 4000mg per day for Gryffon (he was VERY itchy), and they are both doing great now. I was afraid it was too much at first, and all I ever read before was people giving 1000mg per day. I needed the reassurance that tripling or quadrupling the dose would be safe - Gryffon has been doing very well on the new dosage, and his coat is really developing a nice sheen to it.


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## Bunch of Rascals

Good site Jax! Thanks for that...very informative.


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## GSDElsa

So Lauri (and anyone else)...what do you say is the MINIMUM amount that is at all useful of fish oil? Elsa doesn't handle it well and usually after a couple weeks at 1000mg she's got the runny run runs. I'm wondering if, say, only 500mg a day would do ANY good at all?

Ultimately it would be great if we could give more since she's got mild HD in one hip, but she just can't handle it (I know there are a couple other options for oils we could try, but I'm just curious).


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## lhczth

I feed my girls around 3000 mg per day.

Donovan gets around 4000 mg per day.


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## Cassidy's Mom

Lauri, should this be a sticky thread?


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## Dejavu

Lauri & The Gang said:


> I wanted to bring this topic into it's own thread.
> 
> Here's the recommendation I give:
> 
> 1000 mgs of oil per 30 pounds of body weight for a *healthy* dog
> 
> 1000 mgs of oil per 20 lbs of body weight for a dog recovering from an illness or surgery
> 
> 1000 mgs of oil per 10 lbs of body weight for a dog with a *chronic *illness


Thank you so much for this thread, Lauri!

I've been seeing good results with my GSDs with 1000 -2000 mgs a day, since they have no health issues, but it has definitely helped preventing winter dry skin.

I've been looking for 500 mg for my 16-lbs-almost-11-year-old poodle without much success, so I started squeezing half a softgel into his food, but after seeing this and considering that just yesterday his vet check-up confirmed his heart murmur is now stage II, he'll get 1000 mg a day and I'll go from there.


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## Runswithdogs

Does Salmon oil require an additional supplement, or is that another type of Omega 3 oil? We were going to start giving the dogs grizzly salmon oil but I thought I had read somewhere that you had to supplement as well.


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## Dejavu

Runswithdogs, I was told you have to give Vitamin E when giving oil supplements.

I give my GSDs a 200 IU Vitamin E with every 1000 mg salmon oil softgel, once or twice daily.


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## Jax08

400 iu vitamin e


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## Bunch of Rascals

Correct me if I'm wrong...please do because I am absolutely no expert...but I was under the impression that the reason to supplement vitamin E was because the fish oil in itself can't be digested alone. The only need to supplement vitamin E would be if the oil capsules didn't already have them in it? If we had one that DID have it included would we need to add extra vitamin E?


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## Jax08

Your body used vitamin E to process fish oil. I've always been unclear whether it's just salmon oil or all O3 oils. If the capsules have Vitamin E then there is no reason to supplement. I buy fish oil that does not have it, so I supplement.


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## Dejavu

Yes, I also supplement with vitamin E because the Salmon oil I buy doesn't have it.


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## Bunch of Rascals

Good to know. Thanks guys!


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## MrsWoodcock

YES thank you! I am glad to read other people's thoughts on this. As i give 1000 mg fish oil a day along with 400iu of vit e! 
I never knew the reason to give vit e with fish oil.... learn something new everyday!


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## Loco

Anyone have suggestions on where is the best place to get these online?


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## Jax08

vitacost.com is a good place to buy from.


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## MrsWoodcock

Amazon.com is where i boguht grizzly salmon oil. Cheaper than otyher places i have looked. 
But i couldnt pass the sale at CVS. BOGO free on the HUGE bottles of CVS brand FIsh oil capsules!!! and BOGO free on the HUGE bottles of VIT-E! lol


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## Blazings

Sorry I'm a bit noob to the RAW feeding 
Is this the amount they should have per day?


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## Lauri & The Gang

Blazings said:


> Sorry I'm a bit noob to the RAW feeding
> Is this the amount they should have per day?


Yes. Thanks for pointing that out - I'll update the main post to make it clearer!


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## Dejavu

Today I accidentally gave my poodle 300 IU of Vitamin E instead of the usual 100 he gets daily. I had already squeezed the vit E on his food, and I was arguing with my mom over the phone and I got distracted and gave him the 200 IU softgel intended for my GSD girl instead of his salmon oil softgel).

He should be fine as long as he continues to get his usual dosage, right? Or can a one time overdose harm him?

I will never ever answer the phone again while feeding the dogs, that's for sure. (Can't really say I will never ever argue with my mom again, so...)


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## Lauri & The Gang

One slight overdose won't hurt.


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## Dejavu

Thank you again, Lauri! You're an angel answering all my paranoid questions about what I'm giving my dogs.

He does seem fine too, I'm relieved.


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## Wolfgeist

What would you recommend giving puppies? I really support the omega fatty acids for brain development, so I am pretty adamant about giving fish oils.

Also, can somebody confirm that one must supplement both omega 3 fish oils AND vitamin E for it to be effective?


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## YukonGal

I'm also curious as to the recommended amounts to feed to puppies (both fish oil and vitamin e). Any thoughts?


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## NancyJ

YOu know not all fish oils are created equal either....the ones I am giving have (per pill) 647mg epa and 253 mg dha out of a total of 1400mg fish oil.

Puppy gets one
Cyra (50lbs) gets two
Grim (75lbs) gets three

Not sure if that is ok or too much -- I don't give vitamin E...I thought that was to prevent rancidity in liquid oils --I got that dosage from another source so it could be too much.


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## RubyTuesday

Nancy, I agree. I prefer salmon oils that are vivid orange in color b/c this is an indication the astaxanthin (high in anti-oxidants) hasn't been removed. For this same reason I also supplement with krill oil. Does it do any good? I don't know, but given how prone GSDs are to some cancers I prefer to err on the side of the angels.


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## onyx'girl

jocoyn said:


> YOu know not all fish oils are created equal either....the ones I am giving have (per pill) 647mg epa and 253 mg dha out of a total of 1400mg fish oil.
> 
> Puppy gets one
> Cyra (50lbs) gets two
> Grim (75lbs) gets three
> 
> Not sure if that is ok or too much -- I don't give vitamin E...I thought that was to prevent rancidity in liquid oils --I got that dosage from another source so it could be too much.


Vitamin E is given because the natural production of E is depleted when we supplement with fish oil. 
If you feed eggs, there is E and selenium in them, so I don't give E the days I give eggs. 
Are your dogs and cats getting enough vitamin E? The Natural Paw 
This info was taken from the above link:
_If you’re adding vitamin E from a full spectrum supplement, we recommend adding 1-2 mg for every ten pounds the dog weighs (1-2 mg per day for cats). If your dog consumes a lot of polyunsaturated fats (flax or fish oil), 2 mg for every 10 pounds may be best._


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## CMorton

What about canned alaskan salmon vs a capsule?


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## carmspack

Please , if using salmon oil , make sure it is WILD CAUGHT . If you are enjoying salmon in your diet make sure it is WILD CAUGHT . Fish as agriculture is failing, whether it is the jumping carp which have become invasive in the US , carp brought in to clean up cat fish and tilapia ponds , and now threaten recreational use of rivers, and native fish species, or Salmon , which has been plagued with problems necessitating use of anti biotics. Now we have some viral outbreak which is a bio hazard if spread to wild stock. Great ! . 
Big article in Toronto Star this weekend , over half a million farmed salmon to be destroyed . 

Candid Canada: Infectious Diseases Going Viral! 

by Don Staniford l The Salmonist


Canada's beleaguered salmon farming industry is battling a full-blown disease crisis - on both coasts. Dead farmed salmon - so-called 'morts' - are piling up on the Eastern and Western coast of Canada as infectious diseases kill hundreds of thousands of fish. 


Photos taken yesterday (18 May) in Tofino, British Columbia, show mort bins (called 'totes') waiting to offload any dead and diseased farmed salmon.





Biosecurity measures were in place with security guards blocking the entrance and staff hosing down the facility.




Over half a million farmed salmon (560,000) are being destroyed in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve following an outbreak of the deadly Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis (IHN) at a salmon farm operated by Mainstream Canada (a subsidiary of the Norwegian Government-owned company Cermaq).
Read more... Add new comment 


Carmen
CARMSPACK.com


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## robeangyalchen

Hi there,
I am Robean and i am from Nepal. Wanted to clarify that because i am also feeding my nearly 3 months old GSD Pup "Tyson" Fish oil.

The best i can get here in Nepal,and the one i am feeding currently is named " Seacod Cod Liver Oil capsules", it is manufactured in India.
After reading this thread today at the office i went home to check it's Contents and i crosschecked it to their website. I had no idea how much to feed, how to feed. ( i read somewhere in this forum that feeding salmon oil will make the fur/coat shiny and healthy and also make the bones stronger)
Right now i am feeding 2 capsule at the morning and 2 at the evening.
The content per capsule are pasted below, Please let me know if i am doing anything wrong.
Each capsule of Seacod® contains 300 mg of Cod Liver Oil , which has:
284 IU of Vitamin A
28.4 IU of Vitamin D
30 mg of DHA
20 mg of EPA

Seacod Health Supplement | Best Vitamins Supplement

so i feed in total, 1200 mg per day.

Regards,
Robean.


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## Lauri & The Gang

Robean - please be careful using Cod Liver oil. It is very high in Vitamin A and that vitamin is NOT water soluble. That means a dog cannot excrete (in urine or feces) the extra Vitamin A and could be overdosed.


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## robeangyalchen

Lauri & The Gang said:


> Robean - please be careful using Cod Liver oil. It is very high in Vitamin A and that vitamin is NOT water soluble. That means a dog cannot excrete (in urine or feces) the extra Vitamin A and could be overdosed.


Thanks for the information,

That means i have to stop feeding it to my Puppy? I have fed the Cod live oil around 40 capsule, will this harm Tyson?
That is very sad, all i could find here was it...i guess i will have to search some more.


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## Al Pozzolini

You don't want to "over-oil" your GSD. There's a lot of mercury stuff going on, and it's hard to know if the oil is from farm raised fish...etc. There's just a lot of variables. Think of your dog like an engine...if it's not messed up, you don't need to fix it. Feed him right, he'll be alright. You don't need to go crazy on the sup's.


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## robeangyalchen

Al Pozzolini said:


> You don't want to "over-oil" your GSD. There's a lot of mercury stuff going on, and it's hard to know if the oil is from farm raised fish...etc. There's just a lot of variables. Think of your dog like an engine...if it's not messed up, you don't need to fix it. Feed him right, he'll be alright. You don't need to go crazy on the sup's.


Yaa, i guess so.

Tyson has a bit of a dull coat, not shiny as i see in others. That is where i thought of giving him Salamon oil, but i could not find it so i settled for Cod Liver Oil.

Thanks for the info.


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## RaynasDad

I just bought Norweigian Salmon oil softgels from walkmart they are 2000mg a pill. Also bought Vitamin E. My question is this ok for a puppy? She is 10 weeks old and about 13lbs. Also how much should I give her?


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## Crocky

Bumping this up as well. I started today giving Silas fish oil capsules. 1000mg Rexall fish oil capsules and vit e 400 iu. Is this too much. I was going by the initial post on weights but then after reading through the thread more I see others do less. He chewed on the capsule until every ounce of the fish oil was out of it....he loved it, then spit the capsule out. I put the vit e in with his food and he ate it right up. 

Anyway just want to make sure I am right on with the dosages. He weighs about 20 pounds at 11 weeks.


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## LockMan

I give my GSD mixes 5 pumps of wild salmon oil every day for the last 5 + years and their coats are nice and shiny and smell good to. Well into their 15th year so I guess it is working.
Usually get it from Costco but they are out at the moment so it maybe Amazon for the next go round. 
Used to give them EV olive oil daily before that.


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## shooter8571

*fish oil*

Does anyone know of a fish oil that contains vitamin E?


Thanks
Jack


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