Sensitive GI

[Britni Rampton]

is it more important to have my 6 month old doodle on large breed puppy food or sensitive stomach food? I’ve come to realize he has diarrhea whenever we are gone a few days, have company over for a couple hours, or we take him anywhere. Right now I’m feeding him wellness grain free puppy with some pumpkin and plain yogurt. I have yet to order the proviable to add to his diet bc of discussions on this board of being weary of ordering during the summer months.

Im open to any and all suggestions. He’s doing very well on the puppy wellness kibble and I’d hate to change foods again,.. unless that meant the sensitive tummy would do the trick. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If he only has diarrhea when there are stressful situations (you go away, company comes over, he is taken somewhere), then food has nothing to do with his digestive issues, unless people are giving him "treats" that don;t agree with him in these situations. If that's the case, it's simple enough to fix; you tell the guests and the people he is being left with that under no circumstances are they to give him anything other than his regular food and any treats he normally gets, and when you have him out with you, you don't order him a puppacino or allow the teller at the bank to give him Milk Bones, etc.
I would not switch him from his current food; I really don;t think his kibble is the issue, and I don't think a different one would make a difference in this case. 

[Britni Rampton]

Thanks. 

Do you think anything will help? 

Probiotic? Wait until he “outgrows” this?, more socializing? 

I feel so bad for him. Just not sure how to help him. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would definitely give a good probiotic. I think you could call Chewy and ask about shipping Proviable in the current weather and see what precautions they might use to make sure it's kept cool. Otherwise, your vet's office might be able to get it for you. Some vets carry it. iFlora is also a good one, and you might be able to find that locally; my vet carries it. Just don't buy Fortiflora or Prostora, which is what some vets sell. 

I'd be very careful with the kinds of treats he gets, (I would use simple treats from our approved list) and again, making sure nobody is giving him anything you haven't approved.

Socialization is extremely important for puppies. They need to see everything and everybody, from an early age. My breeder wants them meeting 100 people in the first 100 days. 

[Britni Rampton]

K. That makes sense. I discontinued the fortiflora the vet gave us bc it seemed to make it worse. He doesn’t get any treats except grain free BilJac trainers treats... and that hasn’t been for over a month bc I’ve been trying to pinpoint why he gets the bouts of diarrhea. I’ll look at the approved list on here too. 

He goes out a lot with us, but it seems like he gets terribly wound up and it’s hard to get him to a calm again (except for going home.. ha).i dont know if he’s met 100 people but he’s gone to the dog park or doggy play dates once a week since we got him... plus regular walks and occasionally the pet store or Home Depot. He rides in the car fine :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Have you done any formal training, in a class or group setting? Obedience training helps a LOT ot build a dog's confidence and strengthen his bond with you. It also helps any dog to be calm and relaxed when he knows exatly what is expected of hm, and training accomplishes that.

Dog parks generally don't do much in this regard and in fact can even make things worse, depending on the situation. When we talk about socializing a dog, we don't mean it in the sense that humans socialize, i.e. spend time with friends & peers. Socializing a dog means getting the dog comfortable in human society. 

I would avoid Bil-jac products. Their training treats contain wheat and artificial preservatives which have been linked to cancer. 

[Britni Rampton]

Oh wow- changing treats now. Thanks for the info!

What do you recommend for socializing? He’s 6 months now. How often and long?

The formal doggy school is a good idea- but I wasn’t thinking that to be a life long thing. What can I do on a weekly/regular basis besides the dog park to integrate him into human society. Daily walks? (Been doing that... maybe 4 evenings a week. Does he need more?)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd start with training classes and see where you want to go from there. While most of us don;t do classes for life, training IS a life-long thing, and absolutely nothing builds more confidence in a dog than knowing what is expected and what to do in any given situation. There are also all kinds of dog sports and activities that many of us participate in...agility, flyball, nose work, dock diving, rally, therapy dog work (visiting hospitals, schools, etc) and many others. You might also find that you both really enjoy obedience training and want to pursue that. At a minimum I really feel every dog needs to at least get his CGC (Canine Good Citizen). 

Walks are also really helpful, and you can vary the places and times of day you go; drive to another neighborhood, walk past a school at recess time, go to a farmer's market, take him everywhere dogs are allowed. I would also take him for a walk every day if possible, more than once a day if possible. The big guys need a LOT of exercise. 

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I just want to say that our guy Phin was a nervous wreck about every noise he heard and every obstacle we came across (jumping in the car for a ride, jumping on the couch, stairs ect). Even with some people he would show signs of fear. We got him in a training class pretty much as soon as he had all of his shots and it has helped SOOO much. He went though starlet puppy, star puppy, and just graduated CGC (canine good citizenship). The women who owns the training facility also has Saturday puppy play enrichment hours and that has been so amazing. The first 10-15 minutes are spent introducing our dogs to new things (kids play sets, various balls, various textured mats, skate board, tunnels ect). When we first started Phin wouldnt go near almost any of the props. Today, while still a tad skeptical with some things, he will hop right onto almost anything. Karen is right, it has helped build an incredible bond between the two of us. He trusts that I wont ask him to get onto anything that could possible put him in harms way.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Sounds wonderful! 

[Britni Rampton]

Sounds fantastic! I’m going to pursue this next week and see how he does! Thank you for sharing and encouraging!