# What to feed my Bully Breed with sensitive stomach?



## Malone (Dec 1, 2010)

I searching for a new dog food for my aproximately 2 year old Bully Breed rescue. He is eating NUTro Natural Choice large breed and it's not working out, makes his stomach sensitive, loose stool and now I think he's letting me know that he is uncomfortable. He did better on Iams, but his coat was not as in good condition as it is now. I still want to switch to something free of corn, but I think he does have a sensitive stomach. If anyone has any advice I would apprecitate it.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

I would really give some thought to raw. Check out the links in both danemama and rawfeddogs signature.
I know I went through the entire kibble isle with not good results; but after switching Khan to raw almost a year ago, he is a thriving 15mo goofball!!


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

Hi, Iams and nutro are not good dog foods. The commercials you see on tv make them look healthy, but they aren't. There full of fillers, byproducts, harmful chemicals and very low quality ingredients. I would switch your dog off of it as soon as possible. You want to do a very slow switch, because you will be going from low quality to high quality food. I would do it in about a 2 week time frame. Try mixing 25% new to 75% old for 4 days. If everything is ok, I would than goto 50/50 for the next 4 days. Than if everything is good, I would goto 75% new food to 25% old food for the next 6 days. If everything is good, I would switch to 100% new food and stop using the old food. If you have any problems at any point, you go back a step. For example: If going to 50/50 causes an upset stomach, go back to 25/50 for a little longer. The reason I recommend a slow transition, is your dog might show detoxification symptoms. It's better to go slow.

Are you overfeeding? That will cause loose stools. The guidelines on the back of the dog food bags are overkill. You need to adjust the amount you feed according to your dogs body. It's always better to keep a dog slim than overweight. Try reducing the amount your feeding and see if the stools harden up. When you switch to a high quality food, you will feed even less. That's because your dog absorbs more nutrients and there's less fillers.

As for food, I recommend the best that you can afford. I like Acana grain free formulas. There are alot of good foods out there. You have to do some homework. I feed a rotation diet. Every time I finish one bag, I move to another formula. I have a few dog foods in rotation, but eventually I will be rotating all the acana formulas and all the taste of the wild formulas. A rotation provides a large variety of proteins. I dont do a slow transition, because you do not have to with the higher quality foods. I just feed 50/50 for a few days and than switch 100%. You can go to the dog food websites, to see where it is sold locally. You can also buy it online and have it delivered to your door. Here are some links to check out. Good luck and don't hesitate to ask questions:wink:

http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dry-canned-dog-food/587-top-five-dog-food-brands.html

Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings

Pet Food Online | Dog & Cat Supplies & Products | PetFoodDirect.com

Greenies, Orijen, Acana, Wellness, Flossies, Natural & Organic Dog Food - DoggieFood.com

www.heartypet.com - Go! Natural


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## BoxerMommie (Jun 26, 2008)

My dog with a sensitive stomach eats Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and does very well. I'd also say make sure you are not overfeeding (very common) as that's usually the #1 reason for loose stools.

Good luck!


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2010)

cast71 said:


> Hi, Iams and nutro are not good dog foods. The commercials you see on tv make them look healthy, but they aren't. There full of fillers, byproducts, harmful chemicals and very low quality ingredients. I would switch your dog off of it as soon as possible. You want to do a very slow switch, because you will be going from low quality to high quality food. I would do it in about a 2 week time frame. Try mixing 25% new to 75% old for 4 days. If everything is ok, I would than goto 50/50 for the next 4 days. Than if everything is good, I would goto 75% new food to 25% old food for the next 6 days. If everything is good, I would switch to 100% new food and stop using the old food. If you have any problems at any point, you go back a step. For example: If going to 50/50 causes an upset stomach, go back to 25/50 for a little longer. The reason I recommend a slow transition, is your dog might show detoxification symptoms. It's better to go slow.
> 
> Are you overfeeding? That will cause loose stools. The guidelines on the back of the dog food bags are overkill. You need to adjust the amount you feed according to your dogs body. It's always better to keep a dog slim than overweight. Try reducing the amount your feeding and see if the stools harden up. When you switch to a high quality food, you will feed even less. That's because your dog absorbs more nutrients and there's less fillers.
> 
> ...


Awesome post, cast. I couldn't have said it any better. For a new member you really are a significant contributor.


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## kanderson510 (Nov 16, 2010)

I also have a dog in the Bully Breed category who's allergic to grains and potatoes and has a sensative belly. I recently switched him to California Natural Grain Free in the Chicken variety and he's done well on it. Their ingredients are limited and contain a lot of good nutrients. I actually got the suggestion from people on this forum. I couldn't afford or had the time for a raw diet, and this food is fairly affordable at around $50 for 30lb bag...or at least it is in the Cincinnati area. Still a bit pricey, but cheaper than raw and better for my dog than the cheaper crappy brands that are full of fillers that hurt his belly.


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

kanderson510 said:


> I also have a dog in the Bully Breed category who's allergic to grains and potatoes and has a sensative belly. I recently switched him to California Natural Grain Free in the Chicken variety and he's done well on it. Their ingredients are limited and contain a lot of good nutrients. I actually got the suggestion from people on this forum. I couldn't afford or had the time for a raw diet, and this food is fairly affordable at around $50 for 30lb bag...or at least it is in the Cincinnati area. Still a bit pricey, but cheaper than raw and better for my dog than the cheaper crappy brands that are full of fillers that hurt his belly.


Meat prices must be very high in the Cincinnati area!


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

LabbieMama said:


> Awesome post, cast. I couldn't have said it any better. For a new member you really are a significant contributor.


Thanks:smile: I spend alot of time on this site trying to learn new things. The least I could do is give back. Plus I like steering people away from supermarket dog food. I get a certain satisfaction, knowing I helped take a few dollars, out of the big corps pocketbook :biggrin:


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

BoxerMommie said:


> My dog with a sensitive stomach eats Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and does very well.
> Good luck!


I second that! Out of all the TOTW formulas, my dog does best on the pacific formula. Smallest stools and he seems to like it best. I use to overfeed and not even know it. Than I came here and a light bulb clicked on. He use to get huge soft stools, until I cut the amount down. He is maintaining his wait well and his stools are about half the size. I've seen chiwawa's with bigger turds ahahahaha It's a little tricky. You just have to keep adjusting the amount slowly every couple of weeks, until you hit the right balance. You want to give the least amount of dog food, while maintaining your dogs perfect weight. As the dogs get older, you readjust the amount your feeding. No need for large breed, senior formula, specific breed......(It's a corporate gimick) I do reccomend the acana line over TOTW. I use to feed california natural, but stopped because of P&G take over. It has nothing to do with the quality of the food. I just despise P&G. I honestly only have 1 P&G product in my house. It's a bag of evo I bought a couple of months ago


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## josh83 (Oct 24, 2010)

Malone said:


> I searching for a new dog food for my aproximately 2 year old Bully Breed rescue. He is eating NUTro Natural Choice large breed and it's not working out, makes his stomach sensitive, loose stool and now I think he's letting me know that he is uncomfortable. He did better on Iams, but his coat was not as in good condition as it is now. I still want to switch to something free of corn, but I think he does have a sensitive stomach. If anyone has any advice I would apprecitate it.


I would diffently switch off the Nutro. My dog was on Nutro and was vomiting constantly I switched her to Orijen and now shes fine. I am no vet but it think it's nutro thats the problem not that your dog has a sensitive stomach.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

If you're set on sticking with commercial foods, and not going a home prepared route, I'd give some real consideration to the California Natural line. It's a "basic" food without a ton of extras added, made for sensitive tummies. They have a grain free line now, which looks pretty good, too, but I have not met anyone that actually uses it. 
I have a few customers that come to my business and purchase all the grain inclusive cal nat formulas, and get excellent feedback on it, particularly the Herring formula.


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## Malone (Dec 1, 2010)

*Thanx for all ur replies*

I was gonna try Royal CANIN bulldog formula, but I swiched to Natural Balance Duck and Potato formula. The condition of his coat has improved, and no more diahhrea issues. I have noticed that there are spokepersons for Nutro at the stores all the time, but I do not need to bad mouth that brand anymore as you can see all the other people complaining.


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

Great to hear the good news:smile:


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