# Diarrhea Back, Need Advice!



## Linda1270 (Sep 7, 2012)

I tried to follow the advice that was first given to me here but that didn't seem to work out. Tess' breeder was feeding her Purina Puppy Chow so my first order of business was to take her off that food and put her on something different. I purchased a bag of Innova and tried weaning her off the Puppy Chow and on to the Innova but I believe that it was too rich for her because she'd keep getting Diarrhea. 

I ended up purchasing a small bag of Puppy Chow and stopped the Innova, waited a week and then tried putting her on Nutro Large Breed Puppy. I fed my Lab Cocoa Nutro for his entire life and he did great on it. Unfortunately, the diarrhea is back and worse than ever now and it's pretty stinky too, which was not the case when she first arrived here. I have her over to almost half Nutro and half Puppy Chow. 

I'm wondering if the training treats that I've been giving to her are causing the diarrhea. I'm using BilJac "Little Gooberlicious" soft treats, made with real peanut butter. My husband also gave her a Blue Wilderness chicken jerky treat yesterday, which she inhaled, they are pretty small pieces of jerky meant for puppies. But I was upset that he gave it to her this soon, I mean she's only 8 weeks.

I really need to find a good food that will work for her but can't afford to keep spending money to try out different foods. Nutro doesn't even sell small bags of the LBP food, so I had to purchase a larger bag. I've heard excellent things about Orijen but I believe it's a little pricey. Pet store should sell sample bags of dog food so that you can find out if it will work for your pup before spending a ton of money.

Should I put her back on the puppy chow, which would mean purchasing another bag, until her diarrhea is gone and then try another food?


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## lzver (Feb 9, 2012)

You may have other threads with more history, but have you had your pup to the vet? Has she been tested for parasites? When we got our Jake at 8 weeks old he had diarrhea issues and our first trip to the vet with fecal tests done showed that he had roundworms and tapeworms. We gave deworming meds, which made the worms go away, but not the diarrhea. I don’t want to scare you with Jake’s story, but it took us almost 5 months to get rid of the diarrhea as he had a chronic issue.

For now I would see your vet, have your pup tested for worms and even though it’s hard when trying to train a puppy, avoid all treats right now. In fact, with everything going on with jerky treats and China at the moment, I would avoid jerky treats all together.

You may want to check with the store where you buy your dog food. We switched food quite a few times trying to figure out Jake’s problem and the store we bought from, we were able to return bags of dog food and get a full refund provided that the bag was at least half full. I’d go in and talk to them about the problem’s you are having. I got in the habit of always keeping the bags (good idea especially if there is a food recall) and keeping receipts. I’m certain we saved at least $500 by returning the bags of food he didn’t do well on.


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## chloesmama2 (Feb 18, 2012)

With a puppy that is only 8 weeks old and having issues with diarrhea I would take her to the vet. I am vigilant about making sure my pups are vacinated but I got a pup that after 2 days was having the same issues took him to the vet and sure enough Parvo.
Diarrhea can really weaken them fast. Mine was playing the day before we took him to the vet for the Parvo. Actually two days pror the same vet saw him and gave him his shots and a clean bill of health. Hope your pup gets better soon.
My pup by the way made a good recovery,


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

Vet first...but I'd also buy some cans of pumpkin and throw a teaspoon or two in with her food. That usually helped with diarrhea when my boy would get it and we still use that trick to solve problems today.

Also check where your chicken jerky treats are made...there have been a lot of issues with chicken jerky treats from China and so until that is all cleared up I'm completely avoiding chicken jerky unless it is made by a local, US company. I'm not sure where Blue Wilderness gets theirs from but I know they're a pretty large company and probably the most "mainstream" of the all-naturals which makes me think some of their stuff could be coming from overseas.

If you'll look up some threads on chicken jerky treats (I don't believe Blue Buffalo was ever mentioned in those) you'll understand more about what I'm talking about. I'm just playing the better safe than sorry and avoiding all chicken jerky. There's plenty of other stuff out there to treat my dog IMO.


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## Linda1270 (Sep 7, 2012)

Sorry, I should have mentioned that Tess had all her first set of shots, deworming, fecal tests, etc. at 6 weeks and will be going back for her second set next Monday. I will check the bag of Jerky Treats, I could kill my husband for giving her one, I told him not to until she's older but now that I know about the issue with Jerky Treats made in China, I will probably toss them out if that is where they came from.

I have also been giving her a little bit of pumpkin, which I started giving her occasionally on the advice of one of the moderators of this board, when I had the first issue. I am pretty sure that it's the food, only because it clears up when I put her back totally on the Purina Puppy Chow. Yesterday, I fed her at 6:00 am and she went all day without a movement and then around 4:30 pm, she went and it was very loose. It's not watery and I'm hoping to avoid getting to that point.

I just called the vet and she advised me to put her back on just the Purina Puppy Chow at least until I bring her in on Monday. She said that it isn't a bad food, it's been around for years, yada yada yada. I don't really want her on Purina Puppy Chow, from what I've read, in my opinion, I think it's crap, but what do I know, she's the professional. I guess I'll buy another small bag and keep her on just the puppy chow until I see the vet. I'm sure she'll probably try to talk me into keeping her on it until she moves over to adult food but I'd prefer not doing that.

What do other's think about Purina Puppy Chow? Is there anyone on this board that has their pup on this food?


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Purina puppy chow isn't the end of the world; it's not the best, but it won't kill your puppy. If you find there's nothing wrong with your pup, such as worms, which I suspect is the problem, and she does well on the purina, then leave her on it for a while until things settle down. If you want to switch to something at that point, then go for it.


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## FrankieC (Aug 15, 2012)

My breeder used puppy chow as well. I have bought Fromm LBP and will transition her over slowly.. starting tomorrow. Fingers crossed! 

Hope you get that sorted soon.. best of luck


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## Linda1270 (Sep 7, 2012)

I ended up being able to return the Nutro Natural Choice LBP and getting Blue Buffalo LBP. I've done a lot of reading up on the different brands of food and have come to the decision that after my visit with the vet, I am going to start her on the Blue Buffalo, LBP. 

I know that Purina isn't the end of the world but it does contain a lot of fillers and ingredients that I really do not want my puppy to have, including the corn. Actually, even though the breeder had put her pups on Purina Puppy Chow, she hadn't been on it for very long when she arrived here with me. It usually takes longer than a couple of weeks to see whether of not a food agrees with the pup. So after Tess's Vet visit on Monday and another fecal exam, I will be starting her on the Blue Buffalo and will go from there. Hopefully it will work for her. Tess does appear to be extremely healthy, she has an abundance of energy and she's growing pretty rapidly. I just want to feel good in knowing that I am giving her quality food.

Thanks for all the advice, I really do appreciate it.


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## m1953 (May 7, 2012)

A cup of plain pumpkin a day did the trick for Nala when she was that age after the vet confirmed there were no worms or other parasites.. Loose stool is a common problem in many young GSD pups. I still give Nala a cup a day mixed in her food.


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## wildrivers (Sep 28, 2011)

ask vet about Coccidia


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## WVGSD (Nov 28, 2006)

You have an eight week old puppy and she has been on three different foods in two weeks. That is way too fast to transition a dog from one food to the other unless there is a circumstance such as a rescued dog coming from a shelter (in which you have no choice). 

When you do begin the transition again next week, please go very slowly and make the transition take at least four weeks. You can give her 3/4 Purina Puppy Chow and 1/4 Blue Buffalo LBP for one week, then 1/2 and 1/2 for the second week and then 3/4 Blue Buffalo and 1/4 Purina Puppy Chow for the third week. By the fourth week, she should be able to go to just the Blue Buffalo kibble IF she is going to tolerate it at all. Not all dogs tolerate the high-end dog foods. You may have to experiment with several different foods for quite some time to find one that you like (ingredients) and that she can tolerate. It is a common frustration amongst dog owners.


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## Linda1270 (Sep 7, 2012)

Yes, I do agree that trying out different foods is very frustrating and a lot of new dog owners go through this transition. I am not new to dog/puppy raising and please know that I have every intention of going very slow when I transition Tess on to the Blue Buffalo. I've gone through this a few times in the past and have always gone very slow and it has always worked out just fine. I also supplement with pumpkin, I think it's wonderful, I use to give it to my last dog who had problems with his anal glands and it cleared up the problem very quickly. I have been giving Tess some mixed in with her kibble.

On a good note, Tess' stools are a lot firmer today, I'm not sure why but I'm thrilled. I'm beginning to think that it was either the training treats or the Blue Buffalo Chicken Jerky for puppies, this was the first time that I've given her anything other than her kibble and it may have been the culprit. Not to mention that when I have Tess out in the backyard, she tries to eat everything, leaves, grass, mulch, etc. I am constantly trying to pull things out of her mouth, which isn't easy when you have arthritis in the fingers, let me tell you, but I'm a nervous Nelly when it comes to her putting things in her mouth. 

Speaking of the little imp, she's awake now and crying to go out, what a good girl she is....


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