Poop issues, need to narrow down treat choices?

[susanwrites]

I wasn't sure whether to put this in diet or health so if it gets moved, I understand.

We've had Zoey for 2 months now. When we got her the rescue group had her on Purina One Dog Sensitive Skin/Stomach. Her poops were never firm all the time but she was also on some antibiotics for various things plus she had the stress of having been on the street, being trapped, at the pound, foster mom, new home. So I understood.

We transitioned her very slowly over to Nature's Variety Instinct,
Beef Meal & Lamb Meal Formula.

(The kibble is 494 calories per cup. Zoey 17 months old, 65 pounds and I feed her 1 cup two times a day. Foster mom was feeding her slightly more but I cut back so I could use treats for training.)

Once we finally got her 100% on the Nature's Variety Instinct we had perfect poops. It was bliss. For all of about 2 weeks. For a few days she would have nice firm poop in the morning and then the dinner time poop would be pudding plops. Yesterday and today they are all just super loose. She is otherwise normal and happy and an a typical ornery teenager.

Because she had absolutely zero training when we rescued her we have been using a wide variety of treats for training and it works great. She is very food motivated and learning fast.

She had worms and Giardia when we got her and everything cleaned right up with treatment. She has had two clean fecals.

I took a fecal sample to the vet on Friday and will hear from him tomorrow. I'm going to guess it is clean because he usually calls on Saturdays when there is a problem so we can start on medication right away.

So now I'm wondering if one of the treats might be the issue? I'm trying to reduce the number of treats down to just one or two while we work this issue and would appreciate any insights as to which ones to remove from the rotation or which ones to push to the top of my list.

In the last two months she has had all of these:

Wellness Wellbites
- chicken and venison
- lamb and salmon

Wellness Grainfree
- chicken and lamb
- venison

Nature's Domain
- bison jerky

Zukes Mini Naturals
- savory salmon
- peanut butter

Natural Balance
- duck and potato

Wet Noses
- peanut butter banana

Good Dog/Sojos
- blueberry cobbler

Fruitables
- Pumpkin & Banana

Charlie Bears
- peanut butter


In addition I use leftover pork, chicken, steak,
cheese, scrambled eggs and peanut butter (just peanuts, no added ingredients.)

I top each meal with a spoonful of organic pumpkin (not the pie filling) and have since the day we brought her home.

I'll know more when I hear from the vet in the morning but I just figure I better start working with more limited ingredients as well and would appreciate any tips.

Thanks in advance.

[MidGSD]

I would just go back to what you were feeding or Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach, the two are very similar.

Enjoy your dog and don't let The Dog Food Police tell you the fad foods are better.

[jocoyn]

A lot of different things being added over a very short time.

I would back off on the treats and do ONE simple thing and see if that helps. Maybe just plain cooked meat.

[llombardo]

Originally Posted by MidGSD

I would just go back to what you were feeding or Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach, the two are very similar.

Enjoy your dog and don't let The Dog Food Police tell you the fad foods are better.

Before recommending something like you did, maybe you should read the ingredients on each dog food. To the OP, Nature's Variety Instinct sells treats to, have you gotten those treats to work with your dog? They also have supplements to put on top of the food, etc. You can also try dehydrated sweet potatoes, bananas, and blueberries...I do this at home myself for my dogs.

[susanwrites]

Thank you, everyone.

I guess I should have added, we are VERY happy with Nature's Variety Instinct food. Once she was off the Purina and on it 100% she was fine for several weeks. That's why when the pudding poop first started I thought maybe she ate something that we didn't catch. (She is still under 100% supervision because she isn't trustworthy in the house yet.)

And I should have been more clear that what I want to do is yes, narrow it down so that it will be easier to understand what treats might be the culprit and I thought some people might have some input that such and such a treat was hard for them to process which would help me eliminate some stuff more easily.

Oh well. I don't want this thread to become a food bashing thread. Most people have very good reasons for feeding what they feed and that's fine with me.

Jocoyn, maybe you're right, just meat would be good for the high value training for a bit. Right now I'm just using her kibble for around the house treat but we have two classes we're taking right now so I need something a little higher value (sometimes) to take with me there.

I'm also building a spreadsheet of what ingredients are in each treat. I do like the idea of single ingredient treats.

[llombardo]

Originally Posted by susanwrites

Thank you, everyone.

I guess I should have added, we are VERY happy with Nature's Variety Instinct food. Once she was off the Purina and on it 100% she was fine for several weeks. That's why when the pudding poop first started I thought maybe she ate something that we didn't catch. (She is still under 100% supervision because she isn't trustworthy in the house yet.)

And I should have been more clear that what I want to do is yes, narrow it down so that it will be easier to understand what treats might be the culprit and I thought some people might have some input that such and such a treat was hard for them to process which would help me eliminate some stuff more easily.

Oh well. I don't want this thread to become a food bashing thread. Most people have very good reasons for feeding what they feed and that's fine with me.

Jocoyn, maybe you're right, just meat would be good for the high value training for a bit. Right now I'm just using her kibble for around the house treat but we have two classes we're taking right now so I need something a little higher value (sometimes) to take with me there.

I'm also building a spreadsheet of what ingredients are in each treat. I do like the idea of single ingredient treats.

I like Nature's Variety instinct too and their treats are good to. I'm thinking that in your case, chicken and/or peanuts is the problem. I stay away from chicken with all of my animals. Either its gas or not good poop. My one cat is allergic to all foul...no chicken, duck, or turkey. And peanuts is high on lots of allergy lists for people, so why not for dogs?

[Maya]

Hi Susan: Just to be safe, have your vet run a cTLI test to test for pancreatic function. Do it for Zoey.

[susanwrites]

llombaro I think eliminating the chicken and peanut butter is a good start. The vet called back and said she had a clean fecal so that was good. Poop this morning was nice and firm so we'll see how it is this afternoon.

Maya, thanks for that thought too! I will absolutely do so if this continues or anything else pops up. She doesn't seem to present with any other issues so my first inclination is that we overloaded her system with way too much variety in these first two months. She put on the weight she needed to (was skinny when we got her) and is maintaining a nice healthy weight and everything thing else.

I had some leftover steak so I cut it up really small and mixed it into a bag with a bunch of her kibble then tossed it in the fridge. I figure the the kibble will absorb some of the steak smell and I can use both at training this afternoon. Will just use this for training treats the next few days and then look at introducing just one new, mild treat once we have solid poop again.

Thanks again everyong.

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by susanwrites

I had some leftover steak so I cut it up really small and mixed it into a bag with a bunch of her kibble then tossed it in the fridge. I figure the the kibble will absorb some of the steak smell and I can use both at training this afternoon. Will just use this for training treats the next few days and then look at introducing just one new, mild treat once we have solid poop again.

That's a good idea. If she'll work for just kibble (and you're sure it's not the kibble that's the problem), great, but if not, adding a little of something else and mixing it together will make the kibble more enticing. I did that with Keefer when he was a puppy and I think with Halo too.

All your treats are good quality, but with such a variety it can be difficult to identify which one/s might be causing the issues. Starting with treats with fewer ingredients is always a good idea. Some treats I really like and have been using a lot lately are Real Meat - they're mostly air dried meat without a whole lot else. They make food and treats, but since the bigger food bags are a better value ounce per ounce, I've been using them as treats. The pieces are the same small size, perfect for training treats, and since the food is meant to be a complete diet there's more stuff in it, but it's all good ingredients. Here's the beef food vs the beef treats:

Air Dried Beef Dog Food
Ingredients: Beef, Beef Liver, Beef Heart, Beef Kidney, Pumpkin, Inulin (from Chicory), Vegetable Glycerin, Ground Beef Bone, Yucca Schidigera(BioAide), Pea Powder ,Kelp, Parsley, Rosemary, Sea Salt ,Betaine, Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E Supplement), Pomegranate, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Vitamin E, Yeast Extract(Agrimos), Flaxseed, Barley Grass, Iron Proteinate, Selenium Yeast, Copper Sulfate, Nicotinic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide (source of iodine), Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid

Beef Treats
Ingredients: Beef, Dried Chicory Root, Natural Vegetable Glycerin, Sea Salt, Mixed Tocopherols

Here's the website: The Real Meat Company

There are some stores in the Bay Area, which is where I found out about the company, but you can also buy online directly from Real Meat. White Dog Bone online sometimes has better prices: Real Meat

I've been using the treats for my cats too, I have one cat that's very picky and has digestive issues, and the other is like a dog - she'll eat anything, lol! They go nuts for it, just like my dogs do. I've become very popular with some of the dogs in our flyball club too.

[susanwrites]

Cassidy's Mom, thank you. That looks like a good treat.

I don't know, yet, if it isn't the current kibble but this will help narrow things down, I hope. She had firm poop this morning then tonight, after dinner, the first part was solid and the rest was pudding. The only stuff she has had to eat today is kibble and about 2 TBSP of steak.