[traceearsena]

Hello. After many months of various attempts to help our rescue boxer with his allergy issues, we finally have some control with grain free food/treats and daily allergy drops. However, I have noticed that he has much more loose stools which is now to the the point of huge diarrhea. He’s even had accidents in the house which is not him unless he can’t help it. When he was off the food for awhile and on a prescription food for urinary crystals, his stools seemed better.
Vet had him on a course of antibiotics and imodium a couple weeks back. His stool was negative for anything but she said there has been something going around causing diarrhea. Didn’t do much good. The brand he has been on for most of the last year since we adopted him is Earthborne Holistics-Coastal Catch. Our trainer highly recommended the brand. We have also tried adding the pumpkin but didn’t help much. Our other dog, without allergies, is fine on the same food.
Would like a recommendation for a grain free that has helped others who might have had this issue. With this quality of food, I would expect his stools to be smaller and formed. The lovely side issue with this is he is having anal gland issues (or as we call it-fishies!) Thanks for any suggestions.

[pugmomsandy]

I would try a different food with a different protein. Have you tried the Earthborn Meadow Feast or the Weight Control formulas? They have more fiber than Coastal Catch. Meadow Feast has 5 and Weight Control has 9. Canidae Pure Land has few ingredients although it is not a limited ingredient diet. Wellness has a limited ingredient food called Simple. I usually add ground psyllium instead of pumpkin for fiber. But it sounds like something in the Coastal Catch just doesn’t agree with him.

[Melissaandcrew]

I have a dobie with a very sensitive stomach, and it came to a point of thinking grain free would never work for her. I finally found Victor grain free ultra pro. For her, LESS fiber was the solution. So, if you try a food with more fiber and it doesn’t work, think about going lower. Every dog is different. Boxers are notorious for allergies and stomach issues, so perhaps a boxer forum can help.

[Mom2Cavs]

Melissaandcrew, I was just going to say that about the fiber. Sometimes a dog needs less, not more.

[traceearsena]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think we are going to just switch to another Earthborn and see. I’ve had six boxers in my life and they each have their own issues. One thing we have noticed is most of them have had issues with their urine pH. They always have fresh water and drink a ton but that is for a different thread 🙂 On a more pleasant note, my poor husband is about to go land mine hunting in the backyard before we get hit with another blizzard. He deserves a medal!

[DogFoodie]

Hi traceearsena,

Are you kidding? The best part about all of this snow is that it covers up the poop! I figure it’ll be there when the snow melts. Tell your hubby to have some hot chocolate and chill. ; )

I tend to agree with Sandy, maybe it’s just that the food doesn’t agree with him. If I were you, I think I’d try a different brand altogether. While there are obvious differences from one Earthborn variety to another, there are still a lot of similarities. And, I’ll second the Victor recommendation Melissa made. I have a Golden with a sensitive system and a fish / fish oil intolerance. He needs just the right amount of fiber or he ends up with loose stools. Right now, he’s eating Victor Grain Free ALS (the one in the red bag) and its doing great on it. It’s fish and fish oil free, the fiber is right and it contains montmorillonite, a natural stool hardener.

My Sam was having a reaction to his previous food, so I made a quick switch to the Victor and his stool has been perfect. Plus the upside, it’s very budget friendly.

[traceearsena]

Okay, soooo just when I was going to switch to another protein source from Earthborn, and knowing I have to wean them over, I noticed a rank smell coming from their current food. We always keep it zipped and in a plastic bin that is sealed. This loose stool issue started long before this bag but I obviously stopped that bad altogether. There is still about half in it and I’m about to email the company which is why I saved the bag. Has this happened to anybody else?
He seems to be improving on the Bison protein with stools being more formed although he did have an accident this morning. Still giving him Imodium as needed. Just really concerned about how that food became rank!

[traceearsena]

Oh, just as a reminder the food that became bad was Ocean Catch.

[amac2]

Hi I have had this same problem with my German shepard- pit bull mix. We had him on Canyon creek ranch grain free formula, but turns out canyon creek ranch just stopped making dog food. We have tried to switch him to the Earthborn holistics bison one with no luck. Barely half and half with his old food for three weeks now and he is having mostly diarrhea. Tonight it was really bad almost water. Any suggestions? Should I try another brand all together? You said the bison one was working for you?

[traceearsena]

His stools do seem to be firming up finally but I’m sure we’ll have to wait to see. Most people suggest trying a different source of protein all together if they have issues with one. This is why we changed from the fish to the Bison. Maybe your guy needs a different primary source of protein. If this didn’t work then I was going to change the brand all together as was suggested above. Thank goodness for this site. There is such confusing info out there! Did your vet rule out any parasites in his stool? Even though ours did, she still started my guy on a round of antibiotics because she said there was some virus going around causing diarrhea. My female hasn’t had a problem though. She also said to give him generic Imodium once or twice a day if we need to till this is figured out. Hope you get yours figured out. I feel like it’s always something!! This is why people need to be dedicated when they decide to have pets 🙂

By the way, I emailed Earthborn and haven’t heard back from them yet. Hoping I do soon!

[joanne l]

Grain free foods will cause looser stools, if we ate a lot of peas and beans we will be going to the Bath room quite often. Sorry not a fan of PEAS I rather have rice instead for my dog.
Dog food needs some binding agent and they are using these peas and beans and sweet potatoes, potatoes. A good dog food would be good amount of meat followed by some rice instead or oatmeal. Better for the dogs system, and you find no loose stools unless they have a food intolerance and that is usually a type of protein. The old fashion way is better!

[joanne l]

earthborn contains too many peas. Peas = loose stools. By the way I heard a lot of people complaining about earthborn lately…Look on dog food advisors page on earthborn and you will see what I mean. I care about all animals and I am just trying to help if I can.
Try a good food with some grains and see how it goes. maybe try precise or holistic select etc. Try too avoid high fiber percentages unless your dog does better on a high fiber diet. I am feeding Holistic select lamb and he does very well on it, now some people might say “its too much grains” however, I also give him some fresh meat with his dry. That boosts my protein up and it is fresh, easier to digest. Too many grain free foods have high protein too many fiber vegetables and to me I don’t like that. High protein is better when it is in its natural form oppose to any kibble. And grains like oatmeal and rice is good for stools and stomach can’t go wrong with that.

[InkedMarie]

Joanne: that’s kind of a blanket statement about grainfree foods causing loose stools. Maybe for your dogs but not for mine and not for many other dogs.

[joanne l]

Marie: Hi, sorry if I upset you, I just was going by what I read in other posts besides this one. I have read that many dogs, not all dogs, have loose stools on too much fiber in grain free diets. I was only trying to help others if I can who’s dogs were having loose stools on grain free. Some dogs just need less veggie and fiber foods and too many peas is one of them.

[InkedMarie]

Hi Joanne,
I was just saying that you saying “grainfree foods will cause looser stools…” Is not correct.
Maybe for some but you said ‘will”. I’ve had lotsa dogs (we always seem to have three!!) and any dog that had diarrhea wasn’t due to the food being grainfree (I have only fed grainfree except for one dog for a short time). I also feed high quality foods; maybe they didn’t have as much fiber as what others have fed (Annamaet, Farmina, Dr Tim’s, Natures Variety Instinct, Acaca Ranchlands or Grasslands were what I fed most recently.

[joanne l]

Thank you for pointing out the fiber…Those are good foods that you feed and the fiber is at a good percentage. There is a person on here with a boxer and I feel bad that the dog is having diarrhea, maybe he might do better with rice. He tried pumpkin for his dog but that didn’t work, that’s why for him I would suggest rice in his diet. I am sorry for coming off strong on the grain free diets…I just know a lot of k9 police dogs in my area that feed grain in diets only. Not that it is important, but I wonder why.

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