How Much Plain Yogurt to Give Dogs – Read This Before Feeding!
The best and healthiest kind of yogurt to give dogs is plain or non-fat. Yogurt that has no preservatives, sweeteners, or other flavorings. So to answer your question, dogs can eat yogurt but not in large amounts and not if the yogurt contains artificial sweeteners.
Yogurt is a digestive-friendly food rich in protein and calcium. Plain, unflavored, and non-fat yogurt is good for a dog and it’s even tastier because of its creamy texture. Your dog will love it!
Now that you know dogs can eat yogurt, here’s everything you need to know about how much plain yogurt to give your dog.
4 Things to Keep In Mind About Feeding Yogurt to Dogs
1. You Can Give Yogurt to Your Dog Daily
It’s okay to give yogurt to your dog daily. It is good for gastrointestinal health, it soothes inflammation, reduces acidity, and does a lot more as a probiotic supplement for your dog.
However, before you include yogurt into your dog’s daily diet, make sure you check the calories count on the back of the yogurt. Measure how much you feed your dog daily (not more than 2 ounces a day for a dog who weighs 10lbs).
Plain yogurt contains roughly 15 calories per ounce. So that is 30 calories for 2 ounces per day.
Dogs love treats! Feeding your dog yogurt can be a good treat. A spoonful of yogurt for a small dog and 1-1/2 to 2 spoonfuls of yogurt for a medium to a large dog are recommended.
2. You Can Serve It With Other Foods
Ask the vet about the best foods for your dog to eat on a regular basis. This includes fruits and vegetables but also different variations of meat such as shredded chicken pieces, frozen chicken stock cubes, etc.
You can complement plain yogurt with such treats to make the yogurt taste more delicious for your dog. Fruits like berries mixed with yogurt are a healthy and delicious treat to give a dog around mid-day.
So if your dog is fussy about eating plain yogurt without any toppings, you can serve it along with his favorite food and make it extra special!
3. Follow the 10-Percent Rule
The 10% rule is when you include not more than 10% of a dog’s daily recommended calorie intake with treats that include yogurt.
This brings up another important question:
- Will the dog be able to reap the benefits of yogurt in such small servings?
If what you’re looking for is for your dog to reap the probiotic benefits of yogurt to ease indigestion, then you should ask the vet to prescribe you a stronger probiotic supplement to go with yogurt.
Because by following the 10% rule, it’s not guaranteed that your dog will be able to get most of the active cultures from yogurt that are good for digestion.
However, for the dog’s daily protein and calcium boost, 1-2 spoonfuls of yogurt are recommended and beneficial.
You can also mix yogurt with the dog’s regular dog food to make the meal extra-delicious.
4. Check For Lactose Intolerance
It’s true that most dogs are allergic to dairy or are lactose intolerant. You can ask your vet about the proper diet plan for a lactose intolerant dog. And this also includes skipping out on plain yogurt if your dog is lactose intolerant or sensitive to dairy.
Your dog may vomit, pass gas, suffer from a loss of appetite, diarrhea, and/or excessively lick his or her paws and scratch the ears. These are all common symptoms of lactose intolerance and milk allergies in dogs.
If you do happen to feed your dog some yogurt without consulting the vet, look out for these signs of discomfort. It may suggest your dog has a kind of intolerance or allergy to dairy products. If so, take your dog immediately to the vet for a thorough check-up.
Avoid This Type of Yogurt For Dogs
While it’s true that feeding yogurt to a dog can promote weight loss, improve digestion and immunity, boost healthy skin and coat health, and contribute to excellent bone health. But you must also keep in mind the damaging effects of yogurt that contains artificial sweeteners or preservatives.
Yogurt contains sweeteners made up of the substance XYLITOL, which is deadly for dogs, even when fed in small amounts. It’s a sugar alternative, xylitol, that acts as an artificial sweetener in different kinds of packaged foods like yogurt.
In dogs, this can cause fatal liver diseases, hypoglycemia, or liver failure. Glucose intolerance, bacterial infection, indigestion, irregular blood sugar levels, obesity, diabetes. These are a few of the common problems a dog may experience when fed xylitol-sweetened yogurt.
So make sure you read the back label of the yogurt before purchasing it. Any food that has the “sugar-free” sticker often comes with sugar substitutes like xylitol. This substance is perhaps more harmful to dogs than sugar. So stay away from yogurts with artificial and carcinogenic substances.
The Bottom Line
If you’re wondering whether you should share that delicious Greek yogurt that you love so much with your dog, the answer is you can. But probably not the yogurt you are eating. Unless what you love is the sweetener-free, preservative-free, fat-free Greek yogurt. In that case, you can share your yogurt with your drooling dog!
Yogurt contains probiotics, proteins, and calcium. It’s also one of the most delicious treats that your dog will most certainly enjoy. Combine with fresh fruits or vegetables or chicken cubes, your dog won’t get enough out of it. But make sure you know how much plain yogurt to give to avoid upsetting his or her tummy.
Let me know in the comments below how you feed yogurt to your dog. And does your dog love yogurt as much as his other delicious doggy treats?
