Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Fun Subject Shiloh Is on Diamond Naturals Small Breed Puppy Food as per the breeders recommendation. After reading a lot and speaking to a few store owners about the brand she was on as well as the fact that she is on a small breed food and she is a large breed pup.....we decided to incorporate a large breed puppy food into her diet and ween her off the DNSBPF. I WAS doing this slowly. Maybe a table spoon a day of the Eagle Pack Holistic Large Breed Puppy Food. She immediately got very loose stools. I didn't panic and kept up the 1 tablespoon a day but it did not get better in the week we were doing this. So we thought we better not switch and left out the EPHLBPF and went back to straight DNSBPF. That seemed to immediately firm up her poop again......but only off and on. Mainly she has very loose poop. She will have maybe one firm poop a day and the rest are almost to the full diahrea category. She also goes anywhere from 6 or more times a day. I am beginning to think that incorporating that table spoon of EPLBPF had nothing to do with the loose stool but timing made us think it did? Is this something I should be concerned about. She seems to be acting normal on all other accounts.
A little puppy (you didn't say how old your puppy is) WILL defecate six times a day, but the diarrhea is probably making it worse.
I'd switch back to the original puppy food. And you might want to browse through the 'Whole Dog Journal' which has extensive reviews of dog foods, and choose a new food for another slow transition. There are many foods, such as Canidae, that have nutritous ingredients (not 'chicken by-products' which can include chicken BEAKS) and are good for all life stages.
The key to a good dog food is that the first few ingredients should be some kind of MEAT, not meat by-products, and definitely not corn, which is a filler and not digested by the canine GI tract. Corn also has been tied to allergies and a LOT of gas.
A good quality food will also produce a noticeable decrease in the volume of stool.
And remember, a little puppy has no control over the muscles that hold the bladder and bowel closed. That's something she has to grow into. Until then, her bladder and bowel will be on auto-pilot: they get full and they'll empty and she won't even realize that they're full.
A little puppy (you didn't say how old your puppy is) WILL defecate six times a day, but the diarrhea is probably making it worse.
I'd switch back to the original puppy food. And you might want to browse through the 'Whole Dog Journal' which has extensive reviews of dog foods, and choose a new food for another slow transition. There are many foods, such as Canidae, that have nutritous ingredients (not 'chicken by-products' which can include chicken BEAKS) and are good for all life stages.
The key to a good dog food is that the first few ingredients should be some kind of MEAT, not meat by-products, and definitely not corn, which is a filler and not digested by the canine GI tract. Corn also has been tied to allergies and a LOT of gas.
A good quality food will also produce a noticeable decrease in the volume of stool.
And remember, a little puppy has no control over the muscles that hold the bladder and bowel closed. That's something she has to grow into. Until then, her bladder and bowel will be on auto-pilot: they get full and they'll empty and she won't even realize that they're full.
Best of luck.
She is 10 weeks old and weighs about 20 plus pounds. We did switch back to the original but it didn't help. I have decided to take her into the vet today. She had a check up appt for Monday anyways so we just moved it to today to make sure nothing is wrong. If nothing is wrong then I am going to try some pumpkin which was recommended to me on another site Supposedly that will help firm up the poop. Thannks
Pumpkin isn't enough at this point, use Oat Bran a fiber that balances wet or dry stool, cooked like it says on the box or a bit dry in her foods. (red box up with the quaker oats)
Your vet will give her something like flagyl. It's probably an allergy to one or more ingredients in the new food and she developed irritable bowel from it (provided that it's not a totally different coincidence like eating berries outside).
Of course it could be totally unrelated to the food.
I recommend California Natural, only three ingredients targeted to allergic or bowel sensitive dogs as long as they are not allergic to the three ingredients. My bulldog could not tolerate the canned version, it has flax in it and the dry doesnt. Flax is seen to be a high allergen now, where it's a fad with humans.
you can go to Cal Natural's site to see if there is an independent store for you nearby.
(i used to own a pet store and am an advisor on an internet site for a disease called Megaesophagus that is G.I related so we see this all the time)
She is also drinking different water. Think about yourself on a trip to someplace away from your home area. Different minerals in the water can affect the bowel to a certain extent, but I think the advice from runswithscissors is great!
Last edited by SouthernBelleInUtah; 07-03-2008 at 08:51 AM..
Reason: typo
How much are you feeding her? When you feed her there should be a margin to feed her in listed on the bag, if the stool starts out frim and then starts getting soft or loose, she's being overfed.
Home from the vets. She has Giardia (sp?) They put her on meds Luckily she tested negative to everything else. She is only getting 3 cups a day of the small breed puppy food. The vet is going to put an end to that too! She said she is going a lot (even before the diahrea) and that the small breed doesn't have what she needs as a large puppy. So once she is healthy we will be switching formulas for her. Oh she weighed in at 23.5 lbs at 10 weeks. Was able to get her second set of vaccines. Plus she is starting on the frontline and heartworm prevention stuff. Big day for Shiloh. I am thankful that it was nothing more serious. Hopefully she will be on the road to recovery Of course that is if we can get her to take this pill daily Thanks
My doggy had loose stools all of the time with Solid Gold Hund N Flocken. He has had normal stools since I had switched to Canidae All Life Stages Lamb. The protein content probably had a lot to do with my dog's stools.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Shiloh Is on Diamond Naturals Small Breed Puppy Food as per the breeders recommendation. After reading a lot and speaking to a few store owners about the brand she was on as well as the fact that she is on a small breed food and she is a large breed pup.....we decided to incorporate a large breed puppy food into her diet and ween her off the DNSBPF. I WAS doing this slowly. Maybe a table spoon a day of the Eagle Pack Holistic Large Breed Puppy Food. She immediately got very loose stools. I didn't panic and kept up the 1 tablespoon a day but it did not get better in the week we were doing this. So we thought we better not switch and left out the EPHLBPF and went back to straight DNSBPF. That seemed to immediately firm up her poop again......but only off and on. Mainly she has very loose poop. She will have maybe one firm poop a day and the rest are almost to the full diahrea category.
Supposedly that will help firm up the poop. Thannks 
Luckily she tested negative to everything else. She is only getting 3 cups a day of the small breed puppy food. The vet is going to put an end to that too! She said she is going a lot (even before the diahrea) and that the small breed doesn't have what she needs as a large puppy. So once she is healthy we will be switching formulas for her. Oh she weighed in at 23.5 lbs at 10 weeks. Was able to get her second set of vaccines. Plus she is starting on the frontline and heartworm prevention stuff. Big day for Shiloh. I am thankful that it was nothing more serious. Hopefully she will be on the road to recovery 
