# Orijen ALS & Pumpkin



## Jjgibbs (Feb 1, 2012)

Gibbs is a 14 week old White GSD. He is currently being fed Orijen All Life Stages about 3 times a day. I say about because his morning feeding is limited simply because he isn't all that interested sometimes. He eats about a cup in the afternoon and maybe a little over a cup in the evening (depending on his intake earlier in the day). His poop was solid when we switched him over from Purina Puppy Chow. However after about 2 weeks on full Orijen, his poop goes from solid to runny in one elimination. Sometimes he just has runny stool. :-( Forums on here suggest pumpkin as a supplment to help harden his stool.

My question is how much pumpkin do we give? How often such as every feeding or once a day? Do we mix it in with the kibble? Also, he is eating All Life Stages...should we switch to the Large Breed Puppy version of this? Other forums state it doesn't matter but wanted more opinions.

Any information and opinions would be great. Thank you for your time!!

***Sorry for the duplicate posting as I am sure this is somewhere in this forum, unfortunately the forum is too big to find and narrow down what I am hoping to get information on.


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## trudy (Aug 25, 2008)

I would throw in a tablespoon, but I think the problem is overfeeding...if it starts firm, i would just cut down the portion a small amount..I find the same here with Storm about the same age, and I am feeding Acana Ranchland... I find about 2 1/2-3 cups a day, and go up and down in amount...I cut back a bit when I give a fresh bone, he obviously gets some meat off that and some bone so we feed the lower amount...hope your pup does as well as he does...


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## Jjgibbs (Feb 1, 2012)

Thank you Trudy! We have actually discussed feeding him only twice a day about a cup to a cup and a half for the two feedings. We started training so we have been issuing lots of treats which may also contribute. I didn't even think about that at first. Thanks again!


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I give all my dogs 1 tablespoon of pumpkin per day...they love it and they have firm poop all the time If you change the feeding schedule and still want to give pumpkin you can freeze it in ice cube trays and give one a day(frozen)..I do this is the summer and its a nice treat for the dogs.


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## marshies (May 18, 2011)

You might think about cutting down the amount you feed before trying pumpkin or anything else. 

Overfeeding is the number 1 reason for soft poops.

But I am on my first dog, and no expert, so take advice with grain of salt.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

marshies said:


> You might think about cutting down the amount you feed before trying pumpkin or anything else.
> 
> Overfeeding is the number 1 reason for soft poops.
> 
> But I am on my first dog, and no expert, so take advice with grain of salt.




I wouldn't think that 2 cups a day is overfeeding depending on the daily feeding guide of that dog food???Of course this is just a guide and all dogs eat differently.I've seen lots of people on here switch from this food because of this very problem and I also seen a lot that love it. It depends on the dog if its the right food or not. If its not a medical issue or over feeding issue, pumpkin just gives the dog more fiber and that acts as the poop solidifier. Pumpkin will not hurt the dog.


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## marshies (May 18, 2011)

llombardo said:


> I wouldn't think that 2 cups a day is overfeeding depending on the daily feeding guide of that dog food???Of course this is just a guide and all dogs eat differently.I've seen lots of people on here switch from this food because of this very problem and I also seen a lot that love it. It depends on the dog if its the right food or not. If its not a medical issue or over feeding issue, pumpkin just gives the dog more fiber and that acts as the poop solidifier. Pumpkin will not hurt the dog.


Oh I agree with you 100%.
I had the exact same problem as the OP, and added pumpkin. Pumpkin didn't help me in the situation.
I'm not sure what the guidelines for the ALS one is, but for my LBP, it says to feed 3.5-4.5 cups. I'm at 2.5 cups and she is maintaining weight with that and treats. So it really depends.
Try pumpkin, but rule out medical issues and see if its the feeding amount. It could just not agree with your pup.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

IMO, you should NOT have to feed pumpkin in order for a pup/dog to have "normal" poops.

If they are healthy, they should have normal stools on their food ALONE. If they don't, and they aren't being over fed, a kibble change is in order.

Feeding pumpkin because you WANT to is one thing, but you couldn't HAVE to.


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## vietguy357 (Mar 1, 2012)

Leo, 7 weeks old gsd had soft stool for about 1 1/2 weeks. Since then I cut back on his food from 3 cups a day to just about 2 cups. I found out that the food I was feeding him (blue buffalo puppy) had a lot of protein in it which cause his stool to become soft. Try following the feeding amount on the bag. It should help with the soft stool.


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## Jjgibbs (Feb 1, 2012)

Thanks everyone!! We have officially rationed Gibbs' feeding to twice a day at 1 cup each feeding. At first it did not seem to help as we still saw the runny stools. We added two tablespoons of pumpkin in the morning and so far his stool has been firm. We are going to continue with this regimen as long as it continues to work. Besides, he loves the pumpkin!!  He has a vet appointment in about a week so we are going to double check any medical issues then, however have a good feeling the doc is going to say he is healthy and happy for his age.


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