Puppy food question (1 Viewer)

[Payne]

Wife and I purchased our first puppy. Previous dogs were two adult labs we adopted and we inherited my parents Yorkie after my dad suddenly passed away in 2011.

Enter our now 4 month old Chocolate Lab. He came from the breeder eating Purina Puppy chow.

I initially researched best foods and found Costco was made by Diamond and highly rated and recommended. 

But on the first trip to the vet, she told us grain free is bad and that dogs need grain now. So we asked around and researched a bit more and decided on Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy food. 

Three different occasions over the past 8 weeks, he has had several days in a row with bad diarrhea. Like liquid bad. Twice the vet assured us it's normal and that teething can cause bad cases. Twice he has also been put on medicine to help. Within two days of being off the medicine, diarrhea is back.

Is this normal? Our vet has been rock solid for 20 years and I trust them, but at what point do you look at other causes?

Grain allergy? Change his food? So many variables it could be. His bones? Trying to eat everything off the ground. lol 

 

[ChiefD]

We had a yellow lab that took us a while to find a good food. She had a really sensitive stomach and never really grew out of it. Could not eat one morsel of people food or she would have diarrhea all over the place.

Finally settled on Science Diet I believe. Can't remember the exact blend, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't just a grain diet. As she aged we got her into their prescription food because she needed glucosomine for her joints.

Never had a poop problem her whole life after that. 

 

[Scoresman]

Be careful with vets. Some of them get paid by the food brands to push their products.

Your pup's issue could be an allergy.  Try a different food and see what happens.

We've been giving Wellness Core puppy formula to our 6 month old Aussiedoodle and it has been working well.  Nothing but really good, solid poops.  

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Our Tennessee Treeing Brindle had all kinds of intestinal and skin allergy issues. We tried her on apoquel. that was a temporary fix. We put her on Hills brand Z/D and she has never been better.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Did you just switch all at once or did you slowly make the transition between foods?

We moved away from the Costco brand you mentioned to the Purina pro sensitive. 
 

GL!

 

[ChiefD]

@Payne - couple of questions:

1. Did you switch him to that new food right away? And did he start having the squirts after that?

2. Does he eat table scraps?

If the answer to #1 is yes, I'd buy a small bag of the food the breeder was giving him and try that for awhile.

If the answer to #2 is yes, I'd stop that for awhile also. 

 

[Dezbelief]

I would go back to the Purina puppy chow and call it good.

 

[belljr]

Grain free has been proven to cause heart issues. That's why they are recommending to stay away from it 

Leaving grains out of your dog's diet, however, might be a far greater health risk than keeping them in. According to a warning from the Food and Drug Administration released last week, grain-free food might be giving dogs a life-threatening heart problem called dilated cardiomyopathy, or DCM

Eta: when switching food you should do a 50/50 mix old/new for a few days

 

[Terminalxylem]

Don’t know the answer, but always thought it was strange that domesticated dogs require grain - that’s not part of a wild dog’s natural diet, AFAIK. I suspect it’s actually a micronutrient that comes with the grain, that needs to be supplemented in modern, heavily processed commercial dog food. Or a toxin introduced during the production of grain-free food .
 

Anyway, I’d trust your vet, or get a  new one.

ETA FDA statement about grain free dog food

 

[Ridgeback]

Be careful with vets. Some of them get paid by the food brands to push their products.

Your pup's issue could be an allergy.  Try a different food and see what happens.

We've been giving Wellness Core puppy formula to our 6 month old Aussiedoodle and it has been working well.  Nothing but really good, solid poops.  

I agree with everything you wrote. I also second Wellness as being a great brand, and s step above Costco, for sure. The vet saying grain free is bad? No, not necessarily, it depends on your particular dog. 

 

[Ridgeback]

Grain free has been proven to cause heart issues. That's why they are recommending to stay away from it 

Leaving grains out of your dog's diet, however, might be a far greater health risk than keeping them in. According to a warning from the Food and Drug Administration released last week, grain-free food might be giving dogs a life-threatening heart problem called dilated cardiomyopathy, or DCM

Eta: when switching food you should do a 50/50 mix old/new for a few days

Among a relative small sample size. From my understanding, a good part of the issue is what they replace the grains with. You don't want something that's too pea heavy. That quote above wasn't from last week, but now is many years old. There have been newer studies that have questioned it.

I'm not saying grain free is the answer or not, but that it's gotten a bad rap from a study that has been speculated to be funded by companies that own pet food producers and use grain in their ingredients.

And yes, when transitioning your dog from old food to new food, ideally you transition that over a week or more. Slowly adding the new variety to the old. I would start with no more than 25% of the new, and slowly bump up that percentage.  

 

[Bluesbomber]

I have Nutro delevered by Chewy.com along with oravet dental chews. subzidize oravet with ocasional amazon order. I changed to a different food for awhile,It was fine but went back to nutro. Not wise to overfeed or give too much table scraps. I try to stay with protiens for treats and small portions.

 

[FairWarning]

I have Nutro delevered by Chewy.com along with oravet dental chews. subzidize oravet with ocasional amazon order. I changed to a different food for awhile,It was fine but went back to nutro. Not wise to overfeed or give too much table scraps. I try to stay with protiens for treats and small portions.

I would not recommend any table scraps. Dogs can get diabetes from things like the sauces from human food.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

I have Nutro delevered by Chewy.com along with oravet dental chews. subzidize oravet with ocasional amazon order. I changed to a different food for awhile,It was fine but went back to nutro. Not wise to overfeed or give too much table scraps. I try to stay with protiens for treats and small portions.

I would not recommend any table scraps. Dogs can get diabetes from things like the sauces from human food.

Imo table scraps are fine if accompanied by their kibble. 1 part scraps, 2 parts kibble.

And by table scraps I mean vegetables, meat/poultry/fish, the occasional potato and/or rice. No breads or sugars.

 

[Payne]

We switched to Diamond Naturals with Lamb as the main ingredient.

Plan will be to switch him over after a year - 18 months to Kirkland, which is made by Diamonds.
Less tummy issues and his coat is complimented all the time. Though at 9 months and 80lbs, we are going broke feeding him. lol

 

[gianmarco]

We always used Taste of the Wild from Chewy.

It used to be one of the top rated dog foods and came at the best price per pound, by far, of the top rated foods. I haven't looked recently where they are, but we never had any issues with it. We'd get 3 different flavors and would rotate. And you didn't have to blend or mix when switching.

 

[Shutout]

I've had quite a bit of experience with this and thankful for every minute and clean up because I love my dogs .

Re:switching the food. ALWAYS do it incrementally. Regardless of size of dog, I've always found that a solid formula is to introduce 1/4 of new a week for four weeks is a very solid way to go. So, first week, 1/4 of new food mixed with 3/4 old food. Then next week, 1/2 new and 1/2 old, then 3/4 new, 1/4 old. Especially with puppies or dogs with medical issues, it is important to transition. Also, a small amount of pumpkin (like the filling you buy for pie) on top of their meal is excellent for dogs adjusting to new food.

Re: a food for life-there was a period of grain vs. non-grain. If your breed (or personally, your dog in particular) has a tendency to have gas or you hear their stomach squeaking after they eat, then grain free is almost always good. Avoid exotice meats like lamb, duck, bufallo, etc. Blander is better and chicken is usually a good choice.

Re: possible allergy-if it's a puppy, it's more likely than not it's not. It's learning and adjusting to food but in the small case it appears they genuinely cannot tolerate a food, empty their stomach and introduce one and only one food at a time and test. That's just what you have to do.

Re: a brand of food- I have personally never had a single problem with merrick. Hound breed always seem to thrive withit imy experience.

Re: older dogs. If you are a pet parent more than just a dog owner and you really want to go the extra mile, this is for you. When your dog gets into senior citizen age for their breed, the absolutely best thing you can do for giving them the most, best quality of life golden years, is to introduce natural supplements such as fish oil for joints (especially for dogs known to have hip and joint issues), a really good bed to sleep on, and a transition from dog food to human food. Dogs are historically natural omnivores that thrived on real food throughout history. Dog kibble is convenient and cheaper (although, if you are willing to do the work to prepare it, real food is really not much more expensive at all).
My oldest dog rotates a protein each week (egg, turkey, chicken, salmon), brown rice (never white), either carrots or sweet potatoes (alternates), green beans or brocolli or zucchini(alternates), and a fruit that alternates (apple, blueberry, banana, water melon). She has been in kidney failure for 4 years and is almost 17 years old and we have been able to dramatically slow the progress. We also immediately noticed that once we removed her from special kibble designed for senior dogs and dogs with kidney issues, etc, that she made great improvements in several areas.

We have really come to buy into the "you are what you eat" mantra. Hope this helps and your new pup has a remarkably long and healthy and happy life.