Update on Marley and a quick question...

[Kelly & Cole]

Hey everyone! Sounds like you guys had a great time at the Hanover dog park! Sorry we couldn't make it. We are so excited to see everyone at the botanical gardens!

Marley has been doing great, and we are enjoying every second of him! During the day he is really good, but by about 9:00pm he gets this burst of energy that wears both Cole and I out! haha We are trying to teach him no teeth. When he starts getting wound up, he bites us while playing! Hopefully he will grow out of this soon!!!!! It does seem that he is catching on a little.

I have a quick question if anyone has and experienced this before... His stools have been very soft and sometimes watery. So I started mixing canned pumpkin into his Wellness kibble (Wellness is what he was eating at the breeder) and that seemed to help a little, but never got it solid. The vet dewormed him a week ago and that has not helped either. So yesterday, I took him in again and he was negative for everything. They checked his bacteria level and said it might be a little high, so they prescribed him an antibiotic and Hills high fiber food to mix in with the kibble. So far it seems to be helping a little.
So we were researching online and reading that if the stool is the consistency of pudding or toothpaste that is normal for puppies.... Do you have any advice? Have we been freaking out the whole time about nothing? Haha!

Other than the loose stool he has been doing well and we are LOVING him more than I knew possible. Hope to see you all the 8th!

[Linda Hanson]

The same thing happened with Hokie when we first got him. The antibiotic should help and clear it up within a week. Don't freak out, it happens to puppies, and it still happens to Hokie when we change his food or when he eats a chew bone. (rawhide bones)

[Belinda Stevens]

Ahh here is all the questions I just asked you.
I have done the chicken and boiled rice meals before and that helped. But I think you are on the right track. It will settle down soon.... just takes a while.

[Jenn&Greg]

We picked up Toby about a month ago and have had similar issues. He has been dewormed several times and was on antibiotics, but it was still soft. We finally changed his food to one that didnt have a lot of corn. (we are using Nutro Max now) and just this week he has had more firm stools, but still have 1 or 2 that are loose. Apparently, foods with a lot of corn can cause looser stools. I honestly have come to think it may be a mixture of the food and maybe that his digestive system hasn't matured yet.

[Jazz & Jane]

OH...... the puppies memories..... they are soooo sweet !!!!! I only have one suggestion because it was one of the best passed on to me.....

Just a suggestion and something I didn't think to much about ......

You do still have a pup. When you buy "treats", remember Marley is still a very young pup and pick your treats with that in mind (tho the "puppy treat" selection is slim). Treats also contribute to the .....uh..... poop -- it's not just the kibble. And when they're a puppy...... it's all about the "treats".

Buy a SMALL bag of RAW BABY carrots (in the salad section at the grocery store -- make sure they are the TINY BABY carrots). Buy the SMALLEST bag you can find, because they are a fresh vegetable and don't keep that long (hint: Food Lion sells TINY bags individually wrapped).

Everyone told me about "raw baby carrots". I thought it wasn't going to work for me. In the beginning, Jazz would just sniff the carrot offered and walk away (they have no smell). Then our next door neighbor's dog ENGULFED the carrots I offered him one day when he came over and Jazz watched, and she finally decided to try one and BIT into it -- they are sweet and juicy AND HEALTHY. It was AMAZING when I finally got her to BITE into one. Now, she is now 11 mos old and will follow me ANYWHERE for one little raw carrot.

NOTE: when she was a baby, I would HOLD ONTO one end of the carrot while she chewed it to keep her from swallowing it whole (and it also taught her to be be gentle with me and treats).

She would get 1-2 tiny carrots as a treat when she agreed to follow me back inside the house when I called her (I did it every time when she was young). She related coming back inside the house instead of running the other direction because she remembered she would get her carrots. When she was a pup, she started STOPPING at the frig and waiting for her carrots once we were inside -- very cute -- and hello.... it worked!!!

Just a note: I limit the carrots to the one training session -- she only got that treat for coming back in the house, because like anything -- too much of any one item is not good for them.

Best advise I ever got so passing it along -- go figure !

p.s. It is also HILARIOUS to watch a puppy eat baby carrots (they "smack" the carrots loudly).

[Belinda Stevens]

That is so funny that you mentioned the carrots. I have carrots in my lunch everyday so as a puppy I would give Stella a carrots for a treat and to occupy her. It would take forever for her to eat as a puppy. Now til this day she I still give them to her although it doesn't take nearly as long for her to eat.

[Kelly & Cole]

Thanks for all the suggestions!!! We just heard from the breeder and they suggested switching him to natural balance duck and potato... So now we have a HUGE bag of Wellness puppy food that we will not be using. haha! So we gave the new food a try tonight and I took him off the antibiotic and the canned food (the Hills prescription -- the second ingredient is corn??). His first stool was very loose, but we are hoping that is due to the change in food? His energy is still HIGH and he is drinking water, so I guess we will have to wait and see. If this will not work, I guess we will give the boiled rice and chicken a try! Oh and I'm going out tomorrow to get baby carrots!!!!

One other suggestion we got was to switch him to bottled water. Because he came all the way from Seattle, a few people have said the water might be very different there.... So I guess we will give that a try as well. Hopefully that is not the cause; I do not even drink bottled water! haha

Thanks again for all of the support and suggestions!
See you all Thursday night :-)
Kelly, Cole and Marley!

[Belinda Stevens]

Kelly I don't know if you are doing this since it didn't say in the post but change the food slowly by mixing it. That too will cause loose stools. I don't think that I would take him off the antibiotic either. That won't hurt him and/or cause the loose stool.
Good Luck and keep us posted.

[Valerie and Cody]

Loose stools in puppies are fairly common. Any number of things can cause it; stress, change in diet, change in water, wrong food (either poor ingredients or too mature).

Cody used to have loose stools all the time and I've seen it in a lot of other puppies. With Cody, we finally figured out it was because he was stealing some of my mom's dog food (it's for seniors). Most of the time, though, it's just a stress thing. It usually only takes a day or two to settle down, but I have seen it take a couple of weeks.

Using bottled water is a good idea, although it only needs to be filtered, not necessarily bottled. Using a Pur or Brita water system is just as good, and better for the environment!

Also, if you are changing food, do as Belinda said. Change it gradually! Start off by mixing 1/4 of the new stuff with 3/4 of the old stuff. After a day or so, you can change that ratio to 1/2 and 1/2, then to 3/4 and 1/4, and lastly all new food. A full change should take about 1-2 weeks.

All in all, as long as Marley's stools aren't showing any severely gelatinous white stuff, there's no blood or parasites that you can see, and his energy and appetite are still up, you should be fine. Just give him some time to really adjust.

[Jazz & Jane]

I TOTALLY agree. Be very careful changing the food -- change it -- but mix and go SLOW.

I fed Jazz a "teaspoon" of just about "anything" we eat mixed in with her kibble since the day I got her, and (knock knock knock) she's never had the first "runny" poop. Why? Because I wanted her baby tummy to develop, tolerate, and build antibodies for "everything". (Besides..... kibble is boring after while by itself !!! -- haha) Green beans are GREAT (and no calories or fat !!!) But just a small spoonful stirred in really good -- you do not want to develop a "snooty" dog that only eats what you eat. Every third day or so I give kibble only and watch her sniff and walk away. By dinner time -- she'll go back and eat that "plain ol boring kibble".

I'm sure the bottled water is great -- but I'm not sure I'd go that far. I think dogs have a way of adjusting to water -- hey, they drink from mud puddles !!!!! Do you seriously want to carry bottled water for your doodle the rest of their life? I'd be more concerned on getting the nutritional food straight.

Oh I miss my puppy days already !!!! I think I'm a little jealous of your baby. (tee hee)

Keep us posted pleeze....

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

I agree. It takes me two weeks to change food with both my dogs - Connor 15 months, Skylar my collie is 6 years old. Duck can be a little rich for a tender tummy, so don't throw out the Wellness and the canned pumpkin.

I had this same problem with Connor when I tried changing his food as a puppy. When I got him, he was eating Purina Puppy Chow. I was like YUCK!, so I tried switching him over to a better quality food. Every time I'd get to the 1/2 good stuff, half Purina mark, his stomach would get messed up. I finally just kept him on the Purina, gave him BLAND treats, NO rawhide chews. Everything settled down. It took about 3 months before I even attempted to slowly change his food over to a higher quality kibble.

I also had this same problem with my Maine Coon cat Pax when she was a kitten. The more you change the food, the worse the upset gets. As long as the vet says all is okay, stick with one bland food (preferably dry), bland treats and the tender tummy troubles will work out.

Woofs and wags to Marley. :-)

[Kelly & Cole]

Hey everyone!
Thanks again for all the advice! Marley is getting better, but still not 100%. He had one perfect stool and then it has kind of fluctuated some since then. I think he might be eating leaves that get tracked into the house if I can't get them picked up fast enough. Its hard to tell if he is actually eating them or just playing. We did change his water a few days ago and that was right before he started showing improvement. So we are just going to stick with what we are doing right now and hopefully things will settle down, and we can wean him from the bottled water!!!! I definitely dont want him getting too used to it!
By the way, the carrots were such a great suggestions! He seems to like them, but is still a little unsure. He chews on them a little and eats the ends then stops.. It's quite funny to watch. I keep finding half eaten carrots around the house!

Thanks again everyone :-)
Kelly, Cole & Marley