Do Doodles have delicate tummys?

[Jennifer Tramell]

I come from a very doodley family: my sister got the first goldendoodle 4 yrs ago and since then my parents have a standard and mini and I have 2 standards.  Prior to Webster, I had my 2 pound puppy/rescue puppy for almost 16 years.  I never worried about what food I was feeding, changing the food, giving treats, giving table scraps (just a taste), etc.  Same thing with our family dogs we had growing up - and they were also just "mutts". 

My mom has been telling me how her dogs are very sensitive to any change in food and I've noticed the same with Charlotte.  My sister's gd also has a sensitive tummy.  Webster doesn't seem AS sensitive but still somewhat.  Changes in food lead to diarrhea and stinky gas, even though I changed from a poorer quality chicken and rice to a higher quality chicken and rice.  The rare table scrap can also lead to an odorous evening. So my question is, is this common in doodles or just individual dogs?  Just curious what other DKers have experienced.

[Jennifer Tramell]

To clarify, the doodles I'm familiar with don't have major problems, they just seem more sensitive to food changes.  Vomiting can usually be traced to them eating a "treasure", something sneakily retrieved from the trash or found outside.   I was just curious if poodles may have tendency toward more sensitive stomachs.  As Adina said, different people have various food/tummy/gas issues so I would expect different dogs to have different issues.  Just thought I'd conduct an ancedotal study of DK doodles :-)

[Camilla and Darwin]

Darwin has had tummy issues but I don't think it's much more than your average dog. When we feed him little snacks like orange slices, mozzarella, pieces of turkey, etc. he has absolutely no issues. He is fine with large bones to chew on, beef tracheas, antlers, etc. He does get sick with a few things, like bully sticks, white bread, changing his food without any kind of a transition, and of course candies or other things he should never have gotten into in the first place. I too have noticed the huge number of doodles on here who have major tummy problems though. My explanation for this is that I'm part of a doodles only forum, and hear mostly about doodles. If I was part of another breed forum, I would likely read the same types of problems. :-)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree; on any breed forum, you'd read the same things.

[Carol and Banjo]

I would say Banjo has a little "sensitivity" as well.   I've found that his 1st meal of the day has to be a small one (just about a half cup of food).  I wait for a half hour or so and feed him the rest of his meal.   If I give him a full meal he'll usually throw it up....and naturally never on the tile or wood floor....but ALWAYS on a carpet.   Any changes of food have to be done gradually.   Past dogs were far easier to feed and had few if any problems in this area.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I have one that is and one that isn't.  My f1b goldendoodle is sick again today  :(  Imodium, Rice, the works, and his tummy is still grumbling with anger.   We just watch everything he eats. 

All he got into was about 20 pieces of different dog food than what he is used to eating.    And, it was good food.  Something we only allow the other dog to eat on occasion for a change of taste.  It completely did him in, the carpet, and his energy.

My labradoodle could eat the food and then the bag and be fine.

 

 

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Cooper has an iron tummy! We can switch food, mix up treats etc and shes fine. occasionally she will have a little runny poop but by the next poop shes fine. However, she only gets high quality food and treats (some treats have grain and generally she only has a few of those)

[Laura Deutsch]

I've never been on any other dog list. So, I guess I don't know, but I"ve never had a puppy who had the stomach issues Molly has had and continues to have, although she's better. I've had all golden retrievers and labs and a couple of muts. My breeder was a really good one. I find it very frustrating and am praying that it gets better as she ages. It's very disconcerting. I just ordered two cases of pumpkin from whole foods!!!!

[Stacy and Ruby]

Ruby came home from her "breeder" with a severe case of giardia.  She has had a sensitive tummy since the day she came home.  We finally found a combination that works for her - Purina DCO dry and EN can.  I get it from her vet.  She also gets some ground turkey tossed in.  She never gets people food otherwise.  It never ends well!

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

When I first got Barley, he had a lot of loose stool and diarrhea. He ate pumpkin until he got sick of it, and he had a lot of rice and hamburger meat meals. He's always been fed Fromm, which is a good food; however, I had to switch him from Fromm Family to Fromm Nutritionals Pork and Applesauce. It seemed like his stomach couldn't handle the high mulitple protein in Fromm Family, but he did well on the Fromm Nutritionals' single protein source. Moist treats like Zukes Mini-Naturals Training Treats went immediately through him, resulting in explosive diarrhea. I learned that during puppy kindergarten...not fun. Now that he's older at 14 months, his stomach seems to be able to handle more of a variety of food and treats. My family's other goldendoodle, Daisy Mae, has never had stomach issues.

 

I do have a question though. Do goldendoodles often have trouble with their anal glands? Are anal glands at all related to gastrointestinal troubles? Both of my family's goldendoodles often have stinky anal glands that go off when they get nervous and sometimes for no apparent reason. It creates a horrible stench and then I need to clean their bottoms. The anal gland "juice" has gotten on my clothes, furniture, and floor. We have never experienced this with any of our other dogs (shelties, collies, and St. Bernards). Someone told me it's common with golden retrievers, but I've never had a golden retriever or a poodle. Any insight? Is this something that can be prevented or at least minimalized? Do I need to change their food?

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Now that is an interesting question as I have never heard very much about anal glands being a problem with doodles. I am curious about the answers you get but thankful we haven't had that problem as it sounds yucky!

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

It's definitely yucky! I have scrubbed my dood's butt more times than I care to remember.

[Candy & Hudson]

Hudson has had almost zero diarrhea since bringing him home and yet we have had to have his anal glands expressed by the vet 4 times (almost once a month). They provide no insight as to how to prevent this problem other than telling me to bring him back when he gets smelly again! It is an unbearable smell. I would love to know what causes this, and if he will always be this way.. sorry I wasn't any help :)