I ran into a lady from a dog/cat rescue recently and we chatted about our dogs, and I told her about the various skin problems Brady has had since we've gotten him (dry skin/coat, demodex, staph sores, hot spots, etc) and how we've had him on all kinds of premium foods and he seems to only have gotten worse (w/ the dry coat/staph/hot spots) and how I think he has a weak immune system, and I'm trying every imaginable way to improve his situation. She said she sees a lot of dogs come through her shelter that have skin problems stemming from a weak immune system (give their tough lives it's no surprise they wind up being sick or weak)...but she suggested Danactive yogurt drink in his food daily for awhile. She said she does that when she has a dog that needs his immune system boosted and has seen good results. FYI- we make sure his food has at least 300IU of vitamin E, give him a daily supplement, etc etc, so we're doing all the standard immune-boosting stuff.

So I picked up a pack on Danactive yesterday (vanilla) and poured one of the little bottles over his food last night. He loved it, naturally, but just curious if this is a good idea? I know a lot of people give a couple scoops of yogurt onto their dogs food sometimes, so yogurt's ok right? The little Danactive bottle is 3oz, and I didn't get the light ones or anything like that with fake sugar (I am anti-fake sweeteners for anyone, human or dog!). Has anyone heard of this?

I guess there isn't a plain, unsweetened version? In any case, when giving probiotics in therapeutic doses, you'd be better off with the ones found in the health food store in the refrigerated section (there are also "newer" shelf stable unrefrigerated versions, but these tend to be very expensive) :2cents:

Good luck!

i give plain , non fat ,organic yogurt, so i am no surprised but do they have it in plain?

No they don't have plain I don't think. At least not at Winn-Dixie. I could look around for it.

I guess there isn't a plain, unsweetened version? In any case, when giving probiotics in therapeutic doses, you'd be better off with the ones found in the health food store in the refrigerated section (there are also "newer" shelf stable unrefrigerated versions, but these tend to be very expensive) :2cents:

Good luck!


Ditto this!

I would be concerned about the sugar and additives. It would be easier to just buy a probiotic in the fridge section of your health food store. Same or better benefits (not sure - don't know a lot about Danactive), but without the added sweeteners that aren't great for our pups.

The Danactive ingredients:
Cultured reduced fat milk, water, sugar, contains less than 1% of dextrose, natural vanilla flavor, modified corn starch, citric acid, sodium *******. Contains the active cultures L. bulgaricus, S. Thermophillus and L. casei Immunitas™.

If it were my dog, I'd want to keep her away from the sugar, dextrose, natural flavor (almost impossible), corn starch.

We only use Dannon NonFat Plain, it's the only one out there that all it's got is the milk & the cultures...

Have used the plain Danactive but only when needed, a tablespoonful per dog per day. They went through a period of producing "cow patties" and were on antibiotis which kill all the bacteria, good and bad. Wanted to replace the good bacteria in their gut. Otherwise, do not use it as a regular suppliment. Just be sure it has live bacteria and not a lot of added "stuff". Have not heard of using it for anything other than helping the digestive system.

Be very careful of sweeteners. Xylitol, most commonly found is sugarless gum, stimulates the production of insulin causing a dramatic drop in blood sugar.

Safest thing? If it doesn't come out of a dog food bag or a vet recommendation, don't give it to your dog.

Safest thing? If it doesn't come out of a dog food bag or a vet recommendation, don't give it to your dog.

A little bit of over reaction? There are a few things dogs should not eat...

But how boring would that be for your dog....Just kibble it's whole life ? :confused:

Most Vets know very little about nutrition and don't readily carry probiotics.

Brady also just started antibiotics on Friday for his staph sores. The vet thinks he has a flea allergy and that's why his staph has come back so badly in a new place (under his bum, on his inner thighs and groin area). He never used to get it there, and for the most part it was really clearing up, and then I saw a flea on him and noticed he'd chewed some areas near his bum. anyways - he's on antibiotics now, along with benadryl.

I don't want to overload him with all sorts of stuff, so I didn't know if maybe I shouldn't do the DanActive now? Or is this a good time to do it because the antibiotics are killing off all the good bacteria?

Personally, I would wait until he's finished with his course of antibiotics. With anything going into my dog, my rule of thumb is SLOW and steady...no hurries.

I would let the antibiotics do their thing...and then introduce a probiotic. I have no scientific reasoning for that...that's just what I'd do. :floor

I know what you mean though! I just sometimes get carried away with things I hope will help him out...so I want to try everything I can! But hopefully these antibiotics will get it under control, let things heal up and then I can take it from there. It's just that he was doing better with the staph (none in the usual spots) then things just went crazy in a whole new area (groin, bum and thighs). The vet said the fleas could've set him off (he gets Frontline Plus but the vet said it's not like foolproof and it does wear off). I don't know, I'm just sorta discouraged!

We put him on Pro Plan because the breeder had him on that, and we just thought what the heck, why not give it a try for a month. That's when it all cleared up on his ribs. But then shortly after I saw the flea and this whole thing started on his bum/groin. :(