[Beethoven]

I went to the vet today to get Beethoven's final shots and medications, and I also mentioned to the vet that I had been feeding him Innova puppy and that his stool had become looser and he had been having gas. She said it is probably too rich for him, and that if yogurt didn't help (she said pumpkin might be a little too binding as far as fiber goes) I might have to try a 'lesser quality' food. He's only five months, so I can't give him the reduced fat Innova because it's for adult dogs. He has been on Innova for about a month and a half, and this change in his poop has started recently.

What are some other foods I could try that wouldn't be too rich for him but that would still be healthy? I put him on Innova so that he would be healthy but now it seems like I'm overloading him, haha. I feel like Orijen would be in the same field as Innova, maybe even richer because it's grain-free. He is a Shih Tzu, about 8 pounds, and five months old.

 

[Westhighlander]

My puppy had the same problems with Innova, try Nature's Variety Prarie.

 

[PureMutt]

You can also try California Naturals Puppy Lamb and Rice or Chicken and Rice. Has a very limited ingredient list, which might be beneficial to puppies with sensitive tummies.

 

[Trainer]

Don't worry about the label "puppy", "adult", "Senior" on dog food bags. These are simply marketing terms. It is designed to convince you that the particular food is designed specifically for your pup.

The difference between the foods in the different bags are so small as not make any difference nutritionally. There is just enough difference so they can say its something else. Often they merely swap the order of 2 ingredients in the ingredients list and call it something different.

 

[tut078620]

Have you considered mixing foods? I recently switched my three small breeds to wellness super5mix small breed + wellness canned food. They're having mixed reactions - some days their stool is firm, some days runny. My 12 yr. old yorkie started having really runny diarrhea today. I've been transitioning them for about two months and started giving them 100% wellness for about two weeks, so I'll experiment with it a little more.

Their stool was firm when I was mixing halo, SD, and wellness. I might have to go back to halo + wellness because like your vet said, I think wellness might be too rich for them, or in your case, Innova is. I completely did away with SD b/c of the corn, I think this was what was causing all the gunk in the eyes for the shih tzu and yorkie.

Since you're probably more interested in my shih tzu's reaction to wellness, which is rich in meat protein (or at least I think it is), here it is. He will have firm stool and then the last one will be runny. But then there are days when he is perfectly fine.

I noticed for my pomeranian that his stool seems to be a lot bigger in volume now.

I haven't found other brands that I'm 100% satisfied with and I don't want to have to go through another brand with similar ingredients as wellness and end up with the same results. Therefore, I think mixing is the best way to go since I'm pretty happy with the ingredients in wellness and okay with Halo mixed in with Wellness. I also noticed less stool (in volume, frequency was same) when they were also eating Halo, which is definitely less rich when you look at the ingredients. Their eyes were also less gunky with Halo + Wellness VS SD.

 

[Kathyy]

I always thought if you feed too much the dog gets fat. Well I tried feeding old Sassy more and she just pooped it out. I am lucky she rarely has gas. Try feeding less food or splitting the food into more meals. Too rich means nutrient dense so you can feed less.

 

[trumpetjock]

What are some other foods I could try that wouldn't be too rich for him but that would still be healthy? I put him on Innova so that he would be healthy but now it seems like I'm overloading him, haha. I feel like Orijen would be in the same field as Innova, maybe even richer because it's grain-free. He is a Shih Tzu, about 8 pounds, and five months old.

The "too rich" thing is total bologna. Some dogs do well on some foods, some do well on others. It has absolutely nothing to do with how "rich" it is. Just keep trying other foods on the high end until you find one that works. Just because Orijen is grain free doesn't mean it's going to have any worse an effect on your pup, it could be the best thing you ever tried.

Also, in the future, don't believe a word any vet says about nutrition unless you know for a fact that they have done study beyond vet school specifically on that topic. In vet school they take some ludicrously small amount of nutrition training like 10 hours. It's extremely disappointing.