Hi, my 4 year old gsp has had a recent bout of s and d for which she needed to see the vet. I would like to start giving her probiotics but the market for this is vast, I don’t know where to begin. Wondered if anyone could suggest a good brand of probiotic to keep her gut healthier. Thank you.

I keep a tube of prokolin plus in the fridge and use that in combination with denes digestion powder for any upset tums, they usually pass quickly with no need for the vets.

Thank you for your prompt reply. The links that you’ve kindly sent looks to be the products that I’ve been searching for. All I’ve been getting is links to American products. Thank you for your time and help much appreciated.

kefir is very good. you can either buy in most supermarkets often in the polish section or join one o fthe fb groups and get the grains to make you own. otherwise dr mecola does a good one available in the uk .not cheap but has good results I have been told by quite a few. its available on amazon as well as other places

Thank you. I’ve noticed kefir has been mentioned for gut troubles but must look to see what it is! Will look for Dr Mecola too. I don’t mind the cost as long as it makes my dog feel better. Thanks.

I give a teaspoon of greek yoghurt every morning before breakfast as a means of getting a probiotic inside my boy.  The zero fat zero sugar one.  He seems to be doing very well on it.  For a dose of something when he has a dodgy tum I use Protexin Profibre pellets and they seem to firm up the poo very well.

I use ProPlan's Forteflora when things are ok and then the Protexin products otherwise - there are lots of different ones.  ProKolin is also good, but very expensive for what it is.

Research shows that dogs can't make use of probiotics in yoghurt so I don't give that.

Yes and a lot of that research is put out by those making Forteflora.  You can read just as much if not more research that shows dogs do get benefit from probiotics in yoghurt as long as it is the natural type with no added rubbish.

I think the research preceded the creation of forteflora by many years... Yoghurt also causes upsets in a lot of dogs (my own included) since they can't digest the lactose:

http://www.akc.org/content/health/articles/can-dogs-eat-yogurt/

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/why-not-yoghurt/

I am not convinced about any benefits from yoghurt but mine do like it and can deal with the lactose etch . I give them some full fat natural but  as a treat .

I just give mine a dollop of Onken set live natural yogurt, it's often on offer.

Thank you ALL for your time and input to my question. I have noted the many options given! The vet prescribed her Zantac and ranitidine ( the human form) I will get a stock of those in and apply the same dosage if she should get poorly again! Meanwhile I will follow up some of your suggestions...prevention is better than cure...

Give our elderly boy with stomach problems, Yudigest which has certainly helped. in the past when he's started to develop colitis always used Kaolin & morph, yoghurt is a great option but have found that goats has been far more effective, used to think that Greek yoghurt was made from goats milk but having read the labels, not so. Rennie tablets have also assisted him & yes our vet has OK'd them & all of the natural remedies we've used.

I’ve asked around the doggy community and the Yudigest and Yumove products are very popular! It’s good to know that some human meds are ok to give. Thank you.

In my opinion there is nothing better than a small amount of natural (unflavoured) yogurt to help clear up uncomplicated digestive upsets - if you can source goats yog., so much the better but none of mine has ever not been able to tolerate yogurt.   However, most good dog food does contain probiotics.

Up until the end of last year when the last of my dogs passed on, I made my own yoghurt for them. A cheap yoghurt maker is all you need although you can manage without one, milk of your choice be it goat, cows etc. A scoop or two of live yogurt (ready made to start, the some of your previous batch) and that's about it. My dogs loved it, and I ate as much of it as they did