Puppy Food Issues

[Katie B]

Hi! Our 15 week old mini goldendoodle, Artie, has been having some issues with food! We originally started him on Life's Abundance, which is what the breeder fed, but he was very uninterested in the food and would only eat it when he was starving. We decided to switch his food and after a lot of research, settled on Fromm Heartland Gold Grain Free. We ordered a 4 lb bag to start with the switch and he did great on it. Last week, we started him on the big bag, and the next day he was having yellow watery diarrhea for two days straight. A vet visit and a fecal test later, the best guess at what was causing it was the Fromm. The vet said it was probably "too rich" for him (I saw the previous thread on this term being misused a lot, so I am not sure what she meant by it). Since then we have been feeding him a bland diet of rice and meat and he's doing much better, but we are starting to look for a new food to transition him to.

I have looked through the recommended brands and the discussions here, and I have narrowed it down to a few brands (Orijen, Acana, possibly the new Stella & Chewys baked kibble, Zignature, and some others.) But I am really looking for advice on which ones may upset his stomach less, which I know is hard to predict. We are looking for a brand that has different non-chicken flavors to switch between (no allergy- he just does not seem to like chicken in any form). But mostly, we want a brand that he will enjoy to eat and that keeps his digestive system running smoothly. Thanks in advance!

[DJ]

Our puppy is on Acana grasslands and she has been since she was at the breeder. She has no issues with it and seems to love it. I also free feed her and she eats when she is hungry, prob 4 times a day and never over eats. We free fed our last dog her whole life and she never over ate and it worked well for her too.
The Acana is not a puppy formula but an all life stage type of food. It's the same for when she is a puppy and as an adult. I plan on adding some variety after the puppy stage. For now it works very well for her. It is more expensive though.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

What vets usually mean when they say a food is "too rich" is that the food contains too many different ingredients. (As you mentioned, this is an incorrect use of the term "rich", which actually applies to fat content.) Often, a limited ingredient diet which uses only one animal protein and fewer plant ingredients is easier on the digestive system. Bland diets used for upset tummies typically contain only two ingredients, one animal protein and one starch. Of the brands you listed above, only two make limited ingredient (LID) formulas: Zignature and Acana. All of the formulas in the Zignature line except one (Zssentials)  are LID. The Acana Singles line is also LID. Both are ALS (all life stages) foods.

Since you didn't tell us which Life's Abundance formula you were using, and since Life's Abundance is not transparent about their foods and doesn't list all of the ingredients or the nutritional profiles online, it's hard for me to say what caused the change in your pup's stools, but I can make an educated guess. Chances are very good that the L.A. food contained chicken and/or turkey as the protein. The Fromm Heartland Gold that you switched to contains red meats (beef and pork), and that may have been part of the problem. The L.A. food also probably contained rice, while the Fromm formula is grain free. The Fromm formula also contains 18% fat, which is typical for puppy foods but may have been higher than the fat content in the L.A. Any or all of these factors may have contributed to the problem. When switching brands, if the dog was doing well digestively on the previous food, you want to try to switch to something similar in ingredients and nutritional profile, and it looks like that wasn't the case here. Poultry to meat, grains to grain-free, and possibly a change in macronutrient profile are a lot of big changes all at once, and that may have been the problem. 
Remember, it's never a brand that causes a digestive issue, it's the specific formula. So you really don't have to give up Fromm completely, you can simply switch to a poultry based formula, and probably one that contains rice. Maybe the Puppy Gold. I'd need the exact formula of the L.A. food and the nutritional info to be able to make specific recommendations. 

But although Orijen is an excellent food, it doesn't sound like that would the best choice for your pup. I would stick with something simpler and lower in fat. If you do go with Acana, make sure you buy a formula from the SINGLES line. 

[charlotte bednarsh]

Hi,

I had a similar problem with my australian labradoodle who is now 10 months old; he was on Orijen large puppy food and his stool was consistently soft and runny.  I have followed Karen's advice and am now slowly switching him from California Natural (which apparently is less reliable relevant to quality) to Zignature which is highly rated......so far, so good!  His stool is firm and he's doing really well (he's on the Zignature adult food).   I'm also using pure bites treats and am avoiding other treats with multiple ingredients that might irritate his stomach.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Good point about the treats, Charlotte. 

[Katie B]

Thanks for the point about the treats! I am glad Zignature worked so well for you. We have been using kibble as training treats as well, so I don't think that is what was causing the irritation, but I will keep that in mind as we move forward!

[Katie B]

Karen, 

Thank you for the helpful response. He was on the life's abundance puppy, which was a Chicken and Rice blend. We might look into the Acana Singles or the Puppy Gold. He is just a very picky eater, which is why we switched to meat originally. He was not interested in poultry (even boiled chicken- for the bland diet we've been giving him ground beef and he is doing great on it), but I am guessing the switch to grain free and macronutrients on top of that was too much for his stomach. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Acana Singles line does offer lamb, duck, pork, and mackerel, so perhaps he might like the lamb or duck. And Zignature has a wide variety of proteins from which to choose. 

But picky eating habits don't improve when you try to find something they "like", because eventually, they will get tired of whatever it is and start refusing to eat again. so you start constantly switching foods in an effort to find something they will eat, and that's how you really create a "picky eater" . You are teaching the dog that if he holds out long enough, he might get something "better".  Down the road, you can rotate from one formula to another within the same line and that helps keep them interested. But for now, here's what I recommend: 

Give the puppy his food at his regular scheduled meal time, and give him 10 minutes to eat. During that time, stay nearby, perhaps having a snack or cup of coffee yourself, and keep all distractions to a minimum. That means, nobody coming in and out of the room, nobody calling out back and forth from other parts of the house, no kids playing nearby, etc. After 10 minutes, put the food away and do not offer food again until the next scheduled meal time. A normal healthy puppy is not going to starve himself.. He needs to learn that food is not always available any time he feel like having a mouthful, so if he wants to eat, he needs to do it when his meal is served. This also helps regulate the bowels, which helps with potty training.

Here's the best discussion we've ever had here about "picky eaters". Please read through it. It's fun and funny, but it also contains a lot of wisdom and good advice. I think you'll enjoy it. :)
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-ode-...

[c zoomer]

Gee, I hate to post this, now that I've seen the great response on Picky Eaters!
Dinah (8 mo.) is not excited about her breeder's puppy food either (Wilderness, Prairie, Puppy), so I added the freeze dried lamb. Used the ones that crumbled...Origen and Stella &chewy. Lamb is an easily digested meat, if bowel irritation is present.

Re: free feeding. When I had fussy cats, the reasoning was it was an appetite depressant to smell the food "all day". It was also stated that it caused excess dander flakes. It makes sense---as we humans have a similar reaction to odors called olfactory fatigue....and the first bite is always the best! With all the that said, I have done the free feed with Dinah because of her need to graze. Plan to end free feeding when she's ready...probably at 10 months as I'll be a stay at home mom then. She communicates very well, and will tell me if its time to eat! Otherwise I will feed her am and pm with a snack before bed. She is an easy pup to raise.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Despite what we might see on "alternative" websites, lamb is no more easily digested than any other animal protein, whether bowel irritation is present or not. :)