All puppy food seems to upset his stomach! Switch to adult food?

[Nicole & Dexter]

Hi ya'll!

I have a question for you doodle parents out there. As some of you know, Dexter was really sick a few weeks ago and had to be rushed to the vet. He tested negative for Parvo, thank goodness! We aren't exactly sure what caused his sickness. Anyway, his stool hardened up for about a week, and it's gone back to mushy stool. Not watery, but not normal stool. Anyway, he used to be on Puppy Chow from Purina, but that was hurting his stomach, from what I noticed. Then I changed to Pedigree puppy food, which hasn't changed anything. So last night I decided to boil rice and chicken. He had it for dinner, for breakfast and for lunch today and  He FINALLY had nice, solid stool! I was so happy!! I'm sure some of you doodle moms and dads know how frustrating it can be not knowing what's causing your puppy's upset stomach! Know that I know it's probably the puppy food we've been giving him, I'm not sure what I should buy! Should I switch to adult food? Has anyone had this problem before? Oh and by the way, Dexter is only 4 months old, but he's a big boy! He's over 30 pounds already. I would love some input!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nicole, please take a look at the Recommended Brands list in The Food Group. Both Purina Puppy Chow and Pedigree are very, very poor quality foods filled with some really low quality ingredients. The fact that these kinds of foods don't agree with your puppy does not mean that "all puppy foods" upset his stomach, it just means that really poor quality foods filled with corn and by-products upset his stomach. There are lots of much better choices that he would probably do fine with. 

But the loose stools could also be a sign of parasites, so I would take a stool sample in for a fecal test. In the meantime, some plain canned pumpkin ( not pie filling) and plain unflavored fat-free yogurt added to his meals should help a lot. 

[Nicole & Dexter]

Thanks so much, Karen!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Karen is completely correct. I would definitely switch Dex to a better quality food as well as having the vet test his poop.

Here is a link to the Recommended Brands:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/recomme...

You might need to look for a store that sells these since they cannot be found in Walmart, Costco, Target, PetSmart, or PetCo. You will also see that the recommended food costs more, but because of the nutritional value, you are actually feeding less.

My younger one had a mushy poop what seems like forever, even being on healthy kibble and being without parasites. Our vet told me that puppies need time to fully develop their guts, so perhaps that's what was going on with my pup. But at least I did not contribute to his loose stools by feeding him bad stuff.

Hope you get the issue resolved soon and Dexter is back to normal. He is such a cute and BIG boy! :-)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

PetSmart and Petco do carry some of our recommended brands, like Wellness and Blue Buffalo. But none of them are available at Target, Walmart, Kmart, Costco, grocery stores, etc.

[Star and Goldie]

I highly recommend Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy. It is grain free and high protein. I struggled with the soft poops for months and tried every line of Blue Buffalo. The Wilderness line was the last to try and it has been incredible! You can get it at Petsmart and it is on the recommended foods list.
Go check out the Food Group here. You will learn so much about food, treats and all kinds of stuff. I was completely clueless before finding DK. I thought Purina was a good quality food. boy, was I wrong. Now I wouldn't even touch it! DK has educated so many of us and we are happy to pass along everything we've learned.
Keep us posted on what food you choose and how your doodle does:)

[Nicole & Dexter]

Thank you so much for that! I may have to try Blue Buffalo. We switched him to the Kirkland Brand, from Costco. I read a bunch of reviews that it's healthy, but not too expensive. 

I learned the hard way that Purina is bad bad stuff! 

Dexter's stool definitely is normal now, but now we are dealing with another issue. He has crystals in his urine. So if it doesn't clear up from antibiotics, then it may be because his body is producing more nutrients than normal, and a certain food he is eating is not combining well with the nutrients. I could try grain free food... that would be a start at least!

Thanks again!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Definitely grain-free food, and not Kirkland. :)

[Ginny Nightingale]

I totally agree with the comments so far but would add that ANY food switch needs to be done gradually--like over 2 weeks, not 2 days---when you switch food, just add a tiny bit more of the new food to the old food each day (keeping the total amount the same) until you have completely replaced the old food--just the switching alone when done too fast can cause issues.

[Debi and Monty Moose]

We had the same problem soon after bringing Monty home (at 34 lbs), so we switched to Blue Buffalo BASIC Turkey and Potato (Purple bag).  It is a higher quality dog food and does cost more, but it did the trick and was well worth it.  Monty now weighs about 75 lbs....so clearly he likes it.  Good luck, Nicole.  I know how frustrating it can be.