Ok how do I make this short??? I have had Cooper on several foods and have always done a gradual switch. He has been on TLC ... but had the runs and bad dandruff. Then Wellness Puppy ... dandruff improved but the loose stool was still a frequent issue. So we tried Solid Gold (puppy - lamb formula) but he is still having frequent bouts of loose stool (not fun to pick up).

Does anyone have any suggestions on food that is good for sensitive stomachs or loose stool, while still maintaining good omega levels to prevent dandruff??? I am still unsure of what is causing the loose stool ... whether it is an intolerance or allergy or just a sensitive tummy??

Any thoughts?? You guys always have the best advice. I would just love to solve this issue for Cooper :)

I know what you mean with the loose poops,... awful to pick up!

It sounds like Cooper is either allergic or sensitive to something (one or more ingredients) in all the foods you've tried so far. More than likely this ingredient(s) will be in other foods too. Have you tried adding a spoon of white boiled rice to his daily meals? Rice is a good stopper when need be. Also, you may want to look at a presription diet called Medi-cal ID, available only at Canadian vets. It's specially formulated for the intestinal tract. One of our girls was on it because she too had constant loose poops, and on and off diarrhea, it really helped her. It has digestive enzymes in it that really helps to digest the food and form the poops.

Zoe, also regularly had loose poops, but since she on the homemade diet, her poops are firm and smaller, actually we've never seen poops that nice. Heidi's poops are always firm and nice, too.

What does your vet think is causing the chronic loose stools?

Why not switch him to adult food and see how he does? At 7 months he is old enough to be switched over.

Maybe try the ProPlan for Sensitive Stomachs and Skin.

I have had the same problem with Sophie. We started on Solid Gold Puppy(She was on that for 2 months but she always had frequent and soft stools), Then homemade bolied chicken & rice for diarrhea and then switched to Wellness Puppy (terrible diarrhea) - boiled chicken & rice again- and now we are on California Natural Puppy. I have almost completed the switch. Her stool is still somewhat soft but I hope that is from the antibiotics for her bladder infection that she also had and the antibiotcs that the vet gave her for the diarrhea! I am also putting a tsp of yogurt in her meals to get the flora back to normal. She turned 4 months on the 6th and she is finally now starting to put on weight. Last week she was down to 19.5 lbs from the diarrhea but today she is up to 25!!

Black as night - my vet does not seem overly concerned ... he said he would be concerned if it were actual diarehea ... but said that loose stool is common with puppies (especially ones like mine that like to eat grass, sticks etc). He feels that Cooper will most likely out grow this.

Gee - I am thinking of giving the adult Solid Gold a try but the fat is only 8% and seems quite low for a pup that is still growing. I have thought of trying a different adult food and seeing how that goes. Have heard great things about Chicken Soup ... but have not decided.

Labby - Thanks for the suggestion I will take a look at that brand online!

SopkieTulip - please let me know how your pup makes out with the California Natural ... I have had this food recommended to me by the local pet store and would love to see how it works.

Oh yah ... one question for Labbie ... I took a peek at the specifics for the proplan and it looks promising. Do you know anyone who has tried this formula with good results??

I have also had others suggest foods like Chicken Soup (adult), California Natural, Eagle Pack Holistic Select, Innova and Canidae. Any thoughts on these formulas ... good or bad I want to hear the praise and the dirt :) Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks so much.

I am still ever amazed at why no one asks how much the poor pup is being fed.

Many times a pup will eat more than its internals can process, and the result is loose stools.

This is the first thing I look at when my pups are having loose stools, and its the first thing I ask my customers about, when the call me for help.

It makes more sense to me to cut back a little on the food and see if that helps, then to run to the vet, buy a bag of this food, then buy a bag of that food. In my opinion that is just throwing money down the drain.

Good Luck!

Very good point Duckbagger!! I am pretty sure that's not the problem here though. We have always feed Cooper less than the recommened amount and have tried cutting back to no avail. Cooper currently gets 2 cups per day and the bag recommends over 3 cups of food as the minimum.

Duckbagger, I know you are quite knowledgeable about the food choices out there .... any thought on the foods I mentioned or any others that might be worth looking at??

Not duckbagger of course, but along the same lines.....

My boy is 77 lbs full grown and he only gets 2 cups a day. How much did you say yours weighs? I might think cutting back to 1 1/2 cups and mixing with some rice might be beneficial. See if the combined lessened food as well as the rice might work. You will know pretty quickly is going to be enough to keep your pup full.

Are you giving your pup any snacks? Make sure as you are trying to pinpoint the problem, that you cut out ALL SNACKS. Any "treats" that your dog gets for a bit should just be kibble.

I am not sure I agree with your vet either. My dog ate lots of sticks and grass (oh wait, he still does) and never has diahrrea from them.

Hi CoopersMom
I am not happy with the California Natural. I took over a week to switch her over and her bowel movements got progressively softer as I moved to a greater % of the Cal Natural. Yesterday morning she had 5 bowel movements before noon and the last one was impossible to clean up from the grass! I think that she might have a hard time digesting Lamb (the same ingredient in the Solid Gold). I put her back on straight boiled chicken & rice w/ a tsp of yogurt and this morning her stool was formed!!! I have heard so many great things about the Chicken Soup for the Puppy's Soul that I think that I am going to try it. She seems to do very well on chicken. My only concern was that it has dried skim milk in it. I emailed the company and their vet replied that it is such a small qty that it doesn't affect most dogs. Let's Hope so!!

One thing to note about California natural, it is an extremely high-calorie food, 500+ kcal/cup You must feed less than the other foods.

Hi Gee: Thanks so much, You should have seen me with my calculator figuring out the calories of her chicken and rice and converting it to the California Natural!! I knew that it was a high calorie food! She only needed a little over 2 cups total for the day! I have her on chicken & rice today. I bought the Chicken Soup Puppy but I'm not sure as to when I should start her on it.

I have had the same problems with Oliver in the past...specifically
with loose poops and dandruff. Our vet recomended a "Corn free"
diet. We switched to "Kirkland" lamb and rice - Corn free.

His dandruff is gone and his stool is normal. Maybe worth a try.

The food Cooper came home from the breeder on had corn in it ... but he has not been on it since he was about 11 weeks old. Since then he has been on both Wellness and Solid Gold which do not contain corn ... the dandruff is much improved since making that switch. But the loose stools keep coming back ... it seems to get better then it goes downhill again. I have monitored his food intake and treats and there is no particular pattern to indicate what might be causing it. I have to pick up his heartworm meds from the vet so I think I will have them check a stool sample just to be sure nothing is wrong.

As of yesterday I have begun adding some brown rice to Cooper's food and it seems to be helping. After much (way too much) reading about the foods I was considering I have decided to go for the Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. I have heard a great deal of positive feedback, the price is reasonable and the ingredients look fantastic.

I hope the food works for Cooper.

I did the food roller coaster and settled on chicken soup for the dog lovers soul. the girls love it - their poops arent like rocks, but theyre not that soft either (you just have to let them sit for a while), plus i get comments on how amazing their coats are all the time and i'm not constantly worrying that i am feeding them some really gross food.

I started the Chicken Soup for Puppies today. I put 20 pieces in her breakfast. I plan on going up by about 20 pieces every meal. I still have her on 3 meals. I am not going to change her to 2 meals a day until she is on this food for a while. I figure it will take about 1 week to change her over. Any other ideas from anyone?? Gotta go, I need to put the next batch of my boiled chicken in the food processor!!!