Food Switch

[Maddie]

Hello everyone! We just switched Willy to Steve's real food frozen PREY diet, and he loves it!! However, we have noticed some new behaviors since switching him, and were wondering if anyone had any input.

First, he has been obsessed with eating grass. We're not sure why this is- maybe because of a lack of fiber?! Does anyone have any ideas on why this is, and how we can help it (or just let him eat it)?

Second, he has gone crazy about his food bowls. Since feeding him raw, if we put any bowl down (even with water in it, or nothing, or food, etc) he will pick it up, and run away with it. This has become a problem because we can't put water bowls down anymore! We runs away with the water, and spills water EVERYWHERE. It's starting to get very irritating, because it's a lot of clean-up and hard to give him water to drink!! Does anyone have any solutions? 

Thanks in advance!!!

Madie + Willy

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Eating grass is perfectly normal as long as he isn't vomiting afterwards and he's not eating a huge amount amount. In fact, I just read an article today about dogs eating grass being perfectly normal behavior in a  PetPlan blog:
https://www.gopetplan.com/blogpost/why-do-dogs-eat-grass

The thing with the bowls is a new one on me. I'm not sure why he is doing it, there's no logical connection to the food switch. If he were mine, I would only put down a bowl when I was right there to supervise and prevent him from running off with the bowl. Put a leash on him beforehand if you have to. Pick up the bowl after he's finished eating or drinking. You could also feed him in his crate, which would of course prevent him from taking the bowl anywhere. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

My dogs all graze.  They love grass and they eat a high quality kibble so I know their diet is sufficient in whatever they need.

The bowl thing is a new one to me also.  I would supervise as Karen suggested and I would also find VERY heavy bowls - not one easily picked up with his mouth or slid with his paws - until this phase passes. Maybe not a dog product but something that could hold food or water but is really heavy.  Or perhaps a travel water bowl?????  Karen's crate suggestion for eating is a good one and you might put the water bowl in there and leave the door open.  Another suggestion might be to place the bowl in a place where he can't just pick it up and run.  We don't have your problem but we have our dogs' water bowl in a place where they couldn't pick it up and run if they were inclined to do so.  We have a large sliding glass door in our den so our couch is not placed against the slider but set forward about 18" and near the wall on the side.  We have our dogs' bowl behind the couch near the wall so that is is a sort of little 'aisle.'

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A heavy bowl is a great idea, Nancy. Maybe ceramic. That's kind of slippery too, and not so easy to get a grip on, they don't have rims like the stainless steel bowls. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

This shape with the sloped sides is what I would suggest.  Riley was tipping hers and she can't do it with this type.  Probably hard to pick up too.

https://www.baxterboo.com/p.cfm/boho-medallion-dog-bowltarhong-taup...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Except this one is melamine plastic. They say feeding them from plastic bowls can contribute to the reddish staining around their mouths. And of course, plastic is lighter weight. This shape in ceramic or maybe even stainless would be great.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yeah I couldn't find a ceramic pic with that shape most seem to have straight sides.  They might be heavy enough without the sloped shape. 

Interesting about the staining I had no idea! Maybe I'll have to get Riley a stainless water bowl and use her plastic  one for food.  She definitely has messy beard syndrome :p

[Stacy]

My dogs have a stainless steel bucket they drink from. It's kind of silly, but Katie would dig in a water bowl, but having to put her head over the side stopped that. It's also big enough that when there is water in it I think it would be too heavy to pick up and run. They are so goofy sometimes!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is another good idea!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I don't remember if I posted this here but baby puppy Riley had a habit of eating and drinking lying down.  Still does sometimes lol.  They are indeed goofy.  She also sometimes paws at her water bowl, I have a strong feeling she is going to enjoy swimming this summer.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

wha........t????? I don't carry my water bowl around.....

[Maddie]

Hi everyone!! Thank you all so much for your suggestions. Sorry it took so long to reply!

Over the weekend we decided to witch his bowls around a little. We moved his main water bowl into the kitchen, and put his food bowl and small water bowl in his x-pen. Now, it’s hard for him to run away with it!!

We also might buy those bowls with the slopes sides. They look really good, thanks for the help!!

Maddie + Willy

[Maddie]

So, we ended up having problems with the Steve's Real Food PREY diet. He started getting very lethargic- before the food switch, I would take him on 2-3 mile walks every day (and he wouldn't even be tired after this- he'd run around, chew the rugs, etc), and now he can barley walk a mile without falling asleep and refusing to walk forward. He has been just sleeping most of the day. He also was sneezing a lot, and we found a few ticks on him.

We eventually took him to the vet. They did blood work and a physical exam. They said they thought he had seasonal allergies, and to put him on Benadryl. The blood work came back normal, including the tests for the diseases passed by ticks.

The vet also told us that it could of possibly been the food switch. We ended up switching him to a different brand of raw food with a totally different flavor, to rule out the possibility of a food allergy. This didn't make any difference. We also took him off the Benadryl to see if that was causing him to be so lethargic, but he stayed the same (didn't start sneezing again). 

Finally, we decided to just try and switch him to the food he was eating before we switched to raw, orijen puppy. We didn't mix the foods, and we heard that it wasn't good to mix raw and kibble together. It's been almost a week since we switched him, and he's been miserable.

First, he has been even more exhausted. Also, he has had a lot of stomach issues switching back. We've been giving him a LOT of pumpkin at each meal, too. He's been pooping about 5 times a day, all diarrhea. Also he's been waking up in the middle of the night to poop.

Honestly, we're not sure what to do next. How long should we expect him to have an upset stomach for? We've done a lot of food switches before without mixing, and he's been totally fine all other times. Like when we switched him from kibble to raw we didn't mix and he didn't even get diarrhea! Do you have any suggestions?