I wonder if you are feeding them too much? Could the food be high in fiber?

I never feed just kibble (too dry) add a little boiled chicken meat and rice (give up the rice when there stools have been firm for more than 3 days), add a little water or plain homemade (nothing added) chicken broth to meals.
Don’t free feed/leave food down.
Feed 3 small meals a day for now.
I have heard good things about Pro Plan Focus salmon for sensitive skin and stomachs
Make sure the food that you choose is appropriate for large breed puppies, it will say so on the bag.

PS: Wait a minute. You got them at 4 weeks? Not good for the immune system. Way too young, they should stay with the mother till at least 10 weeks.
Let me guess, they had a load of vaccinations recently.
Best to spread those out, don’t give all at once, and hold off on the rabies (required by law) for as long as you can, at least till they are 6 months old.

Hi Tom-

Something that the breeder may or may not (but should have mentioned) is that anytime you bring home a new puppy it is important that they stay on the same food the breeder had them on for 3-4 weeks before doing a slow transition to a new diet. This is to prevent the issue you are having. Moving is stressful for them and stress coupled with a food switch (even though you did it over 10 days) can cause GI distress.

It sounds like they were doing best on Iams large breed puppy. This is what I would have them on. The itching could be a coincidence or perhaps they had a couple fleas that you never saw. It is almost a slim to none chance that they BOTH are itching due to a food allergy. Not much logic there.

Merrick has no food appropriate for a large breed puppy last I knew and the only thing I know about Life’s Abundance is that their sales reps are very annoying and the main reason breeders use the food is because they make a profit off it. It’s nothing special.

If you truly do not want them back on Iams because of the dull coats, I would try Pro Plan Focus Large Breed Puppy. My dogs have beautiful coats on Pro Plan, stool is perfect and the food is highly digestable.

If they are both or even one of them is expected to be 50lbs or more when they mature, yes. This will ensure optimal slow growth and reduce their chances of developing bone disorders from growing too quickly. This is a problem that you can see in early life or sometimes it doesn’t show up until later in life as well. Genetics will play a role in this, not just nutrition.

Something about LA clearly isn’t agreeing with them, or their food has been switched too many times at this point being so young. I’ve suggested Pro Plan to many folks asking questions in the large breed puppy thread and have heard nothing but positive feedback. Many owners having the same issues you are having. I think it would be worth a shot for your dogs as well.

If you still have issues after the transition try out Sport Dog Food…(sportdogfood.com). I ended up putting my weimaraner pup on it when he was5/6 months old due to itching, gas, bad breath,and all those other things that come with some dogs. Within 1 to 2 weeks there was a BIG difference! Their food does not contain all the unneeded ingredients that you find in pretty much all food now. Also, when feeding if your dogs stool is too loose it indicates they’re getting too much, if it’s too hard they’re not getting enough; that’s how I found out how much to feed Loki. He now has well formed, firm stools. Flax seed can cause alot of issues with loose stools and their food does not have it. They have “All life stages” food which is great so there’s no switching from puppy to adult. They are a little on the expensive side but well worth it. They have different formulas, but I’ll bet you could find something that would work for your pups. Good luck!