I heard some of my friends saying that they give creatine to their dogs, supposely it was good for muscle development and strengh in dogs. Does any body know if that is a safe thing to do?

Where is your first name? Members are to post their real first and last name.

Glenn

Yeah, creatine is perfectly safe. It's most naturally found in red meat and fish, so if you're a raw-dieter, you're probably feeding creatine as well. On the other hand, if you feed the dry dog food, use the over-the-counter type of creatine(pure creatine monohydrate) as a supplement.

But just taking creatine alone won't develop the muscles. It's only absorbed into the muscles if they are worked. So if your dog just sits in the kennel all day, he'll never benefit from it, because he'll never absorb anything. But if he's an athlete, you might want to try it out.

Another thing...If you feed meat on a regular basis, I wouldn't add any extra creatine to the diet. The meat already has a sufficient amount of creatine in it, and only so much can be absorbed at any given time anyway, as with any other nutrient. Not that it would hurt him; you just don't want to throw it away.

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Sette down Glenn, i think that the forums Moderators can handle dishing out orders for them selves.

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Hi Gaspar,

I do body building, and i supplement with Creatine on regular cycles.
I'm not sure it would be so beneficial to our dogs. The reason being that, i need to drink 30% more water when taking Creatine. (actually very important, i won't go into detail as to why.) So i would assume that dog's would also need the extra H2O. I guess you could monitor water intake and give regular drinks of flavoured water to your dog. (i'm sure they would drink any amount of water if it tasted good enough.)

Obviously worth thinking about, just remember that dehydration can lead to lots of other problems.

Aaron

They use it some with Pit Bulls and American Bulldogs. I have heard of them supplementing it in the dogs diet. You sometimes see this advertised with the same group that sells treadmills, sled pulls, etc..

I'm just thinking out loud.. Since it's found naturally in meat. I'm guessing that it shouldn't be harmful for dogs. However, I'd stick to just feeding meat as the source for Creatine.

Right, there's no need to supplement it if you feed meat on a regualr basis. Aaron is right too about increasing water intake, since creatine works by volumizing the muscle cells with water. The only problem with that is, dog's only drink when they're thirsty.

So with all that said, it's fairly easy to waste creatine unless the level of exercise & water intake is sufficient enough.

Hi again Gaspar, not sure if you are still around but others may still benefit.
I was looking through some previous posts abot creatine This link will give a bit more info, although is slightly outdated. (from 2002)

There is one post that says that no research has been proven about creatine causing cancer etc.. which i have heard in recent years that it can. I don't take it too seriously though considering that Vitamin c, peanut butter and even apples are all said to cause cancer. With that said, it could still be a concern.

Not to mention, something else i was considering. In humans, extra creatine intake is almost pointless if not put to use in an intense training program with increased intake of Protein and E. fatty acids.
Humans in peak performance usually need atleast 2 grams of protein per kg of body weight. With that said, canines require and get more than humans do. Consider one meal of just 500g beef etc would contain more than 100 grams of protein.
Not sure if they would need more, as they have a different digestive system. Flatulence may become a problem if the protein intake is higher than normal.


Aaron

I played college football and used to powerlift. Creatine does work for me and I monitored it on a couple dogs a few years back. It did appear to help recovery time from strenuous workouts. The dogs didn't experience any cramping like can happen in some humans. Dogs that I had on a high redmeat diet-11/2-2lbs a day plus kibble didn't get as much benefits as a dog I had of a client who I tested with the owners consent who ate kibble only. All my dogs eat about 75% with a good high protein all natural kibble so I skip the creatine now unless training for an AD or something real heavy duty. Derek