Help Needed! Fretting over food!!!

[jlmbrooks]

I am fretting ridiculously over what food to feed our 3 1/2 month old English bulldog. We are first time EB owners. We have had Frenchies in the past but never an English. He came to us beautiful and healthy on Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy food from the breeder. His coat was shiny and soft, stools were firm and about 2-4 times per day. But he did scratch significantly and whine at times while scratching. I knew I wanted to change to a better brand of dry kibble (I am not interested in feeding raw) because I've read that Eukanuba is not a superior brand and I was concerned something in it could be causing the excessive scratching. Also, he was growing like a weed on the Eukanuba LB puppy food. So fast, I was slightly concerned about the excessive growth. I tried Blue Buffalo and he vomited and seemed to be in pain each time he ate a significant amount of it so that was taken away very quickly. Now, we are trying Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Puppy food. His scratching has almost completely stopped but his coat is not nearly as shiny and he is shedding like crazy. The shedding is quite significant and he was not doing this until I changed his food to the TOTW. Stools are soft to slightly runny and very frequent (4-8 times per day). I should add that I did transition him both times over a course of 5 days mixing with the Eukanuba LB Puppy food. Any advice??? Should I stick with the TOTW since his scratching has virtually stopped? What could be causing the sudden shedding? We are in the southeast and have had a recent drop in our temperatures but I would think this would not cause shedding but more retention of the coat. Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[ddnene]

to EBN!!!

First of all don't fret… we have ALL been there, and some of us are still working on the food issues. IMO I give food a good couple of weeks before I make the decision if it's working, obviously if they are vomiting I would take it away immediately. Sounds like he MAY not be doing so well on the TOTW, and don't get me wrong it's a good quality food it just really depends on the dog. You can add pure pumpkin (NOT pie filling) to get his stools firmed up. It could be the protein that you picked on TOTW, I usually start my pups out w/Beef. We live in TN and the weather has finally turned cold so the shedding has stopped, but YES weather can be an issue. I feed my dog Fromm's and right now my pup is on the puppy gold in the pink bag. No issues so far, but like I said it can change for NO reason.

I also give my dogs NuVet supplements, and my older bully Wally gets salmon oil every other day (or you can try coconut oil) and that seems to help w/the shedding issues.

 

[jlmbrooks]

to EBN!!!

First of all don't fret… we have ALL been there, and some of us are still working on the food issues. IMO I give food a good couple of weeks before I make the decision if it's working, obviously if they are vomiting I would take it away immediately. Sounds like he MAY not be doing so well on the TOTW, and don't get me wrong it's a good quality food it just really depends on the dog. You can add pure pumpkin (NOT pie filling) to get his stools firmed up. It could be the protein that you picked on TOTW, I usually start my pups out w/Beef. We live in TN and the weather has finally turned cold so the shedding has stopped, but YES weather can be an issue. I feed my dog Fromm's and right now my pup is on the puppy gold in the pink bag. No issues so far, but like I said it can change for NO reason.

I also give my dogs NuVet supplements, and my older bully Wally gets salmon oil every other day (or you can try coconut oil) and that seems to help w/the shedding issues.

Thank you so much for the response and advice! We are in TN as well. I always have an abundant supply of coconut oil so I may give that a try but it does tend to cause some GI disturbance in humans, initially... I wonder if it would be the same for dogs??? Fromm's is on my list to try if we continue with the shedding issue. I will try the pumpkin as well. Thank you so much!

 

[ddnene]

Thank you so much for the response and advice! We are in TN as well. I always have an abundant supply of coconut oil so I may give that a try but it does tend to cause some GI disturbance in humans, initially... I wonder if it would be the same for dogs??? Fromm's is on my list to try if we continue with the shedding issue. I will try the pumpkin as well. Thank you so much!

We live outside of Nashville… where are you guys located? I would go slow on the coconut oil, it CAN cause stomach upset and it's one of the reasons I switched to salmon oil. My boxer loved it, but the bulldog was throwing up… it never ends. Many members on here feed their bulldogs Fromm's, when they get older you can try their 4 star brands and you can alternate the proteins immediatley. Walter does great on the beef, but right now he's on lamb for a change up. I have also used Earthborne Holistic for my boxer, and she thrived on it. Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor is where we recommend you look for food ratings, and also base it on your budget.

 

[CCandMurray]

I feel your pain with the food, it definitely takes some work to find the right kind and every bully is a little different. Murray started on TOTW venison and bison puppy which the breeder recommended and was fine until one day he just decided he was sick of it so I transitioned him to blue wildnerness duck which he likes a lot but I feel like it's given him a little bit of an increase in tear stains so I bought a bag of Fromm pork and peas and we'll give that a go next. Murray has done really well with the Nuvet vitamins and I'm going to try to start incorporating coconut oil too. Good luck p.s. We'd love to see pics of your pup!

 

[2BullyMama]

to EBN..... Tracey has you covered with great advice -- best of luck and keep us posted.

 

[jlmbrooks]

We are in Cleveland just a little north of Chattanooga!!!

 

[jlmbrooks]

Good news!!! The shedding has decreased considerably and Reggie's stools are back to their normal little selves... I think he was just adjusting to the new food. Thank you for all the great advice and welcome wishes. I am going to try to add his picture!!!

 

[jlmbrooks]

 

[TyTysmom]

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Wonderful update, and even better - PICTURES! love love love, precious precious babies you have there. I'm loving the pink hat.

 

[2BullyMama]

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Beautiful family! happy things are back to normal with her poo