One of my followers on Facebook loves yogurt so much, especially strawberry yogurt, and she always wanted to share what she loves with her dog! And she asked an important question, which is, Can Dogs Eat Yogurt?
We often have a rule dividing our “Pet maniac’s club” to three, those who enjoy having a pet, those who enjoy taking care of their pets, and those who are committed to taking care of their pets.
Mostly, The third type is where you belong by asking such a question, and the third type is who we give this next piece of reading about today’s question of can dogs eat yogurt.
Therefore, in today’s article, we will explain and answer the question of whether dogs can eat yogurt and reveal why yogurt can be harmful to your dog sometimes.
Table of Contents
Can Dogs Eat Yogurt? The Answer!
Yes, is your short answer to the question, can dogs eat yogurt? Your more detailed explanation, however, is explained in the next few lines.
Yogurt is a healthy food that contains high calcium and protein. Also, yogurt can serve as a probiotic, which can be useful for your dog’s digestive system.
Therefore, If you feed your dog yogurt, it would be best if you pick a plain and free of any combined sweeteners, both artificial and natural. Sugars are not healthful for your dog, and some manufactured sweeteners, like xylitol, are poisonous for dogs.
Moreover, it would be best if you also looked for yogurt with lots of live cultures, such as Greek-style yogurt. This type of yogurt is more reliable because it has lower levels of lactose than regular yogurt.
After knowing the answer to the question, can dogs eat yogurt, it is time to understand the benefits of yogurt for your dog. That will allow you to decide whether to add yogurt to your dog’s diet or not.
5 Benefits Of Yogurt For Dogs
- High in Calcium and Protein
Yogurt is rich in calcium and protein, which can be a fantastic way to improve your dog’s body and health by building bones and teeth, maintaining bones mass, supporting the heart muscle’s action, acting as a co-founder for many essential enzymes that fail to work without its presence.
If that isn’t enough for you, you should be aware that consuming calcium can also result in a lower risk of developing conditions involving high blood pressure and improving cholesterol values.
- Rich in important nutrients
Yogurt is not only rich in protein and calcium, but also vitamins and other vital nutrients for your dog’s body such as vitamin B (Particularly B12), riboflavin, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and nearly every nutrient your dog’s body need (apart from vitamin B) could be found naturally in yogurt.
- Improving the immunity system
If consumed regularly, yogurt can reduce illness by improving the immune system. That’s due to magnesium, zinc, and selenium, which proved some promising results to their effects on the immune system.
- It’s good for your dog’s heart
You can protect your dog’s heart with yogurt due to the presence of saturated fat within it, which increases good HDL cholesterol known to be beneficial to the heart.
- Weight gain won’t be an issue with yogurt
Focusing on your dog’s weight might be tricky at times, but we believe that you can handle your dog’s very well using the magic of yogurt. How? You might wonder.
Appetite-reducing hormones such as peptide YY and GLP1, released by the help of eating yogurt, can help your dog maintain its weight and appetite (prevent your dog from eating more than its body need).
Best Yogurt For Your Dog!
We strongly suggest plain or non-fat plain yogurt. It perfectly fits what we are looking for in improving our dog’s health, though, a word of caution here when choosing your yogurt, you must make sure that artificial preservatives or any sweeteners aren’t part of the ingredients.
As mentioned above, sugar is not healthy for your dog, and some manufactured sweeteners can be toxic to your dog.
Therefore, your best choice for yogurt is plain, free of any combined sweeteners (both artificial and natural), and little to non-fat yogurt.
Are All Dogs Allowed To Eat Yogurt
Indeed we answered the question of can dogs eat yogurt with a big YES. However, in some situations, you must understand that your dog is not allowed to eat yogurt at all.
The process of digesting dairy foods is where one dog differs from the other. If you ever suspected your dog of having an issue with lactose, then yogurt must be avoided immediately.
Vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite, weight loss, poor weight gain, abdominal pain, abdominal discomfort, or poor body condition are vital signs that your dog might be allergic to lactose. Therefore, you must keep a close eye at your dog when they try yogurt for the first time.
Therefore, before you feed your dog anything, it is always best to ask your veterinarian about this new food simply because your vet knows your dog’s health problems more than anyone else. Therefore, they can give you better advice on what your dog should eat or avoid.
4 Downsides Of Eating Yogurt For Your Dog
Answering the question can dogs eat yogurt is not the only important part of this article. As a dog owner, there is another important to read about, which is the downsides of eating yogurt.
The following are some downsides of eating yogurt for your dog. But, pay attention that we are talking about other types of yogurts than the one mentioned above!
- Too Much Fat
There are some types of flavored yogurts that contain vast amounts of saturated fats that could result in heart problems by increasing low-density lipoprotein (LDL). These types are dangerous to your dog, especially if your dog is eating a massive amount.
Serving your dog, the right type of yogurt, is essential to keep your dog’s heart and body healthy without any extra fat and, therefore, unwanted health problems.
- Kidney Stones
Yogurt might increase the risk to kidney stones according to recent researches if presented in high amounts, due to the high amount of calcium it contains.
Furthermore, the high calcium in yogurt diminishes zink and iron absorption, which increases the risk of Calcium Oxalate (Bladder Stones in Dogs). That is due to increasing the amount of calcium oxalate crystals because the urine is high in calcium.
So make sure you are feeding your dog with the right amount.
- Problems with your dog’s digestive tract
Indeed yogurt can be a great addition to your dog’s diet with so many benefits. However, eating the wrong type or eating a lot of yogurts can cause unwanted symptoms that are related to your dog’s digestive tract, such as diarrhea and abdominal pain found in lactose allergic dogs, which we discussed previously.
Nevertheless, to avoid health issues and complications that might affect your dog’s digestive tract, you must feed your dog their natural diet with balanced ingredients. Make sure to always pay attention to what’s inside your dog’s food and the amount you should feed them.
- Yogurt contains fewer Probiotics
Probiotics are a combination of live beneficial bacteria and/or yeasts that naturally live in your dog’s body. They have a varied range of health benefits. Yogurt, unfortunately, lacks such an essential thing to the body.
We wouldn’t say that probiotics are vital to your dog’s life. Still, when your dogs eat a lot of yogurt with time, every time he lacks such benefit is a considerable downside that could be easily controlled by diet regulation.
Therefore, the key to keeping your dog healthy and get all the necessary nutrients to its body is serving your dog a balanced diet with the right amount. However, there is no harm rewarding your dog with some yummy treats from time to time.
Conclusion
After we explained all of this information about the answer to the question of can dogs eat yogurt, you must have a decent idea of how great yogurt can be if you feed your dog in moderation the right type.
Providing your dog with the right diet plan is essential for the body itself, unlike us, the dog’s body can be more sensitive to get health issues from eating bad food such as Cherries. Therefore, when it comes to your dog’s diet, make sure to give s second thought and ask about it.
Also, you must always contact your vet asking for a piece of advice if you want to add a new food to your dog’s diet. Why? Simply because your vet knows your dog’s health more than anyone else. For example, if your dog suffers from Diabetes, then your dog is not allowed to eat a specific food, and your vet can guide you about this.
Finally, I hope you found this article to the question can dogs eat yogurt informative and helpful.
Also, if you have more information about yogurt and dogs, please write them down below in the comment section. So, all dog owners will benefit from that.
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That was interesting to know. I do not feed my dogs yogurt, but a friend of mine does. She is very responsible about it, though, and she does not give it to him all the time, I think she also gives him the plain one.
My dog Lucy is 14 years old and she has some heart problems (an irregular heartbeat). If I fed her plain, sugar free yogurt once or twice a week or so, would it help? I read that the saturated fats might help, that’s why I am asking. Do you also have some advice about the benefits of coconut oil for dogs?
Thank you for another great article!
Although yogurt can be beneficial for dogs, it is recommended to consult your vet before giving your dog it as she has a heart condition. Dogs with certain diseases have unique diet plans to follow, and vets are the best source for such information. As for the coconut oil, I will make sure to write in detail about it in a different article. Also, I am glad you found this post helpful and informative! Keep your Lucy happy and healthy!