Any dog food out there that firms up loose stools?

[dean4iu]

My dog Bentley has had loose stools every since I got him. He is now 6 months old and we have tried Natural Balance and Call of the Wild. I am looking for some testimonials out there where their dog had loose stools and then tried a new food and that seemed to fix their problem.

Bentley thanks you!

[Ward]

How long was he on each of the foods, and how much were you feeding him?

[JLBG]

Don't know if this will help but my Neo was started on solid gold, always had loose stools, some days worse than others...so I switched her to pedigree (per her breeder/vet's recommendation - she was having the same issues with solid gold)....her stools were better but not great....wanted to get her onto a healthier food so switched her to TOTW pacific stream...the difference has be AMAZING. Her stools are MUCH firmer and smaller. We switched most of our other dogs over, noticable difference in their stools as well. Not to mention, all of their coats look better. My dane is still on Pedigree but that is because she has a very sensitive stomach and it is one of the very few foods that "agrees" with her...but her stools are not wonderful.

Always make sure that you switch foods very slowly. With my neo I mixed a 1/4 of a cup of TOTW into her pedigree until her stools were firm, then upped it another 1/4 of a cup until her stools were good on that mixture, and so on until she was completely switched. I didn't have to be so slow with the other dogs but I really wasn't having stool issues with them.

[luv4scjjt]

We had our danes on a few different foods and they always seemed to have loose stools. I was begining to believe "pudding puuuuu" was normal. Then i found this sight and tried totw because everyone was raveing about it. It took a while to see the difference in their coats but the stools only took as long as it took to for the adjustment the food. I wouldn't call it pretty but it definatly is firm and a lot easier to clean up. lol.

[Flannery]

My sensitive boy's tummy was always a mess until we switched to grain free. We use TOTW and Acana.

[Shamu]

Natural Balance Venison, TOWT fish and Acana Grassland worked for my girl. She has very sensitive stomach, and other formulas we tried didn't work for her (and over 2 years we tried I think all premium kibbles)

But if dog has upset stomach for prolonged time, just a food change might not fix the problem. You might need to get a medicine (Flagyl?) from the vet to help him during the food switch

[Amiabull]

My dane always had bad stools until I found fish based food. She is now on Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. It has worked wonders for us. Have you tried any probiotics with your puppy? And have you had stool sample checked to rule out any parasites and/or bacterial overgrowth?

[Meatos]

Orijen 6Fish cleared up my puppy's diarrhea in a day.

[crdane]

Carlie had loose stools while she was with her foster mom, actually to the point of being on a prescription food. The first month with us, it was an issue also. Since our switch to TOTW, either PS or Wetlands, she has had solid stools.

[TroutRiver]

"call of the wild" - do you mean "taste of the wild?" Lots of people here feed taste of the wild and have had great success with it. They make a fish formula (called pacific stream) that is great for sensitive tummies.

The thing about this topic is that every dog is different. Just because a food works great for one dog doesn't mean it won't give another dog terrible diahrea (kind of like how some people can eat fast food every day...but others would get sick if they did that)

Have you tried anything grain free? My first suggestion would be to find a high quality food with good ingredients, and maybe try to avoid foods with chicken in them (theres no way to say for sure what is causing your dogs loose stools, but chicken can have that affect on some dogs). Look at the ingredients on the bag. If there's anything that makes you go "eww," look for something else. Have you tried anything fish based? dogfoodanalysis.com is great for scouting out kibble brands. Take a look at some of the 5 and 6 star reviews, there are a lot of great options out there.

You can add canned pumpkin to the food during the transition period to firm up your dogs stools, but you don't want to make the pumpkin a daily thing...it should only be used during the transition.

[whitewlf00]

Acana Grasslands

I had the same problem until i put boomer on acana grasslands...got solid stools the next day with a cold turkey switch

[Lukes]

WhiteWlf00,

I agree with you, Acana Grasslands is amazing for clearing up loose stools, whenever a customer comes in with loose stools. Grasslands seems to always do the trick. One of the other biggest cause factors of loose stools is over-feeding.

[shellybelly216]

Pumpkin for firming

I give my 11 month-old dane TOTW and ~2 tbs of pumpkin twice daily. His stools are so easy to pick up on this regimen. I have not heard of limiting pumpkin intake, so now I'm concerned that I've given him pumpkin for about 5 months, everyday. Is there a study or trusted resource for your pumpkin-limitation advice?
Thanks in advance.

[daneowned]

I have very recently switched from Canidae ALS to Canidae ALS Grain Free. Their stools are quite a bit firmer. I have heard a lot of good about TOTW Pacific Stream and that will be my choice if I ever have to switch again.

Martha

[TroutRiver]

I give my 11 month-old dane TOTW and ~2 tbs of pumpkin twice daily. His stools are so easy to pick up on this regimen. I have not heard of limiting pumpkin intake, so now I'm concerned that I've given him pumpkin for about 5 months, everyday. Is there a study or trusted resource for your pumpkin-limitation advice?
Thanks in advance.

I dont think that giving pumpkin daily will cause harm, but it's ideal to find a food that will produce firm stools on its own without having to add pumpkin to every meal.