Collagen For Dogs
The Science

Collagen is a naturally occurring protein present in animals.

It forms the bodies structure and is present in the skin, bones, cartilage, tendons, muscles and organs.

Your dog’s collagen fibers are constantly being broken down and repaired.

Collagen breaks down in two ways: biologically, by enzymes in the body, and mechanically, through stretching or tearing.

When the body produces more collagen than breaks down, the fibers become stronger and more resistant to damage.

The body creates collagen by combining amino acids—proline, glycine, and hydroxyproline.

The process of collagen synthesis is complex and outside the scope of this article, but you can read more here.

Collagen is catergorised based on how the molecules are assembled.

Researchers classify different types with roman numerals.

The image below shows the collagen types found in a dog's joint:

Collagen can be extracted from various biological sources, typically from what might be considered food waste that doesn't make it into a dogs every day diet.

Commercially, collagen is usually produced from bovine, seafood, porcine, chicken or eggshell sources.

Typically collagen is extracted through a process of pre-treatment (cleaning & size reduction) followed by the extraction process using either precipitation, centrifugation, dialysis.

Hydrolysed collagen is produced by being treated to an enzymatic process resulting in collagen peptides ready to be freeze dried to a powder form.

Collagen peptide supplements are used across a range of applications including wound care, pharmaceuticals, biomedical services and the cosmetic market.

NOTE: Collagen types are not necessarily linked to the animal species itself but the organic materials used in production.

Typically fish skins produce type I collagen.

Bovine/Porcine hides produce type I & III, while the cartilage yields type II.

Avian, usually chicken sternum, produces type II.

Eggshell membrane produces type V & type X collagen.

Undenatured collagen is collagen in its most natural state. It is insoluble, has a large molecular weight and is resistant to proteinases and so is not digested in the gastrointestinal tract.

Hydrolysed collagen (also referred to as peptides or hydrolysates) have been processed to reduce their molecular weight, making them absorbable with a composition of a mixture of amino acids and peptides.

Collagen peptides are especially rich in the amino acids proline, glycine and hydroxyproline.

Collagen peptide supplements have been shown to be digested as both amino acids and dipeptides.

The mechanisms of action are different between undenatured and hydrolysed collagen.

Undenatured collagen is believed to work through oral tolerance. The collagen travels intact to immune cells near the gut and activates T cells to recognise collagen. Once the T cells recognise collagen in joint cartilage they release bioactive compounds TGD-beta and IL10 which signals the body to rebuild cartilage.

Hydrolysed collagen is composed of amino acids and peptides (both dipeptides and tripeptides) with a high bioavailability that allows them to reach the bloodstream, accumulating in the cartilage tissue and inducing synthesis by stimulating chondrocytes.

NOTE: Pawable contains a blend of both undenatured and hydrolysed collagen for complementary effect.

A trademarked undenatured type II collagen (UC-II) is the most studied collagen supplement in dogs.

As these studies mention specific medical conditions, compliance demands that we cannot refer to them individually.

However, for further research you might want to start here.

We are not aware of any studies specifically on hydrolysed collagen supplementation in dogs, although using your preferred academic search engine you will find many research documents looking at various animal and human models.