DIETARY CONCERN FOR MY DOG

by Teresa
(Newmarket, On, Canada)

Hello Dr. Schonbeck,

I recently adopted a 6 mos old puppy (goldendoodle), and I am transisitioning him to Acana dog food. I noticed his poo is usually a little loose and always has been and sometimes runny even before I transitioned him to the acana dog food. I am a little concerned because it seems he has not been eating as much, but I do not know how much he should eat...i believe he eats about 3 cups of food a day.
Would this have anything to do with his runny stool, or is the food just irritating his stomach?
I thought about moving to a raw diet with bone marrow and organs and skipping the commercial dog food, but I have also considered purchasin Orijen dog food as well.
I am concerned about not providing him with all he needs if I change to a raw meat diet, but I am concerned about the ingredients in the commercial food and if that is the cause of his loose stool.

What do I do, and what would you recommend? Do you know the Orijen brand dog food and if so which would you recommend, or am I better off on the raw without worrying about his nutrional intake?

Thank you,

Teresa

My Comment:

Hi Teresa

I am a big fan of Orijen. So, Yes I am aware of it and have had it for sale on my clinic for the past year. I like Orijen because the ingredients is of outstanding quality and it does not contain any chemicals or artificial preservatives at all.

This is a big advantage.

First it would be a good idea to get the stool examined for parasites - mainly worms or Giardia perhaps. Your vet can help you do that.

If he has any intestinal parasites medication should be given and hopefully he stomach should get back to normal.

If parasites is'nt any problem the I would advice you to try to build up the stomach again. Feed him with a diet easy to digest - you can find a recipe here. The slowly bring him back to the normal Orijen or Acana diet when the stools are better.

If this still not solve the problem you have to let a vet take a look on him to seen if there is any signs of a disease or a food intolerance for example.

My advice of feeding raw is to wait until he is mature. The raw diets easy contains to much calcium and phosphorous if you not very carefully.

Orijen, Acana or another of my 10 best dog foods would be a good choice.

I don't know how big he is going to be but try to have a look on this recipe. This is only for small to medium seized dogs as the bigger breeds easy grows too fast if the food is "composed" wrong or too rich in calcium.

Of cause you can add some extra pro-biotic as well (this is in Orijen but you can give some extra). Often in dogs having some loose or soft stools I recommend "Pro-Kolin" or "Pro-Soluble" from UK containing probiotics and some ingredients which will act calming on the intestines.

I hope this can give you some help.


All the best and a happy new year

Per Schonbeck