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Ice Cream Debate


CARRINGTON

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How do some of you feel about giving your dog an occasional ice cream cone? We asked our vet a while back about it and they said it was fine if given once in a great while. It is just like using cheese for treats or giving your dog yogurt. Balto usually has the runs after those two but did awesome with the ice cream. He also worked really hard command wise as he mastered 4 new tricks. What are your alls opinion on ice cream

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I am guilty!  Rusty gets ice cream when I do providing it is free of chocolate.  I only give him a couple of spoonfuls because he gets brain freeze.  I also keep it limited because of the sugar.  He also gets yogurt when I have it.  Cheese too.  I give Rori the same that Rusty gets.  Vader never ice cream yet.  He gets his yogurt in a kong cone and cheese is his favorite treat.  I think it is okay in small amounts because of the sugar.  My crew does not have dairy sensitivities which is a good thing.

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I had to go reading after the criticism in another thread and here's what I found:

In general mammals, after they are weened and have no further use of milk become lactose intolerant.  We humans are somewhat of an exception that since we continue to drink milk (or milk products in various forms) we do not discontinue the production of lactase (the enzyme that breaks down milk products in the gut).

The suggestion was made on a couple of different sites that this is not unusual and that other mammals may also continue producing lactase if their diets include some dairy products - which makes reasonable sense since mammals are mammals.

Some dogs (like people) are actually allergic to milk and dairy products, others which have stopped production of lactase may present symptoms of loose bowels (sloppy poo), they may regurgitate the offending substance or (like my old lab) have a "wonderful" case of gas!

So all told, in general, it's not harmful to give a dog small amounts of dairy products; it's not like it's life threatening for most dogs but there doesn't seem to be benefit to it either - other than as a training aid since they seem to like the other sugars it contains.

What about using cheese?  As the one article I referenced shows, the amount of lactose in cheese is quite small (not even relatively!) compared to raw milk so, unless there's an allergic reaction, it's use as a training (or medical) aid is quite acceptable.

What about yogurt? The suggestion is made that dogs who regularly get some dairy products may continue to produce lactase and may actually benefit by consuming dairy products.

-- fin --

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I had to go reading after the criticism in another thread and here's what I found:

In general mammals, after they are weened and have no further use of milk become lactose intolerant.  We humans are somewhat of an exception that since we continue to drink milk (or milk products in various forms) we do not discontinue the production of lactase (the enzyme that breaks down milk products in the gut).

The suggestion was made on a couple of different sites that this is not unusual and that other mammals may also continue producing lactase if their diets include some dairy products - which makes reasonable sense since mammals are mammals.

Some dogs (like people) are actually allergic to milk and dairy products, others which have stopped production of lactase may present symptoms of loose bowels (sloppy poo), they may regurgitate the offending substance or (like my old lab) have a "wonderful" case of gas!

So all told, in general, it's not harmful to give a dog small amounts of dairy products; it's not like it's life threatening for most dogs but there doesn't seem to be benefit to it either - other than as a training aid since they seem to like the other sugars it contains.

What about using cheese?  As the one article I referenced shows, the amount of lactose in cheese is quite small (not even relatively!) compared to raw milk so, unless there's an allergic reaction, it's use as a training (or medical) aid is quite acceptable.

What about yogurt? The suggestion is made that dogs who regularly get some dairy products may continue to produce lactase and may actually benefit by consuming dairy products.

-- fin --

Great info Al :)

We've never given our any dairy products because we understood it was bad for them.

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Yeah I think cheatos are basically wotsits. Dont they have a cheetah wearing sunglasses advertising it?
Anyways. Personally I don't give mine Ice cream but that's more to do with the fact that it's mine and not theirs! They have their own treats, If they're lucky they can lick my empty bowl!

Edited by emma1979
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I personally cant see why you keep starting topics about giving dogs (particularly your puppy) ice cream. What is the thing about giving dogs stuff to eat which is particularly suited to human beings as opposed to discussing what foods people should be giving their animals if they wish to give them a long and healthy life.

It just baffles me !

Feel free to criticise my comment.

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I don't see the problem with ice cream as long as it is small amounts and your dog can handle it, anyway I wouldn't criticize someone on what foods they give their dogs, it's their choice.  Ya know what, I give mine Chicken nuggets from McDonalds sometimes.  Are they healthy?  Uh, no!  But they are delicious and once in a while I will treat them.  It won't kill em.  Nikko got a 4 piece nugget today for being a good boy at the vet.   

 

You just have to learn what they can tolerate.  I gave Nikko some frosty paws, which is basically ice cream for dogs, and he has explosive diarrhea for 3 days.  Never again!

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It's interesting to see what gets a rise out of various people.  It appears as if Chris (Jim-Tinmois) is adamant that his dogs will receive nothing but good quality, dog specific foods (am I reading this correctly, Jim?) while others see nothing wrong with the occasional non-dog specific treat (ice cream, etc)

I'm not intending this as criticism, just as an observation - I think we all want our "friends in fur" to be healthy, happy friends and I, too, see nothing wrong with spoiling them on occasion.  My treats though tend to be things they like that are also good for them;  Sasha happens to like rice and if I make more than I need, she becomes a garbage disposal, she also normally gets the tag end of my morning toast.  Avalanche, being the odd dog that he is, very seldom begs but her upon occasion gets to clean the dinner plate before it hits the sink ( spaghetti, etc ).

Neither get enough of anything bad (except my admitted poor quality food) to do them any harm - - - so like others here, I see no harm in occasionally treating them to something outside the norm.

If I've stepped on anyones toes, I apologize in advance; this was more intended to be just an observation, not a criticism.

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I wouldn't. Not only is it very bad for his teeth (he doesn't let me brush them), but he's somewhat lactose intolerant...

Balto gets his teeth brush every other day and gets teeth mints. Balto didn't have a problem with the ice cream as it was a very tiny amount

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It's interesting to see what gets a rise out of various people.  It appears as if Chris (Jim-Tinmois) is adamant that his dogs will receive nothing but good quality, dog specific foods (am I reading this correctly, Jim?) while others see nothing wrong with the occasional non-dog specific treat (ice cream, etc)

I'm not intending this as criticism, just as an observation - I think we all want our "friends in fur" to be healthy, happy friends and I, too, see nothing wrong with spoiling them on occasion.  My treats though tend to be things they like that are also good for them;  Sasha happens to like rice and if I make more than I need, she becomes a garbage disposal, she also normally gets the tag end of my morning toast.  Avalanche, being the odd dog that he is, very seldom begs but her upon occasion gets to clean the dinner plate before it hits the sink ( spaghetti, etc ).

Neither get enough of anything bad (except my admitted poor quality food) to do them any harm - - - so like others here, I see no harm in occasionally treating them to something outside the norm.

If I've stepped on anyones toes, I apologize in advance; this was more intended to be just an observation, not a criticism.

I agree Al. Balto was extremely good and learned 4 new commands and he left the cat alone all day (never happens)

So he got a cone. We watched him after carefully and he did fine but it will be awhile before he gets another

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I don't see the problem with ice cream as long as it is small amounts and your dog can handle it, anyway I wouldn't criticize someone on what foods they give their dogs, it's their choice.  Ya know what, I give mine Chicken nuggets from McDonalds sometimes.  Are they healthy?  Uh, no!  But they are delicious and once in a while I will treat them.  It won't kill em.  Nikko got a 4 piece nugget today for being a good boy at the vet.   

 

You just have to learn what they can tolerate.  I gave Nikko some frosty paws, which is basically ice cream for dogs, and he has explosive diarrhea for 3 days.  Never again!

I don't think Balto will ever be good enough to have 4 chicken nuggets.

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I haven't ever given HUrley ice cream, but when she has the ear infection and was on steroids, the only way was to hide the meds in cheese, which she LOVED> I can't open a thing of cheese now without her thinking its a treat lol.

 

As for food meant for people, I haven't given my dog any, but I am also dealing with a skin issue so I am trying my best to feed her very well and healthy. It looks like a trip to the vet again is near as Her ear is bothering her again :( I wish I could figure out what is causing it.

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I think we are all getting worried about upsetting others these last few days :(

I agree with Al about giving the occasional treat to our pets is nice as a treat.

As some of you know I had weeks and weeks of worry about Mia over her sensitive stomach and have found that she cam only tolerate a raw diet.....however as the scavenger she is keeping to this strict diet is impossible.....yesterday she licked ice cream off the floor whilst I queued to buy one for my children, the day before she pinched a bun from my kitchen side!

As for giving her human food, it is not something I would choose for Mia now given her ability to stomach a variety of food.

But in the past I have given my pets human food, and I know its not good for them, but neither is chocolate good for me, which is why I only have it occasionally!

We are all entitled to our own opinion and its good we can all share our views, but let's not make people feel as though they cannot ask for the views from others.......when Mia was ill this forum kept me sane, and i was never once made to feel as though my questions were pointless, and the positive responses helped me through a very upsetting period.

Let's keep this in mind when replying to other peoples questions please :D

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