I am new to this discussion group. I have been very impressed with the intelligence and diverse opinions of this group. My wife uses lactose free, fat free milk, and one day I had the idea to give the dog some. I know dogs arelactose intolerant so giving the dog lactose free milk made a lot of sense to me. I have been doing this every morning for the last two months about ¾ cups a day. My dog has no gas or soft stools from this. We also feed her Innova. Am I doing any harm to her, she really enjoys it.

Milt, Heres my problem with milk. Milk is a complete protein food when consumed raw and by itself. However, milk curdles immediately upon entering the stomach, so if there is other food present the curds coagulate around other food particles and insulate them from exposure to gastric juices, delaying digestion long enough to permit the onset of putrefacation. My guess is, man must have been pretty hungry before he gazed out to pasture, and decided to go to the cows tit for food. Dogs would never go there. So I don't feel there's room for milk (or any dairy for that matter) in the dogs "All-natural diet". Thats my opinion.

Saying "That's my opinion" is misleading because most of that,(the technical stuff) was a direct quote from the exellent writings of Mr. Daniel P. Reid. Believe me when I tell you that he Knows something about Trophology (the science of food combining). Pick up one of his books and see for yourself. He really has a way of cutting to the chase.

With the exception of possible food allergies, which is a risk with all protein sources, there is nothing wrong with feeding lactose-free diary products to a dog, or for that matter if you properly adjust the dogs diet from puppyhood, any diary products. I have no idea as to the previous posts reference to putrification of food due to slower digestion time. That is often something you here from people recommending that people need to go and have colonics once a month. Milk proteins are of very high quality (very digestible with an appropriate amino acid balance) and very palatable.

Chad, Milk proteins are very high quality and very palatable? That is often something you hear from people who are spokesmen for the FDA, and the dairy industry of course has them in their pocket. Once again I refer to the mentioned auther. During the 1930's, Dr Francis M Pottenger conducted a 10-year study on the relative effects of pasteurized and raw milk diets on 900 cats. One group recieved nothing but raw whole milk, while the other was fed nothing but pasteurized whole milk from the same source. The raw milk group thrived, remaining healthy, active and alert throughout their lives, but the group fed on pasteurized milk soon became listless, confused and highly vulnerable to a host of chronic degenerative ailments normally associated with humans, including heart disease, kidney failure, thyroid disfunction, respiratory ailments, loss of teeth, brittle bones, liver inflamation, etc. To make a long story shorter, the experiment had to end short because there was no fourth generation of cats fed on pasteurized milk. If that is insufficient proof of the ill effects of pasteurized milk, take note of the fact that newborn calves fed on pasteurized milk taken from their own mother, usually DIE within 6 months. Chad, you go on feeding your dogs milk if you want to, but if you do, I would say that you do need a colonic!

Jason,
I think you need to be a little more selective in the science you choose to accept. Studies conducted were animals are fed an inappropriate diet (cats being fed only milk) should have raised eyebrows immediately. In the 1930's, knowledge of nutritional biochemistry was at its infancy. And as an FYI if you were to take newborn calves and feed raw milk (milk from cows that had not just given birth) I'd be willing to bet that none would survive to 6 months either. Mothers first milk, colostrum, has far different nutritional profile from "milk" not to mention the antibodies present, needed for passive immunity (these antibodies do not pass across the placental membrane in cows). I don't know what you think pasteurization does to the nutritional profile of milk, but you should really review some food chemistry texts for the past decade if you think that it will cause putrification in the GI tract. Milk protein is a high quality protein (greater than 75% digestible), much higher than most of the animal products fed by people who feed BARF diets.

Chad, FYI I raise cattle for a living. I'm not going to get into it with you except to say that we definately have a difference of opinion here. I am very selective in the science I choose to accept AND it must prove itself through practical experience. I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk on this. I think you'll find that my tone changes quickly according to the knowledge and experience I feel I have on a given topic. I know, its a bad trait not to mention in poor taste. Maybe some of Richard Cannon will rub off on me and I will learn to be more humble about things I feel I know something about. But nobody is going to change my feelings on this one. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Not even a Biologist

Chad Bull shit is still bull shit no matter how you dress it up and wrap it.

You are passing bad information if you are telling people to feed their dogs dairy products. You are wrong about this and there is no arument about it. If anyone listens to him and feeds their dogs dairy products they are making a big mistake.

Chad writes"Milk protein is a high quality protein (greater than 75% digestible), much higher than most of the animal products fed by people who feed BARF diets."

I am sure when analyzed "scientifically" this is the case, you do know your facts. Bottom line is that milk is not something that should be fed to dogs. Human beings (myself excluded) are the only animals that drink milk past weaning. It is not necessary or recommended for feeding dogs.

Jason, thanks for your input. I value opinions from people who NOT ONLY have the facts but practical experience to back it up. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

One of the hazards with any research is the bias of the researcher and the reader. Often the researcher is going to come to the conclusion they want, and not let a minor little thing like the facts get in the way. The same thing can happen when you read research. It is very easy to select only research that agrees with your opinion and then dismiss anything else as biased.

Intuition does not always provide accurate information. I wish I had a nickle for every time I thought I knew an answer and discovered that what intuition told was true just isn't. In a lot of these cases it is easy to get tied into a circular logic that just goes no place.