Unable to find right food for my doodle

[Judy and Scrabbledoodle]

Our ALD, Scrabble, is 9 mos. old. He has never been a fabulous eater. Having had labs before him, this is such a difference. He startedm out on Solid Gold from the breeder. When we changed to adult food, we started with Back to Basics. Soft poop! Now we are on Fromms grain Free. Still soft poop. Also he seems to lose interstate in any food after a few weeks. Should we change to a food with some grain? I have talked to the Vet. His stool samples are normal. Can't seem to be able to come up with the right food. Any thoughts?

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I think you should re-post this in the food group where you are sure to get lots of advice.

[Judy and Scrabbledoodle]

Thank you! I wasn't sure if this was a specific Australian labradoodle issue as the genetics are somewhat different!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

A healthy dog will not starve himself. I think you might do worse poop-wise with grained food.  If he isn't a big eater, he isn't a big eater and going to grained food that is less efficient, would mean that he should eat more so you could have the problem of him not getting enough calories.

If you want to change foods because you are looking for one that works best with his digestion make sure that you give it a fair chance - a month at least after you have done the transition. Sometimes the process takes a while and you try quite a few brands.

I would NOT keep changing foods to find one that he 'likes' or you will create a picky, picky eater that you will constantly be enticing to eat and constantly change foods.  Many people have found a brand of food they like and changed protein options within that brand for variety and interest.

[Judy and Scrabbledoodle]

Thank you. That definitely makes sense.

[bonnie adcock]

My Chessie is a picky eater and scratches a lot so I had an allergy test run. He's allergic to chicken, beef, fish, eggs and because he was so picky I was baking chicken!! Took 1 /12 yrs
to find all this out, I mean what brand and food he likes and can eat. My vet said she didn't do allergy testing so I found one that does Chged over $700!! So now we go to another vet whom we r comfortable with. Chessie likes Merrick no grains pork. My 5 mo. Old puppy seems to like Wellness puppy stew (I asked her breeder what she fed her and she said "we'll, what we eat!"). They also get dry Taste of the Wild (dry) Bison. it's hard to change proteins when he can only hv venison, bison and salmon. I hv to put their bowls in separate places, too. It only takes telling Chessie a couple of times what to do and he gets it. He's super smart. my husband who loved the two labs we had just talks everyone's ear off about our "comical" doodles. We had Chess a yr and decided to get him a playmate and they just play and play. Grt exercise as we have gd size property for them to chase ea other - so fortunate as I don't like dog parks. Things r getting dangerous there. So, hope this helps u somewhat to see that u r not alone with ur problem. Good luck!

[Joan]

I have a ALD - 1 yr old. I do Darwins raw and Brothers kibble, changing up the proteins. Once I got the portions correct, it's been perfect. He loves both too. Mail order to the door. Easy, and both are healthy choices.

[Seamus & Haidee]

We also have an ALD and at 10 months he has been eating Orijen with a topper of Wellness 95 chix. Good luck and hope you find some answers in the food group.

[Janice Jones]

Hi Judy, I am not sure if you have had any feed back from the food group. Karen was a great help with my 9month old ALD who was having similar issues. I have him on Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish with Karen's recommended probiotic and am slowly introducing more protein (eggs/fWellness 95% Salmon) as this food is a little low in protein. Things are going well and fingers crossed we have found something that works. Please ask on food group....they are a great resource!

[Judy and Scrabbledoodle]

Thank you Janice. I have now started to add fromms sweet potato and duck to his Fromms surf and turf. It is helping so far. I do put shavings of primal raw beef on top. Oh boy. The things we do for love!

[Janice Jones]

Hi Judy, Just checking in to see how Scabble is doing. FYI I have just started Wiggins on Gentle Digest as well as his probiotic iFlora and things are really beginning to look "normal." My ALD tummy issues have settled down but now I am seriously thinking of changing food because of Natural Balance buy out with Del Monte. :-(
Thinking Wellness Limited ingredient :-) Hope all is well.

[Judy and Scrabbledoodle]

Thank you very much. Scrabble is doing SO much better now that I have added the the Fromms sweet potato and duck, which contains some grain, to his Fromms surf and turf. I still put the primal cube on top. The Vet had mentioned that grain might help. I love Fromms, by the way. It is a family owned company in the Midwest. So nice of you to follow through!