Yogurt for an 11 week old puppy?

[NS]

Does anyone know the benefits of giving a puppy plain greek yogurt? It seems like pumpkin and yogurt are good foods to add to a puppy's diet based on what I have read on various blogs. Does anyone have any strong opinions on this? Also what are the pro's/con's of adding this to a puppy's diet?

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I know that a lot of people do it for their adult dogs, but I'm not so sure about doing it with a young puppy. Hopefully others will chime in.

[NS]

Thanks! I had to give him Panacur which is powder and I struggled with figuring out a way to get him to eat it. I tried canned food and he wasn't crazy about it then I mixed the medicine with a tablespoon of organic pumpkin and he LOVED it!! I hope that is ok....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Just make sure you don't mix the yogurt with the Panacur or give it within two hours of any antibiotics. The main benefit of giving yogurt is for the probiotics, especially when giving antibiotics, to replace the good flore in the gut. So you need to give it separately from the meds.

Pumpkin is used to add fiber, to help firm up stools. Mixing the Panacur with it is fine. You can also use plain mashed sweet potatoes for the same purpose. 

It sounds as if your pup has giardia, so the yogurt and pumpkin will help with his stools and his digestive tract. But I wouldn't add anything else or make any other changes in his diet right now. 

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

This is a pretty nice article about healthy human foods for dogs.

http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/articles/10-people-foods-dogs/1896...

Yogurt is a good source of available calcium and protein. When choosing yogurt, pick one that has live active bacteria and no sugars or artificial sweeteners. The active bacteria may act as probiotics. If your pooch is pudgy, make sure that you pick fat-free yogurt but not one that contains fat substitutes (e.g., Simplesse or Olestra). Frozen yogurt is a nice summer treat for dogs.

Pumpkin is a good source of fibre and beta carotene (a source of vitamin A). Dogs need fibre in their diet. The current trend is towards highly digestible diets that lower stool volume and this is not necessarily a good thing. Keeping the GI tract moving helps keep the cells lining the gut healthy.

[DJ & Chance]

I mix a small amount of fat, sugar, and preservative free plain Greek yogurt with my puppy's dinner.  He loves it!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I have used both foods for our dogs for years. Both are good healthy additions to their diets. Please follow Karens advice regarding adding it with the Panacur though.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Be careful with Greek yogurt the full fat version is too high in fat, you want the live yogurt, low fat.  I fed Boris yogurt from about 10 weeks just a tablespoon and he was fine with it.