[nikkimara]

Hi everyone! I've had my one year old beagle mix since March, and it's been a constant stuggle with foods from the start. He had diarrhea constantly when I first got him, and dry flaky skin. He came from the shelter eating Purina puppy chow, so switched him to PetSmart's Simply Nourish chicken and rice puppy food. It didn't help, so I ended up switching him to a lamb and rice Nutro puppy food, which also didn't seem to help. Eventually I switched him to what he is currently on, American Journey LID grain-free turkey and sweet potato. He's finally having solid poops, but he just goes so many times a day I'm not sure if it's normal. I've seen him go three times in a two and a half hour period before. The fiber on his food is a little bit high (7%) so I'm wondering if that could be why? I'm also not sure if it's worth the risk to try and switch foods again, but I figured I'd see if anyone had any recommendations.

Thanks so much!

 

[Shell]

How much are you feeding him of the current food?

What is his weight, activity level, and is he neutered or not?

Any treats at all?

Any consumable chews like bully sticks or rawhides?

 

[Lillith]

If he's going a lot, you may be feeding him too much.

If he has dry, flaky skin, he may benefit from more fat in his diet. It should be around 20%. If you are nervous to change his food, you might try a supplement like fish oil and see if that helps the skin issues. A bath at least once a month with a good quality, soothing shampoo does wonders for my dog who struggles with allergies and can have itchy skin.

At one year old, your dog doesn't really need to be on puppy food anymore. Try an all life stages food which may be better formulated for an adult dog.

If you're looking for food recommendations, a high quality but affordable brand I like is Victor. It's cheaper than both Nutro and American Journey, I believe. I've never seen it in pet stores, but it is on Chewy.com.

 

[Mutts]

I’ve heard the Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach formulas work wonders on dogs with sensitive GI and dry skin. Might be worth a try? It’s usually quite affordable as well.

 

[pmokl]

Hi everyone! I've had my one year old beagle mix since March, and it's been a constant stuggle with foods from the start. He had diarrhea constantly when I first got him, and dry flaky skin. He came from the shelter eating Purina puppy chow, so switched him to PetSmart's Simply Nourish chicken and rice puppy food. It didn't help, so I ended up switching him to a lamb and rice Nutro puppy food, which also didn't seem to help. Eventually I switched him to what he is currently on, American Journey LID grain-free turkey and sweet potato. He's finally having solid poops, but he just goes so many times a day I'm not sure if it's normal. I've seen him go three times in a two and a half hour period before. The fiber on his food is a little bit high (7%) so I'm wondering if that could be why? I'm also not sure if it's worth the risk to try and switch foods again, but I figured I'd see if anyone had any recommendations.

Thanks so much!

If he has solid stool on the current food that's a good thing. It could be you're feeding too much or just too much per feeding. Try feeding the same amount but split up into three meals. Or it could be like you said ,too much fiber.
If you do decide to try another food. My dogs eat Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20 Salmon Formula. They have solid stool and go two or three times a day. I feed my 36 pound Lab mix pup one cup twice a day.

 

[LeoRose]

I found that all of my dogs had more and/or larger poops on grain-free foods. If he is otherwise doing good on this food, I'd leave him on it for a while, and see how he does.

 

[nikkimara]

How much are you feeding him of the current food?

What is his weight, activity level, and is he neutered or not?

Any treats at all?

Any consumable chews like bully sticks or rawhides?

He gets about 3/4 cup twice a day. He's around 35lbs and moderately active, he's usually worn out after a couple hours of off leash exercise. He is neutered. He mostly only gets treats when training, so not every day. He gets bully sticks on occasion, never rawhide but he does tend to really go through bones fast. The only ones I've found that last are the filled bones like this: https://www.petsmart.com/dog/treats/bones-and-rawhide/dentleys-natures-chews-stuff-bone-dog-treat---peanut-butter-48360.html

I found that all of my dogs had more and/or larger poops on grain-free foods. If he is otherwise doing good on this food, I'd leave him on it for a while, and see how he does.

I was reading other people having the same trouble. I'm not sure if he's necessarily allergic to grain, but I definitely think chicken is the main culprit and it's so hard to find an LID that isn't grain free as well.

If he's going a lot, you may be feeding him too much.

If he has dry, flaky skin, he may benefit from more fat in his diet. It should be around 20%. If you are nervous to change his food, you might try a supplement like fish oil and see if that helps the skin issues. A bath at least once a month with a good quality, soothing shampoo does wonders for my dog who struggles with allergies and can have itchy skin.

At one year old, your dog doesn't really need to be on puppy food anymore. Try an all life stages food which may be better formulated for an adult dog.

If you're looking for food recommendations, a high quality but affordable brand I like is Victor. It's cheaper than both Nutro and American Journey, I believe. I've never seen it in pet stores, but it is on Chewy.com.

I haven't even thought of trying fish oil! If i switch his food and he goes back to having skin issues I'll definitely look into it. His American Journey food is an all life stages one. I'll look into Victor, thanks for the recommendation!

 

[blujacket]

I highly recommend Fromm. My pup loves it. I also give him some ultra oil for dry skin. http://ultraoilforpets.com/. He's been on the oil for 2 weeks now, no odor like salmon oil.