[Tashi O]

Hi everybody all of my former dogs and my family dogs were living on acreage where they would literally run outside into the forest and do their thing and then come back into the house… now I live in a very small apartment in the city and of course I am picking up the poop.
All right , so about 3 months ago I adopted this dog from the SPCA in Canada and they gave her a Science Diet bag of food what she refused to eat so I bought her medium expensive grocery store dog food and she ate it reluctantly. Her stool on that food was what I would say, normal size.. In order to perhaps get her healthier and reduce the stool sizes I put her on a Blue Buffalo Wilderness Duck… it’s been about 2 weeks now and her stool is absolutely humongous. It would appear that she is straining and painful when she is emitting stool. I went to the local specialty pet store and ask for a low-residue ( smaller poop ) dog food and they suggested Ultra grain-free formula…..

Anyone have any suggestions? my poor dog is a terrier cross and honestly I have never seen such big dog poop in my entire 56 years on this planet……

I think there’s way too much fiber in the Blue Wilderness …. even though it purports to be grain-free ….
and I don’t know about the one that I just bought the ultragrain free

She is one years old Terrier cross rescue she weighs 18.7 pounds…

• This topic was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Tashi O.

[Anonymous]

You know, I am 70 and the longer I live, the more I realize that dogs are as different from each other as people are; true, yes? You may be right in that that particular Blue Wilderness product has too much fibre for YOUR dog, as she is fairly small; it’s a sensible thought. You are also correct in thinking that manufacturers are making grain-free and ULTRA grain-free (a marketing gimmick methinks?), which just serves to confuse we owners. (I mean, is grain free NOT actually grain free? Why the “ultra”?) So, I think I would try an Ultra and see how your little girl reacts to it. Some dogs have difficulty digesting chicken, which is supposed to be easy on their intestines (i.e., Boxers) and others are absolutely allergic to particular ingredients. It’s all a huge experiment. Do you know what the “cross” part of her actually is? You are being a very responsible owner in changing from a cheap grocery-store brand to a 4- or 5-star Blue Buffalo. Have you checked out other brands recommended by Dog Food Advisor? Orijen is VERY good. I am Canadian, so use Performatrim, but have also used Blue Buffalo brands. But for sure stick to grain free and DO NOT go back to the grocery store. Many people say that rice is just as bad (is it a grain per se?), so perhaps avoid that, too. Let us know how she reacted to the Ultra Grain Free that you just bought.

[CockalierMom]

If the poo was ok on the grocery store brand, you need to go back to that and get her stabilized before trying to introduce another new food. The large poo means she is not digesting the food properly which may or may not have anything to do with fiber. It probably has more to do with totally new ingredients, higher protein and fat. Look at the bag of the grocery store food and compare protein, fat, and fiber to the Wilderness food. Unless you get a limited ingredient grain free food, most are not as easily digested as the grain inclusive brands. If you want better food, go on Chewy and look at the ingredients, protein, fat and fiber in other foods and find one that is closer to what she is doing ok on. If you want to try a grain free food to see how she does, then choose one with very limited ingredients to start, such as Natural Balance or Wellness Simple.

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