Doggy ice cream/ dairy for dogs

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Hello!

This might seem random or maybe dumb but is doggy ice cream or those Starbucks puppacino's (if that's how you spell it) ok? I would love to give the boys ice cream treats especially since it's warm out but someone had told me most dogs are lactose intolerant. This isn't someone I know well so I'm not sure what to make of it and figured I better check. Up until this point I haven't because I'm slowly adding in normal treats that I give to Moose's diet and now that he has some issues to recover from I will be holding off but I was thinking it would be nice for Loki. I'm curious to hear what you guys think, the last thing I want to do is upset the great balance we currently have in their diets but it would be nice to spoil them too :)

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I don't know about the Starbucks one but the "ice cream" made specifically for dogs does not have dairy in it. At least the ones in my area. We have a doggie "ice cream man" outside our dog park and they serve cups made from yogurt and other flavorings. They are gluten free with no sugar or milk products added.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I suppose if you have to give them ice cream, a frozen yogurt product without sugar would be your best bet.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm not a fan of giving dogs treats just for the heck of it, or because it tastes good, they like it, I want to show them love, etc. I'm not a big fan of doing it with kids, either, but the difference is that kids know such things exist. Dogs don't, until we show them that they do. We hear so much about dogs who are picky eaters, dogs who have digestive troubles, dogs who need to lose weight, etc., why give them ice cream? As you said, why upset the great balance you currently have in their diets? 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.

Some of the "made for dogs" ice cream treats like frosty Paws contain some really lousy ingredients, too. 

And yes, a good percentage of dogs don't do well with lactose.  

In addition, I just read an article today about the fact that different types of diets can alter the types and quantities of gut bacteria in people, and high carb/sugar diets were related to a decrease in the kinds of good gut bacteria that help prevent digestive disease, although there are some "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" questions related to this. I feel pretty certain this would apply to dogs as well. 

There are all kinds of healthier "treats" you can give to cool a dog off without adding a lot of fat or calories, or lactose. We just had a discussion here about this topic and there were several good ideas in that, let me go find it and I'll post a link. 

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

I'm so glad to hear you say this. Recently my sister in law wanted to give Rip a piece of our leftover steak and asked me if she could. I said nah - I didn't want to mess with his food routine which is working so well for him! I'm confident my choice was based on Rip's health and well-being versus my own joy to see him eat something he'd find delicious, but might interfere with his digestion or future food routine. My SIL called me mean, lol, but I'm leery to mess with his current good balance...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

All these emotional associations people have with food and feeding ("joy to see him eat", "mean", etc) are the reason so many people AND dogs are obese. 

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

Well put. There needs to be more education on this.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

This makes me feel better, it comes across my mind a lot when I'm out walking downtown with friends and their dogs and they stop and give treats like that to their dogs and usually I just walk away for a quick bit to avoid upsetting the dog who doesn't get one (mine lol) and I usually feel horrible. Thanks, I will try frozen diluted juice cubes :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's a link to the discussion I mentioned. Scroll down through the responses for some good ideas for low-cal, non-fat, non-dairy frozen treats. (Hint, think fruit, fruit juice, and ice, lol) 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/doggie-...

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Oh ok awesome thank you I will take a look!

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

My girls think ice cubes are the best thing on earth, lol.  I'll also give them pieces of banana or blueberries and raspberries.  Sometimes I freeze the berries (when it's hot I like eating them when they're frozen-ish, lol) and that's a cool treat for them, too.  Beasley also goes nutso for plain Greek yogurt, so sometimes she'll get a small bit if I've had some. 

I like the frozen fruit juice cubes from the other post, too - I'm going to try that! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I want to clarify, because someone already misunderstood this, that you must dilute the juice before freezing. I can't give you exact proportions, but I'd say no more than 50% juice. 

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Yep, I caught that but thank you for clarifying!  I'll do just a smidge of juice and mostly water.  Then I'll get fancy and throw in a couple berries, lol.