The gut microbiome profoundly influences canine health, immunity, and even behaviour. Understanding the link between diet, microbiome diversity, and welfare opens new avenues for improving dogs' lives.
The canine microbiome has emerged as a welfare-relevant factor extending beyond gut health to behaviour and emotional state. The gut-brain axis — bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and the central nervous system — influences anxiety, stress responses, and social behaviour in dogs. Dysbiosis (microbiome imbalance) is associated with increased fearfulness and anxiety in some studies. Diet-driven microbiome diversity supports immune function that protects dogs from a broad range of disease conditions. The welfare implication is that what dogs eat shapes not just their physical health but potentially their psychological wellbeing. Antibiotic use, while sometimes welfare-necessary to treat illness, carries the hidden welfare cost of microbiome disruption — probiotic support after antibiotic courses may help restore diversity faster. Providing varied, minimally processed diets that include appropriate fibre and diverse protein sources is an accessible welfare intervention for dog owners.