Loose Stool

[tanza]

If you are talking about Hill's "Science Diet" that is not the greatest of foods either, at least not in my opinion. And just because a Vet recommends it, doesn't really mean it is a good food. Most Vets during their education get less then one day learning about food and food sources.
I don't like Science Diet because one of the main food sources is corn, which IMO has no value to a diet at all. It is really just a filler. I would urge you to search the forums for the many discussions about foods

[YodelDogs]

Loose stool can be caused by many things including giardia, coccidia, a virus, or the inability to tolerate certain foods or ingredients.

I would not wait 3 weeks to change his food. If it is the food that is making him sick then he will be miserable for 3 weeks and house-training will be extremely difficult. I would throw out the Ol' Roy and feed him the new food. Since he already has loose stool, a fast transition is not going to cause any problems that aren't already there. You can add 1/4 cup of cooked brown rice or a spoonful of canned pumpkin to his food plus a spoonful of yogurt. The rice or pumpkin can help solidify the stool and the yogurt helps get live enzymes back into his stomach.

[deschroedter]

@basilboy7:

There hasn't been any blood. Did they have loose stools before?

She started having loose stools and since we had changed dog food for her, I had put it down to that. But when I saw blood I really paniced. Now if loose stools go on form more than 2 days, we are at the vets. But you can take a stool sample in for tests without the dog, at least with my vet I can, and then if they find something you can go in right away. With Kell that small smear of blood was the first sign, we caught it before the loose stools started. good luck.

[basilboy7]

I've looked at the list of top foods from the food section, however I found that most of the foods are only sold in the U.S. and won't ship to Canada. Does anyone know of a natural dry food that is sold in Canada or atleast ships to Canada? Thank you for all your help I will try to find a good food to give ASAP and will monitor his BMs

[Moth]

I would wean him of the Ol'Roy asap it is a lousy food. I also would probably not feed Hills (personal choice) as it is more corn than it is meat.

If there are no vet visits I would at least take a stool sample in to your vet to have them check it for parasites.

[Moth]

@basilboy7:

I've looked at the list of top foods from the food section, however I found that most of the foods are only sold in the U.S. and won't ship to Canada. Does anyone know of a natural dry food that is sold in Canada or atleast ships to Canada? Thank you for all your help I will try to find a good food to give ASAP and will monitor his BMs

Aren't Ancana and Orijen Canadian brands? I feed Ancana Grasslands and I am very happy with it.

[basilboy7]

@Moth:

Aren't Ancana and Orijen Canadian brands? I feed Ancana Grasslands and I am very happy with it.

Thank you! I'll research it

[Shaye's Mom]

@Kipawa:

You can try a little canned, unsweetened pumpkin. It often helps loose stools.

I go along with that suggestion - always worked for my B's. Also cottage cheese can help if he doesn't like the pumpkin.;)

[basilboy7]

So I bought the Orijen puppy dry food and last night I mixed it with his old food So far he's not picky Thanks for all your help! His poops are getting a little bit better… I've been mixing in yam into his dry food and he loves it

[tanza]

@basilboy7:

So I bought the Orijen puppy dry food and last night I mixed it with his old food So far he's not picky Thanks for all your help! His poops are getting a little bit better… I've been mixing in yam into his dry food and he loves it

You should still do a stool sample for worms, especially since there was nothing from the pups breeder indicating that he was either treated for worms or checked. You should be able to take a stool sample into the Vet before the scheduled visit at the end of the month. Better to be proactive

[basilboy7]

@tanza:

You should still do a stool sample for worms, especially since there was nothing from the pups breeder indicating that he was either treated for worms or checked. You should be able to take a stool sample into the Vet before the scheduled visit at the end of the month. Better to be proactive

It said on the papers that she did three rounds of precautionary de-worming. Is that what your talking about?

[tanza]

@basilboy7:

It said on the papers that she did three rounds of precautionary de-worming. Is that what your talking about?

It is, thanks, don't think that you noted that earlier so I just assumed (and incorrectly) that worming might be the issue. I would still have a stool sample checked.

[basilboy7]

Sorry I forgot to mention the worming before, I just looked at the paper again. I'll take the stool sample in

[Therese Leimback]

First here is a link to places you can also purchase Taste of the Wild near Manitoba, I believe several on this list including myself feed it with success to pups and adults. http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/dealer_locator/
What is often overlooked when a puppy goes to a new home is the water he cosumes. I personally have a well with filtered water that does not have the additives some city water has so I often recommend using bottled water for the first couple weeks adding in your own water. This will often cause loose stool in a pup. But for the record a pup this young I would be over cautious if anything and get him checked out. Better to find out it is something easily treated since caught early than to have a very sick pup after waiting a bit of time.
I didn't read all the posts so sorry if this was already covered or you have already had him checked. just thought the link and water might be useful info.
Good luck with your new family member.
Therese

[basilboy7]

@Therese:

First here is a link to places you can also purchase Taste of the Wild near Manitoba, I believe several on this list including myself feed it with success to pups and adults. http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/dealer_locator/
What is often overlooked when a puppy goes to a new home is the water he cosumes. I personally have a well with filtered water that does not have the additives some city water has so I often recommend using bottled water for the first couple weeks adding in your own water. This will often cause loose stool in a pup. But for the record a pup this young I would be over cautious if anything and get him checked out. Better to find out it is something easily treated since caught early than to have a very sick pup after waiting a bit of time.
I didn't read all the posts so sorry if this was already covered or you have already had him checked. just thought the link and water might be useful info.
Good luck with your new family member.
Therese

Thank you for your suggestions, I'll try the bottled water. Do you not like the quality of the Orijen brand?

[deschroedter]

We switched all of ours to Taste of the Wild, it has really been good for all, the girls lost the 3 lbs we had tried to get off them forever and are now back in show shape, if we still showed. And I think it has helped Kell not get any more huge than he is, and all of their coats are fantastic. NO grain is the way to go I do believe for this breed. Also, they have more concentrated and smaller poos with the Taste of the Wild. Good Luck!

[renaultf1]

@basilboy7:

Do you not like the quality of the Orijen brand?

Orijen is a great quality food. I'd feed it more often, but where I live it isn't always available. For the summer I switch off it, but I always use the Orijen 6 Fresh Fish in the winter as it seems to work best for their skin and coats in our dry winters. I've been using Taste of the Wild (Pacific Stream) & Instinct more often since they seem to be readily available. Taste of the Wild is considerably less expensive than Orijen. Orijen is about the only food that I need to use less of because all 4 of mine seem to gain weight quite quickly on it - great for my 2 b-boys who are super lean and often look like they need an extra meal.

So no need to worry about the quality of Orijen.

[basilboy7]

@renaultf1:

Orijen is a great quality food. I'd feed it more often, but where I live it isn't always available. For the summer I switch off it, but I always use the Orijen 6 Fresh Fish in the winter as it seems to work best for their skin and coats in our dry winters. I've been using Taste of the Wild (Pacific Stream) & Instinct more often since they seem to be readily available. Taste of the Wild is considerably less expensive than Orijen. Orijen is about the only food that I need to use less of because all 4 of mine seem to gain weight quite quickly on it - great for my 2 b-boys who are super lean and often look like they need an extra meal.

So no need to worry about the quality of Orijen.

Okay thank you very much. I will look into the Taste of the Wild particularly if I see that he's gaining weight.

[LindaH]

@renaultf1:

Orijen is a great quality food. I'd feed it more often, but where I live it isn't always available.

Getting premium dog food here in Spokane isn't a problem for us; however, our winter residence in Arizona is 100+ miles from any place that sells Orijen or any of the other premium dog foods.

So, when we're in Arizona, I order food from PetFlow, www.petflow.com/ which offers free shipping for orders of $59 or more (otherwise, shipping is $4.95). You can even set up reoccuring shipments if you wish. There are other, similar, places to order food, such as PetFoodDirect, www.petfooddirect.com.

I don't think these places ship to Canada, though, so this wouldn't be a solution for the OP, but for those of us in the US who live far from major shopping areas, it's one possible solution.

[LindaH]

@basilboy7:

Do you not like the quality of the Orijen brand?

Orijen is an excellent quality food. Although I started out feeding our dogs Orijen, I no longer do because I found that the very high protein content gave our two dogs loose stools. Obviously, this food doesn't affect every dog that way, so you can try it for yourself and see how your dog does.

I now feed a rotation of foods: Taste of the Wild (High Prairie or Wetlands), Blue Wilderness (Salmon), Wellness Core (Original or Ocean), and Nutrisca (Chicken or Lamb…they've just come out with Salmon which I'll try as soon as I determine whether or not it is ethoxyquin free).