[Susan]

When a dog is suffering with pain & stress they can bite. nip, a few times Patches vet was pushing & prodding his stomach/pancreas area & he growled at her he’s never growled at anyone but this told her where he was sore she calls it his IBD Pain, she said she suffers with IBD so its good she understands what Patch is going thru
I started to know if Patch was lifting up his front paw, I use to think he wanted to shake hands but no he wants to have stomach area rub, I wait & see was it just 1 day his stomach was sore or more then 1 day & I’d rotate & change his kibble.
a low dose of Metronidazole helps with the pain & kills the Helicobacter, some dogs are kept on a low dose of Metronidazole. Also vet wanted to put him on Prednisone something I didn’t want him on, finally 2017 we tried a very low dose 5mg twice a day, the Pred took away his abdomen pain & he slept really good but he got diarrhea & vomited the first day I tried it, even when we went down to 5mg a day poos were very sloppy, vet said give him the Prednisone 2 days & then stop then as soon as he gets his pain give him low dose prednisone for 2 -3 days again then stop, this did stop his pain, but I learnt once his diet agree with him & Kcals were low he was good no pain.
Royal Canine Intestinal Low Fat low residue kibble vet diet is good, its low fat & low fiber, he doesn’t have any pain when he’s eating R/C Gastro-intestinal kibble, but he starts swallowing mouth suckling some days, so I add 1/2 the R/C gastro with 1/2 another kibble.
When I first rescued Patch my vet called the Animal Behaviourist into our room to teach me how to teach Patch the words “LEAVE IT” I was even told to muzzle him when he went outside & on walks so he couldn’t eat any foods or cat poo when I wasn’t watching it caused IBD flares -pain..
I’d deal with her pain (Meds) then her Behaviour will get better..

With Low fat kibbles just watch the fiber stay 5% & under & Kcals are low, under 350Kcals per cup, the higher the Kcals more dense are ingredients so harder to digest, stomach & pancreas works harder.

Large Breed Kibbles are best as they are formulated to not cause bloat in large breed dogs, Patch is a medium breed, he does good on Large Breed & Senior kibbles, Wellness Core Large Breed, Canidae Pure Senior G/F are really good. Diamond Naturals Senior & the Large Breed Adult looks good especially the Senior,
Protein is higher-25% Fat is low-11%, Fiber-3% & Kcals are low-318Kcals per cup

Diamond Naturals Senior Dog Chicken, Egg & Oatmeal Formula