A study involving tens of thousands of dogs indicates cannabidiol (CBD) may be useful in calming some aggressive dogs. Maybe.
The Dog Aging Project (DAP) is a research initiative bringing together a community of dogs, their owners, veterinarians, researchers, and volunteers in what it claims is the most ambitious canine health study in the world. The research team is following the progress of tens of thousands of companion dogs over years to identify the biological, lifestyle, and environmental factors that maximize healthy longevity.
One of those factors is the use of the cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD), which has been increasing in popularity among dog owners.
In their research, the DAP team used DAP 2023 data containing dog data from 47,444 owners.
Two categories of health conditions that owners could be administering CBD as treatment were examined. The first category was inflammatory conditions and the second consisted of other conditions for which CBD is frequently used as symptom management in dogs and humans such as cancer and dementia.
The researchers found 2,592 dogs (5.5%) were reported to have infrequent or frequent CBD use. The average age of dogs with frequent use was 10.2 years, 8.1 year for dogs with infrequent use and 7.6 years for dogs with no reported use.
4.7 percent of the dogs in jurisdictions where state residents had no legal access to cannabis or could only legally obtain CBD oil were given CBD. In “legal” states, 5.8 percent of the dogs in those jurisdictions were administered CBD.
Prevalence of CBD use was highest amount dogs with dementia at 18.2% and then osteoarthritis at 12.5%.
One of the interesting findings of the study was aggression stood out as the main behavior with a statistically significant difference over age when compared to dogs not receiving CBD.
“Interestingly, dogs given CBD initially exhibited higher-than-average aggression levels as compared to the dogs with no CBD use,” says the report. “Over time, these dogs were reported to have below-average aggression eventually as compared to dogs not on CBD. The reduction in the intensity of aggressive behaviors could be the direct effect of long-term CBD use.”
But the authors point out this result could also be caused by other factors such as training or other medications that owners may have implemented concurrently. And rather than treating aggression per se, CBD may be having a positive impact on underlying health conditions causing it.
In an interesting twist, while most canine aggression can be tracked back to underlying stress or anxiety, they found impact on related behaviours didn’t correlate with CBD use.
“Further randomized clinical trials should examine CBD’s impact on the underlying issues of aggression (e.g., inflammation, chronic pain, or other health conditions), as well as its potential role in long-term behavior management.”
The study has been published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
CBD products for pets are widely available in the USA without a prescription, many of them promoted for addressing stress, anxiety and aggression issues. But it’s very important a pet’s veterinarian is involved wherever possible to provide appropriately qualified medical supervision, as our canine friends can’t speak for themselves as to what they are experiencing..
Learn more about the use of cannabidiol in pets.
