Collagen Guide For Dogs: Benefits, Types, Sources

Your little one might have more things in common with you than you think; for example, the body’s need for collagen.

Similar to us, collagen helps them with supporting healthy joints, increasing skin elasticity, as well as playing a vital role in overall wellness of cartilage and bone health.

While our dogs don't have to worry about the formation of wrinkles nor do they care about finding the fountain of youth in terms of appearance as they age, they could greatly benefit from the addition of collagen to improve their coat, joints, and gut. 

What is collagen?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in dogs; making up about a third of your dog’s total protein and 70 - 90% of your dog's muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissues. It also helps keep their organs protected! 

Like us, collagen is naturally produced by a dog’s body but the ability to do so slows down and diminishes as they get older, which can then lead to multiple concerns with regards to mobility, skin, coat, and digestive issues. 

Often described as the superglue that holds your dog’s structure together, you can therefore imagine how important it is to help them remain pain-free and delay age-related joint pain as much as possible. 

Collagen types

There are over 28 different types of collagen identified, but the main ones are:

• Type I: In most abundance, it is found in skin, bones, ligaments, and tendons

• Type II: Mostly found in cartilage to improve mobility, support healthy joints, and reduce pain

• Type III: Found in muscles, blood vessels, arteries, and organs

• Type IV: Provides structural support to organs and tissues

• Type V: Found in some layers of the skin, placenta, and cornea of the eyes

• Type X: Involved in growth, mineralisation, and remodelling of articular cartilage, a thin layer of tissue that rests between two bones to reduce friction and provide smooth gliding to move against each other (e.g. our knees)

Why collagen is important

Essentially, collagen benefits your dog in several ways, explained in detail below.

• Bone and joints responsible for walk and play

• Gut and digestive system for overall health

• Shiny coat and healthy skin 

Bone and joint health 

One of the most crucial roles of collagen in a dog’s body is to help with their mobility. While puppies run, play and jump, collagen helps support these activities and keep their joints strong and flexible while ensuring normal functioning. It also helps prevent injury and maintain strong tendons. 

As they age, wear and tear occurs as part of the natural process and collagen loss can become more apparent in senior dogs, which then leads to cartilage loss, and eventually osteoarthritis, which can be painful and detrimental to their quality of life. 

Other common issues that arise from the lack of collagen could include hip and elbow dysplasia, tendonitis, luxating patella, degenerative disc, and weak joints from all that ball/squirrel chasing, climbing of stairs or genetic diseases.

The addition of collagen to our dogs’ diet can therefore help better manage their pain and reduce joint sensitivity, as well as discomfort. That way, they can still enjoy their daily physical activities (especially so for athletic ones who love jumping on and off sofas!).

Spot the signs: joint and muscle pain, stiffness, limping, persistent nibbling at the same area, discomfort when moving about, difficulty jumping or climbing stairs, knee locking, difficulty getting up from lying down position, skipping steps, sloppy sit, sudden low in energy, and reluctance in exercising or play.

Gut health 

Good health starts from the gut, and your dog is no exception. While not many might associate collagen to gut health, it actually helps with your pup’s digestion and gastrointestinal lining repair.

When there is stress, there is inflammation. In this case, internally. If your dog suffers from leaky gut syndrome, collagen seals these gaps by forming and repairing connective tissues and amino acids along the intestinal lining and helps keep food within the walls of the digestive tract.

Collagen also aids in breaking down other proteins that facilitate a functioning metabolism and overall healthier gut. 

Spot the signs: vomiting, diarrhoea, gas, constipation, bloat, inability to gain or lose weight, abdominal pain.

Skin and coat health 

Inside and out, collagen plays a part. If nothing else works in achieving a shiner coat and soft, healthy skin, collagen might be lacking.

However, coat health is not always just for aesthetics. Your dog’s coat is crucial for heat regulation and collagen helps keep it healthy, naturally giving it a glossier, fuller coat appearance. 

Similarly, for itchy dogs and those with allergies, collagen can be helpful in speeding up wound healing and offer hydration from within to provide relief and soothe inflamed hotspots.

Spot the signs: dry and flaky skin, dull and non-shiny coat.

When should you start supplementing your pup with collagen? 

While collagen can better help your pup navigate its senior years with more ease, a collagen boost can also be helpful for puppies to keep their joints strong as they are rapidly growing and developing at this phase while being active at play. After all, prevention is better than cure. 

Where can your dog get collagen from? 

Apart from producing it naturally by their bodies, you can also enrich their diet with more of such proteins via two main ways. 

• Collagen rich-food

• Supplements

Collagen-rich foods

Although you are unlikely to see significant results, food is a harmless way to increase collagen intake.

Some collagen-rich foods you can include in your pup’s diet:

• Bone broth - rich in gelatin containing collagen and amino acids to help produce collagen

• Fish skin - choose skin from wild-caught fish that are tested for heavy metals

• Chicken feet - 70% collagen of its total protein, rich in glucosamine

• Green-lipped mussels - rich in collagen, omega-3 fatty acids and glucosamine to support joint health

• Grass-fed beef - rich in collagen, as well as amino acids to help produce collagen

Collagen supplements

While getting collagen from food is the most natural approach, its long chain of amino acids is unfortunately difficult for the body to absorb and break down. Therefore, collagen from food may be insufficient to replace what’s lost.

On the other hand, collagen supplements are versions of collagen that are made to be easily absorbed by the body. Here are the common forms of collagen to look out for in supplements:

• Hydrolyzed collagen peptides

• UC-II® type II collagen

Hydrolyzed collagen peptides

Let’s talk about the first form of collagen. Hydrolyzed collagen breaks the structure of collagen up, making it easier for the body to absorb and utilise. It is often obtained from animal sources, such as fish and beef and used to stimulate production of collagen for various parts of our bodies, from skin to joints. 

The type of extraction (enzymatic or chemical) would affect the quality of hydrolysed collagen. If you are able to find out, enzymatic hydrolysis is usually preferred due to it being gentler and more effective. Getting hydrolysed collagen from a reputable brand is also important to ensure its quality.

UC-II® type II collagen

Unlike hydrolysed collagen, UC-II® is a version of type II collagen that keeps its native triple helix structure. It is extracted from chicken sternum cartilage with a low heat patented process that keeps it undenatured. 

Because it is unaltered in structure, scientists believe that our immune system is able to recognise and work with it to stop attacking existing cartilage and boost the body’s natural collagen production; thereby reducing the inflammatory response that causes damage and pain in osteoarthritis. 

Some studies have shown that UC-II® is able to repair cartilage at a lower dose as compared to hydrolysed collagen, though more comprehensive research needs to be done to confirm long-term efficacy.

Choosing the right supplement

When choosing collagen supplements, you want to look for those with either or both of these versions that would be suitable for the areas that your dog needs help with. 

For dogs with food sensitivities, check for suitable protein sources, as hydrolysed collagen can be extracted from seafood, chicken, pork, or beef and UC-II® is only derived from chicken. 

How about Vitamin C?

Vitamin C is needed for the synthesis and production of collagen. But before you go loading your dog’s diet with Vitamin C, you should know that dogs can produce their own Vitamin C. 

Healthy ones typically do not require much supplementation as Vitamin C deficiency in dogs is rare. A low dose that typically comes with collagen supplements is usually good enough to promote collagen production and enhance immunity.

Over supplementation can lead to GI upset but fortunately, Vitamin C is generally categorised as low toxicity due to it being water-soluble - any excess in the body would be excreted in the urine. 

Most collagen supplements have a varying amount of Vitamin C from 10mg-100mg depending on the formulation and feeding directions catered to the dog’s weight. Anything more than 100mg within a supplement could be excessive and cause digestive upset, such as diarrhoea or vomiting.

Recommended collagen supplements

• Happy Again Collagen Joint Supplement for Senior Dogs (contains hydrolysed collagen from porcine)
• Fera Pets Collagen Plus for Cats and Dogs (contains UC-II® collagen)
• Four Leaf Rover Safe-sea (contains green-lipped mussel oil)

In Closing 

Overall, it is important to note that collagen keeps your dog healthy both inside and out and helps their body build resilience over time. 

For the safest implementation, consult your trusted vet who understands your dog’s health status and diet. If you have a dog with persistent allergies or sensitivities, ensure that you double check ingredients lists to select suitable collagen sources.

Written by Georgia Lam

Georgia does marketing and writing at Vanillapup. In her free time, she writes for local magazines, specialising in beauty and lifestyle. She also has an apricot Maltipoo that serves up an attitude with the personality of a feline, but we love her and her stinky paws all the same.