Is milk okay for my pups?

When I first got my two chi-mix pups at 8 weeks, I gave them some reduced fat milk. They loved it, and didn't show any obvious problems. However, I stopped giving it to them after a few weeks because someone scared me that milk is very, very bad for dogs, and I should never give it to them.

I have been wondered ever since, if milk is so good for us, why is it so bad for our dogs? Lately, I decide to give it to them again (about 8oz/dog/day) - and they love, love it. I think I do the right thing, but am not 100% sure. Should I, or should I never give milk to my dogs again, and why?

I heard it's not good for them to drink milk but I don't have a reason

Generally speaking, milk is okay if a dog isn't lactose intolerant, but you should treat it as part of their daily food ration, not as a substitute for water.

I don't know how much your dogs weigh, but as an example, a moderately active 5 pound dog needs about 340 kilocalories (kcal) per day to maintain weight.

Here are average caloric values per cup (8 oz) serving of milk. The number in brackets at the end of each line is the percentage of the total daily caloric intake a cup of milk would take up for the above 5 pound "example" dog:

fat free - 90 kcal [26.5%]
1% - 105 kcal [31%]
2% - 120 kcal [35.3%]
whole - 145 kcal [42.6%]

This would mean that if this dog received one cup of lowfat (1%) milk per day, you would have to reduce the daily amount of whatever else you are feeding by 1/3.

Also keep in mind that milk is very limited in its nutrient content, and if you replace too much of the regular food with it, the diet will quickly become unbalanced and deficient in some nutrients.

Giving a teaspoon or two per day of good quality cultured yogurt would be a much better idea.

Mordy is great with the answers

I just wanted to add that as i was scrolling your Pic, my hubby caught sight of it and said that it reminds him of our son and his friend LOL

Hi

Cows milk is definetaly not good for dogs,especially chihuahuas.The reason why they can't drink the milk that we drink is because most dogs are lactose intolerant.A lot of people who have owned chihuahuas say that nearlly all chihuahuas are lactose intolerant.
If you want to feed them milk,there's special formulated puppy milk that you get in the shops.It has a special substance in it for dogs that are lactose intolerant.My pup loves it,and she's a chihuahua.
Hope that helped

~Candace~

What's added to milk for pets, among other things, is lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose (milk sugar). This is also present in human products, such as lactaid milk, which is a better alternative. Goat milk is generally well tolerated too.

If you want to feed "pet milk" sold in stores, I strongly recommend thoroughly reading the ingredient list, because many brands are loaded with sweeteners, artificial flavors and poor quality mineral supplements.

I'm pretty sure my dogs are not lactose intolerant. I've fed them regular milk for a while, and they show no signs of discomfort, or diarrhea, or anything.

It is best to feed them plain kefir or plain yogurt rather than homogenized/pasteurized cow's milk. Now if you can get ahold of some raw milk, that's a huge step up in nutrition.

I'd say don't push your luck. Just because a dog seems fine with a certain food/milk one day doesn't mean it will be fine with it in the long run. I'm sure dogs can develop allergies and intolerances to foods/milk as easily as humans can.

I had a cousin that drank milk regularly for the first 5 years of her life and then became lactose intolerant and can only have a small amount (bowl of cereal) a day without getting sick.

Just "food" for thought.

That goes for pretty much any food ingredient though, not just for milk.

To keep with the human analogy, my dad (who just turned 59 this year) has been eating strawberries all his life and never had a problem, until about 3 years ago, when he started breaking out in hives and having problems breathing after eating them.

I do agree with wildboar though, fermented milk products are definitely better and they have an added benefit: probiotics.

just wondering, is goats milk ok?

I think it's a matter of how much and if your dog can tolerate it.

oh, the person my mom fosterd for told me it had the same nutrition as the mothers milk..so I thought it would be ok for dogs too, or just cats?

Goat milk is less of a potential allergen than cow milk, even in different species - that's why goats are also often referred to as "universal foster mothers".

Many people who can't tolerate cow milk don't have any problems with goat milk or goat milk products.

It has a better nutrient composition than cow milk, but is also more expensive.