[Trey W]

I have had my Lab puppy for over 2 months now and we can’t seem to get his stools regularly normal. At first we were feeding him Blue Buffalo Large Puppy Breed Chicken and Rice flavor and he was having diarrhea almost every time he would poop. So we switched his food to Simply Nourish Large Puppy Breed Chicken and Rice and for about the first week he was eating that his poops were pretty normal, but now they have started to soften up again. Many days his poops will go from decent to worse throughout the day, but he does not have an increase in poops it is just that when he does poop they tend to be very soft stools if not diarrhea.

He does not have any worms nor blood in his stool even though today I did find some gravel looking stuff in his stool. We have feed him boiled chicken and rice on days that his tummy has been real upset, and when we do that his poops are always better, but I cant feed him boiled chicken and rice forever. He eats, drinks, plays, and acts perfectly healthy. My vet recommended switching his food to Hills Science Diet because that is the softest on dogs stomachs. I am weary of this because I have heard that vets just push that on the customers because that is their sponsored dog food.

I am open to any suggestions, and just hoping to get my boy all better.

[pugmomsandy]

Some suggestions: feed slightly less volume per feed, feed him only twice a day if he’s old enough to do so, give a multi-strain probiotic daily, add some fiber (ground psyllium, coconut fiber, chia seeds, pure pumpkin puree) or fiber products like The Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form or one called Firm-Up with each feed, or find a food with higher fiber content. My dogs that eat foods with pea fiber or chickpeas or lentils have solid stools.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[Trey W]

Thank you very much for the advise. These fiber additives, are they okay to add to his food for long periods of time or should they just be added for a couple days?

[DogFoodie]

It could also be an intolerance to one of the ingredients in the food.

Also, has he had vaccinations recently or is he receiving any medications, including heartworm / flea prevention (including spot on treatments)?

How old is your puppy now and long has he been eating this food?

[Trey W]

He has been getting his normal vaccinations and dewormers. He is 15 weeks and has been on liquid medicine for around 3 weeks because we found out that he had mites. He has been eating the simply nourish food for 3-4 weeks now.

[pugmomsandy]

The fiber can be added with each meal daily. You just need to find out which dose of that particular fiber works best and start with a smaller amount. Some dogs need more fiber and some dogs do better with less fiber. That’s something you’ll need to figure out though. For a 25 lb dog: 1/2 teaspoon of psyllium or coconut fiber or chia or a tablespoon of pumpkin puree. These numbers aren’t written in stone. My 20 lb dogs either get 1/4 tsp of psyllium or a whole teaspoon of chia.

You might also try a limited ingredient diet if there are any out there that are appropriate for large breed puppies until he gets better.

He was a little too young to leave his mother (IMO). Younger pups might not have a strong enough immune system (since he’s meds for mites) and not a strong enough gut (a healthy amount of good bacteria in his intestines) to be eating processed hard kibble. And receiving vaccinations and being on a prescription are both stressors. I’d give him probiotics to strengthen his gut.

At the end of the day, we just want are pups to be better. Even if that means Science Diet for a couple of weeks or months until he is stronger.

[Trey W]

Thank you so much for the information, and that is all I want for him to better. He acts just fine but I hate seeing him have diarrhea

[Trey W]

I’m assuming it’s safe to give puppies pro bionics? And do you have any recommendations for a specific kind?

[pugmomsandy]

This one is a very tiny capsule and usually on sale!

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-probiotics-dr-stephen-langers-ultimate-16-strain-probioticwith-fos-60-veg-caps

Probiotics are fairly widely available at box stores and pet boutiques. I just look for a product with at least 10 strains of organisms.

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