# Puppy's got the runs



## sarahp (May 24, 2014)

So little man started making a racket at 4:30 this morning sounding like his hyena impression again. It's nothing new and he will do it when he is crated and doesn't want to be or within an hour of first going to bed. He's almost 9 weeks old and I've had him for 5 days. The entire time I've had him he hasn't had a single accident in his crate, house or car. Ever since I put my Ipad near his crate playing talk radios at night, he's slept through the night with minimal waking up or howling. Tonight when he woke up he continued on for 45 minutes. I stayed strong and waited for him to be quiet for 5 minutes before I gave him attention and let him out. Opened the door, picked him up, took him outside and he had, well, explosive runs. He doesn't have any indication that his belly hurts or that he doesn't feel well. I feel HORRIBLE for not taking him out sooner. 
I've heard plain pumpkin for diarrhea, a 24 hour fast with plenty of water or a bland diet. I switched him from purina one LB puppy (that the breeder had him on, yuck) to the evolutionary Blue buffalo wilderness LB puppy. I thought I had taken the transition slow, but I started it a day after I got him, vet said it was fine, but when I read about it, stress can cause tummy aches. What is the best way to go about it for an 8 week old?


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## David Taggart (Nov 25, 2012)

If his poop is not stinky, it means that it is not a bacterial infection, but *his liver is not strong enough to digest heavy meals*. I'd push 2-3 garlic cloves to sterilize his guts just in case. Your puppy has reaction to dog food, he might have reaction to any artificial dog food. The trouble is that virtually no dog food producer can copy what canines eat in nature. Up to 4 months old the puppy receives what his parent regurgitates for him - half digested food. Up to one year young dogs do not catch large prey themselves, they prey mainly on small rodents. Even in the adult wolf, wolves mainly eat birds, mice and rabbits, not heavy stuff like wild boar, deer or lamb. Your pup's liver is too weak to work on beef or whatever this dog food has in it. At this age feed him cottage cheese, goats milk, raw chicken breast with rice and carrots, raw rabbit fillet meat and green beans, cooked fish with oats on the daily basis, and raw beef mince with pumpkin - 200 gramms once a week only. The sooner tou switch onto naturals - the quicker your problem would be solved.
Of course, you can look for cheaper than Buy Ardeng Rabbit Meat, because some suppliers provide it specifically for dogs.


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## sarahp (May 24, 2014)

David Taggart said:


> If his poop is not stinky, it means that it is not a bacterial infection, but *his liver is not strong enough to digest heavy meals*. I'd push 2-3 garlic cloves to sterilize his guts just in case.


Oh it's definitely stinky. He had an accident in his crate and the smell woke me up. He doesn't act sick at all though, not lethargic, eating and drinking normally, sleeping normal and playing like usual. 
I've heard garlic and onion aren't good for dogs, is that just something I've heard? I could also not be remembering it right. My goal was switching to raw a few months down the road when I can get more info and figure out everything correctly so that I'm keeping him balanced every week. I've heard so many differing opinions on what to feed, add supplements or not, add fruits and veggies or not. I guess it's what ever works for the specific animal? So stick with the lighter meats, right? Should I go ahead and try it this morning? If I give him veggies those are raw too, correct? I've done a lot of research on the topic but I'm worried I will mess it up. Thanks for the input!


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

Hi Sarahp and congrats on the new pup!

Couple of things could have gone wrong.
*A HUGE change for him leaving his litter-mates and mom can cause stress upset.
*Changing foods for dogs/pups can take from a few days to several weeks. ALL dogs' are different. You need to start out by feeding maybe a Tablespoon of new kibble mixed with old kibble for one meal and then watch stool. If no loose stool after one or two days, increase the amount of new kibble slowly watching every bowel movement to make sure the new food is agreeing with him, and so on.
*Some dogs do not do well on BB.
Pups should not be fasted for 24 hours....only 12 at the most if necessary.
Try a mixture of Boneless, Skinless, Boiled Chicken Breast cooled and shredded with equal amount of canned pumpkin (NO spices). Some people use rice instead of the pumpkin for this or you could do a combo. Feed several small meals during the day, making sure that the diarrhea is subsiding after the first or second feeding. He may need to stay on this for several days or a week.
Once his stool is normal, you can SLOWLY try to introduce the BB again, BUT if you see loose stool again, he is not tolerating the BB so you'll have to go to plan B dog food. You may want to look at Nature's Variety (Not Nature's RECIPE) sold at Petsmart or Fromm's, sold at doggie boutiques.
Nature's Variety Locations: Find A Store | Nature's Variety
Fromm's Locations: Fromm USA Retailers IMHO - use a non-grain food.

I've been feeding raw for 20 years but realized long ago that most people cannot feed raw. So my suggestion for now (until you decide about a raw diet) would be to use a high quality kibble, add digestive enzymes/pro-biotics and a good quality "named" fish oil. *But for now, concentrate on the situation at hand.*

Moms


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I would not be giving the puppy something "different" at this time with an attack of diarhea, like raw/veggies, etc.

Sometimes BB doesn't agree with puppies/dogs, so I would suspect, if he's healthy otherwise, the food is not agreeing with him. It may be to rich for him.

With that, I would either fast him, but make sure he has plenty of water..OR,,cook up some chicken/rice, feed him a small portion later in the day.

How long has he been on the BB?? While you may not like the previous food, I'm one for whatever works for the dog. 

I'm going to pm you as well


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

You say you have had him for five days. Have you taken him for his checkup? I would have him vet checked, just in case.

If your goal was switching to raw anyway, I would do that right now. The best way to switch to raw is cold turkey, no pun intended.

Here is our experience:

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...8743-video-my-8-week-old-funny-raw-story.html


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

and PLEASE do not shove garlic cloves down your puppies throat Bad advice.


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

Here are some high quality Human Grade products you may want to look at when you have time. I rotate with all of these.

*Sunday Sundae* (Digestive Enzyme & Pro-Biotic Combo): Sunday Sundae Nutritional Supplement 
OR
*Digest All Plus* (Digestive Enzyme & Pro-Biotic Combo): The Wholistic Pet 

*Sh-emp Oil*: SH-EMP OIL Nutritional oil
OR
*Salmon Oil:* The Wholistic Pet


Moms


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

And Feedsentials !

Feed-Sentials Nutritional Supplement


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

Sarah , somehow not all GSD or dogs do well with Blue Buffalo.. mine didnt and i know some people in this forum the dog had loose stool after switching to BB.


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## sarahp (May 24, 2014)

I'm hearing that a lot about BB now. We are headed to the vet now! Called this morning when they opened and they said they didn't have any openings but if I got there before 10, they would see him because he is so little and before he gets dehydrated or any worse. We LOVE our vet. They have taken such good care of our very sensitive, allergic to everything, deaf cocker for 8 years. Thank you everyone for your help and input! This forum is incredible for me, and I know little Atticus appreciates a mom who understands him a bit better  
I have put some serious thought into raw but I'm not exactly sure I'd be doing it all right with amounts and everything! I've heard good things about Fromm and orijen (sp?) and saw that there were pretty good prices on chewy.com, but I haven't actually looked if places around me carry it so thank you for the links! 
Y'all are awesome


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

sarahp said:


> I'm hearing that a lot about BB now. We are headed to the vet now! Called this morning when they opened and they said they didn't have any openings but if I got there before 10, they would see him because he is so little and before he gets dehydrated or any worse. We LOVE our vet. They have taken such good care of our very sensitive, allergic to everything, deaf cocker for 8 years. Thank you everyone for your help and input! This forum is incredible for me, and I know little Atticus appreciates a mom who understands him a bit better
> I have put some serious thought into raw but I'm not exactly sure I'd be doing it all right with amounts and everything! I've heard good things about Fromm and orijen (sp?) and saw that there were pretty good prices on chewy.com, but I haven't actually looked if places around me carry it so thank you for the links!
> Y'all are awesome


Glad you are going! Keep us posted.

Be aware that Orijen, although a great food, gives SOME dogs very loose stool. If you go with Champion (manufacturer of Orijen), you may want to try their sister food ACANA Acana Regionals | Acana 

Moms


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## sarahp (May 24, 2014)

They tested him for parvo just to be on the safe side and that's negative, his fecal was also negative. She said that it's a good thing I came in before it got worse because it's usually a sign of an illness. It's probably the stress of new food and change in diet. She is giving me a diarrhea medicine (metronidazole) that will help and said that he can have white rice and a little bit of cooked chicken. Thankful it's not any worse! 
He definitely didn't mind it one bit


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

Great news!

You may want to begin the digestive enzyme/pro-biotic to keep the good stuff in the gut healthy! Start out at 1/2 dose or less and work up to full dose for his weight while watching stool.

Moms


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

Oh good, glad he seems ok otherwise.

I agree, maybe try a different food. I had my pup on Orijen, then Acana. Both are fabulous kibbles, however my dog could not tolerate either one. (Or any kibble, for that matter!) She's doing well on raw now, you might have to play around to see what works.


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## sarahp (May 24, 2014)

I do have one question, if I keep trying kibble do I still need to wean off one and on to the other? If it is in fact the BB making him sick, do I continue to use it to switch to a different food? And how long should I give the new one to see if he tolerates it?
It'll probably be cheaper to just start raw now instead of $20 on each new bag of food. Those who feed raw, which is a good meal to start off with? I know chicken is usually the staple when first starting off. What else should there be? I've found the menus thread but I can't seem to find one for puppies and the raw dog ranch website's puppy link is still being worked on last time I checked. 
Thanks again!


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## mydogs (May 4, 2012)

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## mydogs (May 4, 2012)

Thought my comment sent so here it goes again. Get off BB. Go back to what he was on. Add a tsp of pure pumpkin to his meals to help loose stools. BB known to cause issues. Leave him on breeder food til he's older. I did the switching too. Breeder used solid gold but her eyes kept tearing. She's now on Fromm she's not crazy about it so I throw in some pro plan the old tried and true food that gets a bad rap but it works and dogs thrive on it 

While acana and Orijen "may" be good foods they're too rich IMO I wouldn't feed to a puppy 
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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Definitely stop the Blue Buffalo. It is probably the culprit, and you don't want to continue giving him something that is irritating his intestines, because that's what diarrhea is: inflamed intestines.
If you want to do raw, now is a good time as ever to get him on it, just grab a chicken leg quarter and give it to him, minus the skin. 

Don't worry about adding anything else for now. The raw bones and the digestibility of raw meat should eliminate the diarrhea very soon.


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

mydogs said:


> Thought my comment sent so here it goes again. Get off BB. Go back to what he was on. Add a tsp of pure pumpkin to his meals to help loose stools. BB known to cause issues. Leave him on breeder food til he's older. I did the switching too. Breeder used solid gold but her eyes kept tearing. She's now on Fromm she's not crazy about it so I throw in some pro plan the old tried and true food that gets a bad rap but it works and dogs thrive on it
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


ye 1 tablespoon of pure organic pumpkin did the job for me


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I would stick with the rice and chicken for a few days until he is back to normal stools. When you do go back to kibble, mix a little with the chicken and rice first, gradually adding more kibble and less chicken and rice mixture. As long as his stool stays looking healthy then continue the transition if not, try a different kibble. My Raina did not do well on BB. She is on Earthborn Holistic seafood formula now after trying several others.


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