I have a non-Bulldog question. Need your help!

[Gertie's Mom]

Hi everybody. I know this is a Bulldog forum, but I have a question I'm hoping some of you can answer. I checked online for a St. Bernard forum and had no luck. There were a couple, one seemed to be discussing nothing but politics, nothing about their dogs, and another hadn't had a new post since last year! I have a not quite 3 year old St. Bernard. He was on cheaper dog food, and doing fine, but when I got Gertie and got on here and saw that everyone was feeding better foods, we switched both Arrow and Gertie to Nature's Variety, Prairie Chicken. They both LOVE it and have had no ill effects EXCEPT that ever since we started him on this food (still 1/2 with his old food) he has panted and panted, and drooled til it's very noticably different than what he normally does. It is hot here and he IS a drooly, slobbery St. Bernard, but this is abnormal for him. He is also drinking a LOT more water than he usually does. It is a HUGE coincidence if it's not the food, since this all started day before yesterday when we started him on the new food. He generally does sort of "snork" now and then, and "grunts" in his sleep, etc. But now he doesn't seem sick at all, but he is panting and drooling and when he sleeps you can hear him literally from across the house.
My question is: Have any of you had this reaction from this food with your Bullies? Do you think it IS the food causing this? Is it something that went away as they got used to their new food? Or should I take him off this now, before it gets worse?
I hope you don't mind a non-bully question. Hope you can give me some answers.
HUGE THANKS!!

[bullmama]

I would switch him back I think. He could be having an allergic reaction to something in the food.... Compare the ingredients and see what the differences are. Switch him back and see if he gets better, otherwise you may want to make an appointment with your vet if it doesn't. If it does goaway, try the food again in a couple of weeks and see if you get the same reaction. Then you can narrow down a possible allergy.

I cannot believe that there is not a good forum on at bernards out there! . Dont worry about asking a non EB question here either- we love all pets!

[Gertie's Mom]

I really tend to agree. I gave him a little Benedryl and his breathing has already quieted down. I'm going to switch him back. The old food wasn't THAT bad really, it's free of soy, wheat, corn, gluten and fillers. I may have to switch Gertie off the Nature's Variety too, she is soooo gassy now! A green cloud follows her, it's BAD!!

[TessaAndSamson]

I would also agree on switching back and seeing if it helps. Yes we love all pets, never hesitate to ask because I think everyone here would agree that we would love to help if we can

[sheshistory]

Oooh, scary. I totally think it's the food. I fed Linus some different treats than normal once and he did the exact same thing - panting, panting, and more panting - I was so worried. I wiped him down with a cool cloth and put him in front of his fan but he was still panting and super thirsty. I did the Benadryl thing too and it helps so I figured it was the goodies and prompted filed them in the garbage can. I guess we can never underestimate the effect of food changes on the delicate canine system!

[Gertie's Mom]

Thank You!! That's so good to know, since apparently there aren't groups like this for St. Bernard owners, which surprises me.

[cali~jenn]

I cant believe there arent good groups for st bernards, being another "special" dog and all you would think it would be easy to find one. I agree with switching the foods back and see what the effects are. If you can narrow down the ingredients that are diff, it will help you in the future if you have a need to change again. There are a lot of foods that are made for allergy prone dogs so they have fewer ingredients maybe if you do decide to try another food later that would be easier to pick apart after seeing what the things are in this that may be the cause.

[cali~jenn]

Oh and yes absolutely post any questions you have on this board. Animal related or not, we all may be able to help regardless. And... we do loves all animals here!

[Gertie's Mom]

The benedryl has worked WONDERS on Arrow this-afternoon! The weird thing is, he's never been bothered by any food before. He's my husband's dog, so I pretty much let him decide what he wants to feed him. He was on a fairly decent food by Kirkland (Costco brand) when we got him and he did fine on it. But we moved and we aren't near Costco anymore. My husband put him on Ol Roy from Walmart and I said absolutely NOT!! But he did fine on it too. I finally convinced my husband to get him on something better because his shedding was out of control!! So we got him on this other, better food, which really helped with his shedding. The only reason I wanted him on Gertie's new food was because it would just be easiest to have them both on the same thing. This is the first food that has ever effected him like this. Odd, huh? Guess I'll put him back on what he's been eating and leave well enough alone.

[bullmama]

Actually the Kirkland brand is rated 3 stars for their Lamb and rice version, which is a decent rating IMO..... But keep them away from OlROY!!!!! I almost want to go into wal-mart and toss a bunch of flyers next to Ol Roy dog food with a link to our Dog Food then and now pages!!! Do you think they will ban me from the store? Probably not cuz I spend enough $$$ there!!!

[Gertie's Mom]

I wish we lived closer to (everything) Cosco. I really liked the Kirkland brand, and it was the lamb and rice we fed him. I agree about Ol Roy, but Arrow LOVED it and except for the shedding, he did okay on it. Go figure...

[Libra926]

I wanna see a picture of Arrow.