# Loose stool....overfeeding...or not?



## 02SVT

Hey all, got a question. About 2 months ago I switched my now 8 month old pup to Acana from Eukanuba. Shes a pointer, and is about 50lbs now. When she did her business in the morning, it would always be nice and solid, but every subsaquent stool after that would be eaither only partially solid, or completely loose. Sometimes she would go up to 6 times a day. I ger her to the dog park everyday, and I thought it maybe be that all the running/playing was stirring up her stomach and causing the issue.

Recently we adopted another 2 year old dog. She had nice firm stools when we first brought her home. Now, after switching her over to Acana from her old food, she now also has the same loose stools. First one of the day is nice and solid...but everything after that is usually pretty loose.

In my quest to educate myself further about dog food, I learn that overfeeding can cause this problem. I don't have an exact cup amount that I am giving them. I use a pint container, the type you would get chinese soup in, and they both get 3/4 of the container twice a day. They appear to be fine weight wise. I can put my hands on both of them and feel their ribs...you can also make out the first (or last?) rib on each of them, the one closest to their tail. The one is 8 months and about 50lbs, while the other, also a pointer, is 2 years old and MAYBE 40 lbs (shes a runt).

So...too much food? Or do you think it's the food itself?


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## luvMyBRT

As of right now I would think that it might be due to over feeding. I'd check how many cups your feeding and what the recommend amount on the bag says. I would then feed a bit less then what the bag says and see how stools look after a few days.

Acana is an excellent food, so for the most part, you don't need to feed as much as you might think. Good luck and let us know how it goes. :smile:


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## Khan

I agree. That sounds like an awful lot of food for the size of the dogs. I would cut back and see how things look. They obviously are very active, so you will need to just watch both the stools and their weight. If you feel they are looking a little thin, then make adjustments.


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## monkeys23

Lily is 50lbs. When she was eating Acana she ate 1/2 cup at each meal. If we did super hard work I'd bump it to 2/3 cup at each meal. So either 1 cup total daily or 1 1/3 cups. She's pretty thrifty though.

My 60lb foster is the opposite of thrifty. She ate 3 cups a day total on Acana.


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## Bam Bam

Bam is eating 4-4.5 cups of Acana a day, 2 heaping cups in the morning and same in the afternoon. He is around 120 lbs. I would suggest a little less than the suggested amount on the bag also.


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## 02SVT

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to cut the amount down and see what happens.


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## BRT

I have the same problem with Orijen PL and Acana PL. If i give Tosa one meal of these kibble, he has loose stool or even explosive diarrhea. I´ve been on Acana for the last 4 months now, and it still does this to tosa if i give him a whole meal of it. So what i did, since i also give him RAW, is mixing the kibble with RMB and the stools come out ok.


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## _Trish

I'm surprised that people have issues with their dogs bowel movements on Acana. All four of my dogs have such hard stool on Acana, that one of mine gets constipated and I have to give him some pumpkin and cottage cheese to loosen his stool a little bit. Their stools are no longer big logs either, but are small round nuggets. I've fed all of Acana's grain-free formulas with no issues, and my dogs have some pretty sensitive digestive systems, well three out of four do anyway.


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## GermanSheperdlover

Bam Bam said:


> Bam is eating 4-4.5 cups of Acana a day, 2 heaping cups in the morning and same in the afternoon. He is around 120 lbs. I would suggest a little less than the suggested amount on the bag also.


It totally depends if the dog is done growing and how ACTIVE your dog is. I feed Tony 5-6 cups a day, 2 cups of TOTW in the AM, then depending on how active he is during the day 3-3 1/2 cups (Orijen) at night. Tony is very active and is slim. German Shepherds should stay slim as should all dogs. My vet once told me for every pound a dog is overweight, it is like a human being 7 pounds over weight.

Over weight dogs - Google Search


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## 02SVT

UPDATE:
I found out that the pint container= 2 cups, so that was 4 cups a day for a medium sized dog(s). I'v since cut their amounts in half. They are down from going 4-6 times a day to 2 or 3, and their stool is small and firm for the most part (they still get what I call "excitement dumps" when they are running/playing hard, which is pretty loose). SO, I guess that was the problem.


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## Northwoods10

Glad to hear that fixed the problem.

One question...isn't Acana grain free? I would be careful with feeding a grain free food to a pup under 1 year old, just FYI.


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## 02SVT

Northwoods10 said:


> Glad to hear that fixed the problem.
> 
> One question...isn't Acana grain free? I would be careful with feeding a grain free food to a pup under 1 year old, just FYI.


Why do you say that? I was under the impression that as long as the cal/phos level were in check it was fine. Orijen large breed puppy is grain free. Anyone?


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## Northwoods10

02SVT said:


> Why do you say that? I was under the impression that as long as the cal/phos level were in check it was fine. Orijen large breed puppy is grain free. Anyone?


That is correct, it just most grain free foods are aimed towards dogs over 1 year. As long as everything is balanced towards a puppies needs you should be good.


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## KittyKat

Northwoods10 said:


> That is correct, it just most grain free foods are aimed towards dogs over 1 year. As long as everything is balanced towards a puppies needs you should be good.


Origin and Acana both have foods designed for puppies and they (of course) are grain free. 

Why do you think puppies need grains in their diet?


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## Northwoods10

KittyKat said:


> Origin and Acana both have foods designed for puppies and they (of course) are grain free.
> 
> Why do you think puppies need grains in their diet?


I don't think puppies need grains in their diet I just wasn't aware that the kibble companies had made a balanced grain free kibble geared towards puppies. When I was feeding kibble there weren't any options that I know of that were grain free for a puppy. Most of them warned against feeding them to a dog that was less than 1 year old. 

But, its been a while since I've fed kibble! Should have done my homework first!! (My dogs are all on raw) Sorry for the misunderstanding!


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## 02SVT

Ohh ok, just asking. Acana has 3 "flavors" in their grain free line. I learned that two of them (Wild Praire and Pacifica) have acceptable cal/phos levels for a growing pup, the other (Grasslands) does not.


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## Canadian In Texas

I am trying so hard to make Acana work for my golden puppy. I have decreased the amounts he is getting he is ridiculously thin and we still have diarrhea. Some said to give it longer which I did but still no improvement.


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## 1605

Canadian In Texas said:


> I am trying so hard to make Acana work for my golden puppy. I have decreased the amounts he is getting he is ridiculously thin and we still have diarrhea. Some said to give it longer which I did but still no improvement.


I would change to another food. We have had good results from EVO grainless for our dog.


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## Serendipity

There are other good grain-free options as well, like Orijen. I like Evo, too, but the ca/ph levels are too high for a large breed puppy.


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