# Blue Buffalo food



## ccl16rt (Jun 24, 2010)

So, my 5 3/4 month old GS puppy has been on blue buffalo large breed puppy food for about 2 1/2 months now. His stool is almost always soft or like liquid. Does anyone have an idea as to whats going on? Do I need to switch him off the food??? He has been dewormed for all types of worms, has all his shots, I keep using the same type of treats and dont switch them. I have no idea... He hoves the food and doesnt seem to have any negative reaction. Also, when I switched his food, I did the proper ratios of old food to new food.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

I had soft and pudding poops on the Adult Fish/Potato. Some dogs are sensitive to certain things, have you tried adding some pumpkin to the kibble? Also over feeding can cause runny poops? How much are you feeding? High quality kibble = less feeding


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## Marissa (Dec 31, 2009)

I have heard from numerous people that Blue Buffalo can cause loose stools. It can be too rich for some dogs. I feed it to my adult dogs and they do well on it but you may try switching?


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

a Vet check might be in order. maybe
Blue isn't the food for your dog.


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## Dawn (Jun 23, 2010)

I woujld have the stool checked at your vets...I have my dog on chiken and wild rice blue buffalo and her stool is great!...I wish she was a better eater and would put alittle bit of weight on maybe 5lbs but that is another thread unto itself..lol


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Both of my dogs and my 3 cats are all on Blue Buffalo Blue Wilderness. 

Are you feeding the Large Breed Kibble? It might be too rich for your puppy. You may need to switch again if it is not a medical problem.


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## ccl16rt (Jun 24, 2010)

I havent tried pumpkin. What does that do? I dont think I'm over feeding him. I'm giving him 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups at night. I guess a vet check and see from there..... Thanks all


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

It is possible that you are over feeding. Blue Buffalo is a pretty high calorie food. I had a very underweight foster who could handle 2 cups of BB at each meal and that's it. If I tried to feed him more than that he would have soft stool. 

Try cutting back a little each meal and see if that helps. 

Pumpkin (pure pumpkin not pie mix) helps with digestion. It can help firm things up or get them moving depending on what's need. Just a little bit per meal is all that is needed.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I think you should try feeding 3 cups a day. One in the morning, one in the afternoon and one at night. 

I feed my 1 1/2 year old 3 cups of BB BW a day.


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

I agree, before switching try to feed a little less. My 85 lb 2.5 year old male eats 3 cups a day of a similar calorie dense food. If you don't want to feed 3 meals a day, you can still feed 1.5 cups per meal. If it gets slightly better, you could even go down to 1 cup in the morning, one at night, and add in a half cup sometime during the day, or in a treat dispenser, or add to his dinner for 1.5 cups. 

Speaking of treats. Does he get any. They could also help contribute to over feeding and runny stool. If you are doing a lot of training with him, I would cut back on his food a little, or mix in part of his meal in with the training treats.


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## just another truck (Jun 7, 2010)

ccl16rt said:


> So, my 5 3/4 month old GS puppy has been on blue buffalo large breed puppy food for about 2 1/2 months now. His stool is almost always soft or like liquid. Does anyone have an idea as to whats going on? Do I need to switch him off the food??? He has been dewormed for all types of worms, has all his shots, I keep using the same type of treats and dont switch them. I have no idea... He hoves the food and doesnt seem to have any negative reaction. Also, when I switched his food, I did the proper ratios of old food to new food.


 
You described my results with Blue Buffalo to a T.. I switch to Dog Food, Nutrition, and Breed Information | Eukanuba.com adult. I did this very slowly. Hunter is at 2 cups in the morning, 2 cups in the afternoon. I fist did a half cup of the eukanuba per feeding, and his dropping started becoming solid. I wanted to switch imediately the rest of the way, but I did a half cup for a week, then a cup, then a full swap out.

Good Luck, I can not tell you how many stools I took to the vet trying to figure out what was wrong.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

While it is possible the Blue Buffalo is not the right food for you dog, there are plenty of other quality foods or even OK foods that I would try before resorting to Eukanuba.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

gsdraven said:


> While it is possible the Blue Buffalo is not the right food for you dog, there are plenty of other quality foods or even OK foods that I would try before resorting to Eukanuba.


I completely agree 100 %


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## just another truck (Jun 7, 2010)

gsdraven said:


> While it is possible the Blue Buffalo is not the right food for you dog, there are plenty of other quality foods or even OK foods that I would try before resorting to Eukanuba.


 
This brand came to me as a recomendation from my vet ( as did Science Diet ). Is there something wrong with it? Or is there another reason for this comment. 

Not trying to rub wrong, but is there more to this?


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## just another truck (Jun 7, 2010)

LaRen616 said:


> I completely agree 100 %


 
Again.. partial comment.. please inform. I came to this site to learn, so spit it out:help:


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

I'm not one of the food experts on this site and there are many here who can explain it better than I can, just go searching in Diet & Nutrition section or better yet do some research on your own.

Basically, Eukanuba (and even worse Science Diet) are full are cheap fillers (corn and other filler grains) that are not biologically appropriate for dogs. I feed my dog a grain-free diet (BB Wilderness) and she eats only 2 cups of food a day, has great teeth, is a healthy weight and has a soft, shiny coat. She has plenty of energy but is not "out of control".

I honestly used to feed her Eukanuba until I started seeing here that it was frowned upon and decided to research on my own and realized that I was feeding her crap. I have seen an improvement in her coat, energy and health since switching and get compliments on her wherever we go.

Not all dogs treat all foods equally either so you need to find what is the best food that your dog does the best on and the best way to do that is do some research and make an informed decision. Vets are not nutritionists and don't receive training in proper diet in school. Some vets even get kickbacks for selling a certain food.

A site that is posted a lot on here for information is www.dogfoodanalysis.com Granted, you have to take everything you read with a grain of salt, do your own research and make an informed decision.


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## just another truck (Jun 7, 2010)

See, that was why I went to the Eukanuba.. I was told to stay away from corn, and keep with White rice, so the choice I made was the lamb and rice..

Not questioning you now, just rambling on a keyboard. I need to look into this, thank you!!!


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

just another truck said:


> Again.. partial comment.. please inform. I came to this site to learn, so spit it out:help:


Eukanuba is a low quality kibble. Vets push Science Diet, Purina and Eukanuba on their clients. I will show you the ingredients for both Eukanuba and BB Blue Wilderness.

Check this website 

Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost

Eukanuba is rated as a 1 star kibble
BB Blue Wilderness is rated 5 star kibble


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## just another truck (Jun 7, 2010)

No I feel like an Arse!!! I need to look into something else. I am going to drive my wife nuts with my diet jumping.

Dog Food Reviews - Eukanuba Natural Large Breed Lamb & Rice Adult Dog - Powered by ReviewPost

Now you guys did it, ignorance was bliss.. now I have a fault with evey dog food I have read on...

Again, thank you for the link!!


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

just another truck said:


> No I feel like an Arse!!! I need to look into something else. I am going to drive my wife nuts with my diet jumping.
> 
> Dog Food Reviews - Eukanuba Natural Large Breed Lamb & Rice Adult Dog - Powered by ReviewPost


When Sinister was a puppy I fed him Solid Gold Wolf Cub. I had great results with it. Maybe you can look into that?


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Did you look at the ingredients in the Lamb and Rice formula? Corn meal is number 3. My understanding is that Ground Whole Grain Sorghum is bad as well and it's number 4. Rice is the primary ingredient. From what I've read, when the Lamb is cooked, it drops way down in the ingredient list.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

try easing up on the amount of BB you are feeding, add some pure canned pumpkin....see if they firm up. In the meantime do some research on kibble/RAW so if you decide to switch you won't be jumping around. I think it maybe too much food.


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## Archangel359 (Aug 19, 2010)

Jack had the same problem with Blue Buffalo. A total mess in the yard. Switched him to raw chicken quarters and his stool is excellent. It went from very soft or loose to toally solid and not much of it. Dries to chalk very quickly and it's not killing my lawn.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Jack needs to be eating more than just raw chicken quarters to have a balanced diet. You should check out the Raw Feeding section to make sure he is getting the proper nutrients.


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

just another truck said:


> Again.. partial comment.. please inform. I came to this site to learn, so spit it out:help:


Well, most vets don't get a proper education about pet nutrition. when in vet school. The only nutrition information they receive in school comes from lectures given by reps from Hills. Almost all vets sell Hills (Science diet) because they get kickbacks from the company fro selling and endorsing their product. 

The issue many people have with Eukanuba is that you are paying for their advertising, not for a quality product. Eukanuba to be is only marginally better than Hill Science diet, and people end up paying big bucks for it. 

Eukanuba GS formula: Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal (Natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), Brewers Rice, Fish Meal, Chicken Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Egg Product.....

The items highlighted in red are items that are I have an issue with. 

Chicken: While this item is a quality ingredient, it is 75% water, so while it comes first on the list, it is actually much further down the list after processing. (If the food had chicken, and then chicken meal, it would be a better combination)

Corn meal: Realistically the first ingredient in this food. Not what I want the majority of my dog food to be since he is a carnivore. And I honestly don't want corn meal in my dog food at any level. 

Ground Sorghum: This is one of the top 5 grains in the world. its grown so much because this grass has many applications. It is used for cattle feed, and can be made into an adhesive/glue product. Not something I want my carnivore to eat, so far most of the product is made of grains. 

Chicken by-product meal: Finally you get to a meat meal ( a dense source of protein, however it is only a by-product meal. Meaning it isn't actually made of meat, by of things like necks, feet, beaks, bones, undeveloped eggs, intestines, and other offal (organs). Yuck!

Brewers Rice: Yet another grain, however in this case it is a leftover of human processing. Since it is only a rice fraction it actually doesn't contain all of the nutrients found in whole grain rice. 

Chicken flavor: When a dog food has to add in yummy flavor, it usually means that the food itself doesn't naturally taste like something your dog wants to eat. Anytime flavor is added, its lacking in something. 


So why would you pay 50 bucks for this when they aren't even using the highest quality ingredients?


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## ccl16rt (Jun 24, 2010)

GSDSunshine said:


> I agree, before switching try to feed a little less. My 85 lb 2.5 year old male eats 3 cups a day of a similar calorie dense food. If you don't want to feed 3 meals a day, you can still feed 1.5 cups per meal. If it gets slightly better, you could even go down to 1 cup in the morning, one at night, and add in a half cup sometime during the day, or in a treat dispenser, or add to his dinner for 1.5 cups.
> 
> Speaking of treats. Does he get any. They could also help contribute to over feeding and runny stool. If you are doing a lot of training with him, I would cut back on his food a little, or mix in part of his meal in with the training treats.


Thank you so much for the help. I'll drop his food to 3 cups per day and see how that works. I do give him treats. I use the bil-jac treats. I work with him only a few hours a day, but I do reward him in treats. I guess I didnt account that into his meals..... Woops, he is my first dog... I'm still learning too...


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

Any updates?


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## ccl16rt (Jun 24, 2010)

Well, its been one week of dropping his meals to a 1 1/2 cups, twice a day, and now his stool is no longer watery and appears to be normal. I never would have thought to just cut back on his food. Thank you everyone so much for all the help. Now, one last question. Since I dropped his food, am I under feeding him? He is about average right now for almost 6 months, and I dont want him to thin out. Thanks again...


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

ccl16rt said:


> Well, its been one week of dropping his meals to a 1 1/2 cups, twice a day, and now his stool is no longer watery and appears to be normal. I never would have thought to just cut back on his food. Thank you everyone so much for all the help. Now, one last question. Since I dropped his food, am I under feeding him? He is about average right now for almost 6 months, and I dont want him to thin out. Thanks again...


3 cups a day should be good enough for him, if he starts to look too thin then maybe you can up it with half a cup, 3 1/2 cups a day. But 3 should be good for him. 

I am glad that he is doing better.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

I agree with LaRen, it should be enough but every dog is different. The only way to know if you are feeding him the right amount is by seeing him. 

He should have a defined waist and you should be able to feel his ribs easily (some even like to be able to see the last two). He is young so you want him to stay on the lean side so you aren't putting too much weight on his growing joints and bones.


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## Schatzi09 (Sep 10, 2010)

i fed my GSD Blue for about 3 months till she was about 5mo. she didnt gain any weight and her stool was always runny. I took her to the vet and was told that the food was way to rich for her and it was going right thru her. my vet said to switch dog food and try something not as rich, ive been trying different brands for the past few months and have stuck with nutro max large breed puppy, she seems to enjoy it he most and she is finally putting on weight, she is now 11 months and about 60lbs. Hope this helps a little


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

You can also get a better quality treat. Read the ingredients. Freeze dried lamb is a good one. You can also make homemade beef crunchies, they are very easy and the dogs love them. You just need stew meat and an oven! You can google it (homemade beef crunchies for dogs).


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