# Feeding Yoghurt



## spottydog (Mar 14, 2007)

I'd like to start giving my dog some yoghurt. I notice a lot of members here do and it seems its good for the dogs!
Does anyone have advice on how much and how often to feed yoghurt for a dalmatian? Thanks!


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## Lonewolfblue (Oct 28, 2007)

You don't feed yogurt as a meal. I personally don't feed it every day either, but basically, you give a teaspoon of yogurt with the main meal. Can mix it with the kibble, or just add a teaspoon of it on top of or next to the main course. The reason for it is yogurt helps in digesting the food, and helps eliminate gas as well.


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## Patt (Feb 12, 2008)

I use small amounts of plain yogurt in my dogs Kongs. Helps keep ingredients together for freezing. It's good for keeping the friendly bacteria in the system.


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## Equestiana (Aug 8, 2007)

I mix some plain yoghurt with their food every once in awhile. It definatly helps their gas and i've found then when switching foods it helps make the transition easier


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## Rowdy (Sep 2, 2007)

I'll mix about 2 tbsp of plain, nonfat yogurt in with their kibble, at mealtime, every now and then. I do it mostly as a treat after a long hike or some other outing.


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

I mix plain yogurt with pumpkin, peanut butter, banana slices and dog cookies in a Kong and freeze. I only use like a spoonful of each. Sometimes I'll put a spoonful of it in their food. I also like to slip in cottage cheese every now and then.


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## spottydog (Mar 14, 2007)

Thanks to all for your suggestions! I wouldn't mind some yogurt and pumpkin myself, sounds yum. 

I've just started a spoon of yogurt in his food this weekend and it went down well!


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## Pasofino (Apr 10, 2008)

I feed a probiotic every day just to keep flora healthy and gas down!


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 22, 2008)

Don't expect yogurt to have the same benefits to a dog as it does to humans. Dogs have very acidic stomach juices. These stomach juices kill salmonella and e-coli, as well as the "friendly bacteria" in yogurt. This bacteria never reaches the gut where it will actually do some good.


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

Then how come a spoonful of yogurt or cottage cheese is helpful to my dogs, and many other dogs, when they've got soft stools/upset stomach?

And regardless, they sure do love it.


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## Pasofino (Apr 10, 2008)

Any dairy products can cause pancreatitis in dogs ,as they are high in fat but in small amounts, is definitely beneficial to canines.

The stomach acid won't harm the beneficial bacteria, unless the dog has a high fever.

Just make sure it it NOT artificially sweetened, as some sweeteners are toxic to dogs.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 22, 2008)

Cheetah said:


> Then how come a spoonful of yogurt or cottage cheese is helpful to my dogs, and many other dogs, when they've got soft stools/upset stomach?


Don't know but it's not because of any bacteria that gets through the stomach.



Pasofino said:


> The stomach acid won't harm the beneficial bacteria, unless the dog has a high fever.


Hehe, the dog's stomach juices are over 50% hydrochloric acid. It kills tough bacteria like salmonella, e-coli, giardia, and most parasited ingested through the mouth. The little bacteria in yogurt doesn't stand a snowball's chance of getting through. 

If you want to give probiotics to a dog (really a useless act), It must be in capsule form such that the capsule won't break down until it is in the small intestine or you could give supositories in the anus. You don't get probiotics through the stomach any other way. They are really not needed.


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## SunsetSam (Jul 31, 2008)

My parents feed their dogs cottage cheese and yogurt every day. They put a teaspoon or so on top of the morning food and then a teaspoon of the other on at dinner, so they switch off. They have a good friend who is a Whippet breeder who recommended it and their dogs have been really healthy as far as stomach issues, especially. We started off giving Sam the same stuff-cottage cheese or yogurt in each meal, now we are mostly giving him just the yogurt and just at dinner. He loves it and it makes him snarf his food even faster than normal, lol.


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## spottydog (Mar 14, 2007)

I was going to ask if cottage cheese was also ok for dogs but many have posted about that too, and it looks like it is! Thanks lots.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 22, 2008)

Reading posts on discussion groups like this we tend to forget that most dogs don't have digestive problems. I have owned a lot of dogs. I have never fed yogurt to a dog and never had a dog with digestive problems. Yes, I've had dogs who got diarrhea or vomited. These episodes would last a day or two or three and go away on their own. I never did anything for them except maybe skip a meal or two.

If I had given yogurt when they got these temporary outbreaks, I would have sworn that the yogurt is what cured them. However since I did nothing, the dog cured himself. Most any health problem with a dog or human will go away on its on in a few days if you do nothing.


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

If my dog had diarrhea for 3 days straight, I'd be going to the vet. Last time that happened, Shippo had Cryptosporidium and had to be put on an anti-parasitic, because the problem WASN'T fixing itself. I don't think it's advisable to wait more than 3 days if your dog has really bad diarrhea, and I don't think we should be telling people on this forum that it's okay to just not see the vet and that the problem will fix itself.

Either way, my dogs both love yogurt, and a little bit frozen in a Kong (doggy ice cream cone) certainly isn't hurting them.

I am still interested to see the studies that prove that probiotics can't survive in a dog's stomach, and that a dog's stomach is that acidic. I always thought dogs weren't as susceptible to things such as salmonella and e. coli because their digestive tracts were just shorter... and there are STILL cases of dogs suffering from salmonella poisoning despite that, so their stomachs must not have been that acidic...


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 22, 2008)

Cheetah said:


> If my dog had diarrhea for 3 days straight, I'd be going to the vet. Last time that happened, Shippo had Cryptosporidium and had to be put on an anti-parasitic, because the problem WASN'T fixing itself. I don't think it's advisable to wait more than 3 days if your dog has really bad diarrhea, and I don't think we should be telling people on this forum that it's okay to just not see the vet and that the problem will fix itself.


As I said before. Most health problems will cure themselves in 3 or 4 days by themselves with no intervention. Thats how vets make a living by having people who bring in their dogs everytime they sneeze. If the dog has other symptoms or is obviously very sick, it is a good idea to go to the vet. I am talking about diarrhea or vomiting by an otherwise happy energetic dog.



> Either way, my dogs both love yogurt, and a little bit frozen in a Kong (doggy ice cream cone) certainly isn't hurting them.


Nope, I didn't say it would hurt them. Just said the bacteria it contains won't make it through the stomach.



> I am still interested to see the studies that prove that probiotics can't survive in a dog's stomach, and that a dog's stomach is that acidic.


It doesn't take a study, it just takes a measurement. I'm sure there are plenty of books and/or articles on the internet that would tell you that. The acidic stomach juices is what allows dogs do digest bones. If a whole chicken drumstick bone gets disolved in the stomach so does bacteria.



> I always thought dogs weren't as susceptible to things such as salmonella and e. coli because their digestive tracts were just shorter


Thats part but most of it get killed in the stomach. What few get through will quickly grow into a large number if they aren't eliminated out of the intestines pretty quickly. I have on occasion fed my dogs meat that you wouldn't want to be in the same room with. I remember one time we had to use 2 cans of room deoderizer and open the window and put a fan in it after the dogs ate one night.  There HAD to be a ton of bacteria on that meat. The dogs had no symptoms of anything after eating it.



> ... and there are STILL cases of dogs suffering from salmonella poisoning despite that, so their stomachs must not have been that acidic...


I'm not saying there has never been a case but I don't know of one where it was actually proved that it was salmonella by lab tests. Often vets (and doctors), will say salmonella when they have no idea what caused the problem because the client was demanding an answer. Salmonella is an easy answer to grab out of the air.

I have talked (or chatted on boards) to people who said their dog had salmonella and when I ask how they know its "because the vet said so". When I asked what tests the vet ran, "oh, he didn't run any test, he just said it was salmonella." (or maybe he said e-coli or giardia or something else.)


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

Ok, I was curious, so I found us a clear answer.
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=probiotics

Ok, so the certain types of bacteria in yogurt don't make it through the stomach, but just help to digest lactose and supposedly boost the immune system. We can all live with that lol...

But according to Mordy's article, there are many other kinds of probiotics that do make it through the digestive tract, and I am assuming this is what we give in pill/powder/etc form.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 22, 2008)

Cheetah said:


> Ok, I was curious, so I found us a clear answer.
> http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=probiotics
> 
> Ok, so the certain types of bacteria in yogurt don't make it through the stomach, but just help to digest lactose and supposedly boost the immune system. We can all live with that lol...
> ...


Hehe, that just doesn't make sense. The dog food project has a lot of contradictions in his article. One example: It agrees with me that the bacteria in yogurt can't survive its trip through the stomach BUT says it helps in digestion of lactose and improves the immune system. How does dead bacteria do that?

A SIDE NOTE: Dogs shouldn't be fed lactose anyway. Most dogs are lactose intolerant.

ANOTHER SIDE NOTE: I don't think there is any reason to give probiotics. The body does a very good job of creating them without our help. If the natural probiotics get low for some reason, in a few days it will build back up on their own. No need for our intervention. Of course the companies that make and sell yogurt would disagree but they would loose money if people didn't buy it. 

Some people just can't get over the overwhelming need to do something when just standing back and let nature take is course is the best option.

OOPS, got to rambling there.


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## BentletheYentle (Oct 6, 2008)

Sorry to make my first ever post to the forum as one that enters a debate, but as a microbiologist, I have to chime in my thoughts here.
First of all, the pH of a dog's stomach is 1-2. The pH of a human stomach is 1-3. There are probiotics known to survive through the human stomach, thus they can also survive through a dog's stomach.
Second of all, microorganisms can form structures called endospores that are extremely acid-resistant. Once they reach a good growing condition, which could be in the intestines, they start growing and reproducing again. Thus, the probiotics again survive. Plenty of bacteria can even survive acidic conditions without forming spores. While they may not reproduce while in the stomach, they can survive long enough to get into a better environment and then start to reproduce again.
Now, having said this, I do realize that even the studies on probiotics with humans are not 100% conclusive, but there is plenty of evidence that a food containing probiotics or a supplement of probiotics can enhance the natural microflora of an animal.


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

Unfortunately, not all dogs' bodies are perfect and some of them do need help with digestion because their bodies do not create enough of their own beneficial bacteria to do the job properly, so while I don't give my own dogs probiotic supplements, I would if it were necessary.

As for the whole lactose thing, I suppose it would depend on where/how fast/when/how it is digested (if at all). All I know is Mordy (the author of the article) is a certified canine nutritionist, and has been very helpful to many people including me in the past, so I tend to trust her. Mordy raw feeds her own dogs BTW. It's really funny how even among raw feeders, there are so many differing opinions!!



BentletheYentle said:


> Sorry to make my first ever post to the forum as one that enters a debate, but as a microbiologist, I have to chime in my thoughts here.
> First of all, the pH of a dog's stomach is 1-2. The pH of a human stomach is 1-3. There are probiotics known to survive through the human stomach, thus they can also survive through a dog's stomach.
> Second of all, microorganisms can form structures called endospores that are extremely acid-resistant. Once they reach a good growing condition, which could be in the intestines, they start growing and reproducing again. Thus, the probiotics again survive. Plenty of bacteria can even survive acidic conditions without forming spores. While they may not reproduce while in the stomach, they can survive long enough to get into a better environment and then start to reproduce again.
> Now, having said this, I do realize that even the studies on probiotics with humans are not 100% conclusive, but there is plenty of evidence that a food containing probiotics or a supplement of probiotics can enhance the natural microflora of an animal.


Hi and welcome to the forum! You posted faster than I did lol.


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## BentletheYentle (Oct 6, 2008)

Cheetah said:


> Hi and welcome to the forum! You posted faster than I did lol.


Thanks!

Lol, just a minute or two faster. I agree completely with what you said, though. Some dogs, just like some humans, just don't have enough natural bacteria in their guts but many, probably most, will never actually need a supplement. I personally don't add one to my dog's diet for digestion issues, but I will say that I use Wysong Dentatreat, which has probiotics. I add water to it and use it as a toothpaste. Works better than any premade toothpaste that I've found!


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 22, 2008)

BentletheYentle said:


> First of all, the pH of a dog's stomach is 1-2. The pH of a human stomach is 1-3. There are probiotics known to survive through the human stomach, thus they can also survive through a dog's stomach.


My research indicates that digestive juices in a human pH is 2-3 and in a dog is 1-2. Since pH is measured in a log scale, that means that a dogs stomach juices are 10 times more acidic than a humans. Dogs can eat rotting carrion with no ill effect while a human would die eating rotting meat. Dogs can eat meat heavily infested with salmonella or e-coli and not even have diarrhea. Again, a human would die. 

All this is mostly because of the highly acidic stomach digestive juices in the dog's stomach. That would be the same digestive juices that will kill probiotic bacteria when they try to make it through the stomach. The only way to get probiotics through a dog's stomach is to have them in a capsule that remains intact until it reaches the small intestine or to insert them in the form of an anal suppository. 



> Now, having said this, I do realize that even the studies on probiotics with humans are not 100% conclusive, but there is plenty of evidence that a food containing probiotics or a supplement of probiotics can enhance the natural microflora of an animal.


Why would the natural microflora need enhancing? It has served the dog very well for millions of years unenhanced. It seems to keep itself at the proper level most of the time and when it gets depleated, will regenerate its numbers until its back to normal in a day or two.


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## Bellasmom (Aug 14, 2008)

RFD, 
Can you ever just give it up when you are wrong?


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## BentletheYentle (Oct 6, 2008)

RFD-
I took the time to go onto the website www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pubmed which is one of the leading websites for publishing scientific research articles and found some stuff you might be interested in.

Effects of a probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus strain on feed tolerance in dogs with non-specific dietary sensitivity.

Pascher M, Hellweg P, Khol-Parisini A, Zentek J.
Institute of Nutrition, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria.
This study investigated the effects of the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus strain DSM 13241 in dogs with non-specific dietary sensitivity (NSS). Six adult German Shorthair Pointers with NSS consecutively received a control dry diet and the same diet supplemented with the probiotic (6 x 10(6) cfu/g) for 12 weeks each, followed by another control period of four weeks. Frequency of defecations, faecal quality and nutrient digestibility were determined. Faeces were cultured for Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia spp., lactobacilli and bifidobacteria and quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) was performed. Feeding the probiotic improved faecal consistency, faecal dry matter and defecation frequency (p < 0.05). Faecal concentrations of culturable lactobacilli and bifidobacteria increased numerically, but not significantly, also the decrease of the numbers of C. perfringens and Escherichia spp. did not reach the level of significance. Results from FISH showed more constant bacterial populations. *It can be concluded that L. acidophilus DSM 13241 can stabilise the digestive processes in dogs with NSS.*

Look, probiotics do help!

Effect of a Lactobacillus animalis strain on composition and metabolism of the intestinal microflora in adult dogs.

Biagi G, Cipollini I, Pompei A, Zaghini G, Matteuzzi D.
Department of Veterinary Morphophysiology and Animal Production, University of Bologna, 40064 Ozzano Emilia, Italy. [email protected]
Probiotics are microorganisms that are added to food to exert beneficial effects on the host. Aim of the present study was the in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the effect of Lactobacillus animalis LA4 (isolated from the faeces of a healthy adult dog) on composition and metabolism of dog intestinal microflora. When added to dog faecal cultures, LA4 reduced enterococci and increased lactobacilli counts throughout the study, whereas C. perfringens counts were significantly reduced at 24 h. After 8 h of incubation, LA4 reduced ammonia and increased lactic acid concentrations. For the in vivo study, nine adult dogs received the freeze-dried preparation of L. animalis LA4 for 10 days. On day 11, faecal lactobacilli were higher than at trial start (6.99 log CFU/g versus 3.35 log CFU/g of faeces) and faecal enterococci showed a trend towards a numerical reduction (P = 0.08). L. animalis LA4 was recovered in all faecal samples collected on day 11 and in four samples at day 15. *The present results show that LA4 was able to survive gastrointestinal passage and transitorily colonize the dog intestine where, based on the in vitro results, it could positively influence composition and metabolism of the intestinal microflora.* These results suggest that L. animalis LA4 can be considered as a potential probiotic for dogs.

Says it all right there in bold......they ARE able to survive through a dog's stomach.

Application of potential probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum AD1 strain in healthy dogs.

Strompfová V, Marcináková M, Simonová M, Bogovic-Matijasić B, Lauková A.
Institute of Animal Physiology Slovak Academy of Sciences, Soltésovej 4-6, 04001 Kosice, Slovakia. [email protected]
Probiotic utilization is becoming increasingly popular in veterinary medicine. However, only few probiotic products are available commercially for use in dogs in our market. Therefore, the aim of our study was to determine the properties of new potential probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum AD1 strain-own canine isolate and to investigate its effect on several microbiological and biochemical parameters in healthy dogs. The strain expressed in vitro survival by pH 3.0 after 3h (86.8%) and in the presence of 1% bile (75.4%). The AD1 strain adhered to the canine and human intestinal mucus. It was sensitive to commonly used antimicrobials. Fifteen healthy dogs were supplemented with 10(9)L. fermentum AD1 for 7 days. At the end of AD1 strain application, numbers of faecal lactobacilli and enterococci increased significantly in the canine faeces. Significant increase of total protein and total lipid and significant reduction of glucose in serum of dogs were noted. *These data indicate that L. fermentum AD1 survive transit through the canine gastrointestinal tract, and populate the colon and probably increased absorption of some nutrients.* Whether longer time of its application lead to the same results as well as its potential to improve immune function in dogs remains to be determined.

A completely different study with different researchers, same results...hmm. 

Sorry to be such a long post, but I wanted to give the full article title and author and summary so that someone else can look and find exactly what I found if they doubt my sources for info.


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## shets114 (Sep 10, 2008)

You should know better then to know more than RFD. Don't worry you will learn.

I guess he is just waiting to complete all his research before he writes his books. 

The dog world will just have to be full of contradictions until then.


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## Canadian Dog (Nov 3, 2007)

shets114 said:


> You should know better then to know more than RFD. Don't worry you will learn.
> 
> I guess he is just waiting to complete all his research before he writes his books.
> 
> The dog world will just have to be full of contradictions until then.


Perhaps you didn't notice RFD has been banned.


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