Puppy food advice please

[Laura]

Hi all- we have a ten week standard goldendoodle, Wrigley. He was one of twelve puppies in the litter and has always fallen in the middle of them weight wise. At 6 weeks, he was 4 pounds, 8 weeks was 5.12 pounds, and today at 10 weeks he was 10.1 pounds. Mom was 60, dad 67.

I’ve been concerned about his smaller than usual size for a standard but both the breeder and our vet said this happens sometimes in extra large letters and they typically “catch up” in size. However, Wrigley also tested positive for giardia and just finished a week of panacur. He hasn’t been real interested in food, especially kibble, and the vet said today that he’s too thin. 

Wrigley has  been on blue buffalo puppy, mostly the canned food, but we want him eating kibble and eating more. I’ve been researching higher quality foods and came across orijen, Acana, Fromm, etc. but I’m overwhelmed by the information on this group. I’ve always been told to look into raw goat’s milk.

I guess what I’m asking for is someone with experience to maybe walk along side us as we come up with a food plan for our guy to try to get him healthy and growing. I’m also not sure if we do large breed puppy or regular puppy, especially since our guy is smaller than usual right now. Shew. Thanks!

[Laura]

He has been on the FortiFlora Probiotic. I’ve been mixing the Blue Buffalo Puppy Kibble (chicken and brown rice) with Blue Buffalo canned Puppy Chicken Dinner with Garden Vegetable in an attempt to get him to eat anything. He has been eating maybe 1/3 of what he should for his weight the past couple of days and that is begrudgingly. This feels harder to figure out than raising four kiddos :) 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, so Fortiflora is a Purina product sold by vets (because vets sell only Purina, Mars, & Hills food prodcuts, none of which you want) and it's not a very good choice of probiotic. We also find that many vets don;t advice you to give the probiotic at least two hours apart from medications, so if you were giving the Panacur at the same time as the Fortiflora, the probiotic was entirely wasted. Either way, I would still get the Proviable.
You may be okay with a chicken and rice diet, since he's already been eating grains. 
My regimen for feeding picky puppies (and dogs):
Feed twice a day at the same time & in the same place every day. At mealtime, keep all distractions to an absolute minimum. That means nobody coming in and out of the room, no kids playing nearby, nobody calling out from other rooms, etc. Sit down near the puppy and keep him company, perhaps having a cup of coffee or a snack of your own. Verbally encourage eating with praise for every bite. If you have to, let him eat from your hand. 
After 15 minutes, remove the food and do not offer food again until the next scheduled mealtime. It's hard but it usually helps a lot.
I would try using a dry "topper", like the crushed chicken Pure Bites I use, or maybe yogurt, rather than the canned food. I think many pet supply stores sell products made to be used as toppers, but be sure and stick with brands that are on our recommended list only. You could even try a spoonful of baby food (100% meat type only). Blue canned food is really bad, and may even be contributing to the stool issues. 

[Laura]

The learning curve is huge! I’ll slowly transition the kibble from Blue to Orijen once it arrives and order the probiotic and topper today. I’ll stop the canned now and start yogurt with the blue kibble while we wait on the Orijen. Will do that for a few days until stools are normal then start the slow transition to Orijen. Sound right?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm going to throw you another curve ball here, lol. Don't do a slow transition. It won;t work with two foods that are so different nutririonally in terms of both ingredients, calories and macronutrient percentages, and you may even make matters worse. If it weren't for the loose stool, I'd tell you to go cold turkey, but in this case, I'd say take no more than 3-4 days. You are going to have to calculate one quarter of a meal's worth of each food and then do 1 quarter new, 3/4 old to 1/2 a day new & half a day old, to 3/4 new and 1 quarter old, to 100% new. You cannot replace an equal amount of Blue with an equal amount of Orijen, because of the calorie difference.

[Laura]

So, here’s an update. I stopped the canned food immediately. Yesterday for his 2nd and 3rd meals (I had been feeding 3 times a day to get whatever in him I could) I mixed just kibble with yogurt. 2nd meal he barely touched. 3rd he ate probably 1/3 which I was shocked. This morning and now he ate almost the entire bowl...!! His last bowel movement was normal in appearance. Fingers crossed it continues as we move to the Orijen once it arrives today. Also, how long should I continue to do the yogurt? Until the probiotics arrive? Thanks 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You can give the yogurt forever, even after the probiotics arrive. It's a healthytreat, and if it helps him like his kibble better, that's a big plus. Some of us give our dogs a spoonful or two of yogurt with berries or other fruit as a "dessert" several times a week.