# Anyone else's pup unable to tolerate Blue Buffalo?



## NietzschesMomma (Jan 20, 2013)

Hi everyone,
Nietzsche is doing well...except in one area. When I got her, she was eating Iams and doing fine...very, very slowly switched her over to Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy...

If I feed her small amounts, her stools are fine, but if I feed her what she should be eating, she ends up with diarrhea. Been through this several times. 

She does not have internal parasites, etc. She's growing, but too thin in my opinion...

Has anyone else had this problem with this specific food? I know Iams isn't the best...but at least she had consistent stools and wasn't looking so lean...thanks!


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

Absolutely I think all of us has had this problem at some time or another. Not just with Blue Buffalo. Some dogs just can't tolerate some foods. My first GSD couldn't eat anything Purina. That was before all the specialty dog foods. My current girl Tasha can't do the Diamond Naturals. It give her diarrhea every time. You just have to switch foods and find one that works for you. I've found that both my GSD's do well on Natures Recipe for sensitive stomachs. Unfortunately it has recently gone up about $10 a bag. Ugh so I'm looking for something else.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Overfeeding does cause diarrhea. Why do you think she's too thin?
GSDs should be lean. Their joints are easily stressed by extra weight.
What quantity of BB causes diarrhea?


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## NietzschesMomma (Jan 20, 2013)

She didn't do well on Nutro either...all of my other dogs do great on it (none are GSD's) but not her...argh! So frustrating! 




shepherdmom said:


> Absolutely I think all of us has had this problem at some time or another. Not just with Blue Buffalo. Some dogs just can't tolerate some foods. My first GSD couldn't eat anything Purina. That was before all the specialty dog foods. My current girl Tasha can't do the Diamond Naturals. It give her diarrhea every time. You just have to switch foods and find one that works for you. I've found that both my GSD's do well on Natures Recipe for sensitive stomachs. Unfortunately it has recently gone up about $10 a bag. Ugh so I'm looking for something else.


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## NietzschesMomma (Jan 20, 2013)

Sunflowers said:


> Overfeeding does cause diarrhea. Why do you think she's too thin?
> GSDs should be lean. Their joints are easily stressed by extra weight.
> What quantity of BB causes diarrhea?



She looks too thin to me...almost ribby...not quite, but almost...I know she should be lean...but not quite this lean. If she eats more than two cups a day TOTAL, she ends up with the runs...been through this several times now...even increasing by 1/4 cup each feeding....we go through 24 hours of this...every time. And HI Sunflowers! Been offline, had a family emergency and was gone nearly three weeks! DID get the xpen, LOVE IT!!


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Oh, I am so glad it's working for you! Love that expen. We would be in big trouble without it.
I hope everything is okay with your family now.

Why don't you post a couple of pictures of her, from the side and from above.
I'm sure people here will tell you she's too thin.

What I have heard about BB is that it is rich, and several dogs here have had a problem with it. 
I am wondering if adding some green tripe to her food would help her tummy.


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## NietzschesMomma (Jan 20, 2013)

Sunflowers said:


> Oh, I am so glad it's working for you! Love that expen. We would be in big trouble without it.
> I hope everything is okay with your family now.
> 
> Why don't you post a couple of pictures of her, from the side and from above.
> ...


I will take some new pix when I can get her to stay still long enough! She did great on her first road trip with me...my 99 year old Nana got pneumonia...needless to say I threw some clothes, Nietzsche's stuff in the car and we were gone! She made it, I dunno how, bless her 99 year old heart!  I DO love that xpen!! Really good price! 

BTW What is Hans eating? Same breeder, much in common with bloodlines...I'm also going to contact Narnia and see what they feed...


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## Metro_Mike (Mar 29, 2013)

Sylar has been eating Blue Buffalo Wilderness since 8.5 weeks. At 12 weeks we were feeding him 1 cup x 3 times a day for a total of 3 cups. His stool is firm however, when we first went to 3 cups his stool occasionally finished watery.

Sylar is now 17 and 1/2 weeks and weighs 46 lbs. We still only feed him a total of 3 cups a day. He is very active. I think the cal count for BB is on the higher side if I remember. Several threads on this forum list the first four ingredients and cal count of major dog foods in a spreadsheet.

I had a Fox Terrier that had bad food allergies. One of the only types of food we could feed her was fish and potatoes.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Narnia feeds Fromm Gold adult.
That is what he came home with.
Hans is raw fed. Very, very sensitive stomach. 
I had lots of problems with that, until I found something that works for him.


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## CelticGlory (Jan 19, 2006)

shepherdmom said:


> Absolutely I think all of us has had this problem at some time or another. Not just with Blue Buffalo. Some dogs just can't tolerate some foods. My first GSD couldn't eat anything Purina. That was before all the specialty dog foods. My current girl Tasha can't do the Diamond Naturals. It give her diarrhea every time. You just have to switch foods and find one that works for you. I've found that both my GSD's do well on Natures Recipe for sensitive stomachs. Unfortunately it has recently gone up about $10 a bag. Ugh so I'm looking for something else.


You know the reps come into Petsmart a lot to promote the food right? They always have coupons they give people and if you have a Petsmart PetPerks card you pay less as well. I have a PetPerks, I had it when I had my fish. My sister is getting a puppy and I'm buying the food; I plan on going with another food that Petsmart doesn't carry. I think you can also email the company and ask if they have any coupons they can send you. So you can get up to $5 off of a bag of food.


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## CelticGlory (Jan 19, 2006)

NietzschesMomma said:


> Hi everyone,
> Nietzsche is doing well...except in one area. When I got her, she was eating Iams and doing fine...very, very slowly switched her over to Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy...
> 
> If I feed her small amounts, her stools are fine, but if I feed her what she should be eating, she ends up with diarrhea. Been through this several times.
> ...


Which one are you feeding her? I didn't look at the whole thread to see if you mentioned it or not. Does it have any grains in it? If so, how much? Have you tried adding pumpkin to it?


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## NietzschesMomma (Jan 20, 2013)

CelticGlory said:


> Which one are you feeding her? I didn't look at the whole thread to see if you mentioned it or not. Does it have any grains in it? If so, how much? Have you tried adding pumpkin to it?


It is Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy.


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## NietzschesMomma (Jan 20, 2013)

Darnit, couldn't edit...
This is the feeding guidelines from BB for LB Puppy. 










Her coat looks gorgeous, she has tons of energy...If I stick with smaller amounts, she's fine. I haven't tried adding any pumpkin yet, but will. I'm sure she'll eat it, she'll eat anything, no problems with her appetite, that's for sure! 

If the problem was grains, she'd have not done so well on Iams...lots and lots of grains in that food.

Momma dog is about 90 pounds, Papa dog is HUGE, at least 125 pounds...both are very large boned Czech WL dogs and just stunning.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Wha?
That seems really over the standard. 125 lbs?
I am wondering if the owner of this dog did not exaggerate about the weight. Some do.
Or maybe they aren't being kept lean?
Hans's sire is only 75 lbs.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Maybe she isn't to thin and your thinking she is?? My son thinks our GSD is to thin, but the vet says she is ideal. I kinda figured she was, but my son needed to hear it.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

llombardo said:


> Maybe she isn't to thin and your thinking she is?? My son thinks our GSD is to thin, but the vet says she is ideal. I kinda figured she was, but my son needed to hear it.


People are so used to seeing obese dogs that they don't know what a fit one looks like.
Robyn is perfect. Not thin at all!


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## NietzschesMomma (Jan 20, 2013)

Sunflowers said:


> Wha?
> That seems really over the standard. 125 lbs?
> I am wondering if the owner of this dog did not exaggerate about the weight. Some do.
> Or maybe they aren't being kept lean?
> Hans's sire is only 75 lbs.


He's not super lean...but gawd he is gorgeous...not overweight, just a VERY large boned boy, and stunning...hoping Nietzsche's markings end up like his, she certainly has his face! I see him pretty regularly, and yes, he is that big.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Sunflowers said:


> People are so used to seeing obese dogs that they don't know what a fit one looks like.
> Robyn is perfect. Not thin at all!


Thank you for that compliment. You are right about the obese dogs. The vet called my other two all american dogs:shocked: I had to laugh when she said it, but it made so much sense. Needless to say we are switching foods to Annamaet Lean and increasing exercise. I want my dogs around for a long time


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## NietzschesMomma (Jan 20, 2013)

llombardo said:


> Maybe she isn't to thin and your thinking she is?? My son thinks our GSD is to thin, but the vet says she is ideal. I kinda figured she was, but my son needed to hear it.


Well, I am a vet tech (retired) so I've seen my share of pups. She's definitely hitting a growth spurt, I swear she's gotten three inches taller in the past couple of weeks alone-suddenly towers over her playmate, a 25 pound terrier mix. I can see the outline of her ribcage, that does not make me a happy Momma.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

NietzschesMomma said:


> Well, I am a vet tech (retired) so I've seen my share of pups. She's definitely hitting a growth spurt, I swear she's gotten three inches taller in the past couple of weeks alone-suddenly towers over her playmate, a 25 pound terrier mix. I can see the outline of her ribcage, that does not make me a happy Momma.


I know that my dog went through the growth spurts to. Sometimes they go upwards and then it takes a minute to grow out, by that time they are usually going upwards again:crazy:


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## Caitydid255 (Aug 28, 2010)

Freyja can't eat Blue Buffalo. She gets diaharehea and hives. I switched her to TOTW and we have no problems. As a pup she had a very sensitive stomach and the only food that didn't cause problems was Science Diet Large Breed Puppy. She's my oddball.


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## NietzschesMomma (Jan 20, 2013)

While not ideal, I'm think going to try reducing the amount of BB, and start adding Iams LB Puppy again (what she started with) to see what happens. If that's what agrees with her tummy best, perhaps I can do 50/50.


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## pinklady (Nov 30, 2012)

My 4 month old puppy had constant diarrhea on Blue Buffalo, both the Wilderness and just the regular puppy food. I've switched the California Natural and he finally has solid poops. Although the recent recall makes me nervous, and I'm wondering if I should switch to something else like Fromm....


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## Jordan1017 (May 9, 2013)

We started her on this andsince we didn't initially transition to what her breeder fed, we weren't surprised to get loose stool. It hardened up, but wasn't as solid as I preferred, and I hated the white dots all in it. Vet said it was too much of something and not being processed correctly so she just pooed it out. Changed her to Avoderm and she has excellent firm stools.


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## Swifty (May 11, 2013)

Mine has been having some diarrhea on Blue Buffalo but I'm not sure if it's from her food since most of her stool is acceptably firm. I had very good results from Wellness, but the first ingredient is fish and my pup started to smell like fish so I switched to Blue Buffalo. If not for the fishy smell I'd switch her back in a second, though.

I've also been seeing the white specs. I'm thinking of trying Nutro or something after this bag is nearly gone.


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## TommyB681 (Oct 19, 2012)

I feed Blue Buffalo and Penny has that issue. But its because she is fed too much, not the food. Dogs, especially puppies, will eats whats in front of them even if its too much. This can effect the stool. 

Of course it could just be the food doesnt agree with her. If you like iams the best go ahead with iams. My last shepherd was on iams almost her whole life and was just fine


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