Moistening Puppy's Food

GusBus

New member
Apr 21, 2013
111
14
Panama City Beach, FL
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Gus
Gus (10 weeks old now) has been having very soft stools pretty consistently since bring him home. They are actually really hard to pick up off the grass, super messy. When we went to pick him out at 7 weeks old, we gave the breeder a small bag of his current food so she could start the transition before he came home with us at 9 weeks. She had also been moistening his food according to the following recipe, and recommended that I do the same:

Breakfast and Dinner: 1 cup of kibble (Gus is in Blue Buffalo Life Protection Puppy now) moistened with 1 teaspoon of powdered milk mixed in 1/4 c. of warm water and 1 teaspoon of plain nonfat yogurt.

Lunch is just 1 cup of plain dry kibble.

She also suggested supplementing with 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese every 3-4 days and 1/2 a hard boiled egg once every 5 days or so.

When he came home I started using powdered goat milk instead of cow milk because I know it is tolerated much, much better in virtually all animals.

So.. do to think the super soft stools could be the Blue Buffalo? Should I switch him to Fromm? Or could it be all the other things (milk, etc.) added to his food? Would you keep moistening a 10 week old puppy's kibble? Or could it be all the switching?

Thanks for any input!!!
 

Vikinggirl

Norwegian Rose
Community Veteran
Oct 8, 2012
9,740
597
Burlington, ON Canada
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
Bulldozer and Blossom
:angelheart:Hi, I have 2 EB's, a male and a female, they are litter mates, and are 14 months old, their names are Bulldozer and Blossom. My female Blossom has a lot of allergies or sensitivities to chicken, salmon, grains and corn. They came from the breeder on Royal Canin, and we had a lot of problems with hives, red face, ears, chin and itchiness, plus soft serve consistency of their poops. We switched them to Go Natural, holistic organic food, which I was familiar with and liked, butbitvwas too rich for Dozer, and he started to eat his poops. YUCK. Blossom didn't tolerate it because like the Royal Canin, it was a chicken based food, we switched them again at 6 months old to the Fromms Beef Fritatta, and they have been great ever since. Their poop regular, and they are soft but firm, and their poops don't smell as bad, don't get me wrong, they still smell, it is poop after all. Lol. We also give them 2 Tbsp of plain unsweetened yogurt on their kibble in the morning, we add apple cider vinegar to their drinking water every day, and we add salmon oil to their evening meal. All these things boost their immune system and aid in digestion and give them probiotics. They are all natural supplements so will not harm them. We add 1/2 a cup of warm water to the kibble as well as this softens their food a little, and I find they don't always drink enough water, so this ensures they get enough water. Could the milk or cottage cheese be upsetting his stomach? Sometimes dogs don't always digest or tolerate dairy products very well. Yogurt is the exception as this has probiotics and aids in digestion and is usually tolerated well. It could be the switching, or the dairy products, or it could be a intolerance to the food, especially if it is a chicken based food. You could try switching him to Fromms, with a slow transition and keep adding warm water to his food, to make it softer for him, try eliminating the milk and cottage cheese for now to see if it makes a difference. It's trial and error and can be frustrating when trying to find a good food that our babies can tolerate, but once you do, you'll see the benefits and results. Good luck, I hope you find one that works for you. Keep us posted.
 

cali baker

Worlds Greatest Chef
Feb 25, 2011
8,925
851
The Crown City (Pasadena)
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Tate Rory & Finn Paddington
I was thinking the same thing re. the dairy--could be that little Gus really isn't tolerating it very well. How about just moistening the kibble w/some water and see how he does with that? then if he's still having the mushy stools you can get a better idea if it's the kibble itself or the dairy that's causing it.
 

cowsmom

..........
Apr 27, 2011
6,996
384
Virginia
Country
usa
Bulldog(s) Names
Sarah aka cow
i would cut out all that dairy to lots of dogs dont do well with it and just as said above moisten with just a bit of water. you can always add some of it back in later when the stool is firm.
 

ModernFemme

Arts'y bulldog farts'y
Community Veteran
Oct 5, 2012
882
61
Delaware
Bulldog(s) Names
Sir Remington (Remi)
So.. do to think the super soft stools could be the Blue Buffalo? Should I switch him to Fromm? Or could it be all the other things (milk, etc.) added to his food? Would you keep moistening a 10 week old puppy's kibble? Or could it be all the switching?

Thanks for any input!!!

Long story short, we too used the breeder's recommendation (which was crap food btw) for the first couple of months, but we soon discovered that Remi was allergic to one of the main ingredients... chicken! Once we switched to a food that agreed with him, it was much better. Also stools can be soft when they are eating more than they need. Lets see what some of the expert foodies have to say, but that was my personal experience with Remi.
 

bullmama

Owner/Administrator
Staff member
Community Veteran
Jan 28, 2010
24,756
1,251
Tucson, Arizona
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
The Home of the Desert Sky Pack
It may just be too much for his little digestive system. First I would try cutting out all the toppers and just give dry kibble. If that doesn't work it could be too much food, so cut back the amount by just a couple TBSP a day.

If its still too soft after a week then the food is probably not agreeing with him but I am thinking its probably not the case.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk :)
 

Maife

New member
Apr 8, 2012
166
16
Country
Germany
Bulldog(s) Names
Ulysses
We had the exact same problem when we brought Ulysses home. The breeder was giving him a lot of milk products.. baby yogurts etc..as a part of his raw diet. She told us to mix the kibble with a little yogurt or meat for him to start getting a taste for it. But his stools were so soft and he would even get really bad diarrhoea from time to time. So we tried that for the first 5 days or so, but then I decided to feed him completely raw like she did until we picked him up. I bought the books and went almost daily to the meat market. He did a little better but the soft stools continued, plus he is one of those who licks the bones instead of bitting them, and then when he gets bored he just chokes them down, which caused us a lot of headaches, specially when he would puke them out almost completely undigested. So I quit raw and started looking for a good quality kibble. We have tried a lot..A LOT of different ones in this almost 2 years, and we are now with Acana which seems to be his and our favourite for the moment, fingers crossed it stays like that. I guess what I'm trying to say is you gotta try a lot of different options and find what is best for you and your baby. The kibble and milk products are definitely not agreeing with him, so like the others said try mixing the kibble with water. If it doesn't get better then you should look for a new food, maybe grain-free, sometimes even chicken-free. It's a long trial period the first months, but once you find what's good for him, and he looks forward to every meal like crazy, you'll feel so proud and happy. :) :) Good luck!
 
OP
GusBus

GusBus

New member
Apr 21, 2013
111
14
Panama City Beach, FL
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Gus
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #8
Thanks for the advice, everyone! I will start by removing all the "add-ins" right away, and see where that leaves us! I was hoping to avoid doing any kibble transitions till he is six months old and ready for an adult dog food, but we will see how he continues to do!
 

Most Reactions

📰 Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Top