How to Make Golden Paste for Dogs

We all know the benefits of turmeric and golden paste for ourselves–but what about turmeric for dogs? The list of turmeric benefits is long–and one of the easiest ways to serve it is as golden paste. Whether served on your dog’s daily meal or as a special treat, golden paste for dogs is easy to make (you’ll find two easy recipes below) on your stovetop.

Note: As with any changes to your dog’s diet, always be sure to check with your dog’s veterinarian before adding golden paste to your dog’s diet or treats, especially for dogs with pre-existing conditions.

What does golden paste do for dogs?

Golden paste is a simple paste made using turmeric, black pepper (to help absorption of the tumeric’s curcuminoids), a healthy fat such as extra-virgin olive oil and water.

Golden paste was first developed by Australian veterinarian Dr. Doug English and is sold a food supplement or can be made at home in your kitchen.

Established as one of the planet’s most powerful superfoods, Turmeric’s many healing benefits have been proven to help with inflammation, arthritis, bowel inflammatory diseases, brain disorders, cancer, heart disease, liver problems, skin disorders, eye conditions and is nature’s natural anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticoagulant, anti-ageing and immune booster.

Golden Turmeric Limited

How much golden paste do I give my dog?

Like so many things in our dogs’ lives (and indeed our own), start slowly when adding turmeric.

Veterinarians.org recommends, “As a rule of thumb, it’s always best to start them off with a small dosage of ¼ teaspoon of golden paste to see how they react and what their tolerance is.”

Dogs Naturally Magazine suggests, “1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per day, for every 10lbs of weight.”

These dosages are what you’d like to work up to, however.

Start with half that dosage and, as you see your dog is enjoying it and not having any digestive problems, slowly increase the dosage to the recommended amount.

How often should I give my dog golden paste?

The above dosages are for the day–so you’ll want to divide this total between each meal you serve your dog.

If you feed your dog twice a day, divide this dosage into two parts.

Turmeric only stays in your dog’s body for a brief time so it’s more beneficial to serve two half doses throughout the day instead of giving one dose at dinner.

Turmeric will stain!

OK, here’s the downside of golden paste–and indeed anything that includes turmeric: it will stain.

And I mean it will stain everything. Your bowls. Your spatulas. Your clothing. Dress accordingly.

Wash everything immediately and, if you can still see the stain after a run through the dishwasher, Molly Maid recommends, “Remove the turmeric stain with a solution of two-parts hot water and one-part bleach or vinegar.

Recipes

It’s quick and easy to make golden paste for your dog using nothing more than a saucepan. You’ll need 15-20 minutes total for this simple recipe.

Dr. English’s Recipe for Golden Paste

Here’s Dr. English’s standard golden paste recipe:

1 cup water
½ cup turmeric powder
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, or linseed oil
2-3 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper

In a small saucepan, combine the turmeric powder and water on low heat.

Continue heating and stirring for about 10 minutes as the turmeric forms a paste.

Add coconut oil (or EVOO) and pepper. Continue stirring until well mixed.

Remove from heat to cool.

Store cooled Golden Paste in glass mason jar for up to two weeks or freeze in silicone molds.

Want to Make Golden Paste More Appealing to Your Dog?

Now, many dog lovers note that their dogs do not like the taste of golden paste…and what’s the point of all the goodness of golden paste if your dog is not going to eat it? (OK, some people do use golden paste as a toothpaste for dogs–but we want them to like the taste of that, too, right?)

You will find many (many!) posts about variations on golden paste to make it more palatable to your dog, adding in extras like maple syrup, honey, ginger, cinnamon and more to appeal to your dog’s senses.

However, let’s face it: dogs love meat.

I made golden paste for our dogs using, not water, but liver broth.

Liver broth is super simple to make, creating not only enough broth to make golden paste but plenty of leftover broth to freeze for later recipes (or make dirty chicken and and rice for your dogs if you aren’t making it for tummy upset, substituting the liver broth for most of the water).

Or make some frozen Popsicles for dogs using broth. Or pour some over your dog’s dinner. Or just use it in place of any water in any homemade dog treat recipe.

Recipe for Golden Paste with Liver Broth

To make this golden paste dogs will love, I follow the basic recipe–but substitute chicken liver broth for the water. (You can also use homemade chicken broth, if you prefer, although it isn’t as strongly flavored.)

First, boil a pound of chicken livers (or organic calf liver, if you prefer) in a saucepan.

Once the liver is done, pour off one cup of broth and set aside for the golden paste recipe. (I then froze the remaining broth for future recipes and cooled the chicken livers overnight, slicing them and dehydrating them as dog treats the next day.)

Along with the liver broth, you’ll need turmeric (this recipe takes about an entire canister of grocery store turmeric), finely ground black pepper and a healthy oil such as extra virgin olive oil.

First I boiled the broth and turmeric on medium heat, stirring it frequently as it cooked into a paste:

Once the mixture was very pasty, I added olive oil:

…and black pepper, stirring to blend everything completely.

I then removed it from the stove to cool then put just about half the golden paste in a small mason jar for storage in the refrigerator for the next two weeks.

The remainder I spooned into small silicone molds then popped in the freezer for future use:

That’s it…now I can serve our dogs the superfood goodness of turmeric in their daily meals or add a bit to my favorite dog treat recipes!

Printable Recipe

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