Yoghurt, a beneficial food for dogs
Yoghurt is a food that dogs can eat without any problem. Better still: it is rather beneficial for our hairy ones by its relative richness in animal proteins and probiotics, "good" bacteria which are useful for the balance of the intestinal flora.
It is also thanks to these bacteria that yogurt is much better digested than milk by the dog. Under their action, the lactose in the milk has been degraded into lactic acid, which means that there is practically no lactose left in the yoghurt. Yogurt is therefore much less likely than milk or other dairy products to cause diarrhea in dogs.Indeed, most adult dogs have lost the ability to properly digest lactose, the sugar in milk, through a drop in the activity of the enzyme necessary for its digestion over time.
Which yogurt to choose for your dog?
If you want to give yogurt to your dog, the best thing is to choose a real yogurt and not dairy speci alties, "yogurts" made from vegetable milk, small Swiss cheese or cottage cheese that does not do not have the same properties or the same benefits as yogurt.
The name yoghurt is thus exclusively reserved for the product obtained by fermentation of milk by two thermophilic lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. In other words, if the term "yoghurt" is not explicitly written on the product packaging, it means that it is not a yoghurt and that this product is therefore not suitable to your dog.
Among yogurts, prefer skimmed or semi-skimmed and natural yogurts for your dog. Avoid fruit and/or whole yogurts, which are generally too sweet and too rich for your pet.
In what cases should you give yogurt to a dog?
Yoghurt can be given to a dog fed with a complete industrial food (kibbles, pâtés) as a treat, in quantities which must not exceed 10% of its daily caloric requirement. In other words, no problem for your dog to lick the bottom of your yoghurt pot.
Yoghurt can also be given as a complementary source of animal protein to meat, fish or eggs as part of a household ration.
Be careful, however, not to use yogurt as a replacement for a vitamin and mineral supplement. Adding yogurt to your dog's ration will never provide him with enough calcium to cover his needs, which are 10 times higher than that of a human being.To cover the daily calcium needs of a small 10kg dog, the dog should eat at least 1kg of yogurt per day, quantities impossible to give him because they alone represent 2 to 3 times the calories the dog eats. needs.