Need to switch food brands...

[Tracey]

Hi all!

We've had Seamus on Innova Puppy (he's almost 6 mos., and this is what the breeder gave them so we just kept with it). Problem is he has consistently loose stools, and after narrowing things down, we're thinking it's the food. Based on the effect that pumpkin, etc. has on him, we know fiber is good ;). Has anyone else had to make a switch from Innova for this reason? Any recs for which brand we might switch to? My vet rec'd Solid Gold or Wellness as possibilities....

(also posted this in the food group =))

[Laura & Chewie]

I will be very interested in this subject also. Chewie is 4 months, came from breeder on Purina Pro Plan (????) and we switched him to Wellness. He has had the firmest poops on Wellness, but as time goes on, seems to like it less and less. I know there is a survey on the Food Group, but isn't necessarily broken down by age of dog...puppy, adult.

I LOVE that your vet recommended a high quality food!!!

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

http://www.frommfamily.com/

They even have grain free surf and turf for dogs...excellent food...best you can buy....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Many people have had good luck with Fromm's. I know Adrianne had trouble with loose poops and the Fromm's has worked for her.
Innova is a very good food, but different dogs just seem to do better with one or another food.
Jack did well with the Nature's Variety Prairire formulas, too.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Welcome back! Hope you had a great summer! Seamus is also my SILs name and spelled the same way! They adopted me foster Mickey this summer.

So what's new with Seamus other than the food issue. There are some foods that loose poops are 'normal'. Go to the Food Group and check it out.

Our new puppy, Charli, is changing from Fromm's Puppy to Innova because she was bored. She is still getting both but much more of the Innova. Her poops are fine.

Have you been giving Seamus yogurt? The reason I ask is that Mickey has been on Fromm's and lately he has had very loose poops. They kept giving him more yogurt to help it. (They stopped giving him yogurt and it stopped almost overnight. He may be lactose intolerant. In a couple of weeks, they will reintroduce yogurt and see if that is the issue for him.)

Their Vet suggested Science Diet (not surprising) and they wouldn't give it to him. The animal nutrionist that owns the store where I get my Doodles food suggested they give him grain free food. He had suggested something that they couldn't find in Pittsburgh so they tried "Taste of the Wild". He loves it. Between the stopping of the yogurt and the change in kibble his poops are perfect! So, is it the yogurt or the kibble - who knows.

[Tracey]

Hi Adrianne! Thanks very much...it turned out to be such a crazy busy summer, that I just didn't get on here other than to pop on here and there. I've missed it!

Seamus is great! Of course he's a puppy and drives me batty at times, but man is he a smart pup. And I was mightily impressed with him at the beach yesterday. He LISTENED! LOL

Haven't done yogurt with him. He seems to have a sensitive tummy, so we haven't gotten too creative ;). But luckily he's back to liking the pumpkin, which we've used for the really bad times.

I'll keep grain free in mind...I didn't see any puppy mixes that were grain-free when I went looking today, but I did see that Canidae for 'all stages'.... Also another called Prairie, but again no pup formula so I wasn't sure which way to go =S.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Orijen has a grain-free puppy formula.

[Lindsey, Lee, Whopper and Simba]

We had Whopper on Solid Gold and Wellness after switching her from Organix which the breeder had started her on...Solid Gold gave her horrible gas and the Wellness just never really agreed with her nor did she like it very much. It also really seemed to crumble in the bad creating a lot of food dust which was a mess. For the past 3-4 months or so (Whopper is 11 1/2 months old) she has been on Canidae for All Life Stages Grain Free. Her poops have been much more firm and much smaller without all of the grains. We also rarely have any issues relating to gas.

[Tracey]

Oh boy...that's what I need is a gassy dog =S. I saw the Canidae today...which formula do you use?

[Lindsey, Lee, Whopper and Simba]

We use the grain free for all life stages. We like that as she matures this can remain in her diet as long as she doesn't get bored. On one occasion my husband accidentally bought the Canidae food that contains grains and Whopper didn't have any major issues with this either. Her poop was bigger and not quite as firm but still easy to pick up. We like that every now and then we can feel relatively confident in switching to another Canidae type but pretty much are sold completely on the grain free for all life stages.

[Wendy]

I never had my pups on Innova but my sister had her doberman on it. She switched to Solid Gold for this exact reason!