Debating Switching Puppy Food

[SpikeS]

Currently I have him on Blue Buffalo Freedom puppy food. He loves it, but I am not sure if his body agrees with it (not an expert). His stools are soft about 80% of the time, and he does have an irritation on his inner thigh (small spot) but I am not 100% sure this is caused by the food. I have read that many bulldogs do not do well with chicken based products so I was thinking of switching to a non-chicken food.

So in a nutshell I am wondering if the soft stool issue is in fact the food or if it is because of the amount of food he is fed daily (2.5-3 cups spread out 3x/daily) and if that irritation is the food. I would think if the irritation was the food he would have more areas showing this.

Thanks.

 

[Pati Robins]

How old is the dog? 2,5-3 cups sounds a bit high even for an adult dog
I feed mine 3/4 twice a day from 4 months old
I would reduce food intake as overfeeding can cause soft stools ,not to mention a fat dog is unhealthily for their joints -they should have nice waist and from what vet told me last time you should feel his spine without pressing on it
is your dog wormed every 3 months (thats how we do in uk)
If after a while if he still have soft stools i would start gradually switching foods

 

[Davidh]

Try reducting the food intake just a little to see id that helps. I like feeding pups a lot of food, but too much can make their poops soft.

 

[SMeyer13]

I've used Blue Wilderness puppy food since Tucker was 8 weeks old, As I began to increase his intake I noticed the soft stools as well. 3/4 a cup 2 times a day seems to be his limit. At the most I tried 1 cup 2x a day and his stools were getting soft and he was putting on weight like crazy so it was scaled back to 3/4 a cup for now.

 

[RoxysMomma]

I tried blue buffalo and thought it was junk food sorry. My vet highly recommend Royal Canin but you get what you pay for.. Shinny coat does there body very good. No gas, it comes in a food for every dog which I like, but I was out of my mind happy that my dogs no longer had gas, there coats were shinny eyes clear, it helped all around

 

[SpikeS]

Thanks for the responses. I will try and reduce the food and see how that works. I looked at the recommended food list this site has, but there are a select few for puppies. What have you all fed for puppy food? I was looking at Taste of the Wild and a few others.

Also, I have a plethora of Fromms Pork & Peas and Beef Fritatta and was planning on switching him over that that around 6 mo.

He is 10 weeks old and I feed him around 1 cup in the morning, 1/2 - 3/4 cup afternoon and around 1 cup night currently.

 

[SMeyer13]

I don't use Fromms as blue has worked well but I do believe some of Fromms is multi stage food that you could begin using now and stay with as an adult

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Pati Robins]

Try and feed your puppy same food you were feeding Spike as a pup -bet hes happy he got a playmate ;-)

 

[SpikeS]

Try and feed your puppy same food you were feeding Spike as a pup -bet hes happy he got a playmate ;-)

Spike is the puppy ! So he was 12.2 lbs @ 9 weeks old. But he does have a playmate :D



I am going to keep him on the blue freedom until it gets low then transition him to the Fromm 4 star line I believe

 

[SMeyer13]

I tried blue buffalo and thought it was junk food sorry. My vet highly recommend Royal Canin but you get what you pay for.. Shinny coat does there body very good. No gas, it comes in a food for every dog which I like, but I was out of my mind happy that my dogs no longer had gas, there coats were shinny eyes clear, it helped all around

I had almost the exact opposite experience which shows each dog is different. Tucker's breeder sent home a sample of Royal Canin bulldog food and I tried him on that for all of 3 weeks before switching from it, after looking at this sites food rating page, I decided to try Blue Wilderness as it was one of the highest rated and most convenient for me to always have access. Which Blue Buffalo food were you using? their standard is not grain free which would most likely cause digestion problems in bulldogs as many require a grain free diet. Both Freedom and Wilderness are grain free and HQ food.

- - - Updated - - -

Spike is the puppy ! So he was 12.2 lbs @ 9 weeks old. But he does have a playmate :D

View attachment 58914

I am going to keep him on the blue freedom until it gets low then transition him to the Fromm 4 star line I believe

And Spike is adorable, I love his brown ear

 

[SpikeS]

I had almost the exact opposite experience which shows each dog is different. Tucker's breeder sent home a sample of Royal Canin bulldog food and I tried him on that for all of 3 weeks before switching from it, after looking at this sites food rating page, I decided to try Blue Wilderness as it was one of the highest rated and most convenient for me to always have access. Which Blue Buffalo food were you using? their standard is not grain free which would most likely cause digestion problems in bulldogs as many require a grain free diet. Both Freedom and Wilderness are grain free and HQ food.

- - - Updated - - -



And Spike is adorable, I love his brown ear

i have him on the Blue Freedom for puppies which is grain free at the moment.

 

[Pati Robins]

Oh right ,you posted in march saying you got a 5 month old bulldog named Spike , so i thought puppy is a new addition

 

[Ilovemysadie]

I was recommended by petsmart to put my bulldog on Large Breed chicken & rice puppy food and I noticed she put on a lot of weight, was shedding and had horrible gas. They recommended 2.5/3 cups a day which I thought was way to much. The famous moto I live by is, you get what you inspect not what you expect. So I called blue buffalo directly to talk with their trained professionals and I was pointed in the direction to which to blue buffalo's lamb & oatmeal puppy food which eliminates a lot of fats, it's still a good source of protein but without all the fat. In the 4 weeks that we've made the switch Sadie's shedding is very minimal, she still has gas but it is not the fowl smell she was putting off lol and the body is starting to look more trimmed out also I've seen some of you say that you have your bully's on blue's wilderness food and I have to add that food is a REALLY high protein food meant for very active dogs and having your bully on it could lead to some major weight issues down the road. And also the professionals at blue said that it is recommended to have a bully on puppy food for at least a year possibly up to a 1yr 1/2. I hope I was able to help with your issue

 

[SpikeS]

I was recommended by petsmart to put my bulldog on Large Breed chicken & rice puppy food and I noticed she put on a lot of weight, was shedding and had horrible gas. They recommended 2.5/3 cups a day which I thought was way to much. The famous moto I live by is, you get what you inspect not what you expect. So I called blue buffalo directly to talk with their trained professionals and I was pointed in the direction to which to blue buffalo's lamb & oatmeal puppy food which eliminates a lot of fats, it's still a good source of protein but without all the fat. In the 4 weeks that we've made the switch Sadie's shedding is very minimal, she still has gas but it is not the fowl smell she was putting off lol and the body is starting to look more trimmed out also I've seen some of you say that you have your bully's on blue's wilderness food and I have to add that food is a REALLY high protein food meant for very active dogs and having your bully on it could lead to some major weight issues down the road. And also the professionals at blue said that it is recommended to have a bully on puppy food for at least a year possibly up to a 1yr 1/2. I hope I was able to help with your issue

That is very helpful, I am going to switch to the lamb and oatmeal I believe and see if things happen to change. Appreciate the feedback I did not know they even made that!