Lactose free vs. non-fat Yogurt

[Raj and Teddy]

Hi All,

We have brought our puppy home 2 weeks back (Currently 10 weeks old) and have kept him on the food that was given by our breeder (TOTW Orange bag). I bought a 30 lb bag of TOTW, had no idea my puppy will eat so less, I think this bag will last me for couple of months. Plan to switch to Orijen Puppy once we finish the current bag. We have introduced  organic peanut butter ( once or twice per week), Fruitables treat and Old Hubbard Cookie (1 or 2 per day). Our puppies bowels movements are fine and he is doing well on getting potty trained, ringing poochie bells and accident free for the last one week.

Now that we have passed 2 weeks, I would like to introduce more foods as treats. for example.

1. Chopped Apple, bananas mixed with yogurt. Our Vet said on "Lactose free" as otherwise he will have diarrhea. Can I give non-fat plain yogurt if I don't find Lactose free? I plan to free the mix of apple, bananas, yogurt in a Kong and give the puppy as a treat. Am I introducing too many foods at one time?

2. Freezing Apple juice and giving as a popsicle. I have read here that frozen real fruit juice popsicles with no sugar (Store bought) is also fine with puppies. Can I introduced this at the same time or wait few days after I introduce Yogurt treat?

3. Our vet also recommended low fat cottage cheese, we have'nt given it as yet. Same question wait and take one new addition to the diet every few days, I feel then it may take quite a while before we introduce a multiple foods. 

So far our puppy is very food motivated and is always checking out what we are cooking in  the kitchen.

Thanks

Raj

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I am wondering why you want to give your puppy all these different foods and treats. I'm also wondering why your vet is recommending the yogurt and cottage cheese. . Is it because you asked him what other new foods you could give your puppy? 

I'm not a fan of giving dogs treats just for the heck of it, or because it tastes good, or because they like it, or "I want to show them love", or "it makes me happy to see him enjoy his food", etc. I'm not a big fan of doing it with kids, either, but the difference is that kids know that all kinds of goodies and treats exist. Dogs don't, until we show them that they do. I firmly believe there has to be a good reason to give a dog any type of food, and it needs to be related to health and well-being, not to our emotions. Treats should be used as training rewards only. There are other ways to show affection and love than by using food. :)

Typically, I advise people not to change a single thing about a puppy's diet for at least two weeks after he comes home, and to only introduce one new food at a time. You've already introduced three new foods and you've only had the puppy 2 weeks, lol. Now you're looking to introduce more. So the answer to your first question is "yes, you're introducing too many new foods at one time." 

I would wait to add anything else to his diet. There's no reason for it. 

To answer your second question, if you're going to give the popsicles, the apple juice needs to be heavily diluted. Mostly water with very little juice. It's used primarily as a way to get fluids into a dog who isn't drinking enough water.

I'd also hold off on cottage cheese. I don't think I've ever given any of my dogs cottage cheese and I don't think they missed anything. It also doesn't make sense to me that your vet told you to find lactose free yogurt, "otherwise he will have diarrhea", but then recommended cottage cheese, which is full of lactose, low fat or not. Dairy products give a lot of dogs diarrhea and they don't need them.

Food motivation is a good thing for training purposes. A food motivated dog will work for treats, and that's a lot easier than trying to train a dog who isn't food motivated. Don't spoil that by giving treats that aren't earned. Why would he work for something that he gets all the time for free? Use his food motivation to your advantage. 

Also, you never want to have more opened kibble than your dog can eat in a month. It loses freshness and becomes unappealing to the dog, and can even go bad. It's also much more likely to become infested with storage mites. I'd freeze it in ziplock bags, about 2 weeks worth in each bag.  

 

[Raj and Teddy]

Thanks Karen, as always appreciate your prompt responses and thoughtful insights. I think without this group I would have ended up making lot more mistakes and then regretting it. To answer your question on yogurt and low fat cottage cheese, I am the one who asked our vet about it as I had read about people giving those to their dogs plus I was trying to get ideas on stuffing a kong to make my puppy work on chewing and keeping him occupied at times. My vet was not in favor of adding milk products but said that if I do want to give it should be lactose free yogurt or low fat cottage cheese.
I agree with you totally of not freely giving treats , I somehow misunderstood and thought I can start giving some fresh fruits plus yogurt to help with supplementing good bacteria.
Thanks for the help on freshness of kibble past 30 days. We had bought the vault container and keep it inside our house in the pantry, hence I thought it will remain fresh. I will freeze some of the food and use it later. My one question for you, does it make sense to buy a two 15 lb bags instead of a 30 lb bag to ensure freshness. Also should a 15 lb bag last a month. The reason is that I am ordering from chewy and use their free shipping on orders of $49.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I can't answer your question about how long a 15 lb bag will last because it depends on how much your dog eats, lol. Every food has a different calorie content and every dog has a different calorie requirement, so it's going to vary with the food and the dog. 

Even with an airtight storage container, I put the food in zip lock bags before I put them in the container, and try never to have more than a month's worth open at a time. The better foods are preserved naturally with vitamin E, and therefore can still go bad once they are open if not used within a reasonable time. 

Yogurt is great for the probiotic benefits, but you can just give it plain. There's no harm in adding a little fruit, but it isn't necessary. You can freeze yogurt in a kong. You can also put his kibble in a kong. I've never used kongs, none of my dogs have ever been interested in them, but if you do a search for kong here in TFG, you'll find some other ideas from other members here.