Lactose intolerance

Has anyone here ever had a dog who was lactose intolerant? Did it make any major difference to what you fed them? Were they severely intolerant or just mildly so? How did you find out about it? Our dogs were not lactose intolerant (we fed one of them yoghurt regularly). I was just curious about other owners' experiences.

 

I had read that dogs shouldn't have dairy products as this can lead to them having soft stools. Mishka went through a period of bowel problems so we tried many things including probiotics.
We now feed her a cereal free brand of dry dog food, beef minced meat and small amount of fish from a can.
I still give her a very small amount of milk from time to time as a reward. It doesn't seem to affect her as I had once thought.

 

Because yogurt usually has active cultures in it, it can actually help balance out the digestive track. As to milk or other dairy products, mainly they refer to cows milk, goats milk is actually used as a milk replacer for pups. Cows milk is not good for dogs because they are unable to properly process them. Which, of course is why it can cause soft stool. I have actually given my dog a little milk if I found she was constipated and usually within a couple of hours everything is working fine again.

 

I might start giving a small amount of yoghurt also. I read that probiotic powder could have lost it's potency if stored for too long. As it's cheaper to buy bulk which I do, I guess the large container I bought may no longer be affective.
Here's a link with #Tip 3 on yoghurt.
http://www.petmd.com/dog/wellness/evr_dg_home_remedies#.UZQxfqJTDWg

 

Generally most dogs are lactose intolerant since they naturally do not have enough lactose digesting enzymes. This means that for the most part milk and dairy products may cause a softening of our pet's number 2. So if you give your dog milk based treats use them sparingly.

 

I am not sure if our dog is lactose intolerant. What I know is that he does not want to drink milk as I tried to give him some milk several times.

 

Like Zararina, I don't know if Homer is lactose intolerant. He once ate some cheese because he managed to steal it, but as far as I know, not all dairy products have the same amount of lactose. I've never tried to give him milk.
I was thinking about adding some yogurt to his meals though, I think that it might be good for him.