Probiotics for you and your dog?

Lately I've noticed a lot of heavy-duty advertising promoting the benefits of yogurt consumption (and probiotics in general). "Probiotics are microorganisms such as bacteria or yeast that can be added to the food with the purpose of regulating the intestinal flora of the host" (Parker 1974), so basically that means they help regulate the balance of friendly bacteria in your digestive tract. Probiotics are basically a fancy name for "live foods", things like yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut.

Probiotics are often used to treat diarrhea in humans and animals (Barrows and Deam 1985, Lestradet 1995, Van De Kerkove 1979). This is a good thing to know for those times when you (or your pet) have to take a course of antibiotics because they typically throw your digestive system all out of whack. Probiotics have other general health benefits (Fuller 1989), so many cultures have some type of fermented food that is eaten for health reasons (yogurt, kefir, miso, etc). People with compromised immune systems or digestive disorders often swear by the benefits of adding probiotics to their diet.

So if you have a dog that's always had an iffy stomach, tends to have a lot of digestive troubles, or is experiencing a lot of stress (maybe your routines have changed drastically), a simple thing you can do to help is to give dog some yogurt (I use plain yogurt for this).

The nice thing about this is it's cheap but effective. It's totally safe, easy to do, can be done sporadically as needed or as a long-term daily regimen. Nobody knows for sure how and why it works, but I've noticed that my dog responds very well to having a little bowl of yogurt when she has an upset stomach, excessive gas, or diarrhea. It's also been my experience that this works very quickly, and usually the problem clears up right away.

If you're already using probiotics for yourself, then you're probably well aware of the benefits. The next time you have a sick dog on your hands, try using a bit of yogurt and just see if it doesn't help.

Reference:
The Use of Probiotics in the Diet of Dogs
Vincent Biourge, Céline Vallet, Anne Levesque, Renaud Sergheraert, Stéphane Chevalier*, and Jean-Luc Roberton*
The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 12 December 1998, pp. 2730S-2732S