Let’s be honest: Searching for the safest, most effective pet CBD brands on Google feels more like wandering down the endless rabbit hole from Alice and Wonderland. With so many options out there, how do you decide which is best? In our view, it comes down to a few key factors:
- Product quality (how it’s sourced, tested, and manufactured)
- Company’s brand reputation and transparency
- What the company does to self-regulate
To help you determine if our brand is best for you, we’re taking you behind the scenes to show you:
- Why we started making Pet CBD products in the first place
- Where and how we source our plant materials
- The ingredients we use in our products
- How we label our products
- What we do to self-regulate
Why we started creating Pet CBD products
Holistic Hound was created with one mission: To improve the health and wellness of our animal companions through a holistic approach. This approach focuses on three key factors:
- Natural, organic, non-GMO products and ingredients which creates the foundation for our standards in quality and health for your pets
- Complementary therapies that support each other as they promote our pets’ overall wellbeing
- Education, which gives us a better understanding of how our pets’ bodies respond to both natural and conventional medicines, as well as other interventions
This dedication to a holistic approach stems from the heart and soul of Heidi Hill, founder of Holistic Hound. As a dog and cat ‘mom,’ business owner, and certified homeopath, Heidi discovered through her personal experience that CBD not only helped relieve her senior husky Pearl’s aches and discomforts, but it made her quality of life better throughout her final years. Since then, Heidi has combined her experience and knowledge in holistic healthcare with her passion for animals to create uniquely formulated, high quality, organic CBD, CBG, and functional mushroom products for both dogs and cats alike.
Now you may be wondering, “I’ve never even heard of functional mushrooms… and why do you combine them with CBD?” Well, the immune supporting properties of functional mushrooms, when combined with the potent properties of hemp-derived CBD, makes for one powerful synergistic combination. But we’ll get into that incredible duo a little later. However, the response to these health-promoting products have been nothing short of amazing over the years.
From different forms of behavior, to aches, discomforts, and other unwanted issues, pet owners find these products can be helpful in addressing a wide range of conditions. Pretty amazing, right? We’re so lucky to have such wonderful customers who share their stories, successes, and pet journeys with us – feel free to explore our testimonials, reviews, and life-changing stories on our Facebook page, Instagram, and the website.
So how do we make these amazing CBD pet products?
First, here’s a question we’d like to ask you… Have you ever heard the phrase “farm to table?” Maybe you’ve heard of it when looking for a high quality restaurant. But if not, the phrase is exactly how it sounds: That delicious burger you’re about to inhale, or that sweet, fruity smoothie bowl you can’t wait to devour, are all sourced from local, sustainable farms around you.
This gives people peace of mind knowing that what they’re about to put in their body is 100% natural, organic, and unprocessed… unlike fast-food restaurants that utilize ingredients from modern day factory farms. (No thank you!)
And much like the farm to table movement, it’s easy to presume that because CBD is a natural compound extracted from hemp, that you shouldn’t have any concerns about how it’s grown, formulated, or even manufactured. After all, humans and pets everywhere are experiencing positive results, right? But you may be surprised to learn that not all CBD is created equally.
You see, there’s a lot of so-called “Pet CBD companies” out there, cutting corners with the following:
- Where they source their hemp
- How they extract and manufacture their CBD
- And how they go about testing and labeling their products before they hit the market
This is where frustration sets in… Why is it so hard to find a trustworthy CBD company that just wants to create organic, safe, and effective products to help improve my pet’s life? From one pet parent to another, we’re all too familiar with that frustration.
Here at Holistic Hound, we believe in the “farm to table” approach. Especially when it comes to creating our hemp-derived CBD products. That said, we also believe it’s important to know exactly how your pet CBD products are made, because there are very few things more important than having total confidence in what you’re putting in your beloved pet’s body. After all, they’re more than just pets… they’re our best friends and faithful companions.
To help you feel 100% confident that you’re getting the purest, highest quality pet CBD product available on the market today…
Here’s our entire process, from seed to final product
Not only is our hemp sourced from a family farm in Colorado, but it’s 100% USDA Certified Organic (read exactly what that means here.)
Additionally, we’ve seen several companies sell hemp oil that doesn’t actually contain CBD… which is very misleading. While hemp oil, also known as hemp seed oil, has its place, it only contains a tiny amount of CBD, not enough to have a potential impact. Therefore, we advise you to never purchase a hemp-derived product that doesn’t list the accurate amount of CBD found in the bottle.
Where other companies might use unhealthy preservatives and other non-organic ingredients, all of our products contain organic and natural ingredients, such as:
- USDA Certified Organic MCT (Medium Chain Triglycerides) coconut oil, found in all of our hemp-derived CBD and CBG oils
- USDA Certified Organic Full Spectrum Ashwagandha, found in all our products that contain ashwagandha
- USDA Certified Organic blend of five functional mushrooms: Reishi, Shiitake, Mesima, Poria, Turkey Tail (50g each in equal proportion), found in our bites, soft chews, and mushroom powder
- As for the meats found in our bites, our chicken is organic and organically fed, and our grass-fed lamb comes from the pristine rolling pastures of New Zealand
If you’re wondering why we use MCT oil so much, it’s mainly because it enhances the calming effects of CBD and increases the stability of our products as well. This is because MCT oil may help reduce fungi that reduces oxidation, mold, and bacteria—thus allowing our CBD products to stay fresher much longer.
We use three of the safest and cleanest methods to extract our CBD and CBG.
Method 1. Let’s start with the most innovative, patent pending “Vapor Distilled” extraction method. This is a fairly new extraction method that drives heated air through the hemp plant, creating a highly effective, less bitter tasting extract. (No more ‘yuck’ faces from your pet.)
Method 2. We also use solvent-free supercritical CO2 extraction. (We know, it’s a bit of a mouthful.) This method uses extremely low temperatures and high pressures of carbon dioxide to safely extract large volumes of hemp-derived CBD oil.
Method 3. Finally, we use Ethanol extraction when obtaining our CBG oils. We source it exclusively from certified organic sugar cane, which is a safe substance and doesn’t leave any residual solvents in the final product. It’s considered one of the safest and cleanest ways to extract this highly potential, yet hard-to-come-by cannabinoid.
Other brands might (and we say “might” generously) have their CBD products tested. But here at Holistic Hound, we have all of our products rigorously tested by accredited independent third parties. You can find all of our lab results for our products on our transparency page.
What’s the deal with third party testing, you might ask? Having our products tested by third parties is an unbiased approach to confirm that our products are labeled accurately. Yes, it’s a fairly expensive and grueling process, but it’s absolutely necessary for reputable companies who are looking out for the best interest of their customers.
Third party testing ensures our products are indeed free from any toxic contaminants. But we don’t stop there…
We take it a step further and have our products thoroughly tested for consistency, potency, and of course, safety. So you’ll have perfect peace of mind knowing you’re giving your pet the same quality bite or tincture every time. All of our test results, Certificates of Analysis (COAs), and other documentations can easily be found on our website (the link above), or simply click on the product you’re interested in, and then click on the word “Testing.”
Last, but certainly not least, we at Holistic Hound are proud members of the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC).
This highly respected organization works closely with federal and state regulators to ensure the safety, accuracy, and quality of companion animal health products and we follow all of their strict quality and safety guidelines.
Bottom line
At Holistic Hound, we treat your pet as our pet. That’s why there are no secrets with our brand!
We go above and beyond when it comes to cultivating, formulating, and manufacturing our hemp-derived CBD products. Because of that, our unique blend of functional mushrooms combined with full spectrum hemp-derived CBD are sold in independent pet retailers nationwide. And we get thank-you notes almost daily from satisfied pet owners across the country.
Improving the health, wellness, and vitality of animals is our passion, and it’s what drives us to continue to create organic, high quality products. When we say, “We’re here for your pet,” we mean it! As always, feel free to reach out to us here if you have any questions or concerns. We’re always happy to help in any way we can.