How to Strengthen Your Dog's Immune System
Ever wonder how your dog can sniff, lick, and eat random things without needing to go to the vet? You have the resilient canine immune system to thank for all that. The cells of the immune system are charged to protect the body from foreign invasion and neutralize infected cells. With such an important job, it’s easy to see why we as fur parents should do our utmost to keep the canine immune system running smoothly.
Function of the canine immune system
The canine immune system protects your dog in three ways:
physical barrier
innate immunity
acquired immunity
Physical Barrier
The physical barrier of the skin and mucous membranes serves as the first line of defense. These cover the bodily surfaces that regularly come in contact with the outside world, effectively restricting access to the internal organs. They do a pretty good job of it, considering the sheer amount of external pathogens and irritants surrounding our dogs.
Innate Immunity
But if something does get past the physical barrier, the body has a built-in security system known as innate immunity. White blood cells, particularly neutrophils, serve as roving guards that circulate the body, ready to come at a moment’s notice when a breach has been detected. Macrophages are bodyguards that stick to a tissue or organ to protect it from invasion. These cells have the capability of recognizing invaders, trapping them, and destroying them by either producing chemicals to kill them, or engulfing and breaking them down. The cells of the innate immune system trigger the inflammatory reaction to call in reinforcements and obliterate the enemy. However, this approach leaves a lot of collateral damage, and healing can take some time.
Acquired Immunity
Acquired immunity can be thought of as collecting intelligence reports on invaders that have already been detected before, in order to mount a more sophisticated response the next time they come around. The first step occurs during the initial infection, wherein antigen-presenting cells bring bits and pieces of the invader and give them to the bigwigs of acquired immunity, the lymphocytes. Once primed with this information, these white blood cells can then make special surveillance systems and weapons customized towards that specific invader--if you’ve ever heard of antibodies, this is where they come in! With the memory of the previous attack, the body now knows how to fight back. The response is very quick, and very targeted, with little to no collateral damage. It takes time to build up this system, but once it’s up and running, it is extremely efficient at taking down offenders.
Factors affecting canine immunity
Drinking mother’s milk
Puppies come into the world with only physical barriers and innate immunity. But even then, these may not be robust enough to protect them from the environment. Their mother provides them ready-made antibodies through the colostrum, the first batch of milk that comes out as soon as the puppies are born. A healthy, vaccinated dam will lend protection for the neonatal puppies, enough to protect them for the first few weeks of life. If you are getting a puppy, patronize ethical breeders who are well-aware of the benefits of colostrum.
Vaccination
The protection afforded by colostrum can only last for so long. Once that runs out, your pup will have to encounter infection to be able to develop acquired immunity. Luckily, vaccination is a safe and effective way to expose our furry buddies to pathogens, specifically viruses, without contracting the actual viral disease. Vaccines contain bits and pieces of pathogens that can be used to trigger acquired immunity with minimal symptoms, giving immunity that will last for a few years before requiring a booster.
Nutrition and hydration
Your dog’s body heavily relies on a healthy, balanced diet and adequate drinking water to function properly. The immune system, being a component of that body, is no different. The white blood cells and the organs that produce them still need dietary nutrition in order to work well. The skin, the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, and the lining of the gastrointestinal tract need nutrients to maintain barrier integrity and withstand breakage. And if disease does take over, a well-fed dog is much more likely to bounce back to health than a malnourished one.
Stress
The immune system is pretty tough, but it can be overridden when the body is under constant stress. Poor hygiene, exposure to extreme temperatures, malnutrition, dehydration, and even emotional stress can take a toll on the immune system. Non-infectious diseases, including hereditary conditions, cancer, bone and muscle issues, and internal and external wounds also create the perfect storm for a pathogen to sneak into our dog’s body. All these conditions require energy to fight off, which weakens our canine companions and makes them so much more susceptible to other pathogens.
Exposure to pathogens
There are many ways for your dog to contract disease. Viruses, bacteria, fungi, worms, and microscopic parasites can be inhaled, eaten, licked, enter through breaks in the skin, or delivered through bites of insects. A healthy dog will likely resist disease, but chronic exposure to multiple pathogens will break through the immune system eventually.
Immune system diseases
Glitches in the immune system can happen. Allergic reactions occur when the immune system overreacts to a substance that does not pose a significant threat to the body--like chicken, or pollen. There are dogs that suffer from autoimmune disease, in which the immune system attacks the normal, healthy cells for the body. One of the most common forms of cancer in canines is lymphoma, which causes uncontrolled proliferation of mutated white blood cells. When the immune system malfunctions, it won’t be as good at protecting your dog from external problems.
How to keep your dog’s immune system strong
Complete and update vaccinations
Making sure your puppy completes the appropriate vaccination protocol as determined and administered by a veterinarian is critical to their health. And don’t forget to have their shots updated to help ensure they’re protected throughout life! The AKC has a great guide to vaccinations you should get for your dog.
Provide proper nutrition
A healthy and balanced diet will strengthen the entire body, including the immune system. Choose a diet that is appropriate for your dog’s life stage, weight, activity level, and disease condition, if any. Most commercially available dog food meets canine nutritional requirements, but if you prepare your furry buddy’s food yourself, make sure to consult an animal nutritionist to make sure it provides for all their needs. If your dog has been diagnosed with food allergy, ask your vet to help you choose a hypoallergenic diet or one that does not include the offending ingredient. By providing your dog with all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals their body needs, you strengthen their ability to protect themselves.
Maintain cleanliness and hygiene
Completely avoiding exposure to pathogens is impossible. Instead, what you can do is to discourage pathogens and parasites from making your dog their new home. Remember that many disease agents thrive where there is moisture and organic material. Keeping your home and your dog free of both is the very first step to preventing infection. Make sure that your dog’s play and sleep areas stay clean and dry. Maintain proper canine hygiene with regular grooming, nail trimming, and ear and teeth cleaning. Deworming and ectoparasiticide administration are also crucial to prevent infestations. This not only protects your dog from disease, but your family too!
Consider adding probiotics to the diet
The gut microbiome may not be part of your dog’s immune system, but it does a great job of helping it out. These bacteria have a symbiotic relationship with the canine gastrointestinal tract--so much so that changes in the identity and levels of bacteria cause tummy problems. Beneficial bacteria hoard resources so that pathogenic bacteria cannot thrive there, and act as a primer to help keep the immune system educated. Adding probiotics to the diet can help make sure that the good bacteria colonize your dog’s gut.
Resources
Veterinary Sciences: Development of Dog Immune System: From in Uterus to Elderly
Pereira, M., Valério-Bolas, A., Saraiva-Marques, C., Alexandre-Pires, G., Pereira da Fonseca, I., & Santos-Gomes, G. (2019)
Frontiers in Veterinary Science: The Role of the Canine Gut Microbiome and Metabolome in Health and Gastrointestinal Disease
Pilla, R., & Suchodolski, J. S. (2020)
MSD Veterinary Manual: Immune System Tumors in Dogs
VCA Hospitals: Allergies in Dogs