# Pro plan not working so good



## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

I slowly started hunter on pro plan and ever since he has had poops that are soft and extremely hard to pick up. He's not even fully on pro plan, he's still on 50/50 with the old food so I'm guessing it'll be full on diarreah on 100% pro plan. I've been just feeding his old food for yesterday and today and his poops have formed up again so in pretty sure it is the pro plan. Trouble is his old food is not calorie dense enough for him. I'm having to feed between 6-7 cups a day which is not really viable. We live in uk so don't haves many of the foods you can get in the states but need something more than the 350cals per 100g of what his old food is.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Which Pro Plan formula are you feeding Hunter?


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## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> Which Pro Plan formula are you feeding Hunter?


He's on the regular pro plan puppy with chicken and rice


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

How old is Hunter?


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

My two adults are eating Pro Plan for Sensitive Skin and Stomach.

A friend of mine got a pup in Jan. The breeder was feeding her adults and the litter PPP SS also. Her pup is almost 6 months old now, still eating the PPP SS and doing great on it. 


Hopefully some of the UK members will be able to make a suggestion for you. I know you have a different selection of brands and formulas avialble than what we do here in the states.


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## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

Hunter is coming up 13 weeks now. Yes I was looking at the sensitive one as we can get it here its just calle something slightly different


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

How much pro plan are you feeding?? You said you feed 6-7 cups a day of the old brand. Maybe it's too much food. What happens if you cut the food back? 


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## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

Brave said:


> How much pro plan are you feeding?? You said you feed 6-7 cups a day of the old brand. Maybe it's too much food. What happens if you cut the food back?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Im feeding 3 cups of 50/50 old and pro plan a day.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Did you slowly introduce the pro plan or did you initially start with 50/50? I have never switched foods on a dog that young, but when I have switched ours at 4-5 months I do it VERY slowly. At first I add just a tiny bit and wait until their poops normalize, then I do it in increments of 1/8 a cup. At that age their tummies are so sensitive that I can imagine it would cause diarrhea if one tries to move quickly.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

I think it is very possible that you're feeding WAY too much food.. I don't think any average sized golden pup needs more than 3 cups of food per day. I would try reducing the amount to see if his stools harden up. 


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## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> Did you slowly introduce the pro plan or did you initially start with 50/50? I have never switched foods on a dog that young, but when I have switched ours at 4-5 months I do it VERY slowly. At first I add just a tiny bit and wait until their poops normalize, then I do it in increments of 1/8 a cup. At that age their tummies are so sensitive that I can imagine it would cause diarrhea if one tries to move quickly.


No I didnt start at 50/50. I started by literally throwing a couple of pieces of new kibble in with the old. The reason I'm chaging him over is that the old food just isn't calorie dense enough and he was a bag of bones on it unless I fed up to 6 cups or so.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Can you get Large Breed puppy Pro Plan there? If not, what about Pro Plan Sport 26/16 All Life Stages food. We started with the LBPuppy at 3/4 cup 3 times a day and at 4 months we went to 1.25 cups twice a day. 
Mixing up kibbles is often difficult, so make sure to go slow!
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## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

Vhuynh2 said:


> I think it is very possible that you're feeding WAY too much food.. I don't think any average sized golden pup needs more than 3 cups of food per day. I would try reducing the amount to see if his stools harden up.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com App


I would feed less but you can see/feel his hip bones and ribs on less food so I'm kinda stuck at the moment!


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## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

Dallas Gold said:


> Can you get Large Breed puppy Pro Plan there? If not, what about Pro Plan Sport 26/16 All Life Stages food. We started with the LBPuppy at 3/4 cup 3 times a day and at 4 months we went to 1.25 cups twice a day.
> Mixing up kibbles is often difficult, so make sure to go slow!
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


We have 2 kinds for larger breed dogs. Once is called athletic and one is called robust. We have pro plan performance but not sport and no all life stages pro plan


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

You should be able to feel his hip bones and they should jut out just a bit. 


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

My Sheepies have very sensitive stomachs. Any change in food has to be small increments and only increasing every 3 days. I have to plan ahead as it takes 3 weeks to get them switched over.

We are so used to chubby puppies, that a lean, healthy dog can look underweight. I am going through that with Rogue right now. She is 5-6 months old, not exactly sure as she was abandoned at the lake. One day I look at her and think she looks too thin, so I increase her food intake. The next day she is looking too heavy. Ugggggh!


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## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

Vhuynh2 said:


> You should be able to feel his hip bones and they should jut out just a bit.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com App


Is this ok then? I thought they were meant to be completely covered so you couldn't see but could feel easily. I think I've let the vet get into my head a bit as she was saying she would like to see a bit more weight on him for web he has his big growth spurts. I like and trust my vet so not sure which way to turn!!


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

The amount of food you feed each day will depend on their body. During growth spurts, Bear looked really thin and leggy so I increased his food. 13 weeks is really young to be eating 3cups of food a day, IMO. The most bear was fed is 3-4 cups a day and that was between 6-8 months during his last major growth spurt. He has settled into 1.5-2 cups a day at 10 months. 

You said your pup is 13 weeks, which is 3 months. Right? At that age, bear was getting 1/2 cup 3x a day (so 1.5 cups a day). 

I would try reducing the food by about 1/4 cup and see what happens. Does he get really thin? Does his poop firm up? 

Feeding puppies is really an ever changing thing. 


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## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

Brave said:


> The amount of food you feed each day will depend on their body. During growth spurts, Bear looked really thin and leggy so I increased his food. 13 weeks is really young to be eating 3cups of food a day, IMO. The most bear was fed is 3-4 cups a day and that was between 6-8 months during his last major growth spurt. He has settled into 1.5-2 cups a day at 10 months.
> 
> You said your pup is 13 weeks, which is 3 months. Right? At that age, bear was getting 1/2 cup 3x a day (so 1.5 cups a day).
> 
> ...


Yes if I reduce he does get really thin. He had normal poops on this old food but I just couldn't keep the weight on him without feeding stupid amounts so decided to slowly change over to pro plan.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

When I switch formulas I don't mix the old food w/ the new food. What I'll do is stop feeding the old kibble completely and start feeding chicken and rice for 2 days. On the 3rd day I'll add 1/4c of his kibble mixed in with chicken and rice. If he does ok the next day I'll add 1/2c kibble mixed is with a little less chicken and rice. If he does ok the next day I'll add 3/4c kibble mixed in with a little less chicken and rice. If he does ok the next day I'll put him on his normal kibble amount without any chicken and rice.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

RichsRetriever said:


> When I switch formulas I don't mix the old food w/ the new food. What I'll do is stop feeding the old kibble completely and start feeding chicken and rice for 2 days. On the 3rd day I'll add 1/4c of his kibble mixed in with chicken and rice. If he does ok the next day I'll add 1/2c kibble mixed is with a little less chicken and rice. If he does ok the next day I'll add 3/4c kibble mixed in with a little less chicken and rice. If he does ok the next day I'll put him on his normal kibble amount without any chicken and rice.


I'm curious why you do it this way, was it recommended by your vet? I've never heard of cold turkey being the recommended method of switching foods, particularly for puppies. That just seems like a lot of change in a short amount of time, as I would qualify the change to chicken and rice as a cold turkey switch in food.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> I'm curious why you do it this way, was it recommended by your vet? I've never heard of cold turkey being the recommended method of switching foods, particularly for puppies. That just seems like a lot of change in a short amount of time, as I would qualify the change to chicken and rice as a cold turkey switch in food.


No it wasn't recommend by my Vet just something I tried and it works. : I can only speak about Zane but when he's on chicken and rice and switching foods he's never had loose stools or diarrhea. Everyone will do it differently but that's worked for Zane. 

Look at what's happening with the OP, they switched to 50/50 and had loose stools and now they've switched back to their old food 100%. I'm assuming they're going to start adding the new kibble in again. I don't see how quitting cold turkey and putting them on chicken and rice is any worse than switching back and forth multiple times w/ the new and old foods.

Something else the OP might want to try is mixing the old food & new food in with some rice for a few days to see if that helps w/ the loose stools. Some people like to use pumpkin but that doesn't always work. Unless your dog is grain intolerant rice should always firm stools up.


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> I'm curious why you do it this way, was it recommended by your vet? I've never heard of cold turkey being the recommended method of switching foods, particularly for puppies. That just seems like a lot of change in a short amount of time, as I would qualify the change to chicken and rice as a cold turkey switch in food.


I've done that with the Sheepies too. Only when they've had to make a last minute change in their food (formula changed or not available). 

The rice and chicken or hamburger is a low residue diet, which most dogs can tolerate. Mine think it is a treat because they get so much more of it to make up for the calories they need.
We've always slowly added in the "new" food.
My vet is okay with it.


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## 3Furbabies (Apr 26, 2012)

RichsRetriever said:


> No it wasn't recommend by my Vet just something I tried and it works. : I can only speak about Zane but when he's on chicken and rice and switching foods he's never had loose stools or diarrhea. Everyone will do it differently but that's worked for Zane.
> 
> Look at what's happening with the OP, they switched to 50/50 and had loose stools and now they've switched back to their old food 100%. I'm assuming they're going to start adding the new kibble in again. I don't see how quitting cold turkey and putting them on chicken and rice is any worse than switching back and forth multiple times w/ the new and old foods.
> 
> Something else the OP might want to try is mixing the old food & new food in with some rice for a few days to see if that helps w/ the loose stools. Some people like to use pumpkin but that doesn't always work. Unless your dog is grain intolerant rice should always firm stools up.


That's a good idea about adding rice in with it too!


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