[Brenda E]

We have a 6 and a half month puppy, believed to be an Irish wolfhound mix, that has been having diarrhea for the past month. It is about once or twice a week and only lasts for a day. We assumed he caught a parasite, but vet tests found nothing. He has been on Blue Buffalo Wilderness puppy since we got him (at 3 and a half months) and I have seen other people complaining about similar things with Blue. Now I am wanting to switch him to another kibble, but don’t know which one. We are strongly considering feeding raw, but until I do all my research I would like to try another kibble. Any suggestions? Also people have suggested trying a probiotic. Could that help? Thanks in advance.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Brenda E-
Well, sounds like a stressful situation. Have you tried feeding small meals of boiled chicken or burger with rice and pumpkin to rest and calm down his intestines? Then slowly start adding kibble back in. My pups had diarrhea when we got them, but they did have parasites. Both Giardia and Coccidia. Hopefully your vet sent a fecal to the lab to test specifically for these. Yes, a probiotic would be good to try. I use Vetri-pro BD by Vetri-Science. I order it from either Amazon.com or healthy pets.com. It contains probiotics, digestive enzymes and some supplements that help soothe the intestines.
Your large breed pup needs a puppy or all life stages food that is appropriate for his size. It is recommended to keep the calcium levels down for the growing stage for large breeds. There is more information and a spreadsheet of recommended foods created by Hound Dog Mom on the large breed thread of this forum.
You will need to keep his growth slow and steady to avoid joint issues. Also limited exercise is important.
Check out http://www.dogaware.com for a lot of information on digestive orders. Good luck!

[Brenda E]

We give boiled chicken and white rice or pumpkin when he does get it, but it keeps coming back. Maybe I could try that for two days next time. They did specifically test for Giardia, not sure of Coccidia. Thank you for the helpful information! I will be looking into that probiotic.

[crazy4cats]

Yes, I would definitely feed it for a few days and SLOWLY add back in his dog food. Even, take 3 or 4 days to do the transition back. Now, would be a great time to try a new food as well! BTW, I’ve also used the Fruitables Digestive Supplement brand of canned pumpkin when I was having issues. It is more expensive than regular plain pumpkin, but I think it works a little better for your situation.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Again-
I just checked out the large breed pup thread. Looks like you need to keep the calcium level below 3.5 g. calcium per 1,000 kcal. I noticed that Nutrisource (grain-inclusive) Large Breed Puppy food is on the list of recommended foods. That might be a great choice to start with. Again, good luck!

[Brenda E]

Okay cool thanks! You have no idea how much I appreciate the help!

[crazy4cats]

Hi Brenda-
No problem. I’ve been through it myself! Has there been any improvement yet, or anymore updates?

[Brenda E]

Thanks for checking back! We went camping this weekend and he got diarrhea pretty bad; I woke up every two hours with my poor pup. Being fed up, I stopped feeding him Blue, he’s been eating boiled chicken with some pumpkin and an herbal supplement from The Honest Kitchen for two days and his poop is great. We have two samples of The Honest Kitchen and I bought him a small bag of Wellness brand puppy food. Hopefully his poop improves, but I’m still doing my research on food.

[crazy4cats]

Oh good, it sounds like you are using Perfect Form from The Honest Kitchen. I use that off and on too. I used to recommend that often as well. But it seems like a lot of dogs won’t eat it. Glad to hear yours will. Yes, definitely time to try a different kibble. I feed mine grain free Victor with various toppers with much success. Good luck!

[Brenda E]

Yes! I have perfect form and am giving him the Pro bloom goats milk from THK, today was our first day of new kibble, we had been doing chicken, rice and pumpkin for a couple days. I’m glad he’s not picky at all.

[Susan]

Keep a eye on the fat% in his kibbles you try, some dogs just cant handle higher fat%…Wellness Complete Health Large Breed Deboned Chicken Brown Rice & Salmon meal is good, fat% is min-12%-max-13.50%, Protein is min-26%, Calcium is min-1.10%-max-1.50%, Phosphorus is min-90%-max-1.20%……..

[Author]

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