bloss344

Just wanted to update. Leah's poops progressively got worse and she also started to feel a little too boney for my liking, so I went back to boiled lean chicken and rice for a couple of days and then got some EP Holistic Chicken Meal and Rice. Her poops started to firm up on the chicken and rice and improved with the slow introduction of the EP. All went well until last weekend when the cow pats started again. Then I realised I'd had her vaccinated on Saturday, so have just monitored her during the week without changing her diet. All is good now, it took a few days but we have normal poos again. Looks like we are on a winner here. The only thing I gave her on Sunday that was different was a smoked lamb bone which I guess could have caused it too. The EP puppy formula she was on was lamb based so perhaps she has a lamb intolerance. I'll wait a while before I test it out again. Thanks everyone for your recommendations.

That sounds like an awful lot if it left a puddle.. Maybe a combination of anal gland stuff and urine. The anal gland smell is kind of fishy, metallic and just plain gross.

BARF would allow you to monitor any food allergies, by doing an elimination diet and then after a couple of months adding in other foods, commercial food has so many ingredients in it that it's really hard to figure out what is causing the problem. Z/d is designed so that the body doesn't recognise the proteins in it. The problem with food allergies is that the dog can be allergic to any ingredient, not only the meat sources. Grains also have protein and often dogs are allergic to them. Bob gets ear problems if he has maize/corn. He does have quite a few food intolerances, so is on a very simple limited ingredient diet. The first ear infection he had was after the vet fed him Hills I/D for a tummy upset. I didn't think much of it until OH gave him two cornflakes and within 12 hours he had another ear infection. I check any dog biscuits I buy and avoid any with corn/cornmeal in them.

I found it took Leah quite a few nights to settle and go to sleep without sooking. I ignored it, but gosh it's hard. What makes it a little harder is I also have Bob who isn't crated. Thanks to PW's suggestion on another thread I started covering the crate with a blanket and it worked a treat. :D

I had Leah done on Saturday and apart from the fact she was a little quieter Sunday and yesterday, no other symptoms except for a slightly looser poop. Hopefully that will be transient.

Leah also has her witching hour around 8pm. It's not that she's home alone during the day either, I'm home pretty much 24/7, but the only time she gets a bit feral is the evening. Fortunately it wears her out for a good nights sleep.

The Kong people make tennis balls that say on the pack that they do not wear down enamel. I bought 3 for about $10 at Big W. They are quite robust and also have a squeaker which is a bonus. The three balls have lasted about 8 weeks so far which is a long time for Bob. Regular balls can last from 10 mins to a week or so. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Kong-Dog-Toy-Air-Ko...1QQcmdZViewItem

Well said cavNrott

What's the name of that powder you sprinkle on food. Damn, can't remember. It's digestive enzymes and other stuff and it's supposed to help digest food better and helps with weight gain. Adding extra fat will work if your dog can tolerate the fat, some just get the runs.

Vets don't get much training on nutrition, and what they do get is from the dog food companies. I can understand why the training is limited though, they don't just deal in dogs, there's also cats, rabbits, horses, birds etc, each species has it's own particular needs. Recommending a commerical, balanced food simplifies matters. Now people are getting more proactive in regards to their pet's health, perhaps some vets will have more open minds. Home made diets get a bad wrap because an unbalanced diet 'can' cause all sorts of problems, bone deformities being just one of them. Most vets probably don't see a lot of other diseases caused by bad nutrition anyway, but if it's what they are taught I don't think many vets have heard of Eagle Pack, it's still relatively new here in Aus.

Don't we all. We had 4 lumps removed from our kelpie a while back, 3 were fatty lumps, and one was a cyst. With the fatty lumps, lipomas, they do can recur in dogs who have a tendency to get them. I'd go with the biopsy if your vet suggests it. Tess's were on her chest and the vet didn't want to leave them, so no biopsy, just straight removal.

Beautiful boy Tangwyn. I can see what you mean about the feet. I've been wondering about those white spots too, thought it might be undigested grain of some sort. Hmm, it's sounding more and more like it would be good to change Leah's food.

Do you mean the adult food? How old was he Tangwyn?

Don't know but I had a vision of a manufacturing plant in the middle of the sort of place you go to when you meditate.

Having just got a Golden I've been reading up on Large Breed puppy nutrition and it seems that growing them slowly seems to decrease the risk of OCD, HD. Apparently not all HD is genetic. I think however it's probably anecdotal to say feeding BARF will prevent serious diseases. If it is fact there will be some references to research to back it up etc. Some dogs will live long healthy lives eeating Pal, some will eat BARF and get sick. I think it's like people, a lot of people smoke and don't get lung cancer, some people have never had a smoke and get lung cancer. I've lost two dogs to cancer in the past 3 years. Both were fed good natural diets, didn't have vaccinations after their 1 year booster. It's the luck of the draw. You can only do what you think is best.

The Eagle Pack rep has been great with info. He did say some of the Holistic Adult foods would be suitable for a large breed puppy, but also suggested a product they have called Holistic Solution which is a powder of digestive enzymes. probiotics and other stuffused for upset tummies. I did buy their Holistic Transition when I bought the bag of EP, and used that without result which he found unusual, and felt it perhaps wasn't food related. He also suggested leaving Leah on the LB puppy at this stage as some dogs take longer than 2 weeks for their tummies to settle after changing to EP. So at this stage I'm continuing as we've been doing. GoldieLover: Wondered that myself. They are growing so fast, becoming active etc, surely it affects their tummies. Leah is so active, healthy and growing well, so there can't be too much wrong. She's also got such a good appetite. I believe that's pretty normal for a Goldie. CavsRcute: I'm only giving a small amount of chicken for training treats now. Might look to using something else. Miranda: Thanks for the heads up about K9 kitchen, I'll keep them in mind.

Poor puppy, and poor you too. Keep an eye on him and if it continues or you are in any way worried see your vet. Puppies can get dehydrated really quickly.

Oh, that looks good. A lot of us have food intolerant dogs. How ironic however, it says Product of Australia on the bottom of the webpage but it's not available here. I imagine if it becomes available here we'll be paying more than US. This bit made me smile: "Addiction is made in New Zealand and Australia where the lush forests, clean lakes and stringent agricultural and manufacturing standards ensure the highest quality food made in a pristine environment."

Miranda: I've just got a reply back from EP, and there is no Holistic Large Breed Puppy available until the end of the year. He did suggest however the adult Duck or Lamb Holistic food which would be ok for a large breed puppy. I've just emailed back to confirm that she would be getting all the nutrients she needs. Of course I can't find the receipt for the bag of EP I have to return it. Damn, damn, damn.

Thanks Miranda, makes sense. It's amazing how many puppy foods contain corn. Bob can't tolerate anything with corn, he gets yeasty ears. Sounds like a plan for us.

I've had Leah for 3 weeks, and when she first came her poops weren't great, formed but not really firm. She was on Supercoat Puppy and I'd already decided to change her over to Eagle Pack Large Breed Puppy when she settled in. Because her poops weren't great anyway, I started the transition over really slowly. There was no improvement, just loose pudding type poops, starting to get pretty watery, so I took her to the vet just in case. He didn't think it was anything to worry about, but gave us Flagyl for 10 days just in case it was Giardia or Coccidiiosis. I also had her on chicken and rice for 3 days during that time and then added in the Eagle Pack really slowly, just a few bits at a time. Her poops never were the firm small poops I've heard about with the Eagle Pack and now that she is off the Flagyl, [finished them Wed am] she's doing fairly largish quite soft poops. I wouldn't call it diarrhea, and it's only 3 or 4 times a day which is pretty normal for a puppy according to the vet. I'm beginning to get a bad feeling the Eagle Pack isn't agreeing with her. Apart from the poop problem she's bright, hungry, eating all her food, and energetic. Any suggestions, hints, tips?

My old kelpie used to love tripe. I used it to reduce calories in her diet too. Only thing that put me off is the fact that it is bleached.

For Bob I use Glad Wags Lamb strips. They break up into little bits and smell good. Nice to handle too. Unfortunately with his allergies we are limited in what we can use. For Leah I use boiled chicken breast cut up little. Being a puppy it's easy on her tummy. I took a big bag to Puppy Pre-School last night to share around as most new puppy parents don't realise that kibble isn't really a treat.

I paid less than that to do 1x 25kg dog, 1x 17kg dog and the cat 5kg cat.

Bob did it for quite a while, way past puppyhood. He's pretty stressy though, and it only improved as he gained more confidence. It's a very, very rare occurance now, he's 3 yo.