it really explains about proteins for dogs, and helps you understand that the percentage of protein is not as important as where that protein is coming from.

Cathy
when she first came home

cup of kibble and about 1/3 of a can of wet (a few tblsp) is what we give. Canned mixed in only at dinner feeding.

'Twas not my lips you kissed
But my soul ~ Judy Garland
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I'm sure this will be very helpful. Can't wait to check it out.

Thanks so much...

Kim
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Thanks, Cathy! I would be willing to try grain free but I'd just thought it was recommemded not to do that until the dog is a year old. I'll see what my vet thinks about that. Meat is the main source of the foods I'm giving and they were both highly rated as having a good source of meat by the dog food analysis but I'll double check the ingredient list.

Kim
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Becky...As an experiment, you might want to try decreasing the feeding to 1 cup and see if that helps. If that works maybe you can feed him more often, just smaller amounts. I decreased Tuffy's midday meal today to 3/4 and his poop seemed firmer. My husband feeds Tuffy in the morning (1/2 cup before he goes to the gym and then the second half cup when he gets back and his poop is always firm so I just might be overfeeding him with the 1 cup in midday meal and 1 cup with dinner) Also do you moistened Cooper's kibble with water? Per the breeder's advice, I've been moistening his kibble every feeding so I'm going to try just giving it dry and see if it makes a difference. I did read somewhere that adding water can decrease the absorbtion of fiber in the kibble or some such. As for supplements I think cutting them out may be a good idea. I cut everything out--Ester C, fish oil, etc until I figure out what's upsetting his tummy. The only thing I add right now is half a hardboiled egg, every other day.

I haven't touched base with the vet on metamucil yet...but if things don't get better by the end of the weekend I'll call him Monday. Keep me posted on everything...and I'll give my Tuffy a hug and kiss and please do the same for Pearl and Cooper!



Kim
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to a great website that has a LOT of information about feeding dogs. It has info on ingredients, reading labels, what to look for what to avoid, and what I like the best about it is it ackowledges that there is NO SUCH THING as only ONE way to feed dogs.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main

Cathy
when she first came home

grains are very hard for a dog to digest and are a cheap way for dog food companies to add protein to their food. Read the ingredients in the food, how much of it is grains in various forms? They tend to break it up on the label as much as possible, so it LOOKS like meat is the main source, but when you add them all together grains end up being the MAIN thing you are feeding your dog. Tuffster may be one of those dogs that just can not handle grains.

Cathy
when she first came home

2 times a day now & i give him 1 1/2 cups both times. he always acts like he's starving! i guess some are just like that, but my other 2 weren't. pearl was always free fed, so i give her 2 cups in the morning. when cooper was younger, i was giving him 1 cup 3 times a day, too. i think the right amount depends on what food you're feeding. so, your vet says that metamucil is safe to try? i might try it. maybe i'll stop his supplements for a while & see if i notice a change before i try the metamucil. thanks for the info =) give that little tuffy a big smooch for me! he's so darn cute!!!

Becky...in case you're interested this is what I learned on my puppy and dog forum about how metamucil works....

"What my vet explained to me is the fiber (in Metamucil) helps absorb the excess water in the intestine which in turn firms things up."

Also...Becky...how much food do you give per feeding? I give Tuffy a cup per feeding 3X a day so I'm thinking maybe I'm overfeeding him and that's causing tummy distress....
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Kim
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I'd actually been wavering between Fromm and Wellness so if the Fromm is a dead end then Wellness may be the way to go.I have heard that it's not good to give a pup grain free so I may have to hold off on a grain free formula for the time being! Just curious...what's the ratio of how much wet to dry that you give?

Kim
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I have always done the slow transition.

'Twas not my lips you kissed
But my soul ~ Judy Garland
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At first I kept him on the food breeder had him on (diamond lamb and rice) and we stuck with that for about a year and a half. I got tired of the soft non formed poo and then tried a few brands most of which didn't help.

The first switch that helped was to Taste Of The Wild Grain Free Salmon but after about a year he stopped being interested in it. (I also noticed that the TOTW kibble color and size changed during this time..........hmmm)

I then switched to Wellness Simple Solutions and still give the Wellness canned and that is working for us.

So long story short Wellness Simple Solutions (the teal/blue bag) works for us but like everyone says every dog is different. Grain free and single protein has been the key for us.

'Twas not my lips you kissed
But my soul ~ Judy Garland
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Please share!! This whole guessing game is becoming quite a headache...Did you do the slow transiton or just switch to new dog foods cold turkey...? How long were you on it before you realized it wasn't working? Glad you found a solution!!

Thanks!

Kim
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and, like you said, when i put him back on his kibble it came back.

was to find the right dogfood. It can take awhile, I know, but when you find it Voila! Good luck.

'Twas not my lips you kissed
But my soul ~ Judy Garland
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Becky, have you tried a bland diet? Any success? I've been recommended that many times on my puppy and dog forum sight but even if that works what does that solve? After going back to kibble I'll have the same problem...so I'm not sure how that'll help....

Kim
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it's not snow (which he does eat), cuz he had soft poop last summer, too. i tried fromm but i can't remember which formula. it worked good for pearl but not cooper. pearl seems to go back & forth no matter what i feed her. i've always had to wipe her butt & she's almost 8 years old. the geneflora doesn't seem to be doing anything that i can tell yet. i don't know if the soft poop is genetic-good question cuz it seems alot of us have the problem! good luck & keep me posted! thanks =)

I've been meaning to get in touch with you to see how the Geneflora is working out. It didn't do a darn thing for my Tuffster. Does Cooper eat snow? My husband thinks that's the culprit but I'm not buying it because Tuffy has always had soft poop. I honestly thought things were going better with the Fromms but now I don't know. I'm excited though--I found a local pet store that carries frozen biljac and that supposedly helps firm up the poop (my breeder suggests it too) so I'm going to mix a bit of that in and see if that helps... But not too much because supposedly that really packs on the pounds! I also posted the metamucil question on another dog forum and will let you know what I hear! Just as a sidebar, somemone mentioned that dogs with soft palettes tend to have soft poop...so maybe it's a genetic thing? Does Pearl also have this problem?

Kim
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what cooper's is like. perfect in the morning, and worse as the day goes on. if you figure this out, PLEASE let me know! i've been trying for awhile. i've never tried metamucil. someone suggested bran cereal to someone else on here. i was thinking about trying that. let us know if the metamucil works.