When we got our dog she (Rottweiler) was 8.5 weeks old and the breeder was feeding her Purina dog chow. So we kept her on that for the first 2 weeks while we did some research etc. We then switched her over slowly to pure balance dog food grain free. When she was about 4 months old she was pee'ing a lot so I figured lets get her checked for infection. Well the Vet (find out later he is semi anti-rottie) checks her urine and says there's crystals in her pee, this is usually due to having too much PH in their food. So he suggests to switch her to Purina large breed puppy and see if that helps.

We follow his suggestion and now she starts getting a dry coat and skin and is itching like crazy. We tried adding apple cider vinegar to her food and it really didn't make a difference. So the wife starts looking at other brand foods and decides we need to switch her to something with less filler bullshit . So we decide to go with Blue Buffalo chicken & brown rice, large breed puppy. So this is 3 weeks ago, we slowly ween her from one to the other and we see a difference. Her coat is shiny, less itching so we are happy with the results.

A week after we take her to be spayed and all is going well until a few days after the operation. She starts to get the loose poops, not the runs but a soft serve ice cream type of consistency. Now she was getting 3 meals a day about 1.25 cups each meal. Now a few days from the start of the poops it gets more loose like melting soft serve . So we start adding boiled chicken and some rice to her meals and very little change. She is not loosing weight, has snubbed the Blue Buffalo 1/2 the time. But will eat the chicken and rice like there's no tomorrow.

Today we go back to the Vet for the stitches to come out and follow up post op visit. I explain the poop issue and dog food etc. The vet says put her back on Purina adult food and see what happens. My wife is dead set on NOT having her back on purina due to all the fillers and the past coat/itching issue. I agree with her we need to find something else for her and think the grain and byproducts are not good for her.

So the wife does her research and decides we might be better off going with Taste of the wild sierra mtn roasted lamb. This is a adult food not puppy and we will cut her back to 2 feedings a day instead of 3.

Now I am on the thought that maybe the Blue Buffalo being fed 3 times a day is TOO much protein and causing the poops issue. But the wife is dead set on no more of that food, I guess we will see what happens.

SO anyone or any vets here care to share their thoughts? Could the 3 feeding be too much protein and cause the poops? Should we go and try the grain free taste of the wild stuff? From what I understand , the lamb is better for sensitive digestive systems. Wife is also pissed that the vet keeps pushing the Purina stuff as well.

Oddly I feed and take better care of my dog then I do of myself, go figure....

Check out this link regarding dog food.  I use Fromm Grain Free Large Breed Puppy for my almost year old standard poodle.  He is now about 60 pounds and has done great on this food.  It is expensive, but worth it for my dog's health.

B

Here's the link 
http://petsnews.net/dog-health/ordinary-pet-food-killing-pet/?aref=http%3A%2F%2Fqmrno.ab4all.com%2Fsite%2Fredirectpage%3Fsid%3D69768%26hv%3D58699deb2f8f7319433080%26hid%3D118387

B

Check out dogfoodadvisor.com for food reviews.

We feed Fromm ordered from Chewy.com.  But, you can find it at better pet food stores local.  We've also fed Merrick and Victor, both good foods, but won't break the bank.  USA made as well.  Careful with Diamond branded foods (Taste of the Wild, among others).  You can research.

The loose poop could just be a transition to a higher end food or one your dog can't handle.   Maybe cut back and see what happens and go from there.

So we went to the local pet feed place, a privately owned store not a chain. Discussed with them what was going on, owner seemed very knowledgeable on the products she sells.

In the end we decided to try Fromm grain free salmon tunalini. She had asked about the previous foods and current. Being chickn was one of the main ingredients she said that might be the issue.
The last few days she has been fed boiled chicken with rice and some veggies added. Unfortunately for us this did not help the situation. So she said try fish type of foods and grain free, figured we have nothing to lose but give it a try. Plus she told us if it didn't help within the first 2-3 days we could exchange the food for something else and she would give the credit to next food.

keeping the fingers crossed...

We tried Blue Wilderness and with ours and the diarrhea never stopped. I mean it was terrible. Male dog done OK after a while, female never accepted it.  We then went to 4Health Grain Free and we've stayed with it. It gets a good rating from the reviews (not top of line, but just below) and we supplement it with real chicken mixed into the meal. We feed them this mix twice a day once around 8am and again at 4pm.  The evening feeding they get coconut oil mixed in. Wife even mixes in one of the varieties of beef soup every now and then. We leave out a bowl of just dog food if they get hungry inbeween the meals.

A typical serving is about 2-1/2 cups of food, 3-5ozs of chicken or beef soup, mixed with 1/3 cup of water to make a gravy coating. The dogs love it and eat it then. This is divided between four 30 lb dogs so it's less than a cup each serving.

I want to do the best I can for these dogs. We are going to start giving them just chicken breast treats this week and eliminate all the other treats they get. We bought 11 lbs and cut them into strips and grilled them. Last Sunday when I gave them one, I was surprised I still had an arm left. Chicken on sale is cheaper and healthier than buying the treats.

Good luck with your pup, let us know what works.

I've had great success with TOTW grain free.  Also, If you have a tractor supply around, we sometimes switch it up with 4Health grain free.  My dog doesn't do well on the grain feeds.  She gets her kibble in the morning around 6am with a couple squirts of salmon oil on her food, then around 6pm she gets her kibble with a cup of crumbled up roll food mixed in.  We've had a lot of luck with that.  Everyone comments on how shiny and healthy her coat looks.  Also, we've come to the conclusion she doesn't do well with anything with chicken in it.  Nose gets really dry, noticable increase in itching, etc.  I've been told some GSD's have allergies to chicken...  don't know if it's true, but seems she doesn't do well with anything with chicken in it.

Good luck!

I actually made a thread about this a year ago or so, but I can't seem to find it anymore. I asked basically the same question about what other guys here feed their dog and I do remember most of the suggestions.

Fromm Gold was a top choice
Taste Of Wild was like second
Blue Buffalo was 3rd

If I remember correctly, most people preferred these because of the ingredients. You can't really go wrong with any of the three but I will agree with your wife that Purina is crap, and I avoid it at all costs.

I feed my GSD mix, and Pitt mix Taste of the Wild and Blue buffalo with chicken and veggies mixed in. Burger grease, stuff like that helps the coat. The veggies are really cool, and come dehydrated so you just add hot water and let it sit for a few and then strain.
Veg-2-bowl

My parents beagle has that problem, and he gets really dry skin and patchy shedding if he eats it. Vet said he is allergic to it. TOTW is one of the few that has no chicken fillers somewhere mixed in. I think its the pacific one

This thread is very timely - our dog has been on the Blue Buffalo Wilderness Large Breed formulas (both chicken and  salmon) and has had pretty loose stools the majority of the time we've had him (3 months now), so I think we're going to try out one of the Fromm large breed formulas for the next bad and see how that goes.

My GSMD has been on Blue Buffalo large breed puppy for a year and has just transitioned to large breed adult and has zero issues. We occasionally mix in some freeze dried Bravo which she loves.

Well so far so good. She has been on Fromm Tunalini four star recipe and normal poop. No more loose runny poop.

Local feed place is $64 for a 24 lb bag, but she likes it and is working so we will keep her on it.

Lady who owns the store said try to cut out chicken, she might not be able to digest it properly and that causes the loose poop.
So we did basically what she said, the new food has chicken but small amounts and not main ingredient.

And for the record, the food does not smell like fish. Smells like all regular dog foods. And one major PLUS ..... The room clearing oh my god what crawled up you butt and died farts are no longer...prior to this food she was like silent chemical warfare. She would be sleeping a few feet away and all the sudden a acidic/ammonia vial death gas would roll in like creeping death. Now, Sometimes you get a wiff of jiff, but nowhere as bad as the last food.

I feed my two labs Rachael Ray Nutrish

It's got good reviews but yet isn't just crazy expensive. Both my 10 month old lab and 14 year old loves it and has no issues with it.

It's grain free

We were having loose stool issues with our dogs and took samples to the vet. He looked at it and ask if we were feeding Blue Buffalo. Seems it is a problem he sees a lot.


We switched to Orijen, a bit expensive. With three dogs we use a large bag every two weeks . The auto delivery from Chewy works out nice. Our GSD seems to have a sensitive stomach and the Orijen seems to minimize the issues.

My dog does great on Royal Canin Ultamino.

All our pets eat Orijen, see amazing differences in their coats - great food

I don't have time to go into detail (will edit later) but checkout Victor brand. I have 3 cases now with dogs that had everything from skin allergy to bowel issues. The Victor red bag dry has been a miracle food. Spent over a year trying everything out there from Science Diet, Merrick, Diamond, Taste of the Wild, Origen, Blue Buffalo. You name it.

Give it a try and see. May be hard to find though

We're now converted over to where my dog is on 100% Fromm Adult Large Breed formula and the loose stools are gone.  Thanks to you guys for clueing me into the Fromm stuff.  As an added bonus, Hollywood Feed told us that Fromm will transfer our purchase credits from the Blue Buffalo purchases over to Fromm (they have a buy 10 bags, get one free type of promo that many of their brands in the store offer).

Stay away from Purina and Blue Buffalo both are garbage.  I lost my Rottie from Purina (vet told us it was the food).  Here's the best dog food on the market hands down.  Feel free to hit me up anytime.  It's not cheap but it's great stuff.  



http://precisepet.com/dog-formulas/precise/dry/foundation/


Here's a place that will ship it right to your door.

https://www.chewy.com/precise-naturals-chicken-meal-rice/dp/101809



Try feeding 2 bowls a day.

A raw diet would be my personal recommendation, but if you're happy with what you've found, that's fine too.

Here's a link to a write up I did on it a while back.

As of today she is doing great on the Fromm...

She likes it, normal stool, and a lot less GAS.... We will be sticking with the Salmon Tunalini , so far it has been great results for her. If down the line we start to have issues again, we will look at the others mentioned above.

I've tried several brands, but I've been feeding my lab this for two years now. She has way more energy out bird hunting with Orijen than she did with any other food.

Purina pro plan is some good stuff for me so far. I have tried several of the mixes and they like the wild instinct best. Amazing i was feeding at one time @40lbs of some lesser brand and now 27lbs is lsating right at a month for two mid 20lb dogs.