# please help me with our food decisions or put me on a plan/schedule. thanks!



## couscous0226 (Nov 4, 2012)

please bear with me and be patient. We really want to try to get this right for our 7 month shihtzu but we need help. I will try to summarize. We think our dog has a sensitive stomach. We took her off Blue Buff completely on 9/18. From 9/19 until 9/23 she was on rice/chicken. On 9/24, we introduced Nature Variety. We have been feeding her human rice/chicken and Nature Variety to make 1/3 for morning and 1/3 for night. The reason we added rice/chicken is because we did not want to go all in with just her food. Please keep in mind, this is not a food transition as she has been off Blue Buffalo since 9/18. So from 9/24 - 10/23 she has been on Nature/Rice/Chicken. On 10/23 we introduced back in the peanut butter kong and she had diarrhea. So we think it was the kong so we took her off pb and we went back to rice/chicken ONLY to get her stomach regular. I don't know if that was the right thing to do but we did it. On 11/2 yesterday, we introduced back in her food Nature/Chicken/Rice 1/3 morning and 1/3 night. Again we are scared to just go all in and do her food fully and not add chicken/rice. So in order to rule out her nature food is not an issue, do we just feed her food only at this point and no chicken/rice to add to it or keep doing what we're doing and eventually just have her eat only her food. I am looking for advice as I can't fix the past. I really would love for someone to offer me the best solution because we just don't know what to do. Vet of course suggests their crappy food so they are useless. I just want to get it right. Today we fed her only her kibble and her poop has been mushy. I know it's only day 1 of this experiment but she went to the door because she needed to go out and she never does that only when she is not feeling well. I'm at such a loss right now and my little trooper is still the usual fun self despite us not knowing what we're doing


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Quite honestly some dogs just will never do well on kibble, mine included. Have you thought about just home cooking or raw? And another issue could be that your just overfeeding the kibble, if not then I'd consider one of the other two alternatives.


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

why did you take her off blue buffalo to begin with? it might be helpful to know what her symptoms were and what type of blue buffalo you were feeding. also what type of NV did you switch to?

you list quite a lot of food changes in a short amount of time so that could be the current cause of tummy troubles. you really want to keep a puppy on a consistent diet.

i agree that peanut butter could contribute to soft poop. my dog was never able to handle peanut butter as a puppy but if you do want to introduce that back in once her tummy troubles are solved make sure you are doing a natural peanut butter without all the additives.


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## couscous0226 (Nov 4, 2012)

Blue freedom gave her diarrhea. She is on nature variety prairie instinct now and she had diarrhea today too. I'm not worried about treats right now....she is off them for now. I just don't know how I can feed her NV tonight again when she has diarrhea. This is why I am stuck. I don't know what to do. Give her chicken/rice only tonight and then in a week bring back in NV subtly but eventually she'll get diarrhea again, it's never ending and I don't know how to make it better. I realize I am making it worse taking her off NV but how can I continue if she has diarrhea. I don't know how to make her stomach well again. This is why I need help or a plan. Thanks.


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

is this the blue you fed her? Blue Freedom — Grain Free Puppy Food

how long did you feed it and did she have diarrhea everyday for 7 months? did you do a fecal?

what nature's variety are you feeding? I thought prairie and instinct were there 2 different product lines


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

i just noticed both the blue freedom puppy and the prarie puppy (Nature's Variety Prairie: Natural, Holistic Kibble for Dogs: Puppy Chicken Meal & Brown Rice Medley | Nature's Variety ) are over 400 calories per cup.

how much are you feeding per day of each food? how much does your dog weigh and what is the predicted adult weight? have you considered you may be overfeeding?


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## couscous0226 (Nov 4, 2012)

u are correct...those are the food brands for Blue and NV. Yup all her vet tests have been negative. We give her 1/3 morning and 1/3 at night so i don't think that is alot at all and definately less than what the bag recommends which is 3/4 to 1 cup. do you think it's alot? Today she only got 1/4 cup for breakfast because I wanted to go slow since today was the day to experiment with all kibble. she is 8 pounds. she is 7 months but we've had her for 4 months only. she was on eukanba from the breeder and then we transitioned her to blue buffalo freedom slowly...then diarrhea...then medicine from vet. she felt better...put her back on blue buffalo diarrhea again. took her off of that and never went back on blue. So then we eventually started brining her in nature variety and the dates are above for how we've done it. thanks for helping me. let me know if you have further questions...


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## couscous0226 (Nov 4, 2012)

just to be clear she is not on blue buffalo she was off of that on 9/18 .... she has been on 1/3 of rice/chicken/NV for breakfast and 1/3 of the same for night.
this is what the issue is...if she is on human/rice chicken her poop is fine and she is fine...the second we introduce NV in about a month she got diarrhea....

I just want to make her tummy better...should I just keep her on rice/chicken for the next month and then begin this trial and error thing again?

can a dog nutritionist help me? do they even exist?


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

couscous0226 said:


> should I just keep her on rice/chicken for the next month and then begin this trial and error thing again?


No, that's not a balanced diet for your puppy. First of all I would ditch the peanut butter and never look back. It's not an appropriate treat in my book. Find a dehydrated or freeze dried treat made in North America from North American sources. Then ditch both BB and NV and find a simple limited ingredient food from for example California Natural or First Mate. I have seen first hand how modern formulas with lots of functional ingredients and digestive aids can wreak havoc on the digestive system with cannon but and runny poop for days as the results. Many freak out and does not stay the course and introduce another similar food. The result is usually worse than staying the course since now you are really starting to confuse the digestive system. Switching to a food like this from something more classic should be done slowly, very slowly for some. Right now your pup' digestive system is probably very unbalanced from trying to adapt to a multitude of ingredients, bacteria and enzymes. Feed nothing but rice for a day then on day two introduce the LID food and supplement with for example Fortiflora probiotics. Your dogs stools will not be really good for a while regardless of what you choose but with a true LID and some probiotcs that actually work she have a better chance of a somewhat normal digestive process and nutritional uptake then introducing a third complex formula which will only be more of the same. Remember fresh water available at all times. If she maintains a good intake of water she will be fine and make it through a little period of loose stools with no issues.


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## couscous0226 (Nov 4, 2012)

Thanks we will wait for her stomach to heal and we will give the lid a try.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

DaViking said:


> No, that's not a balanced diet for your puppy. First of all I would ditch the peanut butter and never look back. It's not an appropriate treat in my book. Find a dehydrated or freeze dried treat made in North America from North American sources. Then ditch both BB and NV and find a simple limited ingredient food from for example California Natural or First Mate. I have seen first hand how modern formulas with lots of functional ingredients and digestive aids can wreak havoc on the digestive system with cannon but and runny poop for days as the results. Many freak out and does not stay the course and introduce another similar food. The result is usually worse than staying the course since now you are really starting to confuse the digestive system. Switching to a food like this from something more classic should be done slowly, very slowly for some. Right now your pup' digestive system is probably very unbalanced from trying to adapt to a multitude of ingredients, bacteria and enzymes. Feed nothing but rice for a day then on day two introduce the LID food and supplement with for example Fortiflora probiotics. Your dogs stools will not be really good for a while regardless of what you choose but with a true LID and some probiotcs that actually work she have a better chance of a somewhat normal digestive process and nutritional uptake then introducing a third complex formula which will only be more of the same. Remember fresh water available at all times. If she maintains a good intake of water she will be fine and make it through a little period of loose stools with no issues.


This sounds like a very sensible plan.

Couscous0226, I'd like to add that sometimes with the better foods you can sometimes overfeed which results in loose stools. When you start feeding a good grainless food like Blue Buffalo, EVO, etc., you will need to feed LESS of it otherwise your dog will experience diarrhea, or very soft stools. 

It's important to look at the caloric content of the food when you transition to a new feed and not to rely simply on volume: calories vs cups. I think this is especially meaningful with a smaller dog like yours.

Hope things start looking up,


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