Help Needed! Again with the Food questions? Jeeeeez....

[paigeh79]

I need help.. (yep. Once again.)! When I picked my puppy up from the breeder he was eating Nutro puppy. After much researching & asking fellow EBD owners (thank you again), we have switched his food to Merrick. We slowly weaned him off the nutro over about 2 weeks & he has now Been eating Merrick only for about 4 days. Since the complete switch I have noticed horrible gas & really soft poo. I have also noticed that his tear stains are getting darker (but idk how much that is because of his food). The only other switch I have made around the same time as the food, has been switching from tap to bottled water (and I don't think that has anything to do with it). I don't understand how this food could be upsetting him if the Nutro didn't since its better food and I don't know if I should stick with it or for how long. Since I just completely switched I would hate to start the process over again if I don't have to, but I don't want him to be uncomfortable either. I can only imagine he must have a belly ache with farts that foul. So I guess my question is
Should I keep him on the Merrick & for how long if he doesn't improve, should i put him back on the Nutro or should I try another brand & see what happens?
Thank you guys again!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I437 using Tapatalk

 

[ddnene]

I don't have experience w/Merrick, but I will tag a member that does [MENTION=9370]brutus77[/MENTION]
You can add plain greek yogurt to his food (a tablespoon or two) to his kibble to help w/the gas issues. For the soft poo give him plain pumpkin (NOT pie filling), I would start out w/a couple of tablespoons… that should firm things up a bit. I would say give his food more time, but it may be that it's too rich for him and you need to cut back on his portions. Some food that works for one bully may NOT for others… it truly is a guessing game. I had Winston on Fromm's and that wasn't really working for us, so it really depends on the bully...

 

[brutus77]

My Frankie is doing well on the Merrick but Brutus did not. What protien do you have him on? You can switch to another protien and see how he does. Merrick has several and you do not have to transition ad long as you stay within Merrick. Also is it their grain free line? Thats what my guys had.

 

[2BullyMama]

My Frankie is doing well on the Merrick but Brutus did not. What protien do you have him on? You can switch to another protien and see how he does. Merrick has several and you do not have to transition ad long as you stay within Merrick. Also is it their grain free line? Thats what my guys had.

^^^ agree..... which Merrick line and which protein?

 

[BodiesMom]

Bodie is on Merrick too. I noticed when he was eating the chicken, he had terribly foul gas, like run u out of the room foul! But with the Duck, hardly any gas! I agree w/others, try switching to a diff flavor. Also, Merrick is a much better food than Nutro, and much higher in protein, so u should be giving Your baby an amount of 25% less than what u were giving him of the Nutro. At first u may think that he's still hungry or starving, he's not! If u don't reduce the amount, he will put on a lot of weight really quick and u don't want to do that. Keep us informed!!


BullyLove!!!

 

[paigeh79]

Its chicken only because that was the only one I could find that said it was for puppies - the dry puppy food was NOT grain free and I searched but couldn't find any of their dry puppy food that was. Since I couldn't find grain free, I also ordered 24 cans of "grain-free puppy" wet food but I haven't given him any of that. It is also chicken. I felt confident in ordering the chicken only because the first ingredient in the Nitro puppy was chicken meal and since he did OK with that I figured it would be fine. I could switch proteins but then he wouldn't be on the puppy food, is that OK? (He's only 10 weeks) Thank you all so much, he's almost out of his first bag and I need to order more fairly soon so I really appreciate the help!

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD using Tapatalk

 

[brutus77]

Its chicken only because that was the only one I could find that said it was for puppies - the dry puppy food was NOT grain free and I searched but couldn't find any of their dry puppy food that was. Since I couldn't find grain free, I also ordered 24 cans of "grain-free puppy" wet food but I haven't given him any of that. It is also chicken. I felt confident in ordering the chicken only because the first ingredient in the Nitro puppy was chicken meal and since he did OK with that I figured it would be fine. I could switch proteins but then he wouldn't be on the puppy food, is that OK? (He's only 10 weeks) Thank you all so much, he's almost out of his first bag and I need to order more fairly soon so I really appreciate the help!

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD using Tapatalk

I believe all Merrick is an all stages food. Just try to give the grain free.

 

[brutus77]

I believe all Merrick is an all stages food. Just try to give the grain free.

I just googled it. Merrick grain free line is an all stages so you can give it to the puppy.

 

[brutus77]

I just googled it. Merrick grain free line is an all stages so you can give it to the puppy.

And remember you do not have to transition to another flavor. As long as it is Merrick still you can just switch flavors. I never gave mine the chicken only because I know so many of the bullys here have had reactions to chicken. I used the Buffalo or the Beef. I heard the Duck is excellent also.

 

[paigeh79]

They do have grain free but only in wet food not dry. I bought some but haven't given it to him because I really didn't want to feed him wet food. The only grain free they have in kibble is for adults- can I feed him the adult food or should I switch brands to something that offers a grain free puppy food in kibble? Or Maybe I could buy the adult grain free and mix it with the wet puppy grain free? I just want to make sure hes getting all the nutrients he needs.

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD using Tapatalk

 

[paigeh79]

When I Google Merrick grain free food it says all stages but will it give him the vitamins and everything he needs or should I add food to supplement?

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD using Tapatalk