Apple Cider Vinegar

Besides being an important ingredient in a couple of my favorite dishes, blue cheese coleslaw and chicken apple sausage pasta, apple cider vinegar has sooo many more uses and I am only now starting to realize what a miracle liquid it really is!

I started using it for more than cooking when we got our pup Minnie. We got a handout (1997 article by Wendy Volhard) from a swanky dog boutique about all the benefits of ACV for your dog and gave it a shot. We started giving her about a tablespoon twice a day (in her food in the morning and at night) since she was a puppy for a number of preventative measures it listed. This supposedly helps with tear stains, joints, skin, ear infections, etc.

We didn't know how much it actually helped her tear stains (because she never got them, go figure) until we told my friend Rachel about it for her dog. Within three days she emailed and said that her dog's stains were almost completely gone.

Minnie also started to get small bumps, similar to acne, on her back. After two weeks of antibiotics from the vet with little change I pulled out my little handout and read that you could spray ACV on a dog's skin and coat to treat small sores and bumps. Within 1 day they were already drying out and I could see signs of healing.

The important thing to remember is to get raw/ unfiltered ACV that you would get from a health food store. I get mine at Trader Joe's. It is a simple and inexpensive thing to do for the health of your dog (and wallet)! It makes me curious what would happen if I added it to my diet. I might have to do a little research on this...