[hudsongold]

We have an 8 month Golden Retriever who was on Eagle Pack Holistic Select Chick & Rice from the breeder. He had bad gas and sometime soft poops so we decided to switch to Innova puppy. I did the switch in about 3 weeks as to not upset his stomach and mix in some plain yogurt. Everything was fine in the beginning of the switch. His poops were nice and firm, I was so excited. But now...He is now fully on the Innova for only about 2 weeks. His morning poop is fine but as the day goes on it gets softer and softer. He only poops about 3x a day but at night it's extremely soft. Not really diaherra but very close. I don't know why they would start out ok in the morning and then get worse as the day goes on. He doesn't seemed bothered by it. He likes the food and eats all of it. He gets excited when it feeding time.
We are almost done with the 30lb bag of Innova and I am not sure if I should get another bag or try something else at this point. I don't want to call our vet yet because I know they will tell me to feed him chick/rice until his poop his firm but I know that won't solve the problem.
I would really appreciate any help. Thanks!

 

[whiteleo]

Are you giving him any treats of any kind throughout the day?

 

[Guest]

Are you giving him any treats of any kind throughout the day?

I was just about to ask this, too. Too much snacking during the day often contributes to soft stools.

 

[hudsongold]

Not really. Most of his "rewards" are kibble. Once in awhile he might get a freezed dried liver bite or a piece Wellness biscuit. But we really try to limit his treats so that's why we usually just use his kibble for treats. And he will only get one or two pieces of kibble.
Boy, we sound mean don't we. No wonder his got such an upset stomach. :frown:

 

[whiteleo]

Well, it doesn't sound like he has outright diarreah right? Does he have any other symptoms of say an allergy, which Goldens or known for? Red bumps on the tummy, licking his paws, scratching a lot? If not, then I would see about trying to slow his eating down a bit, maybe smaller meals. Innova was the best kibble for my female who had horrible digestive upsets,it wasn't 100% so I finally went raw.

 

[hudsongold]

It's definitely not full blown yet but close.
Since his only 8 months it's hard to tell about the allergies. We have had Goldens before so we know all too well about them. We had our last Golden on Bendryl 2x a day. I don't think that is the problem. Unless it's a food allergy which I can't be certain of.
Right now he gets 2 meals a day. Do you think I should try feeding him 3x day? And he gets 4 cups of kibble a day.

 

[whiteleo]

You could try 3x aday, you must be in a situation to do that, which is great! I'd say that after a few days of that and the poops don't firm up a little more, you may have to look at a grain free dog food, because he could have an intolerance to grains. Innova makes Evo which is a grain free food that is really good, there is also Orijen.

 

[chowder]

He might be getting way too much food in a day. Too much food will give them diarhea. Rocky is 74 pounds and eats 2 cups a day of kibble. He ate Innova puppy and Orijen puppy when he was younger and still only ate 2 cups a day. He would have mushy poops if I gave him too much food. It seems like 3x a day for poop might be indicating that. Rocky usually went twice a day as a puppy and I would feed him morning and evening. Now at one year old he goes once a day, very rarely twice.

I would keep him at twice a day feeding but try giving him less. You can always put it in one of those special bowls so he is forced to eat it slower and makes it last a little longer.

 

[whiteleo]

I have to agree with chowder, I couldn't remember how much to feed when I was feeding Innova, but I know it is more than a grain free food. Try what she suggested!

 

[Doc]

I would reduce the amount of food as has already been suggested and add Bac Pac to his meals. It is a helpful probotic supplement.

 

[JayJayisme]

I had a similar problem with noisy digestion and loose stools with my two dogs on Innova puppy. I finally gave up and switched them to Wellness Super 5 Mix which was a little better but not great. So next came Artemis Fresh Mix which has been very good for one of my pups but still producing intermittent intestinal rumblings and soft stools in the other. I finally moved him to Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and he loves it and has perfect stools and a quiet tummy.

So now I have one dog on a blend of Artemis Fresh Mix and the TOTW Pacific Stream and the other on straight TOTW Pacific Stream. Once they were stable, I started feeding them them raw meaty bones every 2 to 3 days and thus far, they have been great and super healthy. My goal is to have them mostly on raw but for now, the TOTW Pacific Stream kibble has been well tolerated by them.

The bottom line is that all this information is anecdotal and all you can do is look at this as a guide on what kinds of foods to try and what to avoid. Every dog is different though.

 

[hudsongold]

Thank you all so much. You have given me lots of useful information. I think I will stay with the Innova puppy for now and just try cutting back to see if that helps. If that doesn't work I think I will try a grain free.

Doc, you mentioned adding Bac Pac to his food. The yogurt I'm giving him has probiotics in it. Would that be too much if he gets both?

I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!

 

[wags]

Sorry to hear of the problem your having. You don't mix any wet food then in your foods. that sometimes can cause a looser stool.
Sometimes it takes a bit for the pups to get use to new foods though also! Stick with it and see how things go! If it gets worse I would change foods and aslo have you seen a vet about this?
I know my dogs when I add like a wet food sometimes they will have a looser stool! I for a couple days added wellness core wet and 2 out of 4 I noticed a difference in their stool, so also some dogs handle this better too!

If your dog has actual diarrhea then bland foods are best for them try boiled rice and chicken or with boiled hamburger. (boil the rice with a couple cups of water and a chicken breast) Canned pumpkin is also good for fiber . make sure you give plenty to drink don't want puppy to dehydrate! Also low fat plain yogurt helps and cottage cheese helps too.

 

[hudsongold]

Thanks Wags.
We don't give him any wet food. I do mix in some yogurt. I haven't talked to the vet yet. Right now I know all they will tell me is to give him chick/rice until he gets firm. So I think I will just give the food a little more time. He's only been soley on the Innova for a couple of weeks. I'm going to try to find a probiotic to add also and see if that helps.
He has access to water all day. So I know he's drinking and peeing fine.

 

[wags]

Hopefuly things will go well soon for the pup! Let us know how things are going!

 

[Whiskey's Momma]

I don't think yogurt has that many probiotics in it. I add a little bit of a probiotic powder made by Jarrow and it's called Pet Dophilus. It contains 4 billion organisims per 1/4 teaspoon. There are plenty of good probiotics out there. You can buy it some health food stores and sometimes at pet stores, it should be kept in the fridgeonce you open it. I just put it in his food and he eats it right up.

Good luck

 

[hudsongold]

Well I called the vet yesterday and we are starting a chix/rice diet today to see if that helps. She said once he gets better to start mixing in some food and if it happens again we now the Innova is the problem.
So here we go. We'll see what happens and I will keep you posted.
I did pick up a probiotic at the local pet store but I guess that will wait until this is all straightened out.
Thanks for all your help and support.

 

[RawFedDogs]

Well I called the vet yesterday and we are starting a chix/rice diet today to see if that helps. She said once he gets better to start mixing in some food and if it happens again we now the Innova is the problem.

If you never go back to dog food of any kind, I'll bet your dog won't ever have digestive problems again.

 

[DaneMama]

I would say that dogs or cats with diarrhea are one of the top 2 reasons why people bring their dogs to the vet...speaking from job experience and not including routine work.

Normally there's nothing there as far as parasites that cause the upset, and the ones that do end up coming back positive with parasites didn't have diarrhea in the first place (just a routine check).

So, this tells me that there is definitely something wrong with the foods that dogs ingest. Of course dogs get into things and that causes issues, but cronic problems with bowel problems?!

Its the dog food they get on a regular basis that is the culprit in my opinion. And the dogs that just can't handle species inappropriate diets.

 

[hudsongold]

I am sure you're right Natalie. I have already called the vet at least twice because of pooping problems for Hudson but this is the first time I am putting him on the "bland diet".
RawFedDogs-I know you are probably right. We don't really have the space and I don't think I am up to. I admit to being pretty lazy. Plus I have a hard enough time convincing my husband to try kibbles he has never heard of and probably soon some "wacky" grain-free food. I don't think he would go for raw.