May 05, 2011

With yogurt, my dog went from 5 random bowel movements a day to 2 scheduled ones.

Full Question:
I am enjoying your web site so much, and I thought I would return the favor by mentioning something that I have not seen elsewhere. I adopted a twenty pound six month old pomeranian mix from the shelter about a year ago. Great dog, no real issues. There was one issue that did bother us quite a bit.

When we first got him he would throw up and have diarrhea all the time, making it very hard to house break him. We tried different dog foods and finally went with Evo, even then he still would have bowel movements about five times a day. He also from the beginning could go days without eating and had little appetite. I of course talked to the vet about this, and she could give me no advice. I also posted all sorts of questions on dogster.com and there was no help there.

A while back to deal with the days without eating issues (I reasoned that if he did not eat there was no way of housebreaking him to a schedule) I started to add a tablespoon of Blue Buffalo canned food to his 1/3 cup of dry food. He started to eat then on schedule twice a day, though he still had five BM's a day. One day I ran out of that so I added two tablespoons of yogurt. He liked it so I started using for a few more day. To my surprise within two days he went from having five random BM's a day to two on schedule ones.

Well, as you can imagine this is a relief and also a surprise since I have not seen it mentioned before. I know that yogurt can recolonize the intestines of people who have bowel issues, but I never read about it in dogs. I also cannot say for sure that that is what caused the change in my dog, but it was enough of a radical change to make me wonder.

Again, love the website and I am looking forward to reading the rest.
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
Thanks for your email and great job figuring out how to help your dog. We always recommend trying SUGAR FREE plain whole milk yogurt, kefir or probiotic supplements when dealing with digestive issues, stress, antibiotic use and change of diet.

It's also sometimes helpful to add a digestive enzyme.

Cindy

100% (1 out of 1)
respondents found this answer helpful
Did you find this Q&A helpful?
Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
100% (1 out of 1)
respondents found this answer helpful

Did you find this Q&A helpful?

Recommended Products
Scroll to Top