Breeding Plans
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It has been 10 years since I fed Nutro but my experience was very similar to Andrew and Carrie's experience. Nicky frequently had soft or loose stools on the Nutro food and I saw a huge difference when I switched him to California Natural back then. Now, I rotate between 3 brands of grain free kibbles (Merrick's BG, Evo, and Orijen) and a couple of brands of grain kibbles (California Natural and Prairie). This routine has worked well even with Rio who is my worrier and can work herself up into a belly ache.
With Rally's first litter they were weaned onto California Natural Puppy and her second litter got Wellness Puppy and Evo about 50/50. I think Wellness may have recently changed their formula because my dogs are not doing as well on it anymore so I have cut it from the rotation. My mom feeds TC's litter 50% of the meals Merrick's BG and 50% raw medallions. She started the raw medallions because she was worried TC wasn't getting enough calories prior to whelping and she could eat more raw without an upset stomach than she could kibble.
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I did some research & chose a new food (Blue Buffalo) & switched her cold turkey (I figured I couldn't upset her stomach much more than it already was) & she has never once had diarrhea since. We switched Booger over, too, so we could keep it simple with both of them getting the same food. His stools firmed up, he lost weight, eats less, coat is shinier, he has a lot more energy & is a lot happier all around. Switching from Nutro worked wonders for ours.
I can't argue that can happen… I definitely am not praising Nutro. I said she did "pretty well" on it. Toward the end I felt it best to switch because I thought there was a better food out there for her. I was just suggesting nomrbddgs keep her girl on the same line of food for ease of transition. BTW, my Bella had the diarrhea reaction to Blue Buffalo... goes to show, all dogs are different! I wish we all could have simple answers to the feeding issues. Right now I am considering switching Bella back to Canidae (I once tried it and she did great) or trying Wellness Super 5...
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Actually, I was thinking of switching them all to Orijen. Zina has done super well on it. And if I'm feeding her it, I should feed all of them it. (Zina is the one with allergies to all grains, including flax seed and I believe also stuff like lettuce). It would probably cost the same in the end, because they eat less of it. I did tell the vet I had Orijen and he said it was okay to start switching in some of the Orijen. If I could get this diarreah under control, it would be a lot easier. The stomach cramps are almost gone. The odd one or two, but the stools are still loose-firmer than what they were (liquid) but definitely not solid. At least they string together and not pour out of her. (Sorry for the visual).
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The puppies get cuter and cuter!! I would love to hold and snuggle one.
Re foods: We have always used Nutro Lamb and Rice - with our last 2 dogs and our current 2. While not the best dog food in the world, it is reasonably priced and of reasonable quality. And for some reason every dog we've had has tolerated it better than other brands. I once tried to switch our Lab to a different brand and she developed massive diarrhea. It was the one and only time she ever had an accident in all the years we owned her. She was mortified. We tried switching Cory and Jayden to Wellness Super 5 and Jayden especially couldn't tolerate it. We couldn't move past the 50 - 50 mix of Wellness and Nutro without Jayden getting severe diarrhe. So, We've stuck with Nutro and add some yogurt and Missing Link to it. We used to add canned pumpkin to it to see if we could cure Cory's chronic "stinky butt" but found that it didn't stop it. I LOVE to find a cure for the stinky stamper problem.
Pat
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The "stinky butt" is anal glands. Usually the anal glands become full and the dogs will have that smell if their bowel movements are not firm enough to express them. They can be expressed manually, you can have your vet show you how.
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I did Riley's glands the other day. The two times I've done Zippy's I conveniently had a stuffy nose. Not so this time.
:eek:
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The "stinky butt" is anal glands. Usually the anal glands become full and the dogs will have that smell if their bowel movements are not firm enough to express them. They can be expressed manually, you can have your vet show you how.
Oh I forgot to mention this was the other added benefit of switching Booger to Blue Buffalo! He used to have what I called "butt pee." Anytime we went to the park or hiking, he would have a solid normal poop & then run around & poop several times afterwards. All except the first poo would just be liquidy & not much to them. After we switched foods, we noticed his stools are a lot firmer, and every few days they're followed with a little burst of liquid (this is turning into the worst thread ever), which Andrew says is his anal glands expressing. We've, thank God, never had to express them & I attribute a lot of that to the food!
I never want to go down that road…..:D -
14 day pics
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17 day pics
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They are sooooo cute!!!! I can't believe how slender and active they are compared to Ayla. All she does is lay there lol.
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Slender? The big boy beside the tri girl is about 30.5 oz now! Bubba himself! 1st to the milkbar everytime.
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Very, very cute.
Thanks for sharing. -
They are so beautiful and snuggly looking. I just don't know if I'd be able to keep my hands off them!
Pat
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Oh, no, I'm in love with the tri girl!! What a cutie!
Terry
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The tri girl is very cute. She was the first one to start biting the others, now it's the big boy-Zorro (or Bubba as I like to call him)
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3 weeks old Sorry, they're a bit blurry.
Tink, Zorro (Bubba) and Indi
Talker
Talker, Zorro (Bubba) and Tink
Indi -
Cute, cute, cute…big yawn for a little b in that first pic! :D
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ahh look at the widdle eaaaaaaaarssss
only a baby voice could portray the cuteness lol
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ahh look at the widdle eaaaaaaaarssss
only a baby voice could portray the cuteness lol
I know….I was thinking the same thing. And that little puppy yawn!
So cute..
Pat
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That puppy yawn is priceless. That would be perfect for one of those cute puppy calendars.
