# Food Change/Weight/Poo



## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

Hey all! Anna is my first GSD, so this may sound like a stupid question--

We've had her for a week now and she's still having a loose stool. It's not water, but it's like a pudding (yum!) texture. I thought it was due to changing her from the breeder's Purina Puppy to Nature's Choice Puppy, but it's still going. Sometimes it has some solid, usually in the morning, but it still tends to be loose.

Also, she's 13 weeks and 18lbs...is that a normal weight for her age? It seems some other pups on here at her age seem bigger? She looks fine, but I was just wondering?

She's running, playing, learning some tricks, getting into things, puppy stuff, but I wondered if I should change her food? Any idears?

Thanks!


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

If she looks fine then don't worry.

A week isn't long enough to let her system heal from the changing. Did you go cold turkey or mix them over time?


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

I was a bad mama and went cold turkey...I figured this might still be the case but the DH wanted me to inquire for his "little girl"










Muchas Gracias!


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

I might get yelled at for this but what if you mixed a little rice into her food to stiffen up her poo.When my dogs get soft that's what I do and it seems to work.Has she been wormed?


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

She was wormed when I first got her and at her vet check up last Tuesday my vet double checked and she was worm free.

Would a small amount of the pumpkin possibly help or should I just leave her little tummy alone? She'll have her next vet check sometime next week so I can have them double check if this is still going on. 

Other than the poo (which she also likes to eat, thank God she's no the only one and thank God for these boards!) she's just a little happy puppy. She hasn't had any gas, just the poo.

Once again, thank you guys so much! If no one's told you today, you rock.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

How much are you feeding her *per meal* and how many meals per day?


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

And what is "Natures Choice"? Do they have a website?


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

Sure, sorry, it's actually Nature's Recipe...brain fart:

Nature's Recipe Dog food 


Edit: I'm sorry, just saw the giant bolded "per meal" part of your question!

She's fed three times a day so about cup per meal, which she usually eats a three quarters of then comes back in about an hour and eats the other remaining quarter.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Has she been checked for Giardia and the other "yuckies" (besides worms.) puppies sometimes have? So she has had pudding poop since you got her?

Have you tried feeding her LESS? If pups/dogs are healthy and don't have any medical issues, a lot of times they are simply being over fed.

Personally I wouldn't let her "graze". If she doesn't eat all of her food in one sitting, I would pick it up and not feed her again until the next meal. She could very well be getting all she REALLY needs when she only eats 3/4 of it. But after an hour she doesn't feel full anymore, so she figures she may as well eat the rest of the food.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: aubie
> Also, she's 13 weeks and 18lbs...is that a normal weight for her age? It seems some other pups on here at her age seem bigger? She looks fine, but I was just wondering?


There really is no "normal" weight since some puppies are taller and/or thicker built at the same age. They also don't all grow at the same rate. You just have to go by how she looks. (There are some pups that are lighter at that age and others like mine that were heavier. (Mine weighed 28 1/2 lbs at 14 weeks.)


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

The pudding poo began a day or so after we got her, we chalked it up to the new home/new food, which is probably still the case.

You're right, I need to remove her food when she's done to make sure she knows her feeding schedule as well. Thanks!


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: BlackGSD (Mine weighed 28 1/2 lbs at 14 weeks.)


Wow!


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

I've never tried pumpkin but I hear that alot on the board.I don't think it would hurt and I would try feeding less and not letting her graze on it.If it hasn't stiffened up by the next visit make sure and question it.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

Yeah Allie, that's what I'm thinking about the next vet visit...I just talked to the DH and he said she just pooped a little bit ago and it was a bit stiffer.









We always watch her when she poos, she probably thinks we're odd poo-lovin people!


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

One thing I would do is NOT reduce the amount of food AND give pumpkin. Don't get me wrong, it definately isn't going to hurt anything, BUT you will have no way of knowing if it is the food reduction that causes her to "stiffen up" or if it is the pumpkin.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: aubie
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: BlackGSD (Mine weighed 28 1/2 lbs at 14 weeks.)
> ...


This was her at 14 weeks.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

I would probably do one or the other.I wasn't thinking when I wrote that. Since Lexi had her first bout of runny stool and vomiting I am a poop fanatic too.Especially when I think she has eaten things she shouldn't have.Her first time to the vet for throwing up made me weird about it. After it all calmed down and I cleaned her kennel I noticed the strings in her poo from her rope toy that she use to play with.Needless to say neither dog is allowed to play with rope toys anymore.


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## Jake's Mom (Nov 27, 2008)

We just went through something similar. I ended up needing to put Jake on Metro . . . (some antibiotic that I can't spell)! It worked almost overnight to clear up the soft poops. 

Stress, new food, food sensitivity . . . the vet said they all contributed and allowed some bacteria to flare up.

Anyway, just another puppy poop experience. Hopefully hers will clear up without needing the meds!


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## thezinger (Nov 6, 2008)

i think my kyah was about 26 pounds at 13 weeks. though at 12 she was only 18, she had a major growth spurt that week.

but she was the same way, had some pudding poop on occasion. we went through the vet thing, had her stool checked, antibiotics. helped a bit, but a week later it was back to pudding. so i figured it must be the food.

so i tried a lot of different foods, without much luck. im on orijen now and her poop is perfect. so far its the only food that seems to agree with her.

but as a puppy i wouldnt expect their poop to be great everytime. their bodies are still developing, things may stress them out. sometimes they eat things they shouldnt when you turn around for a sec. kyah used to try to eat leaves like crazy, lately its been dirt. lol


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

I think we're hitting the growth spurt...I weighed her today and she's a little over 20lbs now.


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