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  1. #1
    House Broken EGrant23's Avatar
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    Puppy soft stools

    Hi there! I am a new member to the board and a first time owner of a lab puppy, who is now 5 1/2 months old. He has been very healthy in his young life. My wife and I have been a little worried about his stools and figured we would look for a little help.

    Here is the rundown:
    He has never had any issues with going poop, very regular. However, his poop varies from soft to diarrhea and we have started to get a little concerned.

    He is fed 1 1/2 cups of Blue Buffalo puppy 3x per day. Very limited treats and they are few and far between. Peanut butter in his kong 1 maybe 2x per day in his kong.

    We are going to cut off the PB for a few days and see if that helps. If the runny stool continues, we are going to look into transitioning him into another brand.

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!-1110151741c-jpg
    Last edited by EGrant23; 11-11-2015 at 10:08 AM.

  2. #2
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    I've never done a Kong so I don't know. I feed my 5 month old lab 3 cups a day, 1 1/2 in the AM and 1 1/2 in the PM. This is the same schedule she was on when I got her from the breeder at 10 weeks. Same amount of food too. She is on the chubby side at 50# already too.

    Couple of things, this is the age of teething which can cause runny stools. My other guess is you are feeding too much. Cut the pup down to 2 meals, 2 cups per meal. And Blue Buffalo isn't the best food but if it works after cutting the amount down, I wouldn't change. I'd probably only do a PB kong 1x a day. Or just use some of the dogs kibble from it's 4 cups with a little canned instead of PB.

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    Annette47 (11-11-2015)

  4. #3
    House Broken EGrant23's Avatar
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    Thanks for the quick reply. Like I said, we have stopped with the PB as of yesterday and have moistened some kibble to freeze in his kong. We are not against changing food brands, just recommended Blue Buffalo. We were suggested by our Vet to up the amount of food for him as there were times when he would throw up yellowish bile in the middle of the night and she thought that was due to his stomach being empty. Haven't had those issues since the increase in food. Also, he never has any accidents in his crate while we are at work of in the house.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog BaconsMom's Avatar
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    Hello from a fellow Minnesotan! Congrats on your new pup! I would say nix the pb for a while, and see how the stool looks. There is also a chance that you are feeding too much, which also leads to soft stool. I did see that you increased the food to stop what I call the hungry pukes.

    As for the food, are you feeding what the breeder fed? Also, has your pup been screened for parasites lately? Bacon had runny stools when he came home due to Giardia.

    If you are looking for a new brand, there will be many recommendations here. However, I wouldn't switch unless you have to. Switching foods can be hard on a puppy's tummy.
    Julie & Jake, Bacon's Humans

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  6. #5
    Senior Dog arentspowell's Avatar
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    That sounds like a lot of food to me. I get what your vet is saying but overfeeding can cause loose stools. Rather than ramp up the amount you are feeding, a little snack before bed should prevent the empty stomach pukes.

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  8. #6
    Senior Dog arentspowell's Avatar
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    Also for what it's worth, Daisy got diarrhea on blue buffalo as a puppy that wouldn't go away. After ruling out parasites, we changed food and it stopped. Can't remember what we fed back then but we've been feeding earthborn now for a few years with good results.

  9. #7
    House Broken EGrant23's Avatar
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    When overfeeding is mentioned, is that referring to the 4 1/2 cups per day or the 3 meals? 4 1/2 cups is right in the guidelines from Blue Buffalo for his age & weight, so just curious. Thanks for all the help!

  10. #8
    Senior Dog BaconsMom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by EGrant23 View Post
    When overfeeding is mentioned, is that referring to the 4 1/2 cups per day or the 3 meals? 4 1/2 cups is right in the guidelines from Blue Buffalo for his age & weight, so just curious. Thanks for all the help!
    The 4 1/2 cups per day. At that time, Bacon was eating around 3.5 cups per day. Most of the time the guidelines on the bag are more than the pup needs.

    Now as an adult, Bacon eats 4 cups a day of Fromm Grain Free. We periodically adjust when looking at his poops. Feeding more during hunting season, and less during the off season.

    Good luck!! We live in St. Paul, good to have another neighbor on the board.
    Julie & Jake, Bacon's Humans

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  11. #9
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    I agree with the other responses ... my two pups are a tad over 5 months and get 1.5 cups 2x a day and it seems to be the perfect amount for them. Males do end up getting bigger, so might need more, but I don’t think that even my male was eating that much at that age - he never went above 4 cups a day and that wasn’t until he was older than 5 months.

    We give a couple small dog cookies at bedtime to prevent empty stomach issues - that tends to be more about when they eat, not the total amount.

    We used Blue Buffalo once for a bit when Chloe was younger but she never did well on it and we didn’t keep with it. My current pups are eating Pro-Plan Sport and doing well.
    Annette

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    Real Retriever Moby and Barley's Mom's Avatar
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    My pup is 1 1/2 years now - and his stools have always been on the soft size. I was feeding candidae to both my older and my young dog - and the older dog's stools were the same as always. I eventually switched to Pure Vita and the puppy's stools are much better - although still a bit on the soft size. My mother's lab - who is almost 3 is exactly the same - and improved on Pure Vita as well. I do wonder if some of it is a result of the actual dog's composition. I also never fed Barley that much - at most 3 1/2 cups a day.
    Forever in my heart - Sweet gentle Moby - lover of belly rubs, bacon, and Barbara 9-10-2001 to 11-2-2015

 



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