frankgrimes

Ralph has had gas every day since the day we brought him home. Lately I would say it has been worse, and he seems to be pooping more than normal and more runny poops than I would like. The first couple of poops of the day are good, but the more often he poops the softer it gets. Some days he's pooped 6 times! I tried cutting out all treats etc, and the issues still remained.

He is currently on Orijen, Large Breed Puppy. It is 80% protein (from chicken, fish and eggs) and 20% carbs from fruit/veg.

What do you think would be causing the issues, the protein source itself, too high protein? Any ideas of an alternate puppy food that is grain free?

Is it too soon to switch him to an adult dog food if need be? (he's 6 months)

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fjm

Have you considered raw feeding? I know it is not for everyone, but it does sound as if Ralph might benefit from having a diet that was entirely under your control.

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To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,
where doing nothing was not boring- it was peace.

~ Milan Kundera

SusanG

It wouldn't hurt to try a grain free kibble, but do it gradually. My vet told me to keep with the puppy food until Callie was 9 months or so (because it has more fat in it and a growing puppy needs more fat than an adult.) Callie has had gas and loose stools a few times, and it turned out she had a mild case of GI infection and needed an antibiotic. Puppies will pick things up so fast and eat them that sometimes you can't grab them fast enough to stop them from gulping down something icky, especially outside. We attributed one such episode to some sort of chewy dried meat, skins, antlers, rawhide, etc. She seems to have a problem digesting anything like that and gets loose bowels and growling stomach - especially avoid anything not made in the US. The only thing she can tolerate is kong ziggies, nylabone edibles and Merrick Texas Taffy.

Sookster

For a large breed puppy (if you consider spoos to be large breed), I tend not to promote grain free foods other than Orijen, which has a puppy specific foods. Most other grain free foods are listed as all-life-stages but do not have appropriate calcium/phosphorous ratios for large breed puppies. Does Orijen's counterpart Acana make a puppy food? It's a lower protein version of Orijen. I have heard of Orijen simply being too dense/rich for some dogs' tummies.

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outwest

I have also heard that Origen can be too rich for some dogs. Mine did fine on a quality food with grain (no wheat, corn or filler) as a puppy. Maybe you could try one with grains in it and see what happens. Buy a little bag.

mdwcarolina

Yikes, well-timed thread for an issue I am looking at as well. I am just about to try switching Ziva (3 months) from Blue Buffalo Wilderness puppy to Orijen Large Breed Puppy. Reason I was about to do it was because Ziva too was having soft (and some liquid) stools, and I had been feeding quite a bit of white rice and chicken baby food to counteract that, and when I started re-introducing the BB kibble, she was uninterested. Having researched the foods I was impressed by Orijen, and honestly just felt that it was an even better food than I had thought BB was. Figured since I was re-introducing kibble it might be a good time to make the transition.

For my part, I have not been sure that the soft/loose stools were not caused by treats, as I am still trying to sort my way through which ones might be irritating. I try to take it really easy on treats, and be careful to use treats that are designed for puppies and have natural ingredients and not fillers, but with the early stages of training, I need to use something ... and using her regular kibble (the BB) wasn't working since she got bored or whatever by it.

I feel for you, frankgrimes, on trying to figure out what is causing Ralph's stool issues -- it is hard to do! I am so grateful for all the input we get from our more experienced folks here!

Hayley22

I have heard that a raw diet does wonders for firming the stool.

I am currently feeding a homemade cooked diet. (It's only been about a week or so...) and Delphi's stools are much better. (We also had runny tummy issues.) I did put veggies in the cooked mixture, but now I'm wondering what the point is, as she poops the veggies out whole! I've heard that dogs can't digest veggies, so that's probably why.

outwest

Mine was transitioned from puppy with grain to BB Wilderness as an adult without an issue. Maybe it is the grainfree puppies that are causing the problem?

Keep in mind that just like humans, puppies digestive systems are still developing. Loose stool is very common and not always related to the food. More often than not it is just their digestive system working too quickly or slowly as their body matures. Often the issue is solved by 4/5 months, in other words, time.

Indiana

Our two get Orijen too, with some raw and we switch it up to Acana every other week to hedge our bets about the high protein level I like the combination and our dogs are thriving on it, also their coats and teeth are looking good on this diet.

WestCoastSpoo

When we got Huxley he was fed a local brand that we couldn't get in our area so we switched him to Horizon Legacy (we were told by the breeder and our vet to feed large breed puppies adult food- and both considered the spoo "large breed" although I know there's debate about that). Anyway, after the switch the red tear stains he had had on his face disappeared and he had a lot less gas. We've been really happy with it (although only one store carries it in our area!) but I'd also like to start feeding some raw (when I can muster the courage to try it!!)

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