Probiotics and your dog.

I thought I would let you all know what we have experienced as maybe it could help you.

We started giving our dogs probiotics a little over a month ago as this is part of the regiment we will be using to naturally prevent heartworms in our dogs (we now frequently visit Nebraska during the summer).

For two of our dogs we saw no difference all is the same.

For our Boston Terrier we have noticed she has much less gas. Boston’s are known to have a little more gas because when they eat they inhale more air with their food due to their flat face.

Our other dog who is a very picky eater (he also has an allergy to poultry) and typically eats his food very slowly started being the first one done with his food. We noticed the change after about two weeks after we started the probiotics.

Don’t know if this means anything but we are wondering if he associated eating his food with getting a belly ache and maybe now that does not happen. He never showed signs of discomfort such as gas or diarrhea so who knows.

We have not changed foods or anything but we will be moving to our next step in all of this which is getting them to eat fresh veggies this should be fun because they are not thrilled with them but this week for treats we have given them carrots and that is doing ok they are not thrilled but they eat them. I have tried broccoli and fresh beans and that was a no go.

I blanched the beans and froze them so we will try that as a treat this week end they love ice so maybe they will like this.

Interesting, I've had a few dogs and most of them have been food motivated but most of my dogs have been Labs, Malamutes, and German/Belgian Shepherds. None of them have ever been particular about eating their own food, when it comes to people food if you were eating it they wanted it. The Wundermutt is getting a bit older and lately he has shown a preference for treats like carrots and apples over dog biscuits and kibble, of course nothing will ever top meat.

I hear the commercials on the radio for products like Dinovite and I start wondering if those types of products would improve the Wundermutt's quality of life, then I come back around to the fact that he's a Black Lab/Rottie mix that is 112 pounds and 12 years old. I know that I can't expect him to live much more than a couple more years but I want him to be as comfortable and happy as possible. I figure the best way to do that is to keep him in his normal routine, feed him the same foods, and supplement his diet with stuff the vet has prescribed.