Food/Poopie Tushie
 . We eventually switched him off of the puppy food and onto another natural food designed for "all-life stages" (another food from Orijin). Again...the same problem. We have kept him on the Purina the whole time, and have just integrated the other foods with it. Without the Purina, his poop is much worse. However, we have also tried just the Purina again, and it was constipating him. He is now on yet another "all-life stages" food (this one is primarily made up of lamb (Akana is the brand), the last one was primarily made up of fish, and the Purina is primarily made up of chicken). We have kept him on each of the new foods for a few weeks at a time to allow his system to adjust. The newest food has been better - the best so far, but we are still getting some soft/runny poops on a daily basis - sometimes worse than others. Needless to say, our pup has the cleanest tushie in America with the amount we have to wash it after walks! We are in dire need of food suggestions as we can't continue on with his poopie butt!!! Only good news is that Barkley loves to eat and he is so well behaved when we bath/groom him after all of this! Does anyone have any food suggestions??? HELP!!! |
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| We would fight with Wendel's poopy butt, too. Ours was a few factors though. It would depend on the activity level. The more active Wendel was the softer the stool. I guess more movement made softer stool. Wendel also doesn't really arch his back when he poops. He just barely arches his back so the poop would always get stuck in his coat. We have our dogs on Taste of the Wild and have good results. Has your vet checked for any bacterial gastro-intestinal ailment? |
| What about just switching him to ProPlan puppy? Sometimes they'll have issues adjusting but maybe give the transition a week and see how it goes. Definitely switch to the new food slowly like you have been. Honestly though, if you're dealing with a reputable breeder that knows his or her dogs well, I'd probably just follow those instructions and not worry too much about the vet's advice. That's not to say a vet is not knowledgeable but individual breed nutrition isn't always a specialty. |
| Proplan Puppy settled Tiggy's gut down when she was having issues at around 4 months old. |
| Sometimes foods can be too rich for their systems, example when my brie flew over to me from New Zealand at 12 weeks old her diet was Puppy Royal Canin, after a few weeks switched over as she was pooping several times a day, soft and the smell was awfull. Her brother that came over with her was the same so onto another puppy kibble with a slow transition. Transitioning over to a new food will take a few weeks to not upset their systems, you start with about 3/4 of the food they are already on with 1/4 of the new food you want to introduce. After a few days if stools are normal then 1/2 & 1/2 see how that goes then 1/4 to 3/4 new and eventually onto the newer stuff. Never rush if you want to try a newer dry do it slowly and see how their systems are as far a the stools are concerned. Sometimes it is just a matter of trial and error till you find what is appropriate for your dog. Speak to your breeder for advice there they know better then what a vet is prescribing as far as food is concerned. Anything new in food from what they have been on previously has to be transitioned onto slowly.  Proplan puppy is a good kibble for his stage of life. Maybe trying that for the next few months after breeder advice for the Ok will be better for him. He is in the rapid growth stage of his developement so he needs a good quality growth kibble. |
| The only food that works for my little girl is Great Life. I have tried many other foods and this is the only one that I have consistant results. She is a happy girl with Great Life. |
| My girls had soft stool issues for EVER; I was constantly having to wash it out of thier butt fur. I recently changed to Acana and they are doing amazingly well. We didn't even have an issue during the transition. The only thing I would advise; your sheepdog it 5 months old; it really does need a food for large breed puppies; something to help slow their growth and prevent growth spurts. Try and make sure that whatever food you do end up with, that is has a version specifically for Large Breed Puppies. I just checked; Acana DOES have a Large Breed Puppy variety: http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/s ... lation=plb |
| ugh; I'm a dummy. I just read that you ARE trying Acana! Have you tried the grain-free variety? That's the one my girls are doing SO well on; but I'd hesitate to recommend it as there isn't a puppy variety. One thing that helped us somewhat when we were struggling to get their poop solid; we added canned pumpkin puree to their food. Pumpkin will naturally regulate stool hardness. Too soft? Pumpkin makes it better. Constipated? Pumpkin helps that too! To be honest, this breed seems to come in 2 varieties; Billy Goat and Runny Poo Butt. The billy goats seem to be able to eat anything and never have an issue. The others seem to have their stomachs upset by the simplest things. I really do wonder if part of Tonks' and Luna's stomachs settling down may have been a combination of age as well as settling on the right food for them. I think their digestive systems may just mature a lot more slowly than other parts of them. |
| Orijin and Acana are from the same plant the Orijin has a higher protein which can lead to softer (really soft stools) both according to our vet and the dog food supply store we buy our food at. Really good company, we like the idea of buying local. We are in the process of switching from ProPlan large breed puppy to Acana Large breed puppy. Stools are okay first thing in the morning but get to the runs as we go for our walk before our pup gets lunch. (3 poop walk 3rd runny) I am tempted to feed him dirt. In the spring after doing our yard our puppy was eating the dirt pellets (normally not something one wants) but there was soooo many I was loosing the battle to keep him away from the dirt. Well dirt as it turns out firms up, darkens up and reduces the smell  of the poop. Dirt anyone?  (kidding really... I am not going to add dirt to his diet)I have decided to continue switch the food watch the protein he might be getting in his treats and watch his exercise. Mostly I think it is the treats that are sending us over the top. Chicken chips and chicken tendons... maybe too much protein.  This is just our experience so far ... what have others experienced? |
| part of it may be puppyhood. Both of my girls had the runs for the first year, and even into the second one. I kept changing foods, thinking I was seeing results and then not. And yes, I did a gradual change, sometimes taking up to 6 weeks to change the food entirely. Acana is the first thing I've fed them that I have NO runny poop issues. But they are also 2 and a half now, so I think some of it may have just been "growing up". |
ButtersStotch wrote: What about just switching him to ProPlan puppy? Sometimes they'll have issues adjusting but maybe give the transition a week and see how it goes. Definitely switch to the new food slowly like you have been. Honestly though, if you're dealing with a reputable breeder that knows his or her dogs well, I'd probably just follow those instructions and not worry too much about the vet's advice. That's not to say a vet is not knowledgeable but individual breed nutrition isn't always a specialty. Agreed. You could also try ProPlan Sensitive Skin & Stomach. Not necessarily a puppyfood but I usually switch my guys to adult food at 6 months anyway. I've had good luck with nice solid stools from ProPlan Sensitive Skin & Stomach on my one older fellow & with ProPlan Shredded Blend Lamb & Rice Adult formula with my other 2 OES. |
| I'm in the middle of transitioning my 9 lb, 2 year old havanese from Evo ( Proctor and Gamble just bought Natura- yuck ) to Orijin . We have been going slowly mixing the food half and half for the last couple of weeks. Lots of soft ice cream type poops. Today I added a tablespoon of canned pumpkin and all is well !!!!!!!!!!! Don't know why I didn't think of it before. I always have it in the house . |
| That's a lot of food switches in such a short time, you've only had him about 12 weeks I would guess? Really I would listen to your breeder not the vet, in this case anyway.... personally I would put him on Pro Plan puppy though instead of Performance. It seems purina/ pro plan is what agrees with his system so I'd stick with it If he gets constipated again he may just need more water... |
We just tried Acana and it didn't agree with Chewie, the gas , the soft poop  , and we tried the slow transition of 10 days. The food totally didn't agree with him he started to smell so bad after only a week after having a bath the kids were begging me to bath him. (kids are 6 and 5 yrs so you know when the notice how bad the dog smells it is bad!)After starting to get blood in his stools from them being too soft it was time to change. We have been on NOW! brand with no grain ... we did the transition with pumpkin. Glad to report that last night was the first night with no pumpkin and stools are great! Oh and even happier to report NO GAS on this food. *love it* NOW! food is out of British Columbia, Canada. No by-products or fillers sounds kind of cool for a dog food. |
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