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.

[Candy & Hudson]

I just realized I had a reply on another thread from Nancy, Gracie's Mom :)

 

"My daughter was having problems with her Rhodesian Ridgeback's anal glads smelling quite strongly and frequently.  Her vet told her to buy the Metamucil waffers from the grocery or drug store.  The ones made for humans.  You get a box of them which are individually wrapped with two waffers in them.  I think they are apple flavored.  They are filled psylium (sp) and are good fiber.  The vet said to give Luna 2 waffers a day.  They are like cookies and she uses them as a treat.  No smelly butt since.  I am going to get some to keep on hand.  I just hope that Ms Picky Gracie Doodle will eat them.  She spit out fresh blueberries today!"

I will be trying this!! Pumkin was also suggested to try, although, like I said Hudson already has firm stools so I'm not sure if the pumkin would help. 

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Fantastic! Thanks so much. I'll have to try the Metamucil wafers with both my smelly doods. Barley has firm stools now too, so I don't think he would benefit from the pumpkin at this point. He got sick of pumpkin because I gave him so much of it.The first few months I had Barley, his anal glands were often impacted. The vet said this was because Barley constantly had loose stools. Firmer stool causes the anal glands to excrete naturally (sorry to be gross). My vet said my pup would probably need to have his anal glands removed. I then decided to change Barley's food thinking that the loose stool might be caused by a sensitivity to multiple proteins in his food. His poop became okay on a single protein and now his anal glands work well on their own...very well in fact! I'll try the Metamucil and see if it will lessen the frequency of the anal gland yuckiness. I'm glad he's not uncomfortable now but I would like to say goodbye to the smell. Thanks again!

[Lisa K Silverman]

My 7 1/2 month all puppy gets  pepcid ac every other night, was every night for a few months, He has had various testing at the vets since he throws up many morning at 4-5 a.m.  The  next stop is a specialist. He is growing and gaining weight and seems happy.

He is eating wellness kibbles with a tablespoon of evangers hunk of beef twice a day and does seem to tolerate well,  he just throws up periodically and we don't know why.

[Pam Pieroni]

Lisa, what is evangers hunk of beef?

[Lisa K Silverman]

Pam,

It's canned food that I get at a pet store in Newton, MA that sells only "healthy" dog food.  It's only good for 36 hours since it has no perservatives so I put eight or so tablespoon in plastic bags in the freezer and microwave it a meal time and mix it in his wellness kibbles.  That's the only way he will eat his food and he does tolerate it ok. 
you can look them up on line. , they have other choices of foods.

 

I don't give him any rawhide he'll throw it up.  I had a bichon for 16 1/2 years and never had any stomach issues.  I got him from a breeder in ALberta Canada and called her and asked her if any of her australian labradoodles had any stomach problems. SHe said no, but i have to wonder since I have heard of a few here in MA that also have problems.

 

[2y8binkc3hr05]

That is the Poodle in them. My friend's sister owns 2 Standard Poodles and both have major stomache issues. She has gone to feeding them a raw diet and it has eliminated most of their problems. That being said, my older doodle Lexi has food allergies, seasonal allergies and environmental allergies and my younger one has seasonal and environmental allergies. (That was $1200 in testing and blood work!). With Lexi it took almost 8 months of experimenting with dog food as a puppy to find one that did not cause severe gas or diahhrea. We have had to change the protein 3 times before we finally settled on fish (and sweet potato) and she seems to do ok on that. She also did well on raw food for the short time I had her on that which I had to quit because Piper does not chew her food! She would swallow it whole and then 20 minutes later return it in the same condition! BTW, according to the vets that tested my dogs, chicken is the most common protein a dog will be allergic to. Good luck! 

[shelly]

Yes!  Definitely, us too!  It took me quite a while to find the 'right' food.  She likes, but can not eat dry kibble as a meal... I put it in her kong so she won't gulp it down and use it as a healthy treat.  SHe now is on a canned sensitive stomach easily digestible food, although my DH thinks I'm imagining it... but she's happy, I'm happy and I can walk around at ease!

[Pam Pieroni]

And I thought my Simba was the only doodle with GI issues!  He's been to the vet 4 times for GI upsets (inflammation) and he's only 7 months old.  The last time, I was told to give him half a Pepcid AC tablet a day for a few days.  I can't give Simba the bully sticks he LOVES to chew on because he eventually gets diarrhea and vomits.  Once in a while I take a chance and let him chew on one for ten minutes then take it away and that seems okay.  The change in food doesn't effect him much, but he's very picky about eating first thing in the morning.  This morning, I threw his food away after 30 minutes because he wouldn't touch it. 

I think other breeds do have more ironclad stomaches!  My old dog (Akita/Lab mix) would eat anything with no problem.  And my doodle also gets car sick.  I feel badly for him!

[Paul biel]

I too have a Golden Doodle with a Very sensitive tummy.  We have tried everything.  I  also have a golden retriever with issues and we have a schnauzer that could eat nails and not be affected.  We have had dogs all our lives and this GD is the most sensitive.  Even though we feed homemade to all three dogs (try doing this :-(  )  GusGus still has moments, very frequently.  One of the main things  that we found out, the hard way,  is that GG is Lactose intolerant. He is so intolerant that if we drop a piece of cheese on the floor everyone dives down to fight the boys off to retrieve the morsel before gus can get his chops on it.

Bottom line, I sympathize with you, but our experience just shows that some dogs can eat anything and not be affected and others "have issues", just like some of us humans.  Our best experience is to feed them exactly the same everytime and not to vary even the slightest, including treats, people food, and even chew toys, believe it or not.

Good luck

[Valerie Silvestri & Max]

My labradoodle Max has a sensative tummy. He needs rx food form the vet. When we got him there was no problem but as he got a little older he had terrible diarrhea. The vet gave him a rx and as long as he was taking that he was fine, but as soon as he stopped the diarrhea came back. The vet put him on Purina DCO, a rx doog food, and now we have no problems. Max even enjoys the occasional bagel, piece of cheese and pizza crust with no issues.

[Jennifer Tramell]

Just an update on my little survey: I checked with my mom & sis yesterday about their doodle's food sensitivities.  My sister said that her dog (4 1/2 yr old f1 gd) doesn't really have any issues.  My mom's 4 yr old f1 gd doesn't really have issues anymore but had them when she was younger.  She is, however, a picky eater.  My mom's f1 mini gd will have loose/runny poop when they change food.  My Webster doesn't seem to have issues, my 6 month old Charlotte does show sensitivity when I change food.  So, in a sample size of 5 goldendoodles, 2 have sensitivities, 1 had issues but grew out of it, and 2 show no sensitivites.  My conclusion would be that it is dependent on the individual, not the "breed".

[shelly]

I think so, Jennifer... just like people! (and human babies) ~ LOL