Kemo, the Bichon Frise, was aging, so her owner, Erin Kurlin, began a more holistic approach to caring for her beloved pet. This took the form of incorporating CBD into Kemo’s daily life.
“He had a chronic cough in his old age from fluid in his lungs and struggled with arthritis and mobility issues,” Kurlin says. “Sometimes his legs would just give out on him. But he still really loved his life and was a happy dog so my mom and I wanted to give him the best quality of life possible while he still enjoyed it.”
Kurlin began by mixing a CBD tincture into his wet food in the morning and in the evening. Relief was immediate as Kemo began to enjoy his life outside of illness and aging, which can be directly credited to the use of CBD.
CBD, otherwise known as cannabidiol, is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in the flowers of the hemp plant, which contains less than 0.3% THC. When extracted in various forms, it can be used to treat many ailments that slow our dogs down in different stages of their lives. Dogs such as Kemo were given the product to extend the quality of their lives.
The idea of using CBD to drastically improve and lengthen the life of one’s own dog is something Buddy Dillenberg has made his mission when recently launching his pet-friendly CBD company, Pure Peak.
The goal in starting the company was simple: to give dogs the ability to live prolonged lives like humans, free from indisposition, in a form that would be easy to administer and pain-free for people’s dogs.
“We ultimately decided to start Pure Peak to really address that same need that we were searching for, and that is products that actually make a very notable difference in how pets age, how they feel and how they play,” Dillenberg said.
Pure Peak launched earlier in 2024 with six different products that are available for owners to offer to their dogs as a solution for everyday relief. Launching this array of products offered a competitive strategy for stepping foot in the world of CBD for people’s furbabies.
“Most places have one CBD product for dogs and cats or whatever, and we have six because it’s what it takes, we think, to really effectively address the different needs,” Dillenberg said.
Similarly to humans, CBD, when used in various dosages, offers a trustworthy and efficient way to treat various problems that occur in dogs throughout different stages of their lives. The ailments that are remedied include anxiety, pain, cancer and even neurological disorders such as epilepsy.
A study conducted by Colorado State University on the usage of CBD in 16 dogs for treating epilepsy found that 89% of owners who administered the cannabinoid to their pets found a drastic decrease in seizures altogether. A separate study conducted by Cornell University found that 83% of dogs given CBD treats in the form of chewables became pain- and anxiety-free.
Denver resident Bradley Lewis has been using Pure Peak’s tincture, Relax, for his two-and-a-half-year-old Labrador Retriever mix named Bella. As a pup who suffers from anxiety resulting from common loud noises, Lewis has been using Pure Peak’s product to regain a calm demeanor.
“I really found it helped her to relax,” Lewis said. “After about a week of use, she was noticeably less agitated by hearing things outside, was resting more at night after a long day of play, and overall she’s definitely becoming a little more mellow.”
While Pure Peak has recently made strides in the pet CBD industry in Colorado, other companies, such as Earth Buddy, have developed products that have never been seen before on the market.
Earth Buddy, founded by Sean Zyler in Colorado eight years ago, is based on the philosophy of discovering new and innovative ways to administer CBD to significantly improve a dog’s livelihood and happiness. A key piece of their research found that there is a need to invent innovative products that meet the growing demands in treatment options that vary from dog to dog.
“We have a lot of different treats,” Zyler said. “We have soft treats, we have flavored treats and more. So we really try to give a variety of options, because it’s not a one size fits all.”
While Earth Buddy sells tinctures and treats, the company’s goal was to develop products that were integrative to the pet CBD industry, but were not yet widely popular or available on the market. One of these products, Quick Calm, offers just that. This product provides a faster-acting form of CBD that is mixed with distilled water and then absorbed through the dog’s mouth when administered.
“It’s going to peak their blood level quicker,” Zyler said “For some people, if their dog is on level 5000, they are not going to take an oil or something it could eat, nor will it set in fast enough, so coming up with different forms of administration, but also different potencies and different strengths is good.”
One customer, Kimberly Gauthier, has been using Earth Buddy’s CBD products to treat her senior dog, Zoey. Her dog has been dealing with joint and muscle pain, which has slowed her down as she ages. The results are ultimately what keep her buying more.
“I prefer tinctures to treats or chews because I find the tinctures to be more effective,” Gauthier said. “I put the tincture in the gums or on fatty food, including eggs, coconut oil, ghee, grass-fed butter and sardines.”
Gauthier says the results have been staggering, as Zoey has regained the ability to once again run around carelessly and sniff out the next best snack she can find rather than being bedridden by her pain. “CBD oil not only offers calming benefits; it also promotes overall wellness, pain relief and healing,” Gauthier said.
But how much is a proper dose of CBD for pets?
“Our conservative starting recommendation for dosing is one milligram of CBD for every 10 pounds,” said Caleb Gimore, co-owner and CEO of Suzie’s CBD Treats. “Animals vary by their metabolism, and just like animal to animal, the severity of ailment can make a difference. So we have kind of like this general place to start, and then we monitor them and adjust from there.”
Dosing guides can be found on their products, such as their tincture, which offers graduations marked on the dropper provided that give owners an accurate roadmap to just how much CBD their dogs ingesting at a given time.
“We’ve kept our labeling really simple and easy to understand for people, and we have a ton of great educational resources, like these little note cards to make the dosing as easy as possible,” Gilmore said.
The ease in administering the tincture has proven to be beneficial among customers of the brand. Lauren Witt shared that other medications had failed to make an impact on her deaf, three-year-old Catahoula Leopard dog, Roux, who suffers from a common case of separation anxiety. Witt had been giving her pup the medicine Trazodone to help with this ailment.
“We knew long-term we didn’t want to stay on a script like that,” Witt said. “There isn’t even anything wrong with it, but we wanted something more natural if it worked.”
While medications like Trazedone are helpful, they require a more direct diagnosis and various trips to the vet, while CBD is readily available for purchase via the internet or in most pet stores. Because of this, Witt decided to try a new, natural form of aid for Roux.
“We have tried other brands in the past and I never noticed a difference,” Witt said. “We use Suzie’s for many reasons and this is just one of them. Roux gets the tincture in her breakfast if we work in the office that day and just one time in the p.m. We give her the exact amount she needs in any form, so 8 mg for her.”
The CBD, in conjunction with a toy filled with delicious peanut butter, has allowed Roux to be able to settle in her crate and catch up on much-needed sleep that calms her nerves and allows her to rest and be stress-free from her anxiety, offering peace for her and Witt alike.
In 2023 the CBD pet market was estimated at almost $250,000,000 and is expected to increase by over 30% from 2024 to 2030. CBD has proven to be a tremendous additive in prolonging the wellness of dogs but it is not a cure and should not be thought of as one. CBD acts as an added aid in the remedies owners can offer their dogs and provides a sense of hope that pets can live a life relatively free from the struggles they face with aging.
“All that good stuff that we would want as humans and, you know for our pets, we believe, although we can’t speak English to them, they want the same thing,” Dillenberg said.
