is it the dog food.. or am I looking at another cause?

Most pet stores (TSC, in my area) sell Diamond Naturals. Not the byproducts, and it's a 3 star food (and it's NEVER been recalled). Never, ever given my dogs runny stools, either.

 

I am a huge fan of diamond naturals that I got from my local Tractor Supply Company. However I did end up taking Ruckus off of it because of some skin, and digestive issues. Its not the food! It was just my sensitive Ruckus boy!

And the price of it is just awesome. Very affordable

 

I feed Fred Blue Buffalo (he's on the puppy formula right now) and he loves it. His poos are nice and normal. Our 1.5 year old boxer was on Iams, and she was miserable! Her skin was dry and flaky and her coat was constantly shedding. Then we switched her to Nutro, and it was ok for a while, but her poo got soft and yellow. Then we read a lot about how dogs were getting really sick from the Nutro. My boyfriend decided to switch her to Blue Buffalo's fish and sweet potato formula and she loves it! She eats her food as soon as we put it down, which is amazing since it was a struggle to get her to eat the Nutro.

I've read nothing but amazing things about it, I think it's 4 stars, and you can find it at petsmart.

 

I've had success with Purina Pro Plan Puppy Chicken and Rice. It is also what my breeder uses with her own pups (she's a show breeder, so I have some faith in her experience). My vet had no issues with it either.

Bacca loves the taste and his stools are also very firm - never had any issues. And his coat is healthy and shiny.

It is moderately priced and more available than some of the other brands, although I've never seen it in grocery stores, I think I saw it at Walmart.

 

It's also a very low-grade dog food. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showcat.php/cat/7/page/31

Show breeders don't always know good food.

 

I feed all my guys either Halo (holistic and never been recalled with no by products) and Taste of the Wild Salmon flavor, also nev been recalled and considered a Holistic food since all natural and no by products I used to feed Nutro and I had some puppers constipated and some with very loose stools. My one girl with pancreatitis had normal blood values and no more pancreatitis after one month on Halo and my sons dog who on Temeral P for allergies and constant loose stools improved do much his stools are no longer loose and he is off the Temeral. My vet said the Halo does come in puppy formula and it is a great food that he highly recommends now after seeing my pupper with pancreatitis improvements. I have also found I have MUCH less pooh to clean up since their little bodies utilize the food with much less stuff their bodies need to get rid of excrement wise. With 9 dogs less pooh is a good thing

Good luck to you and your furbaby

 

Narmowen

When I did the research on this food, I saw this site and was concerned as well. I also found others that recommended it. The sites I found were testimonials from real live people, not some scientific analysis. So unless the analysis says that by feeding my dog this food he will develop some awful diseases, then I'm o.k. as long as my dog is healthy.

In the final analysis, it really comes down to: is my dog thriving on the food or not. If he was not, I would switch it an instant. But he is thriving on it. He is good weight - not too much, not too little; healthy coat, firm stools (in the 4 months I've had him, he has never had even a trace of diarrhea), lots (too much?) energy, healthy appetite, sleeps well, totally house-trained at 6 months, etc. etc. etc. He's obviously not suffering from any kind of vitamin defiency.

I'm not sure what the big deal is about "by-products". Personally, I would never feed my dog fresh meat. With my forever pup, Timber, if he got hold of any raw or even cooked meat, he would be sick for days. It was too rich for his stomach.

So what I'm feeding my dog is a dry kibble mixed with a little bit of hot water - what matter is it if its breast of chicken or chicken innards that make up the protein. In the wild, dogs would eat the entire chicken, nasty bits at all.

I can appreciate the difference, however, in canned foods. And I can appreciate the difference in food that is filled with fillers - that create bulk with no substance. I do not believe this food does that.

So I hear you, but I also think we can over-analyze this. If a food works, great, if it doesn't, try another. It also depends from dog to dog. What works for one, might not work for another.

My ultimate advice: go to a pet store and ask for the top 3 most popular food. People are buying it for a reason. Price and/or performance. Then check out the testimonials on the web.

But that's just my opinion.

 

Beth

The loose stools may be just the transition from one food to the next. try giving Jasper some Pumpkin to solidify the stools and see if he does better. I go between Wellness and Merricks both sold at most pet stores and like agway style stores.

 

Very true! I understand you completely. I've had people tell me I should feed only a 5 star or 4 star food...when I've never had a problem with DN. (In over 10 years, too!)

People do need to remember (in general, not you, I think!) that, like you said, dogs in the wild would eat the whole chicken. Stomach included-which would have the grains and other roughage.

I think like you do-as long as the dog is thriving, why change?

(I didn't mean any offense with my first post about Purina, I'm sorry if it came across that way.)