Need some help

[Renee Hacker]

Hi Everyone.  We've been switching Lily over to Blue Buffalo Puppy (Chicken & Rice) for a couple of weeks now, we went really slow mixing it with her Pedigree Puppy since she came home with a huge bag of it.  This weekend we finally went 100% Blue and all seemed fine.  Then yesterday she had her first puppy training class where she got a ton of treats which she's never had before.  Last night and this morning she's had VERY loose stools.  I tend to think it was the treats (Wet Noses Little Stars Peanut Butter) vs. the food, is that possible?  And now what do I do to get her back on track?  Can I give her a little canned pumpkin?  Any other suggestions?  (Suggestions for different training treats welcome as well!)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Treats are often the issue and I find if my dogs get grain based treats, bully sticks and other things they may have slightly looser stool. I limit these treats. Small pieces of chicken would be good as training treats. I give my dogs Trader Joe's chicken strips as their main treat but for training you can use very small pieces of a chicken breast or leftover lean steak etc. Some pumpkin can't hurt but if the problem is the treats it should clear up very soon.

[Shirley Splude]

Hi Renee, I really think it's the dog treats. When this would happen to my GD I would fast her for 12-24 hours and feed her ice cubes and always have lots of water for her. Then start her back on her dog food slowly. As far as the treats go maybe just try bringing her normal dog food. If she loves to eat and enjoys her food this maybe easier for her tummy. How old is Lily? Mine is almost 2 and I have had the same problems, I find the older she gets the less this happens.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I would guess that it probably was all the treats that Lily got in class.  Her little stomach isn't used them plus she might have been a litte stressed from the new class situation which can do it to.  My guys are 3.5 and 4 and if they get too much of something different in their diet they still have the same issue as you described with Lily.  I know that stress also does it for Cubbie.  My 2 both spent the day at the vet yesterday for their wellness exams and Cubbie's stomach has been "unsettled" since they got home.  He will get some pumpkin in with his dinner tonight and things should be back to normal tomorrow.  You can give Lily a little bit of pumpkin, just make sure it is pure pumpkin and not the pumpkin pie filing.

As far as treats go, make sure that you break them up into very tiny chunks.  They don't really need much anyway.  It is just the idea of the reward that does it for them.  I honestly think that they would rather have 50 small chunks instead of 10 full treats because they don't realize that the 50 are smaller, they just think they are getting more.  We use the Natural Balance food rolls for training classes.  We cut them up into very small pieces and put them in a baggie and take them to class.  I know that other people use small pieces of cooked chicken and had a trainer that used cheese (Cubbie LOVED her!!)  When training at home, you can also just use her kibble as a reward and feed her one of her meals that way.  I know most classes want you to use soft treats because it is quicker for them to chew those so kibble isn't always an option at class.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad she's off the Pedigree. If you have any left, throw it away.
I would add a tablespoon of plain unflavored nonfat yogurt to her meals. You can try a little pumpkin, too. Do not give her anything else to eat other than her kibble until the diarrhea resolves. As F said, if the treats caused the problem, it should resolve very quickly.
Use pieces of her kibble for training treats for now. Once the diarrhea is gone, I'd use Pure Bites dehydrated chicken for training treats. You might also look at Zuke's Minis. You want something very small, and not too much of it. And do not introduce any other new foods fo a while.
If the diarrhea continues, bring a stool sample to you vet to check for parasites or infection.

[Vivian & Mojo]

Mojo had loose stools when switching his kibbles and I stopped the treats as Karen said until he was solid again...I also figure the treats in with his daily food amount because when he over eats his stools are soft. I also feed the Zuke's Minis for training & treats, he loves them and has no digestive issues with them. I also find at 8 months his digestive system is much stronger than when he was younger if I do give him a few too many treats.

[Julie and Charlie]

Oh, we've been there on the treats causing soft, mushy stools. Unfortunately, even with finding different treats, sometimes after training classes this still happens to Charlie. The best prevention I've found is to make sure to try and use his kibble in class as much as I can, and moving up and down between "values" of treats as necessary. For instance, those Trader Joe's dehydrated chicken breasts broken into little pieces-- high value, he'd do anything for them. String cheese- anything. Try breaking things into even small pieces, and consider a squeeze tube/bottle filled with peanut butter so that you can give little licks at a time as a treat as well. You could also use canned dog food of the same brand in the tube instead. Sometimes I need his attention and do it with a high value treat, and then we can move down to kibble or Zuke's. Frankly, it requires a lot of preparation to have lots of stuff available, but Charlie is still highly distractable at training classes.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd avoid high-fat foods like peanut butter, especially for puppies with immature digestive systems. Too much dietary fat contributes to loose stools, among other things.

[Julie and Charlie]

hence the small squeezes to give him. Honestly, he doesn't get peanut butter but once a week in small amounts (probably less than a teaspoon), so I am not going to get overly concerned. 

[Renee Hacker]

Thanks everyone, you're all so helpful!  Lily is almost 15 weeks.  I gave her a little bit of pumpkin with her lunch today, boy was she excited!  Tossing those treats for sure!  I have some Zuke's minis and she's had them (sparingly) before with no issues so maybe I'll stick with them or even just her kibble.  She loves to eat her food so honestly I think she'd be happy with her plain old kibble. 

[Renee Hacker]

OK, should the diarrhea be getting better by now?  I cut back on her food a bit and gave her pumpkin with lunch and dinner yesterday and she still has diarrhea this morning.  Actually had to take her out in the middle of the night to go which I haven't had to do since her first night home.  Gave her pumpkin again with breakfast.  She's acting fine otherwise.  Conveniently, she has a puppy checkup appt today anyway, so I can bring in a stool sample for them to check.  She was already checked for parasites right after we got her and all was good.  Just wondering how long it normally takes for them to get normal again.  Can't believe those silly little treats caused so many problems for my poor girl.  :(

[Vivian & Mojo]

Careful with how much pumpkin you feed, its also for constipation and can cause  diarrhea if given too much  so just feed a teaspoon a day. Good you taking her to the vet because it could be a medical problem (I doubt it) and you can rule it out. The vet may want you to feed the cans of prescription foods and if it were me i wouldn't. You can search the food groups, its suggested not to as the ingredients are not good. I boil chicken and white potatoes and feed that adding a spoon of plain lo-fat yogurt. Good luck.

[Ginny Nightingale]

This happened recently with my almost 2 year old doodle and it took over a week to get it all straightened out--I ended up giving him 1/3 boiled  chicken and 2/3 rice for three or four days and then gradually re-introducing the kibble. That worked for him. You also need the yogurt or probiotics from the vet to get the bacteria re-established in the gut.