[xellil]

I have read that canned pumpkin can help, we don't get canned pumpkin here but I bought some fresh pumpkin, boiled it and mashed it and have been adding 2 tablespoons to his food every day. So far it hasn't helped, maybe 2 tablespoons is too much?

Or maybe too little; when I was feeding dry food I fed my 10 pound dog 4 tablespoons per day for constipation. But not really sure what the right amount is.

 

[chowder]

It is probably too much. When we first got Rocky and were changing him from Science Diet to Orijen, we did it cold turkey and he got terrible diarrhea (he also had coccidia). We were told that 1 tbs pumpkin would help the diarrhea but more then that would actually make it worse. That's why you can give it for constipation, too. Pumpkin, sweet potatoes, or boiled rice will all help with the transition if you've already done it cold turkey and don't have any of the old food to mix in. It all will add some fiber to help bulk him up a little bit. Just don't overdo it.

 

[Jenny]

Like one of those bio yogurts?

Yes, yogurts which have friendly bacterias, or some special "bacteria powder" for dogs or human. (I don't know what you have there.)

If your dog cannot tolerate chicken, I would feed her Acana Pacifica (fish), not Acana Grasslands. Grasslands is great food, too, but it has calcium 2% and I think that is too much for medium or large breed puppies. Yes, it's said to be "all life stages" but still I wouldn't feed it to puppies under 1 year. Pacifica has 1,5% calcium, and it's better for puppies IMO. Pacifica is very good and digestible food.

 

[rmorrison1]

I've boiled him some chicken and rice today and I'll see how that goes, if that gives him diarrhea then there's a good chance that he is sensitive to chicken. Luckily Acana Pacifica is available here.

 

[DogLuver]

Yes, yogurts which have friendly bacterias, or some special "bacteria powder" for dogs or human. (I don't know what you have there.)

If your dog cannot tolerate chicken, I would feed her Acana Pacifica (fish), not Acana Grasslands. Grasslands is great food, too, but it has calcium 2% and I think that is too much for medium or large breed puppies. Yes, it's said to be "all life stages" but still I wouldn't feed it to puppies under 1 year. Pacifica has 1,5% calcium, and it's better for puppies IMO. Pacifica is very good and digestible food.

Good point! I too have a Giant breed puppy (great dane 7mths old) and I will only feed Acana Pacifica or Orijen (LBP, Adult, 6-Fish) because the calciumhosphorus ratio is appropriate for a growing giant breed. These percentages are very important with large/giant breeds because if it's too high or the wrong ratio, it can effect their growth and cause problems with their bones down the road.

 

[Ania's Mommy]

Whoa whoa whoa. Let's slow down for a sec.

How long have you been feeding the Acana? How long were you feeding the Orijen before switching? I would give a new food a solid month before discarding it as something that your dog can't tolerate if all you are experiencing is soft poo.

We ARE only talking about loose stools here, right? Not full blown diarrhea for weeks on end, right? Do YOU sometimes have softer stools? Do you panic and have a complete diet overhaul? My guess is that you don't. So why do the same for dogs? :tongue:

I would do as others have suggested and sloooowww it all down. Cut back on the amount you are feeding (seriously, you can feed so much less of a quality food than you could something with a bunch of crappy fillers like SD. And the guidelines on the back of the bag are usually way way too high). Try adding some canned pumpkin. Just a little though. And slowly start decreasing it.

I feel like a lot of people (in general) tend to discard foods a bit too quickly. I would encourage you to stick with the Acana a bit longer, as it is a really good food. And who knows? A month into the trial, your dog may be one of the ones who doesn't do well on it. But give it a fair shot first.

I think it's way too soon to talk about a chicken intolerance.

 

[naturalfeddogs]

I have a 3.5 month old Bullmastiff, I started him off on Eukanuba believing it was a high quality food but then I started to research dog foods online and the common consensus was that Eukanuba is junk and Orijen/Acana is high quality food. I switched my puppy over to Orijen but it gave him loose stools and sometimes full blown diarrhea. I have now switched him to Acana and will see how that goes. Today I went to the vet for vaccinations and told her the whole food story and she said that in her opinion Orijen and Acana were low quality foods and Eukanuba and Science Diet were both superior. She said that she isn't a dog nutritionist but has attended many seminars and is in no way affiliated to any dog food company. So I said that I had researched this online and it was widely believed that Orijen and Acana are far superior foods. Her response was that most of the reviews online are made by "paid off" people and most people do not understand how to read dog food ingredients. This sounds highly suspect to me, what do you guys think?

I don't feed kibble, but It sounds to me like the vet is the one who dosn't know how to read the labels.

I would be looking for another vet!

 

[Jack Monzon]

A month of loose stool is too long, imo. You should know in a week or two after a sensible transition whether the food is working.

 

[rmorrison1]

I was feeding him Orijen for about 3 weeks, he always had soft stools and a lot of them and some days full blown diarrhea, he's only been on Acana for 2 days now. Today I fed him boiled rice and chicken to let his stomach settle and he did solid poops so I think that counts out a chicken allergy.

 

[Jenny]

Today I fed him boiled rice and chicken to let his stomach settle and he did solid poops so I think that counts out a chicken allergy.

That's good. I would feed him now chicken & rice and probiotics, and SLOWLY introduce Acana, within 1-2 weeks. Good luck! :thumb:

 

[rmorrison1]

Hey guys, just wanted to update you all, Harley has been eating 600 grams of Acana for the past few days and has solid firm poop, yey! :high5:

 

[KittyKat]

Hey guys, just wanted to update you all, Harley has been eating 600 grams of Acana for the past few days and has solid firm poop, yey! :high5:

Awesome news! Sometimes it just takes a bit of time and patience. =)

 

[brandypup]

Today I went to the vet for vaccinations and told her the whole food story and she said that in her opinion Orijen and Acana were low quality foods and Eukanuba and Science Diet were both superior.This sounds highly suspect to me, what do you guys think?

bawhahahaha i spit gatoraid on the computer. cough choke. I personaly wouldnt' go back to that vet. If you do I hope you can work with her positivily. I know if I wanted to change vets everythiem I disagreed I would run out of vets.

 

[KittyKat]

bawhahahaha i spit gatoraid on the computer. cough choke. I personaly wouldnt' go back to that vet. If you do I hope you can work with her positivily. I know if I wanted to change vets everythiem I disagreed I would run out of vets.

Most vets say this. Mine said it was because origin and acana have too much protein. -_-

Now i feed raw and she said 'well... bones are dangerous and you should add carbs! Dogs need carbs!'

Besides her utter lack of nutritional knowledge, she's great.

 

[Igandwhippetlover]

I find that Orijen and Acana are great foods. When our tony became very sick from being poisoned, the ER vet said to feed him SD/LD.
we bought it, 6 cans! They went to the shelter in town, He would not eat it at all. The second ER vet told us to feed him fish based dog food.
We switched to Solid Gold Holistic Blendz. I do not nor will I ever feed my dogs SD or Purina.
Stick with the Orijen or Acana.

 

[kevin bradley]

I can UNDERSTAND the position that Orijen/Acana...the really elite foods are unnecessary. I don't agree with this position, but I at least GET it. The scientific community needs lots and lots of confirmation and the only way they get this is thru studies.

But to say that Science Diet or whatever garbage they are pushing is BETTER?... that would ALSO require the same studies they lack in the industry.

So I continue to be confused by the entire establishment. I honestly don't know that its SD and these other companies lining the pockets of our VETS. Hell, in all my time at my Vets office, he's never tried to sell me the SD on his shelf. Christ, I think most of it has dust on the bags. In fact, I've never seen ANYONE buy any food in there.

 

[MollyWoppy]

Kev, mate, when Mol had to go in because she broke one of her teeth, even though her teeth are perfect (even if I do say so myself , and the vet agreed, (before they realised what she ate), they still sent me home with a sample bag of some huge kibbled SD for teeth.
My vet is another who hates Orijen, blames it for liver and kidney diseases because of the high protein. They said it's got 82% protein. No, I said, its more like 40% protein, the 82% is the amount of protein derived from meat sources.
They didn't believe me.

 

[specsgirl]

I'm so glad that you stuck to your guns and didn't listen to your vets advice on this one. As a person who has 4 bullmastiffs in my home I can say that with the exception of 1 who has allergies and is fed a raw diet the rest are on Orijen/Acana. Were raised on them and look absolutely fabulous. Two of them are my current show dogs(one finished #14 last year in Canada) I get compliments everywhere we go. People esp. those who show want to know what my secret is..lol..it's the dog food. I have happy, healthy(yes I pull yearly panels and they all pass with flying colors) and gorgeous dogs.

 

[schtuffy]

Oh dear...don't second guess yourself, Orijen and Acana are high quality kibbles. I doubted myself for a long time when I was searching for the perfect kibble, and even after switching to Orijen I had so many doubts because of all the brainwashing in the media, so I just kept reading and kept digging and kept asking questions. You are doing the right thing for your pup, except maybe try transitioning a little slower this time. Low quality kibble like Eukanuba are crammed with fillers and corn that bind and add bulk to stool. Orijen is very rich in comparison, and therefore switching over to it from something like Eukanuba usually does cause soft stools. I transitioned my dog over to Orijen over a period of 1 month. You could also try feeding less, usually way less than what the bag recommends and then go from there.

ETA: Oops, looks like I responded before getting to the last page :biggrin: Anywho, glad things are going well! I'm sure you have a great vet, but sometimes we have to pick and choose what information we glean from them....much like how you can't expect your general practitioner doctor to know everything about medicine, hence referrals to other experts. As for attending seminars...I've gone to quite a few in my field of work, and I can honestly tell you that a lot of times I walk away remembering jack :wink:

 

[nupe]

I have a 3.5 month old Bullmastiff, I started him off on Eukanuba believing it was a high quality food but then I started to research dog foods online and the common consensus was that Eukanuba is junk and Orijen/Acana is high quality food. I switched my puppy over to Orijen but it gave him loose stools and sometimes full blown diarrhea. I have now switched him to Acana and will see how that goes. Today I went to the vet for vaccinations and told her the whole food story and she said that in her opinion Orijen and Acana were low quality foods and Eukanuba and Science Diet were both superior. She said that she isn't a dog nutritionist but has attended many seminars and is in no way affiliated to any dog food company. So I said that I had researched this online and it was widely believed that Orijen and Acana are far superior foods. Her response was that most of the reviews online are made by "paid off" people and most people do not understand how to read dog food ingredients. This sounds highly suspect to me, what do you guys think?

Champion must have a ton of money...because they have paid off alot of folks then...that talk highly of their food...to your vet I just say..""COME ON MAN"!!!