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Your Dog’s Health Depends On Adequate Reserves of Minerals

Urine pH tells you how your dog's body handles the food he/she eats.  If the body has enough organic minerals from the foods, the dog is eating then the urine pH should be 5.5 to 5.8 (highly acid).  This is a favorable or ideal physiological response if the dog is eating a well-balanced diet.

If the urine readings register in the ranges of 6.0 to 6.6, or 6.8 to 8.0 (high alkalinity), this means that the body has used up its mineral supplies and that the body is not getting these minerals from the dog's daily meals (alkaline foods are high mineral foods such as fruits, green veggies and sea veggies) .  Over time, the pH numbers keeps going up.  An alkaline urine following feeding your dog an acid diet (meats, dairy, grains and cooked or dry foods) is the result of the body adapting to protect itself.

Here is more explanation:

The acid residue of acid ash-producing foods (meat, grains, processed and cooked foods, medical drugs...etc.), is strong and dangerous to the urinary tract.  Strong acids must be neutralized or weakened.  Acid urine is neutralized in one of two ways; either alkaline minerals are added through the diet, or, if appropriate minerals are not available, the body will use ammonia.  Ammonia as a urine neutralizer is an emergency backup system.  Ammonia is more highly alkaline than alkaline reserve minerals.  It has a pH of about 9.25.  Does your dog’s urine smell like ammonia?  Does your dog’s urine burn the grass when she/he pees? All these symptoms indicate ammonia in the urine.

So we have a strong acid that is going to be eliminated in the urine and two methods of neutralizing it are: (1) the body’s alkaline or minerals reserve, if any, and (2) the emergency backup system, ammonia.

When alkaline minerals are taken from the alkaline diet and added to the strong acid foods, the strong acid is made weaker.  It is still acid, but weak enough not to irritate delicate tissue in the bladder.

If the alkaline (minerals) reserve has been depleted which will happen in most dogs’ cases who are fed commercially produced foods  considered to be acid producing foods, even if some of the ingredients were from organic sources, then minerals will not be available to buffer the acid.  Yet the body is intent upon survival.  The body will neutralize the strong acid even if it must alter its normal way of functioning.  One of the alterations it makes is to use ammonia produced by the body.  Ammonia is used to neutralize the strong acid.  Again, ammonia is a strong alkali.  It overpowers the acid and the urine will register highly alkaline, around pH 8.0 or higher.

The only reason the urine is alkaline when acid type foods and medical drugs are given to dogs is because the body has adapted its function to take care of an emergency.  Alkaline urine following acid producing foods or medical drugs is a sure sign that the alkaline or minerals reserve is depleted and that the body’s resistance is faltering.


If a dog has high alkaline urine pH readings, then their body does not have enough minerals especially sodium to buffer the acidity from the diet.  Does your dog’s urine have a strong ammonia odor?  The odor of ammonia is considered by many to be normal for urine; however, it is a telltale sign that your dog’s body is using an emergency system to keep going. 

When you add pulverized veggies or veggie juices to your dog’s diet which is high in organic sodium and other organic minerals such as organically grown zucchini and celery the pH numbers will begin to decline.  This is not only to be expected, it’s what you are trying to accomplish.  As your dog’s mineral reserves are replenished, enough sodium will be available for the urine and it will start registering around 5.5.   This will not happen if your dog is on any types of medical drugs but after you stop giving your dog the medical drugs and you take care of feeding your dog a healthy diet full of fresh veggies and fruits, then the urine pH will start dropping and will become acidic. 

In general, I always recommend giving your dog the wild crafted micro algae because of its organic minerals content which is very high since this algae feeds on volcanic soil.  Feeding this type of algae to your dog will be the fastest way to alkalinize fluids in your dog’s body.  

The above information came from Dr. Ted Morter’s book: Your Health, Your Choice.