Herbal Remedies for Dogs: Safe Herbs, Sardines, Garlic, and Titer Testing
People who ask me about herbal remedies for dogs usually want to talk about herbs, and herbs are the smallest part of the picture. What goes in the bowl twice a day shapes a dog's health far more than a spoonful of chamomile ever could, so this article starts with food, then covers the herbs I use in my own kitchen, then addresses the two questions I get asked about most, garlic and vaccines.
Key Takeaways
- Food quality does more for a dog's health and lifespan than any herb or supplement layered on top of it.
- Most conventional kibble is built from rendered material not approved for human consumption, cooked at temperatures that degrade much of the nutrition present at the start.
- The FDA investigated an association between pulse-heavy diets and dilated cardiomyopathy beginning in 2018 and never identified a cause. Dogs have no dietary requirement for legumes, so I leave them out.
- I feed whole sardines packed in water instead of liquid fish oil, because omega-3 oils begin oxidizing the moment they are extracted and much of the retail supply fails industry freshness standards.
- Chamomile, lemon balm, ginger, and parsley are the herbs I reach for most, and all four are well tolerated in small amounts.
- Veterinary toxicology bodies list garlic as toxic to dogs. The harm is dose-dependent, and the doses documented to cause damage are far above a culinary amount, which is why the topic deserves a closer look than a one-word answer.
- Adult dogs balance nutrients across a week, so precision matters less than most owners think. Puppies need every nutrient dialed in daily.
This article is educational and is not veterinary advice. Nothing here diagnoses or treats any condition. Talk to your veterinarian before changing your dog's diet or routine, particularly if your dog takes medication or has an existing health condition.
Why Food Quality Comes First
Evidence: clinical experience and general nutritional principle.
A dog eating poor-quality food gets sick more often, heals more slowly, and tends not to live as long. Nutrient-dense whole food supports a body that can regulate inflammation and repair tissue, while food that is calorically adequate but nutritionally hollow does not, and the deficit compounds across years rather than showing up as a single event you can point to.
None of this requires a raw or fully homemade diet, which is a bigger commitment than many households can sustain safely. It requires reading ingredient panels, spending more per pound where the budget allows, and adding real food to whatever base diet you use. Even a few whole-food toppers on a commercial kibble move a dog in the right direction.
What Is Actually in Most Dog Kibble?
Evidence: regulatory alerts and manufacturer withdrawals, 2018.
Two things make conventional kibble a poor foundation. The first is heat. Extruded kibble is cooked at high temperature and pressure, then coated in fat and flavoring afterward to make the finished product palatable, which tells you something about what the cooking did to it. Heat-sensitive nutrients degrade, fats oxidize, and manufacturers compensate by spraying synthetic vitamins and minerals back on at the end. A food that has to be re-fortified after processing lost something during processing.
The second is the raw material. Rendered meat meals frequently come from animals never passed for human consumption, and the industry keeps producing evidence of exactly that. In February 2018 the FDA alerted pet owners to pentobarbital, a euthanasia drug, in canned dog food from the J.M. Smucker Company after independent laboratory testing commissioned by a Washington, D.C. television station returned repeated positives in Gravy Train. Smucker withdrew products across the Gravy Train, Kibbles 'N Bits, Ol' Roy, and Skippy lines, and the FDA later confirmed pentobarbital in the tallow used to make them, following similar contamination in other brands over the preceding two years.1
The FDA considered the levels found unlikely to harm pets, and I would not build an argument on trace pentobarbital. The argument is what it reveals about the supply chain. Pentobarbital survives rendering temperatures, which is precisely why finding it tells you what went into the batch. If material from euthanized animals can reach a national brand, so can meat from animals that were diseased, downed, or dead on arrival. When a food is not safe enough for people, the reasoning that makes it acceptable for a dog deserves a closer look than it usually gets.
Are Legumes Bad for Dogs?
Evidence: FDA case reports 2018 to 2022, observational imaging studies; causation not established.
Peas, lentils, chickpeas, and beans appear high on the ingredient list of a great many kibbles, grain-free formulas in particular. Dogs are more omnivorous than cats and handle a fair amount of plant material, but legumes are hard to digest and contain lectins and phytates that interfere with mineral absorption. They also carry substantial protein by weight, which is the commercial point. Pulses cost far less per gram of protein than meat, so a pea-heavy formula can post an impressive crude protein figure on the guaranteed analysis without much of that protein coming from an animal. In my view, hitting a lower price point is the reason they are in there.
The heart concern is documented, even if unexplained. The FDA opened an investigation in July 2018 into reports of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs eating diets, many labeled grain-free, that listed peas, lentils, other pulses, or potatoes among the main ingredients. What made the reports unusual is that many involved breeds with no known genetic predisposition to the disease. Across the reported cases, more than ninety percent of the implicated diets were grain-free and roughly ninety-three percent contained peas or lentils. Later analysis showed both grain-free and grain-inclusive diets appearing in reports, with pulse content rather than the absence of grain as the common thread.2
The FDA never identified a mechanism and announced in December 2022 that it would stop issuing public updates until new science emerged. The association is documented and the causation is not. What has accumulated since is imaging work in which dogs fed legume-rich diets show larger left ventricular dimensions and reduced systolic function compared to dogs on low-legume diets, along with case reports of cardiac function improving after a diet change. Taurine deficiency was the early hypothesis and does not account for most cases.
I do not feed my dogs legumes. Given an unexplained association with a serious heart condition and no nutritional argument that a dog requires pulses at all, there is nothing on the other side of the ledger to justify the exposure. If you are feeding a grain-free food, read the first ten ingredients and see where the peas land.
Why I Feed Sardines Instead of Fish Oil
Evidence: independent oxidation surveys of retail fish oil with conflicting results across countries, narrative review, and my own two dogs.
Omega-3 fats are useful for dogs, and the delivery method is where I part ways with common practice. EPA and DHA are among the most fragile molecules in the food supply, and the moment oil is pressed out of a fish it meets oxygen, light, and processing heat well beyond anything it encountered while the fish was alive. Oxidation follows, producing lipid peroxides first and then aldehydes and ketones, which is what a rancid bottle smells like. An oxidized oil no longer behaves like the oil used in the studies that made omega-3s famous, and there is reason to think it shifts toward promoting the inflammation it was meant to calm.
Independent testing has found large fractions of retail fish oil exceeding the voluntary freshness limits set by the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s, which are a peroxide value at or below 5 mEq/kg and a total oxidation value at or below 26. A Canadian survey of 171 over-the-counter products found half exceeded at least one oxidation marker,3 and surveys in South Africa and New Zealand reported more than eighty percent of tested products over the recommended levels.45 The results are not uniform, since a later New Zealand survey using different sampling found most products within limits,6 and European regulators have noted these thresholds are quality standards rather than validated safety limits. Exceeding them means the oil is degraded rather than that a specific harm has been proven. What the surveys agree on is that you cannot tell from the label how oxidized a bottle is, and I would rather feed the fish than guess.
My solution is to skip the extraction step entirely. I feed whole sardines canned in water with no salt added, and my two dogs, at 45 and roughly 37 pounds, each get one small or medium sardine every couple of days. They love them, and the difference in coat and skin was obvious. A whole small fish delivers EPA and DHA still packaged in the tissue and antioxidants that protected them in the first place, along with protein, selenium, vitamin D, B12, CoQ10, and calcium from the soft edible bones.7 Because sardines sit near the bottom of the food chain, they accumulate far less mercury than larger predatory fish.
The amount I feed is approximate, and for adult dogs that is fine, because nutrients balance out across a week rather than needing to land inside a target every single day. A dog who gets a sardine on Monday and Thursday has had the same weekly intake as one measured out daily, and their metabolism handles that fluctuation without difficulty. What I watch instead of a number is body condition and stool, and mine are neither over nor underweight.
Puppies need more precision than adults, because a growing animal is building skeleton, organs, and nervous system on whatever arrives that day, so gaps do not average out the way they do in an adult. Sardines are excellent for puppies for exactly this reason, since DHA is a structural component of brain and retinal tissue and puppies are laying that tissue down during a window that does not reopen. Feed them consistently to a growing dog rather than casually, and build them into a diet that is complete on its own rather than using them to patch one that is not.
If sardines are new to you and a number would help, Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib suggest one sardine per twenty pounds of body weight, two or three times a week in The Forever Dog.8 That is a conservative place to start, and you can adjust once you see how your dog does. Whole frozen sardines turn up at many international grocers, often cheaper than canned.
Buying sardines: the label should read sardines and water and nothing else. Skip anything packed in soybean or sunflower oil, anything salted, and anything in tomato, mustard, or chili sauce. Introduce them slowly, since a rich new food can loosen stools for a few days.
Which Herbs Are Safe for Dogs?
Evidence: traditional use and clinical experience; controlled trials in dogs are sparse for all four.
Because a dog's digestive tract handles plant material reasonably well, culinary herbs are among the simplest additions you can make. They contribute minerals and plant compounds, cost almost nothing, and involve doses small enough that the margin for error is wide. Mine are excitable and prone to anxiety, so the calming herbs earn most of their place in my rotation. Because even culinary herbs can contain active constituents, this is worth a chat with your vet before adding in.
Chamomile for anxiety
Chamomile has been used for centuries for its calming and mildly sedative effect in people, and it appears to work similarly in dogs. If yours struggles with separation anxiety, thunderstorms, car rides, or general restlessness, it is a reasonable first thing to try. Chamomile belongs to the daisy family, so dogs sensitive to ragweed occasionally react to it, which means starting with a small pinch and watching for itching, hives, or digestive upset across the first few days.
Lemon balm
Lemon balm is the other calming herb I use constantly, and it pairs well with chamomile. Its nervine action takes the edge off arousal without flattening a dog out the way a sedative would, and it tends to settle the stomach as well, which makes it useful for the dog who gets carsick because they are anxious about the car in the first place.
Ginger for digestion
Ginger is a warming digestive herb with a long record in both traditional and culinary use for nausea and sluggish digestion. For a dog with an unsettled stomach, motion sickness, or gas, a small amount of dried ginger stirred into a meal is worth trying. Begin with a very small quantity, because ginger is pungent and some dogs object to the taste well before they would object to anything else.
Parsley
Parsley gets treated as a garnish and is closer to a mineral supplement, carrying vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin A, and flavonoids, with the side benefit of freshening breath. Use common curly parsley or Italian flat-leaf only. Spring parsley, a different plant despite the name, is toxic to dogs and should be avoided entirely.
Before you start: herbs do not replace medication or veterinary treatment, and some interact with prescription drugs. If your dog takes anything, particularly sedatives, blood thinners, or seizure medication, clear the addition with your vet first. Pregnant and nursing dogs are their own case and should not be given herbs without professional guidance.
How Do You Add Herbs to a Dog's Food?
Evidence: practical experience.
For most dogs it is as simple as sprinkling a gram or two of dried herb over the meal and stirring it in. Picky eaters need more strategy, and hiding the herb inside a treat or a pill pocket usually solves it. A method I picked up from colleagues is to run through a few tricks first, give a plain treat, then the capsule, then another plain treat, so the taste of the first treat is still in the dog's mouth when the capsule goes down. You know your dog better than anyone, so try a few approaches and keep whichever one they stop noticing.
Start low whichever method you use, since a pinch for a week tells you whether a dog tolerates something before you commit to a daily dose. Rotating herbs rather than giving one continuously for months is also closer to how these plants would appear in a diet naturally.
Is Garlic Toxic to Dogs?
Evidence: veterinary toxicology consensus, one in vivo dosing study (2000), one in vitro study (2025), case reports, traditional use. No controlled trial on garlic for parasite control exists.
Veterinary toxicology organizations, including ASPCA Animal Poison Control, list garlic as toxic to dogs, and that is the position your vet will give you.9 What the listing does not convey is dose. The study behind the warning is Lee and colleagues in 2000, who gave eight dogs garlic extract equivalent to 5 g/kg of fresh garlic daily for a week.10 For a 44-pound dog, that works out to roughly 100 grams of garlic, or fifteen to twenty cloves, every day for seven consecutive days. Red cell counts, hematocrit, and hemoglobin fell, reaching their lowest point on days 9 to 11, and the dogs developed the damaged red cells that mark oxidative injury. None developed hemolytic anemia in the clinical sense, and all recovered. The authors nonetheless concluded that garlic-containing foods should not be fed to dogs, and that conclusion is what the toxic listing rests on. Commonly cited toxic thresholds sit higher still, in the range of 15 to 30 grams per kilogram, which for a 50-pound dog means somewhere between 68 and 136 cloves.
Garlic toxicity in dogs is dose-dependent, in other words, and the doses in the study that produced measurable red cell damage are far above anything a person would deliberately feed. Individual sensitivity varies, though, and case reports of serious harm at much smaller intakes exist, so the dose numbers describe the study rather than a guarantee for any particular dog.
In my own household I feed small amounts of fresh garlic, calculated by body weight and discussed with my vet, and I am comfortable with that decision for my two dogs without extending it to yours. Fresh garlic is the only form I would consider, because laboratory work incubating canine blood with garlic extracts found dried and granulated preparations produced more red cell damage than fresh, which is consistent with what concentration does to any plant compound.11 That study incubated blood with ethanol extracts in a dish rather than feeding garlic to living animals, so it describes concentrated exposure to isolated red cells rather than a clove stirred into dinner, and it still makes a reasonable case for the whole fresh bulb over a powder or a supplement.
Garlic for fleas and ticks
Garlic has been used to deter fleas and ticks in working and farm dogs for generations, and that traditional record is the evidence base, because no controlled trial on it exists. The absence of a trial is not evidence that it works and is not evidence that it fails, so the accurate word for it is unproven.
What that means practically is that garlic, if you use it, sits alongside physical inspection rather than replacing it. Check your dog daily during tick season, run your hands over the ears, neck, armpits, and between the toes, and remove what you find promptly. Do this regardless of what method you use, because no method is fully effective. Ticks carry Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, so keeping grass short, treating bedding, and looking your dog over by hand are worth more than any single product.
Conventional monthly preventives in the isoxazoline class carry an FDA safety communication for neurologic adverse events, including tremors and seizures, in some dogs. The same fact sheet states the agency considers the class safe and effective for most animals.12 It is worth reading before your next vet visit so you can ask about it directly, and it is a conversation to have with your vet rather than a reason to stop a product on your own.
If you try garlic: talk to your vet first. Use fresh cloves rather than powder or supplements, calculate the amount against your dog's weight, and start well below your target before working up slowly. Stop immediately at any sign of lethargy, pale gums, dark urine, weakness, or rapid breathing. Skip garlic entirely for Akitas, Shiba Inus, and Tosas, which carry a red cell trait that makes them more vulnerable to oxidative damage, and for puppies and pregnant dogs.
Onions are a different matter and stay off the list permanently. They carry the same class of organosulfur compounds at a dose profile that reaches hemolytic anemia far more readily, and dogs get into them accidentally through leftovers, broths, and stocks more often than owners realize.
Vaccines and Titer Testing
Evidence: duration of immunity studies (Schultz, 2006) and the AAHA canine vaccination guidelines (2022, updated 2024).
Annual revaccination became standard practice in the late 1950s on an assumption rather than a finding. The reasoning was that immunity might wane in some dogs and testing each animal individually was impractical, so everyone got a shot every year. Dr. Ronald Schultz at the University of Wisconsin-Madison spent decades testing that assumption directly, vaccinating around a thousand dogs with products from every major US manufacturer and measuring duration of immunity by antibody titer and by live challenge.
His conclusion, published in 2006 and matched by the manufacturers' own studies, is that the core canine vaccines for distemper, parvovirus, and adenovirus-2 confer a minimum duration of immunity of three years or longer.13 In dogs he followed over time, antibody persisted as long as fourteen years for distemper and adenovirus and ten years for parvovirus, and those ceilings reflect how long the studies ran rather than the limits of the immunity itself. This work is what moved the AAHA and AVMA schedules off annual boosters for the core vaccines, and the current AAHA guidelines recommend revaccination every three years for them after the puppy series and first booster.14
A titer test measures circulating antibody against a specific pathogen from a single blood draw. For distemper, parvovirus, and adenovirus, a positive result indicates the dog has responded to vaccination and retains immune memory. The AAHA guidelines do not recommend routine titer testing in place of the three-year schedule, but they do name situations where it is used: dogs with a history of adverse reactions, suspected vaccine-related autoimmune disease, and owners who are hesitant about revaccinating. If you fall into that last group, ask for the test rather than skipping the appointment. Most practices can send it out, and it typically costs about what a vaccine visit does. Dr. Karen Becker has been one of the most consistent voices making this case to owners.
Rabies is the exception, and it is a legal question rather than an immunological one. Rabies vaccination is mandated by state and often county law, intervals are set by statute, and a titer does not substitute for a current certificate regardless of what the antibody level says. I comply with the rabies requirement where I live and use titers for everything else.
I have written separately about newer vaccine platforms and what to ask your vet about them on my holistic pet care page.
Every Dog Is Different
Evidence: clinical practice.
Introduce one change at a time and give it a week or two before adding the next, because a dog started on four new things at once tells you nothing about which one produced the improvement or the loose stool. Breed, age, weight, existing conditions, and medications all shift what is appropriate, and a protocol that transformed someone else's dog may do nothing for yours. None of this replaces medication or veterinary treatment, and your vet should know about anything you add.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can dogs have chamomile?
Yes, in small amounts, chamomile is used for anxiety, restlessness, and mild digestive upset in dogs. It belongs to the daisy family, so dogs sensitive to ragweed occasionally react. Start with a pinch and watch for itching or digestive changes over the first few days.
Is garlic safe for dogs?
Veterinary toxicology bodies list garlic as toxic to dogs, and the harm is dose-dependent. The study most often cited used the equivalent of roughly fifteen to twenty cloves daily for a week in a 44-pound dog, which lowered red cell counts without producing clinical anemia. Small culinary amounts are a different question, sensitivity varies between dogs, and it is a decision to make with your vet rather than from an article. Akitas, Shiba Inus, and Tosas should not have garlic at all.
Does garlic keep fleas and ticks off dogs?
It has been used that way in working and farm dogs for generations, though no controlled trial exists, so the accurate word for it is unproven. Whatever method you use, check your dog by hand daily during tick season, since no approach is fully effective.
Are legumes bad for dogs?
Legumes are hard for dogs to digest, and the FDA investigated an association between legume-heavy diets and dilated cardiomyopathy in breeds with no genetic predisposition to it. No cause was ever established and the agency stopped issuing updates in 2022. Since dogs have no nutritional requirement for pulses, I keep them out of the bowl.
Can I give my dog sardines every day?
Many dogs do well on frequent sardines packed in water with no salt added. A conservative starting point is one sardine per twenty pounds of body weight, two or three times weekly. My own dogs, at 45 and 37 pounds, each get one small or medium sardine every couple of days. Watch stool consistency and body condition, since sardines are calorie-dense.
Are sardines good for puppies?
Yes, and because DHA is a structural component of brain and retinal tissue that puppies build during a developmental window that does not reopen, they are worth being deliberate about. Feed sardines to a puppy on a consistent schedule rather than occasionally, and make sure the base diet is complete on its own.
Do I need to measure my dog's food additions precisely?
For a healthy adult dog at a good body weight, no, because nutrients balance out across a week rather than needing to hit a target daily. Body condition and stool quality tell you more than a calculation would. Puppies are the exception, since a growing animal builds tissue from what arrives that day. Pregnant dogs and dogs with kidney, liver, or heart conditions also need veterinary input.
Is ginger safe for dogs?
Ginger is well tolerated in small amounts and is used for nausea, motion sickness, and sluggish digestion. Start with a very small quantity, since the taste is strong. Check with your vet first if your dog is on blood thinners or has a bleeding disorder.
What is a titer test for dogs and how much does it cost?
A titer test measures antibody levels against specific diseases from a blood sample. For distemper, parvovirus, and adenovirus, a positive result indicates existing immunity. AAHA guidelines reserve routine titer testing for dogs with prior vaccine reactions, suspected vaccine-related autoimmune disease, or hesitant owners, so ask your vet whether it fits your dog. Cost is typically comparable to a vaccine visit. Rabies is governed by state law regardless of titer results.
Why is grain-free dog food a problem?
The concern is less about the absence of grain than what replaces it. Grain-free formulas typically substitute peas, lentils, and other pulses, and those ingredients appeared in roughly ninety-three percent of the diets reported to the FDA in its dilated cardiomyopathy investigation. Read the first ten ingredients rather than the label on the front.
Can dogs eat parsley?
Common curly parsley and Italian flat-leaf parsley are fine in small amounts and provide vitamins K, C, and A along with flavonoids, with the side benefit of freshening breath. Spring parsley is a different plant and is toxic to dogs, so check which one you have.
Sources
- AVMA. FDA issues alert about pentobarbital contamination in dog food. JAVMA News, April 2018. avma.org ↩
- FDA. Investigation into Potential Link between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy, updated December 23, 2022. fda.gov ↩
- Jackowski SA, Alvi AZ, Mirajkar A, et al. Oxidation levels of North American over-the-counter n-3 (omega-3) supplements and the influence of supplement formulation and delivery form on evaluating oxidative safety. J Nutr Sci. 2015;4:e30. doi.org/10.1017/jns.2015.21 ↩
- Opperman M, Benade S. Analysis of the omega-3 fatty acid content of South African fish oil supplements: a follow-up study. Cardiovasc J Afr. 2013;24(8):297-302. doi.org/10.5830/CVJA-2013-074 ↩
- Albert BB, Derraik JGB, Cameron-Smith D, et al. Fish oil supplements in New Zealand are highly oxidised and do not meet label content of n-3 PUFA. Sci Rep. 2015;5:7928. doi.org/10.1038/srep07928 ↩
- Bannenberg G, Mallon C, Edwards H, et al. Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid content and oxidation state of fish oil supplements in New Zealand. Sci Rep. 2017;7:1488. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-01470-4 ↩
- Santos HO, May TL, Bueno AA. Eating more sardines instead of fish oil supplementation: beyond omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, a matrix of nutrients with cardiovascular benefits. Front Nutr. 2023;10:1107475. doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1107475 ↩
- Habib R, Becker K. The Forever Dog. Harper Wave; 2021. ↩
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center. Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants list (garlic, Allium sativum). aspca.org ↩
- Lee KW, Yamato O, Tajima M, Kuraoka M, Omae S, Maede Y. Hematologic changes associated with the appearance of eccentrocytes after intragastric administration of garlic extract to dogs. Am J Vet Res. 2000;61(11):1446-1450. doi.org/10.2460/ajvr.2000.61.1446 ↩
- Beleć K, Barć J, Lasek O. The effect of the type and concentration of garlic (Allium sativum) on Heinz body concentrations in canine erythrocytes: an in vitro study. Animals. 2025;15(21):3188. doi.org/10.3390/ani15213188. This study incubated canine blood with garlic extracts in vitro rather than feeding garlic to living dogs. ↩
- FDA. Fact Sheet for Pet Owners and Veterinarians about Potential Adverse Events Associated with Isoxazoline Flea and Tick Products. fda.gov ↩
- Schultz RD. Duration of immunity for canine and feline vaccines: a review. Vet Microbiol. 2006;117(1):75-79. doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2006.04.013 ↩
- American Animal Hospital Association. 2022 AAHA Canine Vaccination Guidelines (2024 update). aaha.org ↩
