# ACV and Coconut oil users?



## dogloverforlife (Feb 17, 2013)

How much do you give and how often in a day?
Last night I gave the two big dogs a tsp of each. This morning I gave a tsp of ACV again.
I also drank a tsp in my milk. Yuck
Also I have a very strong feeling little Patch will not want to eat it. So what will I do?
Eta I put it in the others food with warm water.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

I do not use ACV however when I did I added 1 tablespoon twice daily into food. Coconut oil is 1 table spoon twice a day as well for a large dog. Mines 60lbs and will eat anything...so I dont have advice as to how to get them to eat it if they do not like it. I dont like the idea of adding it in water I want mine to have access to a fresh bowl of water with nothing added


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## Michele4 (Oct 28, 2012)

I bought coconut oil to give to my dogs, Murphee loves it and will eat anything, I'm just worried about the calories, 130 per tbs. 2 tbs a day would be 260 extra calories a day. My question is does the benefits of it outweigh the extra calories? He'll be 8 months on the 25th 70 lbs. He gets 3cups a day of his food, 2 biscuts(small) 1/2 of a banana(in his Kong) and about 1/2 cup of baby carrots.


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## lynn0624rj (Mar 27, 2012)

*How much to feed*

I give my dog 3 to 4 tsp a day. General guidelines are 1 tablespoons for every 30 pounds for big dogs. You should start with small amounts and gradually work your way up to a full dose over a few weeks time. If your dog is 60 lbs then you could start with a teaspoon a day. Personally, I started at 1/2 tsp then worked my way up for a month. I hope this helps. You can google the inet. They have a lot of info and easy to find.


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

lynn0624rj said:


> I give my dog 3 to 4 tsp a day. General guidelines are 1 tablespoons for every 30 pounds for big dogs. You should start with small amounts and gradually work your way up to a full dose over a few weeks time. If your dog is 60 lbs then you could start with a teaspoon a day. Personally, I started at 1/2 tsp then worked my way up for a month. I hope this helps. You can google the inet. They have a lot of info and easy to find.


Are you talking about ACV or coconut oil? The OP is asking about both.


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

Michele4 said:


> I bought coconut oil to give to my dogs, Murphee loves it and will eat anything, I'm just worried about the calories, 130 per tbs. 2 tbs a day would be 260 extra calories a day. My question is does the benefits of it outweigh the extra calories? He'll be 8 months on the 25th 70 lbs. He gets 3cups a day of his food, 2 biscuts(small) 1/2 of a banana(in his Kong) and about 1/2 cup of baby carrots.


If you read up about coconut oil, you will learn that it is an unusual oil. It bypasses most of the digestive system. It goes to the liver where it is quickly metabolized and used as energy. It is even possible that this oil speeds up the metabolism and helps with weight loss. Having said that, you can have too much of a good thing. I feed virgin coconut oil to my goldens. Personally, I think 1-2 tablespoons a day is plenty. 

Make sure you only feed extra virgin or virgin coconut oil. The processed hydrogenated coconut oil is very unhealthy. I get organic extra virgin coconut oil from vitacost.com for less than half the cost of my local health food store. Also, introduce it slowly. I did not. My goldens had the worst case of cannon butt they every had for several days. It was awful. I waited for a week a firm stools and then I reintroduced it slowly. 1 teaspoon a day for 3 days, 2 teaspoons a day for 3 days, 1 tablespoon a day for a week, then 1 tablespoon twice a day thereafter. My dogs LOVE it!


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

dogloverforlife said:


> How much do you give and how often in a day?
> Last night I gave the two big dogs a tsp of each. This morning I gave a tsp of ACV again.
> I also drank a tsp in my milk. Yuck
> Also I have a very strong feeling little Patch will not want to eat it. So what will I do?
> Eta I put it in the others food with warm water.


I use ACV. I do not add it to water. I add it to food. Make sure to find a good organic ACV. The best is "Bragg's" brand ACV and makes sure whatever ACV you buy that it has "mother" in it. "Mother" means it is the real deal; unpasteurized and has the healthy bacteria in it. If you buy regular ACV from most most grocery stores, chance are you are just buying distilled vinegar with some coloring and maybe some apple flavoring... NOT the ACV that provides all the health benefits you've been reading about. The good stuff "Bragg's with Mother" is not expensive. I get mine from vitacost.com

I use a spray bottle. I spray about a teaspoon on my dogs meals most of the time. The first time it did this I sprayed into a cup and measured it to figure out have many times I would need to spray to get a teaspoon. 

For myself, I've never been a fan of the taste of vinegar. I think it stinks. I've tasted it and thought it was horrible. My dogs LOVE it! Go figure.


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## Michele4 (Oct 28, 2012)

I believe mine is extra virgin organic cold pressed. I just don't want to feel guilty about giving him supplements, I also do fish oil twice a day. I was wondering if you melt it or give it to them in that mushy state? And if you do melt it is it ok to do in microwave?


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## dogloverforlife (Feb 17, 2013)

stealle said:


> I use ACV. I do not add it to water. I add it to food. Make sure to find a good organic ACV. The best is "Bragg's" brand ACV and makes sure whatever ACV you buy that it has "mother" in it. "Mother" means it is the real deal; unpasteurized and has the healthy bacteria in it. If you buy regular ACV from most most grocery stores, chance are you are just buying distilled vinegar with some coloring and maybe some apple flavoring... NOT the ACV that provides all the health benefits you've been reading about. The good stuff "Bragg's with Mother" is not expensive. I get mine from vitacost.com
> 
> I use a spray bottle. I spray about a teaspoon on my dogs meals most of the time. The first time it did this I sprayed into a cup and measured it to figure out have many times I would need to spray to get a teaspoon.
> 
> For myself, I've never been a fan of the taste of vinegar. I think it stinks. I've tasted it and thought it was horrible. My dogs LOVE it! Go figure.


Yep it is Braggs and the coconut oil is spectrum organic virgin.

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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

Michele4 said:


> I believe mine is extra virgin organic cold pressed. I just don't want to feel guilty about giving him supplements, I also do fish oil twice a day. I was wondering if you melt it or give it to them in that mushy state? And if you do melt it is it ok to do in microwave?


I would not bother melting. I definitely wouldn't microwave since that sometimes destroys certain nutrients. I usually just put a chunk of it on top of the food. Since they love it so much they usually gulp that first thing. 

You can call coconut and fish oil "supplements" if you wish, that's not wrong. But, I don't think of them as "supplements". I just think of them as food; part of their diet. I give my dog quite a few things in addition to their basic diet. I also give virgin red palm oil 1-2 teaspoons a day. It's an excellent source of natural vitamin E mostly in the form of tocotrienols (better than the more common tocopherols). Additional Vitamin E is important for people or dogs who regularly take in fish oil. Fish oil can deplete the body of vitamin e. 

I also give a powdered mushroom blend (fungi perfecti "mush") and various phytonutritents from spirulina, chlorella, ect. All these I just consider "superfoods".


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

Buddy gets 2 tablespoons daily- 1 in Am and 1 in Pm. I put it with his food and a little water otherwise he makes a funny face when he get 1 piece if kibble that is loads with in afte some kibble than had none.


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## Michele4 (Oct 28, 2012)

OK now I got it, 1 tbs of ACV on food twice a day. 2 fish pills a day, now the vitamin E 400IU once a day with the fish oil or should I give it in between the 2 meals? Oh and 2 tbs of coconut oil (extra virgin cold pressed pure).


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## Stretchdrive (Mar 12, 2011)

I just looked at the Vitacost website, they have very good prices, and free shipping on orders over $49. The prices are way better than what I pay in the store. I think I may have to order myself some stuff from there as well. How long does it usually take to get your product?


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

Michele4 said:


> OK now I got it, 1 tbs of ACV on food twice a day. 2 fish pills a day, now the vitamin E 400IU once a day with the fish oil or should I give it in between the 2 meals? Oh and 2 tbs of coconut oil (extra virgin cold pressed pure).


It's ok to give vitamin E at the same time as everything else. Vitamin E is fat soluable and can be overdone easily in dogs. 400 IU is a pretty safe dose. However, if you are feeding kibble, there might already be some in that. I've read that lots of people give 400IU to their goldens, but if I was going to give a vitamin e pill instead of the red african palm oil that I use, I would probably go with a lesser amount. Maybe 200IU everyday or 400IU 4-5 days a week.


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

Stretchdrive said:


> I just looked at the Vitacost website, they have very good prices, and free shipping on orders over $49. The prices are way better than what I pay in the store. I think I may have to order myself some stuff from there as well. How long does it usually take to get your product?


Yes, they have great prices. They have all kinds of stuff that I use for myself too. I hardly every buy anything from local nutrition stores anymore. Their free shipping is pretty fast. If I remember correctly I think they use UPS ground. It sometimes takes 1 or 2 days for the item to actually leave the store/wharehouse and then another 2-3 days for UPS. I usually figure about 5 business days for central Illinois. I can sometimes find a coupon code for vitacost and I also use ebates.com to get a discount at vitacost. Amazon.com has many of the same items and their shipping is faster. Some items are cheaper at amazon. However, most of the time vitacost wins for price; amazon.com wins if I'm impatient and want to get the items a couple days sooner.


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## Michele4 (Oct 28, 2012)

150 iu per cup, I give 3 cups so thats 450 iu already in his food, should I even do a vitamin E supp.?


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

Michele4 said:


> 150 iu per cup, I give 3 cups so thats 450 iu already in his food, should I even do a vitamin E supp.?


Based on that info, I'd say you do not need a Vitamin E supplement.


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## Michele4 (Oct 28, 2012)

stealle said:


> Based on that info, I'd say you do not need a Vitamin E supplement.


What about vitamin C?


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

Michele4 said:


> What about vitamin C?


Well,we are kinda hijacking the OP's thread. The conversation has strayed away from ACV and coconut oil. I'll try to answer briefly (I'm not good at brief answers:doh. Some people say that dogs do not need vitamin c because unlike humans, dogs can produce their own vitamin c in their body. Others believe additional vitamin c in the diet can boost the immune system and even prevent common degenerative joint problems such as hip dysplasia. I fall into the group that believes additional vitamn c is beneficial. I personally prefer to give my dogs natural sources of vitamin c. I give a powder that contains foods such as dried raspberry, meeker raspberry seeds, acerola powder, rosehips etc. If you don't want to go the most natural route, you can give the next best thing which is probably Ester-C. 

Vitamin C can give diarrhea in large doses. I have heard some people say to gradually increase your dogs dose Vitamin C over time until the dog gets diarrhea. Then give the maximun dose that does not cause diarrhea. I think that is unnecessary and too much. Here is a good article for more info: Benefits of Vitamin C to Your Dog - Whole Dog Journal Article


I'm sure lots of other people can give the OP additional answers to the question about ACV and coconut oil. Please chime in. :wavey:


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## Michele4 (Oct 28, 2012)

Thanks so much, yeah I feel bad about overriding the original post. I will read into it more. Thanks for the article link.


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## JeanieBeth (Jul 13, 2013)

What is ACV?

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## ssacres (Sep 29, 2012)

Apple cider vinegar..


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## goldengirls550 (Jun 12, 2008)

stealle said:


> If you read up about coconut oil, you will learn that it is an unusual oil. It bypasses most of the digestive system. It goes to the liver where it is quickly metabolized and used as energy. It is even possible that this oil speeds up the metabolism and helps with weight loss. Having said that, you can have too much of a good thing. I feed virgin coconut oil to my goldens. Personally, I think 1-2 tablespoons a day is plenty.
> 
> Make sure you only feed extra virgin or virgin coconut oil. The processed hydrogenated coconut oil is very unhealthy. I get organic extra virgin coconut oil from vitacost.com for less than half the cost of my local health food store. Also, introduce it slowly. I did not. My goldens had the worst case of cannon butt they every had for several days. It was awful. I waited for a week a firm stools and then I reintroduced it slowly. 1 teaspoon a day for 3 days, 2 teaspoons a day for 3 days, 1 tablespoon a day for a week, then 1 tablespoon twice a day thereafter. My dogs LOVE it!


Amen to the metabolic benefits of coconut oil!!! It has done wonders for my girl's coat. I give her about 1-1.5 tablespoons once a day with her breakfast.

Keep in mind that there is no such thing as "extra virgin" coconut oil. The virginity of coconut oil has no set standards, so it makes no sense to distinguish one type as "extra virgin".

Health Benefits of Coconut Oil | Organic Facts


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## JeanieBeth (Jul 13, 2013)

Lol! Of course it is! Is this given for digestion and how much? Thanks again!

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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

I'm actually not sure what ACV is, but I give Extra Virgin Coconut oil twice a day, but because of the calories and the fact that I need to keep her weight down I don't give a Tbs. twice a day, but 1.5 tsb. twice a day. She gets fish oil and krill oil also.


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## JeanieBeth (Jul 13, 2013)

Great thread! I have used Virgin Coconut oil for years for my hair, skin, nails, internally and for my cats. As a licensed Cosmetologist, I've recommended this oil to all my clients as an anti aging product.

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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

I was giving the coconut oil but found it expensive. Does anyone have a source for an affordable product? I give them fish oil daily and glucosamine condroitin, and it all adds up.


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## goldengirls550 (Jun 12, 2008)

OutWest said:


> I was giving the coconut oil but found it expensive. Does anyone have a source for an affordable product? I give them fish oil daily and glucosamine condroitin, and it all adds up.


I go to sprouts and buy the Sprouts brand organic virgin coconut oil in their "value" size. I get 30 oz for about $9.70. I think that's a great deal!


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## goldengirls550 (Jun 12, 2008)

JeanieBeth said:


> Great thread! I have used Virgin Coconut oil for years for my hair, skin, nails, internally and for my cats. As a licensed Cosmetologist, I've recommended this oil to all my clients as an anti aging product.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


It is by far the BEST (and chemical-free) makeup remover I have ever found as well. I put it on my face before bed. It does wonders for my naturally dry skin.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

OutWest said:


> I was giving the coconut oil but found it expensive. Does anyone have a source for an affordable product? I give them fish oil daily and glucosamine condroitin, and it all adds up.


I get mine from Tropical Traditions. They have sales often that are BOGO. The last time was a sale for BOGO and a special free jar on the 4th of July. I now have enough for about 6 months and it was $54 with shipping.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

I have to say hat the stuff smells absolutely marvelous! I really want to make a coconut cream pie and use the oil for making the crust...


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## goldengirls550 (Jun 12, 2008)

OutWest said:


> I have to say hat the stuff smells absolutely marvelous! I really want to make a coconut cream pie and use the oil for making the crust...


It is fabulous stuff!!! I am vegan, so I often bake with it in place of butter. I am telling you, once you start baking with coconut oil, you will NEVER go back to butter. It adds an indescribable richness. I have made coconut frosting out of it as well... omg it was heaven. I have used it in a pie crust as well and it was the best crust I have ever had!


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## dogloverforlife (Feb 17, 2013)

What are your brand names of coconut oil?

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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

I use Tropical Traditions.


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

I have tried most of the brands out there. They all look and taste about the same. I have come to appreciate the quality and value from Vitacost.com. So, I usually buy the vitacost brand. I also buy "Bragg's" ACV from vitacost.


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## brendadavis44 (May 6, 2014)

Thanks for these post -I use vita cost coconut oil but hadn't thought about ACV / i have it in my fridge/ Will give it a try!


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