Lots of poop with new food?

[Limitless]

My 9 month old puppy has had issues with his poop since we got him at 12 weeks. He came with worms and giardia, and despite numerous rounds of medicine and probiotics, his poop has not been great. When it’s been real bad, he’s gone on the bland diet of rice and ground beef and his poop firms up, so I’m pretty sure it’s now diet related and not a giardia flare up. We’ve been through Wellness puppy, Canidae, Wellness LID (which he did ok on until recently). When his poop took a turn for the worse on the Wellness LID, I switched him over to Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish LID. His poop is now fantastic! It’s a welcome relief and seems miraculous after so long.

But now, he’s pooping lots. Four times a day, and what seems to me to be good sized amounts (sorry, but we’re horse people here, so we know how important poop is!) I’ve read that low quality food generally makes for lots of poop, but this is a high quality food, or so I thought.

What gives?

[wendy]

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/natural-balance-limited-ingredient-diets-dry/

dog food advisor gives Natural balance LID only 3 stars = highly mediocre food. It is very low in protein, being mostly sweet potatoes. Which is probably why you are getting so much poop, it’s just vegetable matter dogs don’t need and have trouble digesting just running through him. Besides, at such a low protein level I would be very hesitant to feed this food to a growing puppy.

I had a giardia-infected pup and he just finally grew out of it. It had nothing to do with diet, it just took time for his immune system to kick into gear and get rid of it.

[Philibuster]

I have a 9 month old standard poodle pup and went through multiple foods to find the one that made his poop look the best lol. I eventually switched him to and stayed with Taste of the Wild High Prairie. He was always so thin that I kept upping the amount of food and the frequency of feedings but then he just started deficating larger amounts, multiple times a day. So I had to just feed him less and accept the fact that he’s a thin, growing dog.
I’d play around with the amount you’re giving him or try a different (better) food.
Just curious, what breed is he?

[Limitless]

That’s disappointing to see that it’s only a 3* food. Maybe I’ll try Blue Buffalo next, they seem to have LID type food rated 4*. But it’s nice not to see him having diarrhea, even though it is apparently not the greatest food.

He’s a mutt. Definitely part shepherd and my guess would be part some kind of scent hound. He’s probably about 9.5 months now and is about 53 lbs. He’s from NC, was a stray, and has a real hound looking body and tail, although a bi-color shepherd coloring and face. He’s really scent driven, and will smell something long before he sees it or hears it!

[wendy]

Taste of the Wild High Prairie

not a good choice for puppies- calcium level is way too high for a growing puppy.

[IFG]

Had the same problem with our Standard Poodle as a puppy. Switched to Taste of the Wild High Prairie, and he was fine. Unfortunately, he started scratching on it, so we are now trying various other foods. Rescue Spoo is fine on anything. Guess the puppy mill dogs have to adapt, but the well-bred Spoo has a tender tummy.

[wendy]

if the pup has had numerous antibiotic treatments for giardia simply feeding him something like yogurt for a couple of days might cure the problem.

[wireweiners]

[QUOTE=wendy;5743834]
if the pup has had numerous antibiotic treatments for giardia simply feeding him something like yogurt for a couple of days might cure the problem.[/QUOTE]

This or I believe there is a probiotic that is out for dogs.

[Philibuster]

[QUOTE=wendy;5743076]
not a good choice for puppies- calcium level is way too high for a growing puppy.[/QUOTE]

Pup was started on TOTW after he was 6 months old and was done with his growth spurts. OP’s pup is 9 months so he should definitely be fine.

[Philibuster]

[QUOTE=wendy;5743834]
if the pup has had numerous antibiotic treatments for giardia simply feeding him something like yogurt for a couple of days might cure the problem.[/QUOTE]

Yup, try a tablespoon of plain greek yogurt on top of his food.

[CarolinaGirl]

I have a 7 month old lab that also picked up giardia… after two rounds of antibiotics his stool pretty much returned to normal, but not totally. I finally decided to see if it was also food related. He’d been on Blue Buffalo Large Breed, but then switched him to Wellness Large Breed and we haven’t had an issue since. It’s not really the next thing I’d go to as far as issues with poop are concerned… I’ve known more dogs that have had issues with it than those that don’t.
I would also suggest picking up some probiotics. My pup got them once a day while he was under treatment and then for the few days after. I still have like half a box of them and use them whenever anyone has anything but firm stools.
As far as TOTW being ok… would depend on the breed. I’ve got my adult corgi on it, but will not change the lab over until he’s at least 16 months or so. Larger breeds have longer growing periods. A Yorkie is gonna be pretty much done growing by six months… compare that to something like a Great Dane that can grow until they are almost 2 years old. If it’s a larger breed of dog I would suggest leaving it on large breed puppy for until it’s over a year old.

[frisky]

For what it’s worth, I have had similar experiences. Wellness was the worst. My dog verged on soup poop that was yellowish. I live in the city and it was a big drag. I tried feeding her some orijen last year as well and had a similar experience. Between the poop and food related allergies, I was fed up and went back to an average dog food that I knew would work okay-- the Natural Balance venison or duck or something. I’m feeding the Natural Life right now which is 3.5 on the dog food chart-- nothing spectacular, but it works. I have firm poops. My dog is older and does fine. I could change, but it’s always a hassle.

[MunchingonHay]

Try cutting the chicken out of the diet. I have a pup that had issues with “going” and I switched to a non-chicken food and everything firmed right up.

Pumpkin is a great additive for a dog’s digestion but if you find that cutting the chicken out fixes it, I would steer clear of that ing. I know that its hard, chicken is in EVERYTHING, but it is well worth the search.

I now have my pup (1yr 3 months old) on TOTW lamb (purple bag) or buffalo (yellow bag).

I make all his cookies and he gets carrots and broccoli
for treats.

Lots of dogs have reactions to chicken and for some reason chicken goes under the radar.

Chicken is full of injected hormones, preservatives and crap. I dont even eat chicken anymore if I can help it.

[irkenequine]

Ditto to everything MinchingonHay said! Took the words out of my mouth

Dogfoodanalysis.com is my staple for dog food ratings. Flip the bag over, read the ingredients-- first 5 are important and theyre listed by quantity. If he didn’t do well on chicken based food and did well on fish, there’s your problem. Taste of the Wild has been, short of something like Fromm or Sojos, the best food you can buy locally for your money. Adding canned pumpkin is a big one we do here at the clinic to help firm up stools. You could also have one more fecal run just in case, another round of metronidazole or a mild panacur/droncit (vet approved of course) could catch any straggling yuckies.