# Changing puppies food.. is a nightmare!



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

Hello! 

My 5 1/2 month pup has been having a hard time trying to find the right food...

He is on his 3rd brand of dog food now...
First was Kirkland's puppy food, next was orijen(Chicken), and now nature variety (Salmon) 

All have caused diarrhea - and it seemed to get very very bad with the Orijen(chicken) 
I have brought stool samples to the vet and had check up's but all seemed fine with the tests. 

I think he may be very very allergic to chicken, so much so I just want to put him straight onto The salmon type by Nature Variety and not ween him off of the Orijen.... ?

Going to take him to the vet tomorrow for more tests, but if they don't find anything again, I don't know what to do!  

I fed him only rice last night, and rice this morning... trying to give his stomach a break... 

Anyone been threw something similar?


----------



## Verivus (Nov 7, 2010)

Why do you keep switching foods? Are you giving him enough time to adjust to the new food? Usually switching foods will cause diarrhea anyway. What makes you think he is allergic to chicken? Is he itchy? Have you deduced this by conducting either an allergy panel or an elimination diet? For a 5.5 mo pup I would be feeding a large breed puppy food. I wouldn't bother taking him to the vet for more testing; at this point I don't think that's going to help you. 

I would keep him on a bland diet for a couple days with boiled chicken/hamburger & rice to settle his tummy and go to the store and pick out a decent large breed puppy food, such as Wellness LBP or Blue Buffalo LBP, and slowly transition him to the kibble. If after 2-3 weeks there is no improvement then I would consider trying another LBP or other appropriate large breed puppy food. Make sure he has plenty of water to keep hydrated. When I brought my puppy home I switched him to raw; he had liquid diarrhea for a week and then everything was good.


----------



## Alois (Feb 4, 2011)

All dogs are different. Alois and Pearl have had the following

Diamond Naturals
Wellness Super mix 5
Innova Large breed puppy (purple bag)
Merrick Wilderness blend
Holistic Giant and large breed puppy
Blue Buffalo chicken and rice (blue/pink bag)

We mix two dog foods at a time each meal. The only one that gives us an issue is Wellness Super mix 5. And only Alois had an issue with it due to all the oils that are in it. Gave him a super soft stool. I would recommend switching foods to most dog owners. But obviously you need to find something that works and stick with it. If you want variety. After you have established something that works. Mix very little of something else in there with what works. Here lately we have been cracking a raw egg over their dry food too. Not every day though


----------



## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Make sure the vet does a snap test for giardia (will need to take a fecal in). It's a different test than the regular fecal for worms/coccidia.

I tried my dogs on Orijen and it gave them all the runs. My last puppy I tried to put on Wellness and same result. I ended up on Innova LBP and he did fine. My dogs also do not do well on any fish forumla.

If he passes all the vet test then find a food and stick with it for a good while. Many dogs don't do well on the really rich foods (orijen, wellness, blue buffalo etc) so you may want to try something more middle of the road. ANd be sure and do a slow transition.


----------



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks guys..

He is scratching quite a bit after he eats... chewing his paws, etc.. He does this too when we just feed him rice. :S He's on revolution, and doesn't have fleas...

We don't know for sure if he is allergic to chicken, just assuming from the past two foods... they were both chicken - he has very very bad diarrhea .. :S still trying the salmon.. but i've read too that salmon is very rich and can upset there stomachs too.
He was on Orijen for awhile, and when he was on it fully - it was craziness lol 

I'll try the rice, ground beef mixture for a couple days.. the rice won't just do...

He's had soft stools and on and off Diarrhea for so long ... 

I talked to a girl at the pet store, and she mentioned to not go fully grain free - some dogs need grains, and to try lamb/rice mixture next if the salmon doesn't work..

2-3 weeks on salmon .. hope his tummy settles soon!!!

Thanks again


----------



## Two (Jul 18, 2011)

Could be allergenic. Switching foods so much could also cause some confusion on the pup.


----------



## EmilyK0429 (Dec 6, 2009)

If it were me I would do a bland diet with some pumpkin, probiotics and enzymes to see if I could get his stomach to calm down. Once I was getting consistent stools then I would SLOWLY add kibble back in and do away with the bland but might just leave the probiotics and enzymes to help with digestion.


----------



## Two (Jul 18, 2011)

EmilyK0429 said:


> If it were me I would do a bland diet with some pumpkin, probiotics and enzymes to see if I could get his stomach to calm down. Once I was getting consistent stools then I would SLOWLY add kibble back in and do away with the bland but might just leave the probiotics and enzymes to help with digestion.


This sounds like a good idea, I'd try going with this since the vet doesn't seem to know what to do


----------



## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Switch out sweet potatoes and a little pumpkin for the rice. I actually give mine sweet potatoes, pumpkin, canned tripe and scrambled eggs when they have diarrhea. 

Are you using filtered water for him?

Be sure to put him on a human grade, refrigerated probiotic. That helps a lot with allergies and digestive problems. 

You can also give slippery elm before meals while you're trying to get his digestive system back on track. Be sure to separate that from the probiotic though and any other medications as it's an absorbent. 

I would look for a food with a novel protein (something he hasn't had before). Nature's Variety makes a grain-free rabbit kibble that lots of dogs do well on.

You might also consider switching to raw food.


----------



## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

Shasta has a hard time with the higher quality foods (go figure!) and seems to do best on Nutro Lamb and Rice.


----------



## Franksmom (Oct 13, 2010)

Frank had trouble with puppy foods giving him the runs, so I mixed his puppy food with 4health lamb and rice, it kept his stool just right and I put him totally on the 4health adult lamb and rice at 9 months.


----------



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

EmilyK0429 said:


> If it were me I would do a bland diet with some pumpkin, probiotics and enzymes to see if I could get his stomach to calm down. Once I was getting consistent stools then I would SLOWLY add kibble back in and do away with the bland but might just leave the probiotics and enzymes to help with digestion.


How much would you recommend I feed him each meal.. 2-3 meals a day.. 
I'm thinking.. plain yogurt, pumpkin or sweet potato.. and .. ?

(I almost bought sweet potato baby food for him the other day but was hesitant too try it with him..) He's had pumpkin before..


Thanks all!


----------



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

BowWowMeow said:


> Switch out sweet potatoes and a little pumpkin for the rice. I actually give mine sweet potatoes, pumpkin, canned tripe and scrambled eggs when they have diarrhea.
> 
> Are you using filtered water for him?
> 
> ...


Yep he's on filtered water.... that's ok right?!

I almost bought him sweet potatoes the other day.. baby food that is.
Do you buy fresh sweet potato and cooke it or buy the baby food?


----------



## Germanshepherdlova (Apr 16, 2011)

My dogs have sensitive stomachs and would have soft poops or diarrhea. Finally, I discovered that Lamb and Rice dog foods hit their stomach great. They are currently on Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice and they now have solid (log) poop.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i give my dog fresh sweet potato. if it's canned it's the kind
with only water added (not pie mix).



danehdee said:


> Yep he's on filtered water.... that's ok right?!
> 
> I almost bought him sweet potatoes the other day.. baby food that is.
> Do you buy fresh sweet potato and cooke it or buy the baby food?


----------



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

I fed him fresh sweet potato, rice, and yogurt for dinner last night.. and for breakfast today... Hooray! No Diarrhea! 

In a few days I will add ground beef to his mixture... 
Can I feed him this diet forever...? 

What is a good treat? Carrots, apples?


----------



## billsharp (May 3, 2011)

Our experience:

1. Overfeeding? Cut back to 1 cup each feeding, a.m. and p.m.

2. Girl at store had good advice--get some decent but mostly corn food and mix it in 1/2 each with the "good" kibble. Some dogs need a little more roughage and waste to settle their stomachs. I'd advise to stop ALL treats, carrots, apples, salmon, etc. Back to basics is key to figure out the source of the problem.

3. Keep dog out of the heat and no brisk exercise for first hour after each meal to allow it to settle. Crate if necessary to prevent running.

4. The itching sounds suspiciously like an allergy--you might try taking her off of all "good" food and just feeding her the corn based trash food. She won't starve, and if she is allergic to lamb or chicken you'll see that she stops itching on the corn. Re-introduce EITHER lamb or chicken slowly to find out which she is allergic to.

Good luck!


----------



## WVGSD (Nov 28, 2006)

_I fed him fresh sweet potato, rice, and yogurt for dinner last night.. and for breakfast today... Hooray! No Diarrhea! 

In a few days I will add ground beef to his mixture... 
Can I feed him this diet forever...? 

What is a good treat? Carrots, apples?_ 


I would not feed him a diet of this forever as he is a growing puppy and this is not nutritionally balanced. If he does well on this mixture currently, you might look for a beef-based kibble with sweet potatoes or rice as the carbohydrate. You can always add a spoonful of yogurt to each meal for gut health too.


----------



## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

I wouldn't feed her "trash" food and it's not the corn I'd worry about, it's the soy, wheat, dyes and chemicals that are often allergy triggers that are put into crappy foods.

I'd recommend going with a very basic diet. Get her off kibble with 100 different ingredients, carbs and proteins in it. Get her on a food that has ONE protein and ONE carb source.

I highly recommend California Natural, but Natural Balance and Wellness (Under their Simple Solutions line) also make good limited ingredient diets.

I'd recommend a lamb protein to start, the carbs in LID's tend to be simple themselves, either brown/white rice, white potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Add the kibble back slowly, mix in a tablespoon or two at first for a couple days and then up to 1/4th cup of food. Every 2-3 days up another 1/4th cup and decrease the cooked foods until you're just feeding the kibble.


----------



## EmilyK0429 (Dec 6, 2009)

danehdee said:


> How much would you recommend I feed him each meal.. 2-3 meals a day..
> I'm thinking.. plain yogurt, pumpkin or sweet potato.. and .. ?
> 
> (I almost bought sweet potato baby food for him the other day but was hesitant too try it with him..) He's had pumpkin before..
> ...



Sorry for the delay in the response, but for a bland diet I would do some ground beef with the fat drained (I actually use chicken with my girl but since you said you think he is allergic I would do beef), double cooked rice and/or cooked sweet potato. 

From what you have done it sounds like you have a good start, but you do need to add some meat into the mixture. Just be sure to drain the fat out since that can cause an upset for some dogs. As I said after you have some stability with his gut I would then add the kibble and do away with the bland slowly. Although you could always add some of the stuff as toppers to the kibble as well. In fact my two are getting some hamburger in their food now since my neighbor had some extras from the place he was working at.


----------



## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

We have had a few with food issues, and a number of clients with dogs with food issues. What our vet (we found a vet who also has a secondary degree in Animal Nutrition and is an avid holistic proponent!) has advised is Wellness Simple Solutions (it is a food with maybe 2-3 ingredients total, seriously) for 4-8 weeks and then try a good top tier food again. We went with Instinct since it has Tapioca which is what vet schools use for dogs with digestive issues. 
Anyway, this has worked wonderfully for every dog we've used it on, or recommended to a client to try. The Wellness Simple Solutions is kind of like de-toxifying the dog's system since you are severely limiting the number of possible allergens. Then after the body has time to recover and reboot you can try a more traditional, high quality, kibble.

Annette


----------



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks all - we've been adding ground beef for a few days now, and all seems ok - going to buy some kibble tonight - most likely lamb & rice! He had a little diahh at the end of his washroom break today - so i'm hoping all is ok with him... any maybe wait to add the kibble until tomorrow...

Do dogs not go to the washroom as much on a bland diet?


----------



## fuzzybunny (Apr 29, 2011)

Just wondering, was your pup on the Kirkland's when you got him? If not, what was the original food he was on and how were his stools on that food?


----------



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

No he wasn't on kirkland when we got him - we slowly added kirkland puppy to his diet for a few weeks before he was fully on it...
The brand he came with was one I don't remember... however - when we picked him up to take home - (he had already been adopted and they couldn't 'handle' him any more..)
They were barely feeding him the kibble from the breeders, mostly dog treats... - he was very underweight and we had to get some lbs back on him...

He had diarrhea for the first bit when we brought him home (And had it at the previous owners house - as I saw it on the floor...)


----------



## EmilyK0429 (Dec 6, 2009)

danehdee said:


> No he wasn't on kirkland when we got him - we slowly added kirkland puppy to his diet for a few weeks before he was fully on it...
> The brand he came with was one I don't remember... however - when we picked him up to take home - (he had already been adopted and they couldn't 'handle' him any more..)
> They were barely feeding him the kibble from the breeders, mostly dog treats... - he was very underweight and we had to get some lbs back on him...
> 
> He had diarrhea for the first bit when we brought him home (And had it at the previous owners house - as I saw it on the floor...)


Your poor pup has had a rough start he is lucky to have you. I remember you said you took him to the vet. Did they do a fecal and how did it come back? I just wonder if there could be something underlying since he was in this situation before. 

I'm glad to hear he is doing better though. I hope he continues to improve.


----------



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

I called the vet and he wanted to put him on a medical gastro diet... "Royal Canin" but I really wanted to do the lamb & rice.. so I picked up some yesterday.. he wanted him back on kibble cuz he's a growing boy lol
I mixed it in with his rice/sweet potato/yogurt mix yesterday & today.. and he had diarrhea again..  

So.. I added some pumpkin at dinner to it... hopefully in about a week he should be cleared up! 

If not.. back to the vet .. ? lol
ahh 

Thanks for everyones help!!!


----------



## EmilyK0429 (Dec 6, 2009)

I thought I'd see how your pup is doing. Is he still having tummy issues?


----------



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

Hey!

He was doing much better - within two days his stool was formed, on and off days it is soft - we started feeding him a cup more and he has had an upset stomach for a couple days.. I think it was the jump in the extra cup.

The vet def. think he has digestion issues, he hopes it will go away.

Anything we give him will have to always have a slow introduction 

Thank u for asking!


----------



## EmilyK0429 (Dec 6, 2009)

I'm glad to hear that he is doing so much better! Meega used to be the same way when she was younger. Finally after a year or so of steady stools her gut seemed to heal up and now I can add little bits in with no problem. It seems that lots of GSDs have digestive issues.


----------



## danehdee (Jul 31, 2011)

I feel so bad for him - his tummy can't seem to catch a break!
We had to take him to the vet the other day for blood tests that they wanted to do, (he was anemic when we got him - but isn't anymore!!  - he was fed a bunch of treats there.. so i'm thinking that might have done it to mess up his tummy... but it's day 3.. I've been adding rice/pumpkin/yogurt to his kibble for a couple, but there seems to be no change yet!


----------

