Excessive pooping and death stench gas after switching food!?

doggin' it · 11-06-2009, 12:55 AM

Hello everyone,

My wife and I own a 7 pound, 7 month old toy poodle puppy that can clear a room with his farts and I'm not exaggerating! He farts too many times a day to count, but easily 12+ times/day. He also poops alot, sometimes as much as 6-7 times a day but usually around 4-5. His poop is also quite smelly.

He's currently on Orijen puppy food. When we first got him, we fed him Eukanuba puppy formula and his stools were firm and I don't remember having to endure such foul gas odors. After doing some research, I decided to switch him over to Orijen. After switching, his stools were soft and runny but they're relatively firm now, except for maybe once a day. After dinner and usually during our evening walks is when he lets out a soft, runny bowel movement.

I give him a little over 1/2 a cup per day so I'm not overfeeding him. He has developed a bad habit of literally inhaling his food like a little vacuum cleaner instead of chewing it. I'm guessing that's putting a strain on his digestive system, perhaps made worse by the high protein content of Orijen?

It seems like food is on his mind like 99% of the time. I love the ingredients in Orijen but I'll be switching to Wellness Just for Puppy to see if that changes anything. Any advice and input would be greatly appreciated!

Kat_Renee · 11-06-2009, 06:59 AM

did you gradually switch over?

bully · 11-06-2009, 07:54 AM

Try the Acana Grain free line (makers of Orijen), the "Grasslands" one in particular. But introduce it slowly over a week or so.

Wlfdg · 11-06-2009, 08:54 AM

Dogs do generally "wolf" down their food.

doggin' it · 11-06-2009, 08:54 AM

I didn't switch over as gradually as I should have (just a few days then it was all Orijen) but he's been on Orijen for about 2-3 months now.

I'll run out of Orijen soon so I've started transitioning him to Wellness. I guess it takes a little trial and error sometimes to find the right food for a particular dog.

My dog loves Orijen though, he's always excited to eat it and never leaves so much as one kibble. When I was feeding him Eukanuba small breed puppy, there were many times he wouldn't finish his food...now I know he was trying to tell me something!

Labsnothers · 11-06-2009, 09:51 AM

There are not one, but 2 easy, tested, effective ways to control rapid eating. You can spread the food out on a cookie sheet or something. Some of my friends just throw it on the floor of the crate. You can put large rocks in the food dish, much to big to swallow. Either way, the dog can't gulp down one big mouthful after another.

Slowing down the eating may reduce the air intake and the contaminated output.

It is possible what he was telling you about the Eukanuba was that you were over feeding him. I see this as another case of switching from a food that was working to one that wasn't due to speculation about the ingredients.

Were you feeding the common Eukanuba beef? If so, have you tried another beef based food?

doggin' it · 11-06-2009, 09:07 PM

I don't think I was over-feeding him on Eukanuba because I was instructed to give him 2 tablespoons, twice a day. It was the chicken-based small breed puppy formula. I just don't think he cared for it much, tastewise. What I don't understand is how they can claim the food has 0% fillers with all those fillers in there?

For some reason, my dog will swallow the Orijen but crunches on the Wellness. I was excited to see him chewing on kibble again! To slow down his eating, I've been giving him a little at a time. He takes alot longer to finish the Wellness portions so this is promising.

I just want the best for my puppy but I feel like sometimes I just get in the way by overanalyzing and thinking too much.

Cracker · 11-07-2009, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggin' it

I just want the best for my puppy but I feel like sometimes I just get in the way by overanalyzing and thinking too much.

This is a problem we all share..finding balance and what works takes care. Lets hope the new food and slower eatings solves the issues...lots of air IN means lots of air OUT. LOL

doggin' it · 11-07-2009, 08:33 PM

I'm happy to report our pup seems to be doing well on the transition to Wellness. My wife and I were both bumming it today at home with our dog, and I can remember only 2 smelly incidents, and not vomit-inducing like usual! He is already pooping less today as well.

When he eats Wellness, he actually takes little breaks in between eating so I'm very pleased about that. He takes about 3x longer to finish his Wellness portions. At this point he's on a 50/50 mix of Wellness and Orijen.

I would've liked him to do better on Orijen, but 40% protein was probably overkill for him. His stools though relatively firm were often huge for a little puppy which seemed like too much was going to waste.

Wellness at 28% protein with some high-quality grains might be easier on his tummy, coupled with the slower eating. As long as it's still a high-quality food and he does well on it, I'm happy.

bully · 11-09-2009, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggin' it

As long as it's still a high-quality food and he does well on it, I'm happy.

That's all we can ask. Good to hear you are having success.

doggin' it · 11-15-2009, 01:53 AM

Thanks everyone, my puppy is completely switched over to Wellness now and is doing great. The difference is like night and day. He poops 2X less a day and his stools are nowhere near as smelly as before. Also, he passes gas very rarely now.