[Melissa K]

We have a 5.5 month old goldendoodle who came home on Nutrisource Medium Breed Puppy. He didn’t have any problems with it but he wasn’t super interested in the food unless we doctored it up with toppings etc. We opted to switch him over to Fromm Heartland Puppy about a month ago. We transitioned slowly and he did fine and he seemed to enjoy it. Fast forward to about a week or so ago, he woke up in the middle of the racing to the door every two hours with loose, unformed stools. After two nights of that, I took him to the vet who put him on a bland diet, fortiflora probiotics, and flagly for 10 days. His stool sample was negative and he is fully vaccinated. After 3 days on the bland diet, things firmed up, and we slowly transitioned to regular food which he devoured and did fine with. He finished his antibiotics on a Saturday night, and by Monday night we were back to waking up every two hours racing to the door with loose stools. (Apparently my husband decided to put some bacon grease on his breakfast Monday am- not sure if this caused it to recur or not) He is now back on a bland diet, and the vet suggested another week on the flagyl and probiotics. He is doing totally fine, happy, playful, and devouring the bland diet. Not sure what caused this- the vet said he could have had an infection that needed more time, or got into something etc. I am wondering if its possible that its the food and maybe we should switch. Looking at Merrick or Canidae- any thoughts or suggestions?

[pitlove]

Hi Melissa-

When you say “he wasn’t that interested in it” in reference to NutriSource, do you mean that he wouldn’t eat it or that he was not excited about eating it?

I’m guessing you have only had him for roughly 3 and a half months? He might have needed more time on NutriSource before having his diet changed even though you did a slow transition. How long into having him did you switch him to Fromm?

If he was willing to eat NutriSource, but just wasn’t jumping for joy about it, I would switch back to that. Too many diet changes while he is a puppy could result in pickiness. That is what I went through with the dog in my picture when he was younger. Not to mention there were a couple foods that I had tried once previously with him that he wouldn’t eat and then we revisited the food and he ate it just fine.

[Susan]

Hi Melissa,
sounds like you have a puppy with a very sensitive stomach/bowel, he may suffer with skin allergies as he get’s older, there’s a few Goldendoodles with sensitive stomach & skin on a Face Book group I belong too….
Food sensitivities/intolerances can take anywhere from 1 day to 6 weeks to react to a certain ingredient & have Intestinal stress… sounds like there’s an ingredient in the Fromm he’s sensitive too..
My boy has skin allergies & food intolerances & can’t eat high fat meals, tapioca, beet pulp, liver, barley & high fiber kibbles & too many proteins & ingredients he gets stomach up sets, acid reflux, sloppy poos/diarrhea & he wakes up 2am, 4am or 5am crying at the front door to be let out to have diarrhea, sometimes you can hear loud grumbling noises coming from his bowel (Wind)….
You’ll have to start working out what agrees with him & what doesn’t, keep a diary & write down foods, kibbles etc that don’t agree with him & try & work out if there’s an common ingredient, I ended up doing a elimination food diet..

I’ve had great success with “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb, it is a single protein formula with just lamb meal & has limited ingredients, grain free & is a all life stages formula, has the matching wet tin food…… https://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/

When a dog knows a food/kibble causes pain, upset stomach, wind, nausea they’re hesitate to eat it or don’t eat it at all, listen to your dog when he doesn’t want to eat something, he’s telling you, mum this makes me sick, offer to feed something else, he might prefer a wet tin food, cooked, raw or rotate between 2 brands of kibbles that’s what I do, so he doesn’t get sick of eating the same kibble formula, Patch gets Canidae Pure for breakfast & TOTW for lunch & dinner…but you have pup I don’t know how it works rotating Puppy formula’s if it’s Ok….ask & email the kibble company, they would know….
TOTW have vet nutritionist that email back & give advise…

Canidae is another food I feed the Canidae Pure Wild Boar, all the Pure formula’s have limited ingredients.
Canidae have a 3 large breed puppy formula’s, 2 in their “Life Stages” formula’s dry & wet tin, Canidae have a new Large breed puppy Turkey & Brown Rice that has only 1 protein Turkey Meal that’s not too high in protein or fat & can be feed all stages of life Puppy, Adult & Senior large breed…
http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products/canidae-all-life-stages-large-breed-turkey-meal-brown-rice-dry-formula
or Canidae Life Stages Large breed Puppy Duck Meal & Lentils wet & dry
or Canidae’s “Under The Sun” Large Breed Puppy Chicken dry

Maybe try a kibble that has limited ingredient & only 1 protein & see how he goes, no more then 8 ingredients so there’s less ingredients to cause any problems .. Read the ingredients, fiber, fat & protein % in the Nutrisource Puppy formula & the Fromm Heartland Puppy & see is there heaps of ingredients? how many different proteins? is the Fat, Fiber & Protein on the higher end?
Best to buy from a Pet Shop this way you can take it back for a refund & try another food if he doesn’t really want to eat it…..

[anonymous]

“He didn’t have any problems with it but he wasn’t super interested in the food unless we doctored it up with toppings etc”.

I always add at least a tablespoon of cooked protein and a splash of water or plain chicken broth (no onion) to kibble. Minimal snacks, 2 meals per day.
I consider kibble the base (1/2 to 2/3 of the meal).
Kibble, even the so called best ones, look so dry and boring otherwise.
Right or wrong, my dogs are thriving on this regimen.

I have been pleased with the quality of Zignature Whitefish (check Chewy dot com for prices)
For something more reasonable I would consider Purina Pro Plan Focus Salmon.
I agree with pitluv, not to make too many changes right now.
Good luck with your pup 🙂

Ps: I avoid potato and sweet potato, in my experience some dogs with sensitive stomachs don’t do well, a lot of kibbles use too much potato (cheap filler) imo

This is not veterinary advice; consult your veterinarian.

[Melissa K]

Hi All

Thanks for all the suggestions. He firmed back up on the bland diet and we gradually transitioned him back to the regular food, he is also done with antibiotics and I notice he is having unformed (but not liquid) stools again. Making me wonder if its the food. I just ordered Canidae Puppy at the suggestion of the breeder. In making the switch would you still mix old with new, or just make the switch cold turkey because the Fromm does not seem to be agreeing with him?

Melissa

[anonymous]

I would mix old with the new 1/2 and 1/2 for about a week, if all goes well then switch over completely to the new.
PS: The loose stools may be related to the antibiotics he was on, if it continues you may want to give him boiled rice and hamburger/bland diet for a couple of days till his stools firm up.

This is not veterinary advice; consult your veterinarian.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Melissa K-
Have you taken another stool sample in? Parasites and worms can be intermittent and are hard to detect on fecal tests. I’d also continue to give him the Forti Flora or Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form to help his digestive tract heal.

Is your pup going to be a large dog? I know that goldennoodles can range in size quite a bit depending on size of the poodle.

I hope you get this figured out. I know it’s stressful. My pups had Giardia and it took a while for me to realize it wasn’t the food and to get it treated. Good luck!

[Melissa K]

Thanks, I spoke to the vet by phone after the loose stools returned after the first course of antibiotics and he didn’t seem to think he needed to retest, also I think the flagyl would cover him for those types of infections? I did order more of the forti flora with the new food. Everything was normal during and a little after stopping the meds and bland diet (now twice) so I am hoping the food change will help!

[crazy4cats]

No, if it is Giardia, the flagyl would not necessarily get rid of it. It is an antibiotic. I had to use Panacur dewormer along with the flagyl to get rid of it. Fingers crossed for you!

[Author]

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