Can I give milk?

[snavie]

Hi,

When I took Honey to the vets to get her injections, he suggested for one meal giving her Weetabix or Shredded Wheat.  Since then I have read that you shouldn't really give puppies milk, is this right?  Does anyone else give their puppy cereal with milk or other things with milk in?

[TeresaC]

Hi,

I have read on here that puppies should not have cows milk, however they can have goats milk.

Teresa

[Gilly]

Goats milk is fine...not Cows milk 

[Vivienne]

As a treat I give the boys watered down milk with hot water only about once a month or so with no ill effects. As a pup Whistler had milk every morning watered down cows milk again no problems. I think it depends on the dog.

Viv

[snavie]

Thanks, I thought about watering it down.  What would you say, about 50/50  or more water than that?

[Sheryl]

When Kali was a pup I gave her a bowl of full fat cows milk with a teaspoon of honey in it as per the breeders feeding sheet.  She never had any ill effects but she did almost choke in her hurry to get it down  

[snavie]

Thanks for that Sheryl.    My mum has been telling me for days that she always used to give her dogs milk, or chocolate, or indeed anything else they fancied alongside their normal diet !!  She had two beautiful healthy dogs (not cockers) who lived to the ripe old ages of 13 and 19 !!  I think I'm just nervous of doing everything 'by the book' instead of trying it and seeing if it suits Honey.

Might try Weetabix for lunch - I'll let you know how we get on !

[bluegirl]

Cows milk can be given to dogs, however there are some dogs who find it hard to tolerate  without adding a bit of honey  to stop the mucous effect.
Goats milk is also fine, but it is expensive so unless you have a lactating goat in the back garden they only sell it in the small cartons which may only last 1-3 days depending on the amount of dogs you have.

Mine have a milky cereal at breakfast for life. Prior to that as pups they also had milk in the morning with a teaspoon of honey up to 4 mths.

[snavie]

So maybe I should add a bit of honey as well as Weetabix then??

[bluegirl]

If you choose to add the honey then just add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon as I don't think you'll need too much milk on the weetabix. Allow the honey to dissolve in the milk then pour over the weetabix and serve when milk is at room temp.

Soured milk is also fine for dogs.

[Michele]

Thanks for that Sheryl.    My mum has been telling me for days that she always used to give her dogs milk, or chocolate, or indeed anything else they fancied alongside their normal diet !!

Chocolate is a definite no no! It contains a chemical called theobromine which is poisonous to dogs, because their metabolism and digestive rate is different to ours.

The reason that goats milk is more compatible to dogs is that like a dog,  a goat has one stomach whereas a cow has four (one stomach, four compartments) and therefore goats milk is more easily digested.

Goat Milk vs Cow Milk

Off topic, but has it ever occured to you that humans are the only species that choose to continue to drink milk into adult life? 

[Cob-Web]

Thanks for that Sheryl.    My mum has been telling me for days that she always used to give her dogs milk, or chocolate, or indeed anything else they fancied alongside their normal diet !!

Chocolate is a definite no no! It contains a chemical called theobromine which is poisonous to dogs, because their metabolism and digestive rate is different to ours.

The problem is that although some dogs don't suffer ill effects from chocolate, grapes, milk etc (hence the "it never did my dogs any harm" comments), if a dog does react, it can make them really poorly, or even be fatal...........and is it worth the risk? 

[bluegirl]

There is no evidence as far as I am aware that any dog has ever suffered a near death experience or died from drinking cows milk, although the other points are worthy to note. However these reactions remain very rare and all anecdotal evidence shows that large quantities need to be ingested by susceptable dogs for severe reactions to occur. As with humans people are aware of fatal cases from allergies etc but most people do not know anyone who it ever happened to.

[wrenside]

I've made sure that all of my litter of pups are now fully weaned onto dry complete puppy kibble.
In my personal opinion it's not necessary to feed different types of meal to a pup, infact I think it leads to fussiness in their eating some things and not others. The variety of taste should be in the treats that you give the pup for praising good behaviour as this really does make them give you 110% of their attention  .

I would forget about the milk and weetabix, and make sure the brand of puppy food you are using is a complete formula and from a reputable supplier like Burns or JWB etc... and then keep the meal times simple. Young pups can get the runs very easily from a change in their food, which does set them back a bit. I would concentrate on tasty rewards for training. 

Best wishes

Mary

[Katina]

^ My words excactly