Doodles - Sensitive Digestion?

[Mikol & Omni]

Hi all,

Just wondering if your doodles have really sensitive digestions?  Anytime our Omni gets any people food (not on purpose but we have a 2 year old human and things get dropped and snatched up), he has (pardon my TMI) major diarrhea for days.  It can also get caused by stress, like when I go out of town for a few days and he's here with my husband.  He's ok when he just eats his food and has no stress.  My previous dog, a Lab, could eat ANYTHING, and I mean anything, with no problems, so I have no experience with this.

Anyone else have this problem?  Any ideas what to do about it?  Took him to the vet the first two times but she just said it's a puppy thing and gave him antibiotics.

He's now 13 months and it's still happening.

Any advice would be appreciated.  He's totally potty trained otherwise, but nonetheless we are going to have to replace the carpet.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Mikol & Omni

[Mikol & Omni]

I'll try that for treats!  I have a few Kongs around from my Lab.  Thanks!

[Karina, Wass and Floyd]

Floyd has had just a few bouts of sensitive tummy and I was able to attribute both to something he ate. We stopped giving him flossies and bully sticks, they definitely upset his tummy. We stopped giving him Orijen for Puppies while trying to figure out if he had a food allergy, he's been dealing with itchiness, and in that process we transitioned him to Dr. Harvey's Canine Health formula and he's doing really well with that. We conscientiously noticed the other day that he didn't have bad gas anymore, which he always had before. Now we give him dehydrated sweet potatoes also from Dr. Harvey's and real bison bones we get from our local pet supply store and he loves them and they both keep him pretty busy, especially the bison bones! You for sure have to be a bit of a detective! Good luck!!

[Mikol & Omni]

When you say itchy, does he by any chance lick and bite his paws compulsively?  I wonder if Omni has an allergy or if I just got a neurotic pup.

[Karina, Wass and Floyd]

He does go after his paws quite a bit. It's gotten better since we have been addressing allergies. He has saliva staining on his paws, so the fur between his paw pads is red. It was dark red when we first discovered the problem and now it's getting lighter as the fur grows. He still goes after his paws so we are continuing our quest to find the right combo that works best. He's on antihistamines now and I give him evening primrose oil in his food which seems to help. If Omni has red fur between the paw pads she may have an allergy.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Saliva staining is what's on their chin too!!

[Karina, Wass and Floyd]

It can be a sign of allergies but not necessarily.  If the staining is only on one paw Sully most likely doesn't have an allergy but at your next vet visit you may want to mention it and get their opinion. It for sure means that he spends a good amount of time licking and or chewing that area. All 4 of Floyd's paws were dark red and the bottom half of his belly was really read and irritated so allergies was for sure the issue for him. I would say keep just an eye on his paws. He may have just stepped in or on something that caused a little irritation to that one paw and he spent some time chewing it to relieve the irritation.

[Mikol & Omni]

Yes, between Omni's paw pads are red when he licks and chews them.  I thought it was just neurotic behavior, but maybe it is an allergy.  I have evening primrose - what does that do for them?

[Karina, Wass and Floyd]

Evening primrose oil helps ease the itchiness of the skin. Floyd has been on antihistamines and I added the evening primrose oil on the advise of the Atopic Dermatitis group here on doodle kisses. You may want to check out that group and read some of the past postings for any similar symptoms to what Omni is showing. It was a BIG help with Floyd.

 

He still has some itchiness but nothing like a few months ago. The bottom half of his belly near his private area was really red too. He got some minor hot spots a couple of months ago and and our vet gave us a medicated shampoo which helped get rid of the hot spots. We try to give him a bath once a week which helps. I still don't quite know what he's allergic too this current regimen is really helping!

[Kashmir and Joanie]

Hi Mikol,

Kasmir and Omni are just about the same age. We researched food when she was little and we use Cloud Star.

We actually get an automated shipment. You can stop it at any time and resume at anytime. We actually have just stopped the shipments as Kashmir has not been eating as much, I think she is leaverling (sp?) off as she matures. The food is great and they have treats also on the website. When Kashmir was first starting on it she loved it, and we actually used the kibble for treats for training. We still do, but she likes string cheese and the soft Buddy Biscuits from Cloud Star. You can buy them on their website, or Petco has some of the treats and I just noticed online: Drugstore.com has them for a cheaper price. Kashmir stools have always been firm, I actually think they don't have as stronger smell as some (so to speak, nice conversation, huh!!) So its just a suggestion. Oh we do add one tbsp. of nutro canned food and sometimes we use cottage cheese. We also use plain yogurt and a couple of treats frozen in a kong, like Carla mentioned. She loves that, we usually give that to her if we leave her for a bit. We need to get a bigger kong now as she is bigger and licks a little faster now!!