what do i try next?

[coulter]

So sage is about 4 months 2 weeks old. And i still haven't found a food that gives her constant solid stools... First was Iams, then premium edge, then totw, then fromm( which i was really hopefull for) and now I'm feeding her crappy Purina pro plan that my vet gave me for free, the first few days she had decently solid poop, but now it's really goopy most of the time, so I'm at a total loss of what to try next. Even pumpkin doesn't seem to help much anymore. So any advice would greatly be appreciated! Thanks

[zyppi]

What ingredients did they have in common?

I have a dog that doesn't do we'll with chicken. Many foods include chicken.

Research ingredients, not just brands.

[msvette2u]

Make sure stool is clear of parasites, including giardia and coccidia. A pup or dog can be affected and not shed, or can have mild symptoms until the immune system is stressed.

Also how much are you feeding? Over feeding is a common cause of loose stools.

Also as zyppi suggested, read ingredients - for instance, if they were all a chicken based food, try a unique protein such as bison or venison or fish.

[coulter]

I will check all of the ingredients and see if there is a common one. i feel like I'm under feeding her, i give her one cup twice a day

[msvette2u]

1c. 2x a day is enough if not a little under.
You can gradually move her up to 1.5c. 2x a day.

See if you can bring a stool sample (when it's loose) to your vet for analysis, that's never a bad place to start

[wolfy dog]

Best stools produced, besides being fed raw is when I feed WD EVO beef.

[msvette2u]

I thought EVO was for fully grown dogs, though, aren't the values off too far for a puppy?

[ChancetheGSD]

I would get the stool sample done as Msvette suggested and also try a good digestive enzyme/probiotic supplement. Does your puppy seem underweight? What kind of stools is the pup throwing out? (Diarrhea, mushy "soft serve", light brown, dark brown, yellow, grey, purple?! :x) EPI/SIBO are issues that GSDs sometimes have and could cause poor stool quality, imo it's worth checking for in our breed if the dog shows any small sign of it since the faster you catch it the easier it'll be to treat. Check out Overview - EPI * Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, they also have a SIBO section.

I'm also curious how long you're giving these foods to work? It seems like you've been bouncing around pretty frequently and the puppy is only 4.5 months old. Assuming you didn't even get the pup until it was 8 weeks old, that's 5 different foods in roughly 2.5 months time! You might need to slow it down, take the dog off all kibble and just feed chicken or beef (Pick one or the other, don't rotate the two meats) and double cooked rice. See if the stools firm up on that and give it a couple days for the tummy to settle. Then start SLOWLY adding in a kibble, like a tablespoon 3x a day. Then up it to like 1/4th cup twice a day, 1/2 cup twice a day, 1 cup twice a day....Just remove some of the meat/rice combo as you add in the kibble. Hopefully that'll help stabilize your pups system. But you really do want to check for parasites since coccidia and giardia can be nasty little buggers and aren't seen in the stool like other parasites are. (ie. tapeworms, roundworm, ect) Testing for medical problems would also be a good start.

[Mary Beth]

Yes, I agree you will want to get her tested for worms. All the vet needs is a teaspoon of her loose stool. I use a plastic spoon and put spoon with the stool in a small ziplock freezer bag. Also when you do change food to do it very slowly - mixing in the new with the old and increasing the ratio of new to old over a period of 2 - 3 weeks. You may want to try Solid Gold Wolf Cub - it is for large breed puppies. It has bison and fish. No wheat, no soybeans, no corn, no animal fat, no poultry fat, no by-products, no sugar added, no preservatives added, no salt, no sunflower oil. You may also want to add a prebiotic like OptaGest. If your pup likes yogurt (plain with the live cultures) you can also give that to help the digestion. For how much to feed start with the recommendations on the package and see how your pup does. It could also be too much pumpkin - it has a lot of fiber like sweet potato, when my Sting was a pup, he loved those sweet potato chews - but they give him loose stools, so I stopped.

[coulter]

Originally Posted by ChancetheGSD

I would get the stool sample done as Msvette suggested and also try a good digestive enzyme/probiotic supplement. Does your puppy seem underweight? What kind of stools is the pup throwing out? (Diarrhea, mushy "soft serve", light brown, dark brown, yellow, grey, purple?! :x) EPI/SIBO are issues that GSDs sometimes have and could cause poor stool quality, imo it's worth checking for in our breed if the dog shows any small sign of it since the faster you catch it the easier it'll be to treat. Check out Overview - EPI * Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, they also have a SIBO section.

I'm also curious how long you're giving these foods to work? It seems like you've been bouncing around pretty frequently and the puppy is only 4.5 months old. Assuming you didn't even get the pup until it was 8 weeks old, that's 5 different foods in roughly 2.5 months time! You might need to slow it down, take the dog off all kibble and just feed chicken or beef (Pick one or the other, don't rotate the two meats) and double cooked rice. See if the stools firm up on that and give it a couple days for the tummy to settle. Then start SLOWLY adding in a kibble, like a tablespoon 3x a day. Then up it to like 1/4th cup twice a day, 1/2 cup twice a day, 1 cup twice a day....Just remove some of the meat/rice combo as you add in the kibble. Hopefully that'll help stabilize your pups system. But you really do want to check for parasites since coccidia and giardia can be nasty little buggers and aren't seen in the stool like other parasites are. (ie. tapeworms, roundworm, ect) Testing for medical problems would also be a good start.

Her poop is usually soft serve . And either a light brown or green
, and i usually give her about 2 weeks on each food, unless it is coming out like a fountain than i switch it out faster. I'd like to try putting her on chicken or beef and rice. Can you please explain better what to buy and how to prepare all of it? Like how to twice cook the riceand how what kind of meat and how you would prepare it. That would be awesome, thank you. I had her tested for parasites a few months ago but i guess I'll do it again.

Thanks again