Did you switch over to Pro Plan all at one time, or did you slide it in a little at a time? Changing any food all at one time may give that response, so giving a little at a time to help the stomach adapt is usually needed. I've also had my vet tell me to keep a dog off of all food for 24 hours before feeding again with a loose stool will help calm the stomach down. Just a suggestion.

I use Pro Plan Performance, and have never had a problem with loose stools.

Jay

I phased it in over a two week period.  75/25 for about three days, then 50/50 for a few more, then 25/75 etc.  I left him on the Pro plan for the remainder of the 50 pound bag, so there was definitely time for his system to adjust.  It was when the bag was almost empty when we decided to change back.

He has always been a very finicky eater (ever since he was little).  Often letting food sit in his bowl all day.  I ran this past the breeder and they told me that his mother is exactly the same way.  I have always chalked that up to his genetics, but maybe he doesn't like his food.  I never feed him anything other than his dog food, so its not like he is "holding out" for table scarps.

BYW, he didn't eat the pro plan any better.  It often sat in his bowl all day too.

Rob

Not eating his food?....hmmmm......yeah, I've never had that problem.

Sorry.

Jay

Hi Rob,

Just a thought here... you might have a stool sample done by a Vet. He may have Giardia or some other water
cyst...

It is aparant that he is not a pure bred lab, since I have never seen a lab that doesn't Hoover their food down.... ;-)))

Have you tried getting some yogurt to add to the food to make sure he has good bacteria levels in his digestive system.

You also might try Eagle Pack as they make very good dog food. Getting a stool sample is a great idea to remove health concerns such as worms and/or things like giardia.
Best of luck.
Pat

Without getting too graphic...his stools do have form, they are just soft. I'm certain its not worms and if it were giardia, wouldn't he have diariah (sp?). I'm not trying to discount your suggestions, I just don't think it is sickness related. He is the picture of good health. I just thought it might be a food thing.

Maybe I'll call the vet just as a precaution, but he isn't showing any other signs of sickness, he is in great shape and his energy level is through the roof. I thought someone out there might have experienced this type of thing with one brand of food over another. I'll call the vet though and keep you posted.

Rob

Rob might want to back the protein down to the blue bag black gold,that should do it Kevin

I've had the same problem before with one of our dogs. I adjusted the food to reflect a much lower protien level. As per a suggestion from a representative with PMI Exclusive, we "backed down the protien from 30/20 (performance level foods) to a 25/13 protien to fat ratio. You might find that in several large breed formulas. Do this gradually and when the stools firm up, you can then begin to adjust the ratio up slowly by blending to find a good balance for your buddy. Dog foods are blended to assume that all dogs metabolize food the same way when in fact it couldn't be farther from the truth. Sometimes you have to create your own blend to what works best for you. We have found that PMI Nutrition Exclusive Large Breed formula or Adult Chicken and Rice formula is a good place to start if you have to work your way back up to higher protien levels. Doing this worked for us, maybe you will have success too.

Good luck

That's a good point. As I said before, he is currently on a 30/20 blend. That was also similar to the Pro Plan (I think). When I think back to when he was on a 26/18 blend... that was when he was not having this problem. I will try to switch him back to the previous level and see what happens.

I know my wife will appreciate it if I can solve this problem as it makes it kind of awkward to pick it up in a "poop" bag when she runs with him!

Thanks.

Has the dog been on any antobiotics within the last couple months or so?



.

Nope.

It might help to get his eating habits on a better routine. I would feed him 1x per day and pick up any remaining food after about 20 minutes. This has worked for us.

I have a female that always has loose stools on it as well. She is a very hyper dog in the kennel, nice as can be outside of it. If I put her into a crate after feeding for a couple of hours she instantly has solid stools.

I've tried to get his eating on a routine, but I guess I'm too big of a softy (Absolutely NO PUN intended!!). I know he will eat eventually, but after I've kept his food away from him all day and he still ignores it when I put it down, I eventually give in and just leave it out for him. When I've tried this in the past, he literally will go two days or more without eating. I have trouble keeping weight on him anyway due to the amount of conditioning that he recieves (he is certainly not "under" weight, but is rock solid and thin) so I start to feel sorry for him when he won't eat at a certain time and I just cave in.

He extremely calm in the house and usually just "grazes" on his food. Most times his food is left in the bowl. I usually put a couple of cups in his bowl once a day. While he is very energetic when training/hunting/excercising, he is very relaxed the rest of the day. I can see where hyperactivity could lead to this problem, but in his case I doubt it.

I am currently "phasing" a 24/20 (blue bag) blend into his 30/20 (red bag) feed. This process will probably take a few days, but I'll see if the less protein will have any effect on this issue.

Thanks for all of the input/suggestions. I will let you know if reducing his protien helps.

Rob

Sounds just a lot like Kooly. He never ate very well from day one. After finally diagnosing and treating for whip worms, he still was a picky eater. Later he was diagnosed for allergies and although he had some..........none were food related. At that time he was put on Predisone for the skin issues and I changed him over to the ProPlan Sensitive Stomach & Skin diet. The Predisone did seem to pick his appetite up some, but the food change made a huge difference. For over two years he was always picky and sometimes wouldn't eat anything at all. We did "the take it away in 20 minutes" routine and that had zero effect. He was always skinny and ate like a cat that wasn't getting what it wanted. With the new food, his habit of not eating much and very slowly....gradually changed, and the last six months he has been eating like a Lab (scarfs it down). During that time he was neutered. I think that has made a difference, too. However, one thing became clear.....eating habits and/or changes are not immmediate. So don't jump all over the map trying to find a one week cure. The completely different diet made a significant impact. We had orginally fed ProPlan Performance and switched to Eagle Pack Performance with little effect (both of those are 30/20 diets and top of the line feeds). The new diet is Salmon and rice based at 26/16. With hard work every day...three cups once a day is enough.

I've been mixing Maverick's 30/20 food with 24/20 over the past week or so. I've already noticed a change for the better. I guess his system just doesn't handle the higher protien very well.

Rob

Glad to see that things are improving. I failed to ask in my earlier reply, how old is Maverick? Just curious. Continue the current plan. Once you see that everything is "normal" for at least a couple of months, you could try adjusting up the blend very slowly. Just be careful not to go too far. My guess is that 26% protien is as far as you could go. Some dogs just can't break down the protiens as successfully as others and what you experienced is the result. Good luck with Maverick. I'll bet his moods are better too!

Dana

A dog doesn't need 30/20 or any performance blend if they aren't being hunted very often. Even my field trial pointers get the black bag. I would recommend that you go to a lesser protien and fat, or even switch to the lamb and rice.

Maverick is 22 months old. I haven't noticed any mood changes, he is always pretty sweet around the house and hard charging during training/hunting.

While he is only hunted about 2 days a month, Maverick's conditioning is very high year round. My wife takes him jogging with her every day for at least 7 miles and I do additional training excercises with him every evening or at least take him on a 2.5 mile walk every night. Weekends when he is not hunting are spent doing about an hour off leash walk through open space followed up by some long retrieving drills. So even though he is not hunting a lot, I felt his level of fitness would require a higher protien blend.

I think I will stay with the "blue" (24/20) bag until its gone and then slowly switch him to the "black" (26/18) and see how he does. It would be nice to find one blend and stick with it year round. I've been told to lower the protien in the summer (due to heat) and raise it in the winter (for cold), but I seem to be unable to do that since apparently he doesn't handle the higher protein so well. I'd like to find a blend that is suitable for year round feeding. Is that what you guys do? or do you switch back and forth? His conditioning stays about the same year round so its not like he gains weight in the summer.

Isn't the lamb and rice formula more for food alergies? I haven't looked into that one very much.

Thanks for all the input. I appreciate all of your comments.

Rob