A few months ago, Luke started a new probiotic from Proactive Paws, along with their digestive enzymes.
Luke’s stools have always been a little inconsistent, and he’s always been a gassy guy. When we first started the supplements, the gas actually got worse—like, toxic-level bad. It was terrible, and his little belly got so hard. You could tell he was uncomfortable.
Luke is skinny, so you can always see and feel his stomach after he eats, which makes it even more noticeable.
This probiotic is designed specifically for dogs and contains special strains derived from ancient wolves and dogs, with a focus on supporting the gut-brain axis—the idea that overall health begins in the gut.
After a few weeks, we started noticing a difference in his overall well-being. His gas improved, his digestion seemed more consistent, and something else started changing too.
One of the main reasons I wanted to try this probiotic was because studies showed reduced stress, aggression, and reactivity by supporting the gut-brain connection.
Around that time, our walks started feeling different.
Of course, we were still practicing our skills and training. There are a few houses on our route where Luke knows dogs live—and they love to bark, which has always been a big trigger for him.
We’d stop before he got too close, let him relax, sniff the grass, and work on our engage/disengage while the world moved around us. Overall, just slowing down to keep Luke’s excitement low.
But something felt different.
As we walked by one of those houses with multiple barking dogs inside, I watched Luke’s body relax. His tail dropped from that high, pinned position and started wagging freely. His little body was less tense, flowing easily with his stride. He walked all the way past the house without even looking at it.
Then, just after we passed, he took a quick glance at the fence… and looked right back at me.
Engage. Disengage.
WIN. 🐾
A few days later, I was watching Luke sniff and explore the grass. He was calm and relaxed, tail wagging without a care in the world. Before I knew it, we had walked past all of his usual stressors without a single tense moment. It felt so peaceful.
Our walks are normally early to avoid too many dogs being outside. I scan our surroundings like I’m riding my motorcycle—always aware, always trying to set Luke up for success so we can have a great adventure.
One afternoon, we took a short walk around town. We saw at least six dogs and kept our distance, just enjoying our time together. Luke saw them, could definitely smell them, and seemed interested but not upset.
The closest dog we encountered was behind a fence, barking, jumping, and running along the edge. Instead of pushing our luck and risking Luke going over threshold, we gave a quick “this way” and turned around. Luke turned with me and went on his way. No pulling. No looking back. Just back to enjoying his walk in a new direction.
Unfortunately, after we finished our first bottle of probiotics, we ran into supply shortages and couldn’t get more right away.
We tried several different products to keep Luke regulated, hoping to maintain the progress we’d seen, but none of them worked for him. It didn’t take long before we started seeing Luke slip back into some of his old habits.
His reactions became stronger again. He seemed to struggle more with situations he had been handling well just weeks before. Knowing how much success we’d seen while he was on the probiotic, we adjusted our lives around it. We stayed home more, avoided unnecessary situations, and focused on keeping Luke comfortable while we waited for more to become available.
It was frustrating because we had already seen what he was capable of when he felt good.
The good news is that Luke is back on his probiotic now, and we’re already seeing positive changes again. His digestion has improved, his overall comfort seems better, and we’re seeing more of that relaxed dog we enjoyed walking with earlier this year.
This time, we’ve signed up for a subscription so hopefully we won’t find ourselves scrambling to find more again.
I also want to be clear that supplements aren’t a magic fix.
We have an amazing trainer from Northstar Canine Connection who has spent countless hours helping train us, and we’d be lost without that guidance. We work with Luke every day to help him relax, build confidence, and reduce his stress. The training is still the foundation.
What we’ve noticed is that when Luke’s gut health is doing well, he seems better equipped to process the world around him. He recovers faster, stays calmer, and is able to move on from things that would have previously bothered him.
For us, that’s a huge win.
It takes us a solid 30 minutes to walk a mile. We stop, sniff, take breaks, and change our route as needed. We move at Luke’s pace because these walks are for him.
We’ll continue tracking his progress, but after seeing both the improvements and what happened when he went without the probiotic, I’m more convinced than ever that gut health plays an important role in Luke’s overall well-being.
For Luke, this probiotic has earned an A+.
Five stars. Worth a shot.
Primitive Probitics