# Getting fed up w/ the kibble merry go round



## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Seems like you switch often, before they have had a chance to settle in for a couple months at least. A nice alternative I use between kibble and raw is Grandma Lucy's Pureformance line. We use rabbit. She does really well on it and has been on it for about 8 months. Handy for traveling, too. Pricey, but a great product.


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## Emz (Feb 25, 2013)

We had similar complications with samson. Hes now 4 months. And since day one he had stool issues.

We switched off royal canin, way to much corn and he was itchy like crazy and poop was on and off.We went onto Acana large breed puppy. Still on and off poop soft to dirrahea, and firm. No consitency at all!
We tried chicken and rice and pumpking in between and it would help, but once kibble came back hed get soft poop again.

So finally we decided to try als acana wild prarie, amd only switched 2 days over. Over night his poop was firm, and has been every since! We are waiting a few weeks to see if his skin stops being itchy, if not no more chicken and we will switch to als acana pacifica. 

Hes doing amazing on the als acana, i dont no what it is thats help in the formula change from, LBP to the ALS food but hey im just happy hes doing well! Coats awsome, and shiny, and he loves the food!


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Tayla's Mom said:


> Seems like you switch often, before they have had a chance to settle in for a couple months at least. A nice alternative I use between kibble and raw is Grandma Lucy's Pureformance line. We use rabbit. She does really well on it and has been on it for about 8 months. Handy for traveling, too. Pricey, but a great product.


 It shouldn't take months for poop to firm up. I think within 2-3 weeks you should know if you pup can tolerate the kibble, poop wise at least. 

I read about Grandmaw Lucy's. I think it's rather pricey for what it is. To feed daily, based on their 10lb chicken and feeding 3c per day I'd need to buy 20lbs a month. That would be over $140. I'm not knocking it but for that price I'd be able to get a lot more for my money buying raw and I would be able to get better ingredients too.
_
Grandmaw Lucy's_
USDA Chicken, Potatoes, Flax, Carrots, Celery, Apples, Blueberries, Cranberries, Garlic, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Niacin, Iron, Calcium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Potassium, Manganese, Chloride, Copper, Magnesium, Pyridoxine, Cyanocobalamin. ​




Emz said:


> We had similar complications with samson. Hes now 4 months. And since day one he had stool issues.
> 
> We switched off royal canin, way to much corn and he was itchy like crazy and poop was on and off.We went onto Acana large breed puppy. Still on and off poop soft to dirrahea, and firm. No consitency at all!
> We tried chicken and rice and pumpking in between and it would help, but once kibble came back hed get soft poop again.
> ...


I was thinking of going w/ Acana but wanted to try a few other brands first. I do have a 15lb. bag of Acana Chicken and Burbank Potato that I got when I returned the EB. Maybe I should try that.


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## Emz (Feb 25, 2013)

Im in no way promoting acana or orijen. I just really like the champion line food. Good protien levels local fresh ingredents, and good ideas in the food prepetations.
Works for samson, and we fed orijen to our last dog. He did really well. I think eventually we will switch samson to orijen when hes older. 
Good luck with whatever you decide on


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## Lilliam (Apr 28, 2010)

I would think that many changes would be wreaking havoc with his system....perhaps. I think I would have tried giving him pumpkin to firm up the stools while he transitioned, and then see if he did well on it. 

Max has been on three foods.....his puppy food which was Purina Puppy, then he was transitioned to Innova at a year. He did well on it, had a couple of bouts of tummy troubles, no doubt from dietary indiscretions. However, when Innova was recalled, I was forced to try something else and ended up on Wellness Core Regular Formula. 

He's doing VERY WELL on it.


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

I feel like we switched foods constantly over Iorek's first two years, but in 22 weeks, Zane has already been on as many foods. I think there is something to be said for maybe switching too much too soon. It is somewhat normal for the body to need to regulate, especially for a dog with a sensitive stomach. I agree with the suggestion to try adding pumpkin and/or probiotics. I would try that once a day and sticking with a food for one month before switching and switching over the course of an additional week or two if you find you need to.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Lilliam said:


> I would think that many changes would be wreaking havoc with his system....perhaps. I think I would have tried giving him pumpkin to firm up the stools while he transitioned, and then see if he did well on it.


He hasn't had loose and or diarrhea stools any time I transitioned him over. He doesn't have loose stools now on Ultra. His stools are firm it's the amount of stools and the frequency at which he's going that has increased to almost double when compared to feeding EB and Dr. Tim's. It's like TOTW all over again. :yuck: 

I don't think pumpkin will help with stool volume.





Mirinde said:


> I feel like we switched foods constantly over Iorek's first two years, but in 22 weeks, Zane has already been on as many foods. I think there is something to be said for maybe switching too much too soon. It is somewhat normal for the body to need to regulate, especially for a dog with a sensitive stomach. I agree with the suggestion to try adding pumpkin and/or probiotics. I would try that once a day and sticking with a food for one month before switching and switching over the course of an additional week or two if you find you need to.



I've tried canned pumpkin and Zane's stools seem to firm up better when adding 1/4c of Basmati rice. And I do use a pro-biotic daily. I don't know if it's been helping or not? I give him one packet of FortiFlora in every morning feeding. 



He's never had loose stools (pudding) or diarrhea, he's only had soft stools, which are still formed but soft / leaving residue on the grass when picked up. The only time that happened was when I increased his feeding on the Kinesis from 3/4c-3x a day to 1c-3x a day. The reason I increased it was because Zane went from gaining 2.2lbs. per week to only 1lb. per week. At that time Zane started swimming everyday so I don't attribute the drop per week to Kinesis what so ever, it was because he was more active. It's a catch 22. Because now that Zane's is a lot more active I need to get more calories in. I can either feed a food that's more energy dense or increase the amount I'm feeding but when I increased the amount I was feeding he got soft stools so that's why I went w/ Ultra. 

When I increased the Kinesis I only increased his feeding by 1/4c per feeding. I'm going to see if feeding 3/4c-3x a day of Ultra helps w/ the stool volume and the amount of times he goes. :crossfing that does the trick. If not I'm going to seriously think about feeding raw.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

RichsRetriever said:


> It shouldn't take months for poop to firm up. I think within 2-3 weeks you should know if you pup can tolerate the kibble, poop wise at least.
> 
> I read about Grandmaw Lucy's. I think it's rather pricey for what it is. To feed daily, based on their 10lb chicken and feeding 3c per day I'd need to buy 20lbs a month. That would be over $140. I'm not knocking it but for that price I'd be able to get a lot more for my money buying raw and I would be able to get better ingredients too.
> _
> ...


Just for the record you don't feed that much. Tayla gets 2/3 cup dry rehydrated in 1 cup water twice a day. The 10 lb. bag lasts us a little over 5 weeks.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

I have fed Rose Blue Buffalo since day one at home. I mix in a half a cup of the Lamb and Rice kibble and a half a cup of either Beef and Rice that I cook once a week or the BB Canned food - I alternate the moist portion between AM and PM feeding. 
Every morning she has a banana after her walk or play time outside.


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

Could you take the food he's done best on so far (looks like Dr. Tim's at 3/4th cup) and supplement the rest of his calories with other things? Tasty carrots, boiled chicken or other lean meat (you could keep some ground turkey on hand to add to his bowl), mashed sweet potatos, a diced hard boiled egg, etc? At that amount of food, he should be getting all the NUTRITION he needs, it's just a matter of bumping the calories so that he can keep weight on, right? I don't know, just an idea. I love prepping my dogs food with extras but I guess it is a little extra work.

In addition, sometimes we find mashed sweet potato firms up poop in a way that pumpkin doesn't sometimes. Maybe just a coincidence?


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

When we got Max at 11 weeks old, he was eating Purina Puppy Chow. He had huge, soft stools. I looked for a "low residue" food and settled on Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy food. It is a mass market food, but Max did very well on it. He had firm stools that were a reasonable size. Its main ingredients are chicken, corn meal and rice. It is around 337 calories per cup. We followed the package guidelines for feeding amounts, and I recall Max being fed as much as 5-6 cups per day. He ate the Eukanuba until he was about 15-16 months old. 

For more than a year, Max is currently eating Acana Wild Prairie. It is a grain free kibble. Its main ingredients are chicken and fish. Max loves it. But now that he is an adult, he only eats 3 cups per day. The WP is 434 calories per cup.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Tayla's Mom said:


> Just for the record you don't feed that much. Tayla gets 2/3 cup dry rehydrated in 1 cup water twice a day. The 10 lb. bag lasts us a little over 5 weeks.


I was going by what the website site said to feed for a 30-40lb. puppy. I was figuring a little lower at 3c per day. 10lbs. (55c) / 3c per day would last 18 days. You said you fed raw too so I guess you use the Grandmaw Lucy's as a topper or don't feed every meal / every day.
Artisan Chicken 10lb :: All Natural, Freeze-Dried, Grain-Free Dog Food | Grandma Lucy's





Claudia M said:


> I have fed Rose Blue Buffalo since day one at home. I mix in a half a cup of the Lamb and Rice kibble and a half a cup of either Beef and Rice that I cook once a week or the BB Canned food - I alternate the moist portion between AM and PM feeding.
> Every morning she has a banana after her walk or play time outside.


I guess I could add in a little chicken w/ his kibble. He's gets a little fruit once in awhile (banana, apple, blueberries, blackberries). Do you use the banana to firm the stool up. I've read a lot of dogs get loose stools after walking and or exercise. 





Mirinde said:


> Could you take the food he's done best on so far (looks like Dr. Tim's at 3/4th cup) and supplement the rest of his calories with other things? Tasty carrots, boiled chicken or other lean meat (you could keep some ground turkey on hand to add to his bowl), mashed sweet potatos, a diced hard boiled egg, etc? At that amount of food, he should be getting all the NUTRITION he needs, it's just a matter of bumping the calories so that he can keep weight on, right? I don't know, just an idea. I love prepping my dogs food with extras but I guess it is a little extra work.
> 
> In addition, sometimes we find mashed sweet potato firms up poop in a way that pumpkin doesn't sometimes. Maybe just a coincidence?


Yeah that's a good idea. As of now it's all about calories and keeping the weight on him. He loves boiled chicken and rice so I can add some in w/ his kibble. Ground beef has even more calories so maybe 1/4c of that would be better or some cubed beef for stew? I wasn't sure if that was ok to do w/ a puppy or not, nutrients wise. Do you think 2.25c of Kinesis will have enough vitamins etc. for a puppy? 

We added in food for my German Shepherd, Gunner when she was a few years old. We'd added in chicken, potato and some green beans every few days to mix it up for her. She absolutely LOVED fresh green beans. 

I'll give the sweet potato a try next time. 




Max's Dad said:


> When we got Max at 11 weeks old, he was eating Purina Puppy Chow. He had huge, soft stools. I looked for a "low residue" food and settled on Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy food. It is a mass market food, but Max did very well on it. He had firm stools that were a reasonable size. Its main ingredients are chicken, corn meal and rice. It is around 337 calories per cup. We followed the package guidelines for feeding amounts, and I recall Max being fed as much as 5-6 cups per day. He ate the Eukanuba until he was about 15-16 months old.
> 
> For more than a year, Max is currently eating Acana Wild Prairie. It is a grain free kibble. Its main ingredients are chicken and fish. Max loves it. But now that he is an adult, he only eats 3 cups per day. The WP is 434 calories per cup.


I'll check it out. I read something about a low residue food but it was by prescription only. I want to say it was a Eukunuba formula but I could be wrong.

I hope as Zane gets older he doesn't have this problem as an adult. Gunner didn't have any problem w/ different kibbles. But I really like the idea of keeping w/ Dr. Tim's and adding in chicken or beef to boost the calories.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

I only feed Grandma Lucy's. I didn't saw I fed raw, just that this or any foods that are reconstituted are a bridge between kibble and raw. I've never fed what the package recommends as that is usually too much food. Tayla maintains a good weight on 2 cups a day.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

I use bananas for fiber and mainly potassium. They are good for the kidneys, heart and digestive system; helps against bloating and dehydration and it is a low calorie snack.

PS: too many bananas can cause diarrhea.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Tayla gets 1/2 banana several times a week. I can't remember the last time I had an entire banana to myself.


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## Sheldon (Feb 27, 2013)

Well Sheldon has been on the Annamaet Option for about a week now....I did notice extra pooping at first (almost like a cleanse) and now all is good. I think I found a winner!

I thought you transitioned to Manitok? Is Extra what the company suggested? They told me for an active puppy, their Encore was best......but with Sheldon's chicken intolerance they told me Option would be best in my situation.


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## Buddys Pal (May 30, 2013)

My Buddy was on Nutro lamb and rice for a couple years and in January we started with the gas and pudding poop. Tried TOTW, lots of pudding poop, then Blue still the same. Out of desperation, I bought Purina one lamb and rice and changed straight up, not gradually. First day better poop and by day three, less poop and firm. Go figure....it went against everything I had heard, but no gas, less stool and I can pick it up. He is gaining weight though, so will be cutting him back to 1 cup AM and 1 Cup PM to see how it goes. Buddy is a rescued friend so not sure of age, but about 8 1/2. He does get some small treats and licks the plates (no food, just licks)....


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Murphy has done great on Acana Pacifica. Poops twice a day and they are pretty small.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Sheldon said:


> Well Sheldon has been on the Annamaet Option for about a week now....I did notice extra pooping at first (almost like a cleanse) and now all is good. I think I found a winner!


Glad to hear!! I know it's a relief to finally find something that works.




Sheldon said:


> I thought you transitioned to Manitok? Is Extra what the company suggested? They told me for an active puppy, their Encore was best......but with Sheldon's chicken intolerance they told me Option would be best in my situation.


I was going to go w/ Manitok but with all the bag problems I couldn't wait for the new bag(s) so I went w/ California Natural Puppy Lamb and Rice instead. 

So far so good. Zane loves it and it's working for him. I didn't want to keep going through different kibble so I went w/ something that was simple and it's doesn't get any simpler than that.


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## furry and four paws (May 10, 2012)

Question.... why is poop volume an issue? If your puppy is doing well on a kibble, has firm stools, looks good, and is healthy.... why keep changing. Isn't volume subjective, your issue not your dogs.

Now this is someone with 3 large dogs and 1 small one. As long as I can pick up the poop I'm happy.

Also why all the extra stuff, if your feeding a premium kibble, why add more. I rotate brands and ingredients (using Whole Dog Journal kibble list) with each bag. My crew has no issues, and I figure if they missed something with one bag they get it with the next one

Just curious....


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## Sheldon (Feb 27, 2013)

RichsRetriever said:


> Glad to hear!! I know it's a relief to finally find something that works.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Well couple more weeks on "option" and all is good........this food is a little expensive, but I know its good for him and he likes it.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

furry and four paws said:


> Question.... why is poop volume an issue? If your puppy is doing well on a kibble, has firm stools, looks good, and is healthy.... why keep changing. Isn't volume subjective, your issue not your dogs.


Because going 3-4 times a day and having large stool volume isn't good. Obviously something didn't agree w/ his system. Since he's been on Cal. Nat. his stools are good (firm / low volume) and he's going twice a day. 



furry and four paws said:


> Also why all the extra stuff, if your feeding a premium kibble, why add more.


What extra stuff?





Sheldon said:


> Well couple more weeks on "option" and all is good........this food is a little expensive, but I know its good for him and he likes it.


Yeah it is pretty expensive but if it's working that's all that matters.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Tayla loves her food and does well on it. She poops 3 times a day usually. She poops a lot, she is a big dog. The number of times a dog goes is no different that the number of times people go. Some go once, twice, three or five times. It's more how your body functions. Same with dogs. Mine have always gone about 3 times a day. Sometimes two and sometimes 4.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

What goes in must come out,,,,,,I think fillers have something to do with it.


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