# softish poop



## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

First thing to know if the number one thing that impacts digestive upsets like loose stools or diarrhea so a change like a high fat small or sudden change in food with 2 or 3% more fat is the biggest thing to watch for. Ice cream is awful for dogs and is full of a crazy amount of fat compared to their normal diet. 

Also, you might just be giving your dog just to much overall. What you described is a lot going on. One dog might be handling it and the other may not. Every dog is not the same. If there is to much in there system at once they will never get a firm stool. They just can't digest it fast enough and they get gassy and can get soft or runny stools. Remember this, you need to reduce some of the food you feed if you doing a lot of training and treats. Feeding the full amount of food and then a bunch of treats is a lot in there system. Reduce some food to offset the extra in tests.

Before you start switching food and exacerbating the issue, stop the treats and anything but the normal food. Skip a meal, the next meal give 25% less then a normal meal for their next meal and offer probiotics the next 2 or 3 days. 

Skipping a meal let's the GI tract catch-up so to speak and the probiotics jump starts the colony of good cultures in the gut. 

Doing this anytime with my dogs and any I've recommended this to usually get back to tegular stools in a day or 2. But bring it back to basics and let the system calm down. If you do that and they are still not right then you can start planning the food maybe or could be something else non food related.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

If you're feeding a high quality, balanced dog food, there is really no need for all those extras. And they may, in fact, be what's causing the issues. I'd start by eliminating all the extras, go just to kibble and one training treat that you know she does well on. And leave it at that. They really aren't like humans. They do best on quality food, fed consistently. All the variations and different items can really throw off their digestion.


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## Genevieve's mom (Mar 27, 2017)

Thank you for the suggestions. The odd thing is that we have been feeding both our girls the same things all along. They have always gotten egg, broccoli, meat, kibble, banana, etc. Nothing changed in their diets but all of a sudden their digestive systems were not happy :frown2: I will be (gradually) switching their food to Eukanuba 30/20 as was recommended to me by a member of GRCA. They will just be getting food and their supplements for a week or two and then I will gradually add back in the other items, one at a time, and see how it goes. Keeping my fingers crossed.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

Just some info, if your dog is not an athlete and running hard for 3-5 hours a day in the field, a 30/20 is A LOT of extra protein and fat. That much fat can keep a dogs stool loose if it's not burning it off and that amount ot protein can be quite a bit of excess as well. Too much protein can also lead to kidney disease as the phosphorous in the protein is what causes kidney disease. 



Also, with feeding a premium food, you shouldn't have to add so much to the food. You're adding in a lot and that means you should be subtracting from the kibble to not over feed, By doing that to the degree you'd have to, to not over feed, means so much less kibble that you're removing a lot of the vitamins and minerals that's in the kibble that makes it a balanced diet. The general rule here is that around 75% of the dogs intake should be the kibble and 25% makes up anything you add plus training treats.That makes sure your dog gets the right amount of the vitamins and minerals from the kibble and not to over feed so the dog doesn't get overweight. the fact that they have eaten all that before and now can't could just be that they are now 18 months old and their systems just can't handle all that extra.


Just don't over think it and try to reinvent the dogs diet. Pick a food to feed be it kibble or raw diet and the brand and keep that as a base and a couple times a week offer some veggies if you want and just feed half the amount of kibble those meals. And rotate the treats around. grab a couple this month and a couple different ones next months instead of buying 4 and using all 4 each month (just an example).


Again no need for supplements as that can become an issue. For example, Vitamin A can be toxic in excess and if they have enough in the food then you are causing an overdose of vitamin A. In a healthy dog on a premium food there is rarely ever a need for supplements.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Maggie'sVoice said:


> Just some info, if your dog is not an athlete and running hard for 3-5 hours a day in the field, a 30/20 is A LOT of extra protein and fat. That much fat can keep a dogs stool loose if it's not burning it off and that amount ot protein can be quite a bit of excess as well. Too much protein can also lead to kidney disease as the phosphorous in the protein is what causes kidney disease.
> 
> 
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> ...



Totally agree on the 30/20. My dog does field work, tracking, dock diving in the summer, swims all summer, plays ball almost every day, and gets a minimum of about 2 hours of exercise a day year round - and she does not need 30/20 food. Most house dogs don't. If you're out working with your dog most of the day, or field training most days of the week, then maybe?


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## mp2005 (Jul 17, 2018)

My pup is much younger than yours but is also on Fromm and had softish poops pretty regularly until I replaced part of his kibble with freeze-dried raw (crumbled and rehydrated, I have been using 2 Stella and Chewy's puppy patties at most meals, plus kibble). His poops are much firmer with that little change, and I do notice a difference if I am in a rush to feed and give him only kibble for a meal.


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## Genevieve's mom (Mar 27, 2017)

Thank you Maggie's Voice. I hadn't heard most of your advice about food previously. Now that I have more info from the DCM/Taurine study, I will be feeding RC Golden Retriever formula. Gradually switching over from Fromm. My dogs only get a one hour walk each day and lots of play time but surely not enough for the 30/20 formula. Breeders don't always consider activity level apparently when recommending food. We're starting with just the new food - no other stuff at meal time. Learn something new every day!


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## Genevieve's mom (Mar 27, 2017)

I should also mention that our girls are presumably at healthy weights. One is 54 pounds and one is 57 pounds. I can easily feel ribs on both of them. I'll be starting obedience classes again and I know the instructors like to have us use "high value" treats but I'm going to see if the girls will respond to just kibble. They are both highly interested in any food. I don't think their treats need to be "high value". Thank you.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

Genevieve's mom said:


> I should also mention that our girls are presumably at healthy weights. One is 54 pounds and one is 57 pounds. I can easily feel ribs on both of them. I'll be starting obedience classes again and I know the instructors like to have us use "high value" treats but I'm going to see if the girls will respond to just kibble. They are both highly interested in any food. I don't think their treats need to be "high value". Thank you.





Nothing wrong with using their kibble for training treats. Especially since it's a new food it probably will fit the mold of high value treats in the beginning. If they start to get a little less excited for it with distractions then switch it up and get a nice treat for them. I use Zuke's Mini Peanut butter and the duck ones. They are already very small. Dog really only taste salt and fat and a hint of sweet. Dog have a 10th or so of the taste buds people do. So they really "taste" with their sense of smell. So treat sizes only need to be the size of a pea (about what the Zuke's minis are). Single ingredient treats like freeze-dried beef liver works very well and is easy to break into smaller pieces too.


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## jomiel (Feb 15, 2019)

Our trainer recommended Ziwi Peak dog food as training treats. It's dog food but smells really meaty and they're tiny pieces so you won't end up feeding a lot in a training session. One of my cats love this stuff too so I sprinkle a pinch of the cat food version on her kibble.


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## bigblackdog (Jun 14, 2013)

Genevieve's mom said:


> Thank you Maggie's Voice. I hadn't heard most of your advice about food previously. Now that I have more info from the DCM/Taurine study, I will be feeding RC Golden Retriever formula. Gradually switching over from Fromm. My dogs only get a one hour walk each day and lots of play time but surely not enough for the 30/20 formula. Breeders don't always consider activity level apparently when recommending food. We're starting with just the new food - no other stuff at meal time. Learn something new every day!


In my opinion the RC Golden Retriever food...is an overpriced, grain based food that is very low in calories. You were better off feeding Fromm...and were most likely feeding too much food, and that was the cause of the soft poop. Cut back on the Fromm, and all of the "goodies"...and see what happens.

You will need to feed way more of the RC food...it's only 276 calories per cup. Here are the main ingredients in the RC Golden formula:
Brown rice, chicken by-product meal, oat groats, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, wheat, chicken fat, natural flavors, powdered cellulose, dried plain beet pulp, fish oil, wheat gluten, dried tomato pomace, vegetable oil, sodium silico aluminate, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, psylliu


Looks like food fit more for chickens, then it is a dog.:frown2:


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