When it comes to old age in dogs, they suffer from many of the same problems that are associated with old age in human beings, and the way to avoid such problems is similar to how they are avoided in humans. Just as we need to maintain good health through proper nutrition, regular exercise, and periodic health screenings, we also have to maintain our dogs’ health through these methods as well. Thi
s may all sound very simple, but it is important to keep in mind that there are aspects of your dog’s health that you cannot see, and your dog cannot communicate to you how he feels or whether he is experiencing any abnormalities. One such aspect that is very important and that is certainly effected by old age is the collagen levels in your dog’s body. Collagen is essentially a protein, a very important protein considering it makes up as much as 30 percent of the protein found in the body and as much as 75 percent of your dog’s skin. The collagen that is in your dog’s body is what is responsible for the level of elasticity in his joints, tendons, cartilage, skin, and ligaments. It is also the protein that determines the strength of your dog’s hair, bones, nails, and teeth. For most of your dog’s life he will produce enough collagen to maintain normal elasticity in all of these things and enough protein to maintain strength, but as he gets older the capacity to produce collagen diminishes, and the body suffers for it. After time your dog may begin to exhibit signs of even bigger problems that are caused by the lack in collagen that your dog will begin to suffer from as a result of the loss in ability to produce proper amounts. But although you cannot stop old age and the depletion of collagen in your dog, you can supplement the collagen he is losing. Much research has been done in recent years that has led to the determination that collagen supplementation can help improve a dogs skeletal and skin health, which is why collagen for dogs is being sold on the market these days, and growing in popularity quickly.
