"So that I lean more towards them being more carnivorous."

yup me too, def.

I agree with that. I found a suggested veggie diet and it did seem to contain a lot of wheat and also dairy, which I thought was a no-no in an adult dog as they lack the enzyme to deal with lactose.

Mini,

i don't know what to believe with this one. Milk milk milk.
Supposedly humans are unable to digest lactose to, and if someone who hadn't had it for years drank it, they would be visiting the loo frequently too, if you get my meaning.

I give my dogs milk because they like it, and none of them have loose poos, bones or no bones (they don't get bones daily).
My neighbours pup, who i have during the day was pooing all over the place after i gave her milk, and i persisited ( ) and now she is fine. I don't give it everyday, just sometimes.
So I think they are 'lactose intolerant' but it just means that they don't digest it, if they are used to it, it just passes through, no problem....
My theory anyway. The lactose is the sugar part of milk anyway... meaning there are other good things in it the body can use.

Oh jess I wouldn't dream of giving my lactose intolerant dog milk, or anything containing milk or for that matter any of the stuff she's intolerant to. I would rather pick her poo up on a walk than carry a bucket of water with me to wash it away

I'd have to ask then, why do you feed them an omnivorous diet?

Not criticising this at all. I think very few people now feed a carnivorous diet.

do you drink milk? high chance that your body has stopped producing the enzyme lactase that breaks it down (stops being produced at teenage years, but some keep going). I drink alot, and it doesn't make me need the toilet any more than usual
just because we can't break it down doesn't mean we can't get the other goodness from it. It is a natural product afterall

Jess, we are talking a large dog here. Have you ever seen a 'liquid leonberger' ? We're talking wellington boots to clean up!
Yes I drink milk, as do my kiddies but the dogs don't

The majority of the caucasian population retains the ability to produce lactase. This is an adaptation that humans evolved with the domestication of cattle. Lactose is 'natural' of course, but that doesn't make it suitable for everyone.

The minorty that lack lactase do suffer digestive problems. I guess you're one of the lucky majority

Umm Hi Pod how is the diet I feed omnivorous?? I mentioned on a day to day basis all they get is raw meat, bones and offal? They will get left over veg something like once in a blue moon not even once a month so I wouldn't call it part of their diet They get a whole carrot every now and then to play about with more than anything. So I think the diet I feed does reflect my belief that dogs are more carnivorous Am I missing something? I can get easily confused you know

Jess some dogs are defiantly Lactose intolerant to a greater or lesser degree (as are a number of people mainly from other continents including some of the girls I look after from the African continent) milk makes them ill because their levels of the lactase enzyme are low or absent .
Persisting with giving milk to these dogs and people would not be a wise thing to do because they could become dehydrated through having constant diarrhoea, the condition can also be extremely painful . People/dogs who are not normally lactose intolerant may be for a few days after they have had an episode of diarrhoea because the damaged lining ot the intestine produces less lactase , this is the only instance I know of where the condition improves if you persist with milk , but the condition was only temporary anyway. A little cheese is ok for these people /dogs because most of the lactose is contained in the whey and so is removed during the production of the cheese.