About one in 14 dogs is treated with CBD by their owner, according to a big study from the Dog Aging Project. For dogs with osteoarthritis, this increases to one in eight. The study also found significant decreases in anxiety-linked aggressive behavior. This suggests that CBD helps to ease anxiety and stress in dogs just like it does in humans.
If you’re interested in CBD for your dog, the main challenge is finding a safe and effective product. We analyzed the options using our expert-backed Cannabinoid Product Quality Evaluation framework. These are the five best options we found.
What Makes a Good CBD Oil for Dogs?
THC-free is better
Although a small amount of THC can be OK for some dogs, it’s generally better to avoid THC in a CBD product for dogs. Here, we’ve prioritized THC-free oils, but some high-quality brands did have full spectrum options that scored well on our framework.
More cannabinoids, bigger effects
The addition of other (non-intoxicating) cannabinoids like CBG, CBN and CBC helps support and round out the effects of CBD. This is called the “entourage effect,” and broad (or full) spectrum oils with other cannabinoids were more likely to be considered for this list.
Terpenes help too
As with additional cannabinoids, CBD oil rich in natural terpenes benefits more from the entourage effect. However, we still looked for oils that had meaty or otherwise dog-friendly flavors.
We analyzed and rated 50 different CBD oils for dogs to produce this list, using our expert-backed framework. Eventually, we settled on the five very best pet CBD oils.
R&R Multifunctional Pet Tincture
- CBD type: Broad spectrum
- Potency: 25 mg CBD per ml
- CBD:THC ratio: THC-free
- Top terpenes: Bisabolol, guaiol, humulene, beta-caryophyllene
- Price: $48 / 1 fl. oz. (30 ml) ($0.064 per mg CBD)
- Coupon: “LEAF15” for 15% off
R&R’s Multifunctional Pet Tincture earns our top recommendation for basically the same reasons their human products do so well on our framework. The brand uses USDA Certified Organic hemp, grown in the US and extracted in a GMP-certified, FDA-registered facility.
Their pet tincture is completely THC-free, but broad spectrum, including CBC, CBN and CBG in addition to CBD, CBDV and CBDa. It’s also rich in terpenes, including bisabolol and beta-caryophyllene, both anti-inflammatory terpenes. As the name suggests, the oil is multi-functional, helping pups with pain, stress issues and trouble sleeping.
The dosage per ml is pretty high, so only bigger dogs need the whole 1 ml dropper. The value for money is great, and the quality is hard to beat.
- USDA Certified Organic hemp
- True broad spectrum: CBD, CBC, CBN, CBG and CBDV
- 25 mg CBD per ml – great for bigger dogs
- Great value for money
- Good for pain, anxiety and sleep issues
- GMP-certified, FDA registered manufacturing
- Seed to sale brand
- Lab confirmed THC-free
- Unflavored oil – not made more palatable for dogs
Medterra Daily Relief Pet CBD Tincture
- CBD type: Isolate
- Potency: 10 or 25 mg per ml
- CBD:THC ratio: THC-free
- Top terpenes: Not tested
- Price: $24.99 to $39.99 / 1 fl. oz. (30 ml) ($0.053 to $0.083 per mg CBD)
- Coupon: “FLASH50VIP” for 50% off
Medterra’s Daily Relief Pet CBD Tincture gives you more choice than most CBD oils for dogs. With three flavor options (unflavored, chicken or beef) and two dosage options (10 or 25 mg/ml) you can really tailor the mix to your dog’s needs and preferences.
The biggest selling-point for Medterra in terms of safety and efficacy is that they’re US Hemp Authority Certified, which means their manufacturing meets very high standards and undergoes independent audits. Of course, everything is third-party lab tested anyway, but Medterra goes above and beyond when it comes to safety.
The oil doesn’t include other cannabinoids or terpenes, but the higher dose option in particular is a fantastic deal for CBD oil for pets.
- US Hemp Authority Certified
- Three flavor options – unflavored, beef or chicken
- Two dosage options – 10 mg or 25 mg per ml
- Excellent price – as low as 5 cents per mg CBD
- Great for anxiety and joint support
- Lab-confirmed THC-free
- Seed to sale brand
- Isolate oil – no entourage effect
- Not USDA organic hemp
Aspen Green Pet Organic Full Spectrum CBD Oil
- CBD type: Full spectrum
- Potency: 50 mg CBD, 1.5 mg THC per ml
- CBD:THC ratio: 33:1
- Top terpenes: None detected
- Price: $69.99 / 1 fl. oz. (30 ml) ($0.047 per mg CBD)
- Coupon: “FEELGOOD25” for 25% off
Aspen Green combines exceptional quality hemp with dependable manufacturing, and tops it all off with great prices. The hemp for their Pet Organic Full Spectrum CBD Oil comes from USDA Certified Organic hemp, and they extract from the flower only, producing an exceptionally high-quality extract.
This oil is full spectrum, and is mainly intended for large dogs (although smaller dogs can take fewer drops). Although the THC isn’t ideal, there is approximately 33 times more CBD, so with careful dosing there will be no intoxication.
If you can get that balance right, the small THC dose can really boost the effects, working well for stress and joint pain. It also contains CBC, CBG and a small amount of CBN.
- USDA Certified Organic Hemp
- 50 mg CBD per ml – great for big dogs
- True full spectrum: CBD, CBC, THC, CBG, CBN and CBDV
- GMP-certified, FDA registered manufacturing
- Seed to sale brand
- Flower-only extract
- Bacon flavor
- Full spectrum – careful dosing required
- No detectable terpenes
- Not ideal for smaller dogs
Cornbread Hemp Cats & Dogs CBD Oil
- CBD type: Full spectrum
- Potency: 25 mg CBD, 0.5 mg per ml
- CBD:THC ratio: 50:1
- Top terpenes: None detected
- Price: $49.99 / 1 fl. oz. (30 ml) ($0.067 per mg CBD)
- Coupon: “LADY” for 30% off
Cornbread Hemp is one of the best hemp companies out there, growing organic hemp on their own farm in Kentucky’s Bluegrass Basin and making everything in-house at their GMP-certified manufacturing facility. Their Cats & Dogs CBD Oil brings all of that quality into the world of pet hemp.
The result is a full spectrum CBD oil for dogs that rises above most of the competition. The THC level is comfortably low, at just 0.5 mg per ml, making it easy to get the effects you want without overwhelming your dog. It’s also pretty potent, at 25 mg of CBD per ml, so many smaller dogs only need half a dropper or less, and also includes CBG, CBN and CBDV.
- USDA Certified Organic hemp
- True full spectrum: CBD, THC, CBG, CBN and CBDV
- Flower-only extract
- GMP-certified and FDA registered manufacturing
- 25 mg CBD per ml – great for bigger dogs
- Seed to sale brand
- Corndog flavor
- No terpenes detected
- Contains THC – levels are low but exercise caution
PawCBD Canine Hemp Oil
- CBD type: Broad spectrum
- Potency: 10, 25 or 50 mg per ml
- CBD:THC ratio: THC-free
- Top terpenes: None detected
- Price: $24.99 to $59.99 / 1 fl. oz. (30 ml) ($0.040 to $0.083 per mg CBD)
- Coupon: “WECARE40” for 40% off
PawCBD is the pet division of cbdMD, one of the most well-known and widely-recommended CBD companies out there. Their Canine Hemp Oil hits on a lot of the key points we’re looking for, offering a broad spectrum oil that’s rich in cannabinoids but totally non-intoxicating.
The Canine CBD Oil comes in three different strengths, which makes it easy to get the right dosage for the size of your dog. The oil is also peanut butter flavored, so most dogs will absolutely love the taste.
Although CBD is the main cannabinoid, it also contains CBG, CBN and CBDV to support and boost the effects. The price is great if you get the strongest oil, but pricier for the lower-dose options.
- Broad spectrum: CBD, CBG, CBN and CBDV
- Lab-confirmed THC-free
- GMP-certified, FDA registered manufacturing facility
- Peanut butter flavor
- Three potency options: 10, 25 or 50 mg/ml
- Great price for stronger oil
- Not organic hemp
- No terpenes detected
- Lower doses are a little expensive
Other Dog CBD Oils We Considered
We found 50 brands offering CBD oils for dogs as part of our deep search of the market. But we only recommended five in this list. Our initial round of checks focused on key things we’re looking for from any CBD tinctures for dogs:
- A recent lab report: 17 products were discounted from this list because they didn’t have a publicly-accessible lab report available from within the last 12 months. Some brands have lab reports which are only accessible with a lot/batch number (i.e. after purchase), and a couple had no lab report at all. In 10 cases, there was a lab report but it was over a year old. In this time, even if the same batch is for sale, the cannabinoid content will have degraded in storage.
- Full panel safety testing: 14 CBD oils for dogs were lab tested, but these tests didn’t cover the key safety checks: heavy metals, pesticides, residual solvents, microbial contamination and mycotoxins. Without this testing, we can’t be sure a CBD oil is safe for pets.
- Proof of spectrum: Dog CBD oils that claim to be full spectrum or broad spectrum should contain at least 4 cannabinoids and at least be tested for terpenes. 14 of the oils didn’t have this testing, with the majority of these skipping terpene testing.
After this process, only 7 pet CBD oils remained. These were scored in full on our Cannabinoid Product Quality Evaluation Framework. Only oils scoring over 80% were featured on the final list. Oils from CBD American Shaman and VetCS made it through to final scoring, but didn’t make the list. However, these are still better than most oils out there.
Methodology
- Expert Interviews: We set some key requirements for any pet CBD oil based on interviews with experts on CBD oils and cannabinoid medicine. These criteria determined the initial checks performed on all oils and how specific options were selected from a brand’s line-up.
- Market Research and Product Selection: We identified CBD oils for dogs using two methods. Firstly, we conducted an automated online search for “CBD oil for dogs” (with additional terms to remove sites often publishing “best x” lists), scraped the text and URLs from the results and relevant internal links. We did this for the top 250 search results. We gave this data to an LLM alongside our criteria, and tasked it with choosing two matching products from each brand. Oracle staff manually reviewed the output and added the best option to the evaluation spreadsheet.
- Initial Checks and Scoring: We then went through the basic checks described in detail above. Any qualifying products were then scored on our expert-backed criteria for safety, efficacy and reliability.
- Final Ranking: Any products scoring over 80% were eligible for the final list. The precise order was chosen based on scores and how well the product met our pet-specific criteria (e.g. no THC is preferable).