Research and straightforward scientific explainers covering digestion, digestive enzymes, the microbiome and the nutritional environment within the canine gut.
We show findings alongside methods and limitations, so you can see what the evidence tells us, and what it doesn't.
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Featured
Anabiomics starts with a simple idea: microbial communities are shaped not only by which organisms are present, but by the nutritional environment surrounding them. That means looking upstream at digestion, nutrient availability and the substrate reaching the microbiome.
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Probiotics, prebiotics and anabiomics all aim to influence the gut environment, but they do so in different ways. Probiotics introduce microorganisms, prebiotics provide selected substrates for existing microbes, while anabiomics focuses further upstream on digestion and substrate availability before material reaches the microbiome.
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Breaking food down is only part of nutrition. Nutrients must also be released from the food matrix, cross the intestinal lining and enter circulation in a form the body can use. Bioavailability describes this broader journey from digestion to absorption and utilisation.
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An independent four-week observational study conducted with Blue Cross followed 25 rescue dogs across three cohorts. Assessments included stool quality, behaviour and focus, skin condition and tolerability, with 24 dogs completing the study.
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A plain-English guide to the terms used throughout the CaniNectar Science Hub, including microbiome, metabolomics, 16S analysis, substrate, short-chain fatty acids, anabiomics, bioavailability and more.
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This research explored how supplementation with CaniNectar’s enzyme-rich malt extract was associated with changes in the canine gut microbiome and metabolome over time, using both microbial profiling and metabolite analysis to examine the gut environment from more than one angle.
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Different gut-directed interventions act at different points in the digestive system. Probiotics introduce live microorganisms, fibre changes microbial substrate, diet changes the nutritional environment, while CaniNectar acts further upstream through Enzyme Rich Malt Extract and digestive enzyme activity. Across separate studies, these approaches have produced different patterns of microbiome, metabolite, digestive and behavioural outcomes.
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A 2024 study analysed faecal samples from 286 healthy or presumed-healthy pet dogs using full-length 16S sequencing. Researchers identified 23 bacterial species that together made up around three-quarters of the microbiome on average, while also showing that diet, body weight, age, sex and geography all contributed to variation between individual dogs.
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A peer-reviewed study of 18 healthy adult dogs tested 12 foods containing different amounts and types of dietary fibre. By combining faecal metagenomics with metabolomics, researchers showed that diet altered both microbial composition and the chemical environment of the gut, with metabolite responses often stronger and more individualised than changes in the microbiome itself.
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Featured
The microbiome does not receive food exactly as it was eaten. What reaches microbial communities further along the gut has already been shaped by digestion, absorption and transit through the digestive system — helping determine the nutritional environment those microbes encounter.
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Different digestive enzymes act on different components of food. Some break down starch, others proteins or fats, while enzymes such as fructanase, xylanase, cellulase, beta-glucanase and phytase act on more complex plant-derived substrates. Understanding these different activities helps explain why digestion is a sequence of specialised chemical reactions rather than one single process.
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Enzymes are proteins, and their activity can change during processing and storage. Temperature, moisture, pH and time all influence how well enzyme activity is retained, which is why the way an enzyme-containing ingredient is produced, packaged and stored matters as much as simply knowing which enzymes are present.
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A 2025 peer-reviewed study of 48 companion dogs examined whether gut microbiota composition was associated with owner-reported anxiety and aggression. Although simple abundance differences between behavioural groups were limited, machine-learning and compositional models could distinguish higher- and lower-anxiety dogs from microbiome data, with Blautia repeatedly identified as an important genus.
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Featured
Digestion is a coordinated process involving the mouth, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, liver, gallbladder and large intestine. Each part of the canine digestive tract has a different role in breaking food down, absorbing nutrients and shaping what eventually reaches the gut microbiome.
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Featured
Barley grain contains a biological system designed to become active when the seed begins to germinate. Malting deliberately activates that system, increasing the activity of enzymes capable of breaking down starch, proteins and structural carbohydrates. Enzyme Rich Malt Extract uses this naturally generated enzyme system as its starting point, with subsequent processing designed to preserve useful enzyme activity.
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16S microbiome analysis and metabolomics answer different questions about the gut. One helps show which bacterial groups are present, while the other measures compounds produced, transformed or left behind. Used together, they provide a much richer picture of the gut ecosystem than either method alone.
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Scientific papers can look intimidating, but most studies can be understood by asking a small number of practical questions: who was studied, what was done, what was measured, whether there was a comparison group, how large the effect was, and what the study cannot tell us. This guide explains the terms used throughout the CaniNectar Science Hub.
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Featured
CaniNectar research includes laboratory work, microbiome and metabolome analysis, professional field trials and real-world observations. Each type of study answers a different question, so understanding study design and limitations is essential when interpreting the evidence.
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Featured
Independent canine research consistently shows that diet composition, digestibility and nutrient availability can alter the gut microbiome and its metabolic environment. Evidence for routine digestive enzyme supplementation in healthy dogs is more limited, but studies support the broader principle that upstream digestion influences what reaches microbial communities further along the gut.
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A 2024 peer-reviewed study followed 20 healthy adult dogs through repeated car-travel and separation stress events. Despite measurable physiological stress responses in some dogs, researchers found no significant change in faecal quality, microbiota diversity, microbial composition or predicted microbial function, suggesting that brief, infrequent stress may not be enough to measurably alter the canine gut microbiota.
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A 2024 peer-reviewed study compared the gut microbiome and faecal metabolome of junior, adult and senior Sapsaree dogs. Researchers found clear age-related differences in both microbial composition and metabolite profiles, suggesting that the gut ecosystem changes substantially across the canine lifespan.
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A 2024 peer-reviewed study compared 55 healthy dogs fed either a raw meat-based diet or kibble. The two diet groups differed in faecal microbiota composition and in 63 serum metabolites, yet major systemic inflammatory markers were similar. The study is a useful example of why microbiome or metabolome differences should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that one diet is healthier.
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Microbiome analysis can tell us which microorganisms are present, but metabolomics helps researchers look at what is happening within the gut environment. By measuring small molecules and microbial products, it offers a different view of biological activity.
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Knowing which microorganisms are present in the gut is useful, but it is only part of the picture. Scientists increasingly look at what those microbes are doing, what compounds they produce, and how microbial activity relates to the wider nutritional environment.
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A 2024 controlled study tested three doses of the probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici GLP06 in 24 healthy beagles. Although the highest dose altered several microbiome, short-chain fatty acid, antioxidant and immune measurements, probiotic supplementation did not significantly improve overall nutrient digestibility, nitrogen utilisation or feed intake. The findings illustrate both the potential and the limitations of directly adding live bacteria to an already established canine gut ecosystem.
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A 2024 peer-reviewed study compared 86 healthy dogs receiving bacterial probiotics with 286 similar dogs not receiving them. Probiotic use was not associated with significant differences in core bacterial species or overall microbiome diversity and explained only around 0.3–0.4% of variation in microbial community composition. The findings highlight an important distinction between consuming live bacteria and substantially restructuring an established gut microbiome.
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Short-chain fatty acids are produced when gut microorganisms ferment certain substrates. They are among the best-studied products of microbial activity and provide a useful window into the relationship between diet, digestion and the metabolic activity of the microbiome.
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The gut and brain communicate continuously through nerves, hormones, immune signalling and microbial metabolites. This two-way network, known as the gut-brain axis, helps explain why changes within the gastrointestinal environment can be associated with changes in stress, behaviour and overall neurological signalling.
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Featured
A two-phase professional field trial involving 129 dogs and 63 UK veterinary professionals, trainers and behaviourists examined real-world observations during CaniNectar use. The study included digestive, stool and behavioural measures across two independently run phases.
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A four-week field trial in nine UK Border Force working dogs explored changes observed while dogs received CaniNectar, including stool quality, appetite and faecal microbiome composition. The study provides useful real-world observations alongside important limitations.
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A peer-reviewed study by Waring, Dagi and Hunter examined 10 adult dogs over eight weeks, using both faecal microbiome analysis and metabolomics to investigate changes associated with Enzyme Rich Malt Extract supplementation.
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Featured
Digestive enzymes help break larger nutrients into smaller components that can be absorbed and used by the body. Understanding where these enzymes act — and what happens when nutrients escape digestion — is central to understanding the nutritional environment further along the canine gut.
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16S microbiome analysis is one of the most widely used methods for studying bacterial communities. By analysing a specific region of bacterial genetic material, researchers can compare which bacterial groups are present and how their relative abundance changes between samples.
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Enzyme Rich Malt Extract is a malt-derived ingredient produced to retain naturally occurring digestive enzyme activity, making it especially relevant to research into nutrient breakdown, substrate availability and the environment encountered by the canine gut microbiome.
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Faecal metabolomics looks at small molecules present in stool samples to help researchers understand the chemical environment within the gut. It can reveal changes associated with microbial activity, digestion and host metabolism that are not visible from microbiome composition alone.
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Featured
A simple introduction to the extraordinary community of microorganisms living within the canine digestive tract — what they are, how scientists study them, and why understanding both their composition and activity matters when we think about the gut as a whole ecosystem.
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Our library includes both scientific explainers and individual pieces of research. For research records, we show the study design, observations and limitations wherever possible.
Accessible introductions to important concepts in canine digestion and microbiome science.
Individual studies presented with context on what was measured, what was observed and what the study can reasonably tell us.
Because understanding what evidence cannot establish is an important part of understanding the evidence itself.
What reaches the microbial community depends partly on what happened earlier during digestion. That relationship between digestion, nutrient availability and the microbial environment is central to the science behind CaniNectar.
Our Health Hub translates canine digestion, nutrition and gut science into straightforward information for dog owners.
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