[GSDMajor_2]

I changed my dog to grain free about three months ago. He is pooping his brains out. He is a big dog 110 .The poopies huge and he goes 4 or 5 time a day. It’s made him loose a little weight too. He had dry skin and other skin issues so I changed to this thinking I’m doing the right thing. He is on Merrick which gets 5 stars. I’ve looked in other forums and other people are saying the same thing about grain free.
If he can’t eat grain free what the heck do I feed him? Thanks in advance for help. It’s so appreciated.

[pugmomsandy]

There are hundreds of foods to try out. Maybe your dog is not used to high protein grain free. What were you feeding before and how long? There are foods “in the middle” if you want to try that. I feed a range of 4 to 5 star foods and haven’t had any issues with more poop or larger poop. And actually my fosters have the largest and more frequent poops after being vetted and then I get them. I also give the dogs some probiotics a couple times a week. The best poops are on raw food with bones – small, formed, no smell like the size of little bird eggs. I have small dogs though. But what I’m saying is, try something else. My fosters do good on Nutrisource Heartland Select and grain free Lamb. I would call those “in the middle”.

[theBCnut]

My dogs’ poop was much smaller after switching to grain free, but I use low fiber grain free foods. Fiber levels make a huge difference. Try a different food if the one you are using doesn’t seem to be working for you.

[RescueDaneMom]

I have a Great Dane (155 lbs). When I was feeding him grain-free kibble, I fed Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural (very low fiber), Annamaet Grain Free, Go! Fit & Free (by Petcurean), and Acana Regionals (grain-free). I also have a rottweiler in the house (my brother’s dog). The rottie has done well on Horizon Legacy, Horizon Pulsar, Fromm Adult Gold, Acana Regionals, and Nutrisource Adult Chicken & Rice.

Fiber could be the culprit. The rottie is very sensitive to fiber in his food. Too much fiber makes him poop his brains out too. You could try the Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural. It has 2.5% fiber which I think is pretty low for kibble. Also, not all dogs do well on “5 star” foods. It really depends on the dog. I wouldn’t give up on grain-free foods just yet. I would try another brand like Earthborn or Nutrisource.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Yorkieville]

Hav you tried Stella & Chewy’s grain free patties? Since switching my puppy to it, he is pooping far less.

And the poo is very small-no odor.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 11 months ago by Yorkieville. Reason: sp

[RescueDaneMom]

While I love Stella & Chewy’s, it is not practical for large dogs to feed as a sole source of food. Your dog would eat you out of house and home. If I fed my dog just S&C, I would be spending $15/day. You can use Stella’s as a topper for the kibble. That’s how I started feeding my dog raw.

[Yorkieville]

Good point-I hadn’t even considered cost of feeding a large dog Stella & Chewy’s.

This is my brain on MS. Sorry. (:

[joanne l]

Hi everyone, I am having the same problem my gsd was eating holistic select grain in food and his poop was great, I put him on Fromm grain free and he is pooping large and more.
I am wondering if it is caused by too much fiber and or the peas chickpeas and lentils in grain free foods. I would assume some grain free foods have too much fiber and I noticed any weight management formula have more fiber, I don’t use it I am just using that as a guide.

[anonymous]

Why not mix a little of the previous kibble with grains in with the grain free stuff? That works for my terrier. One third kibble with grains, two thirds grain free kibble.
Yes, some dogs will have more frequent elimination on grain free, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. My dog with allergies does best on Nutrisca grain free kibble, however she does have more frequent small bowel movements (3/4 as opposed to 1/2). She is doing very well otherwise. So, I don’t consider it an issue.

[T]

I had a similar problem when feeding my dogs “grain-free” food that still had a LOT of plant material in it from potatoes, peas and various starches. Stools were much larger and more frequent. My dogs now eat a raw food that has only a little plant material and their stools are tiny compared to before.

Most “grain free” kibble replaces the grain with other plant-based calories like peas, potato, sweet potato, lentils, beans, etc. Dogs don’t seem to digest a lot of this stuff as well as one might expect!

Tabitha (Dr. Thompson)

[anonymous]

Nutrisca has no potato

Hope this helps https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/choosing-the-right-diet-for-your-pet/

[Author]

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