Food problems with puppy.

[lovingdogs78]

Hi all. My 10 week old puppy was weaned onto skinners working food. This food is not locally available to me and i cannot buy online as no credit/debit cards. So, i decided to gradually change her food to burns mini bites. Now the problem was, although i introduced it slowly, my puppys poos (sorry)!! were a horrible "cow pat black/green slime)

 I have two toy breed dogs who eat pretty much what we eat, BUT, I add Wagg dog food(only when we are having food not suitable for dogs) as this is what my cavalier was eating when i bought him and he was doing fine on it. As they mostly eat what we eat,  i havent given much thought to the poor quality of the Wagg food. Actually i did'nt realise it was so badly thought of till i searched the net.

Now, because my puppys poos were sooo bad, i decided to give her some wagg and her poos basically firmed up over night. Shes been eating Wagg dog food (which is suitable from 8 weeks) for a few days now and she is doing fine on it. However, I'm worried she's not getting the nutrition she needs to grow strong and healthy. She is a working cocker. I do not want to add our family food at this stage as i don't want to upset her stomach and as she is growing i want the best for her.

What are your opinions on wagg dog food? Do you think I should leave her on it as she is (seemingly) doing ok, Or would you change her to a better quality food, and if so, which food would you reccommend?

Thanks in advance.xxx

[babushka]

Sorry to say but Wagg food is Crap Burns mini bites are much better but I would recomend Arden Grange junior (not the large breed) add the new food over several days, she should be fine on it (nice little firm poo's) Has she got access to rabbit droppings cos this can make their poo greeny grey?

[Karma]

No experience of Wagg, but it doesn't look great (main ingredient is wheat, with meat meal and chicken meal (4%) providing the protein...).

How long was she on the Burns for?? Also, has she recently been wormed, as this can cause upset tums (as can the move to a new home!)??

It does sound like Burns might not be suiting her, but I would give her some chicken or fish with rice or potato for a couple of days to let her digestive system settle down, then try her on the Burns again - obviously if there is the same reaction, then Burns just isn't for her (not all brands suit all dogs, even the really good ones!).

I'm not sure I would feed a dog the same as a human though... our nutritional needs are very different...   

[lovingdogs78]

Hi, thanks for your replies. I can't find any petshops who sell (or have even heard of in some cases)Arden Grange. The stockist mentioned on the Arden grange website in my area no longer sells it either.

Whats peoples views on Eukanuba? I have a voucher for a free 3kg bag.

I do have a rabbit but im really careful about keeping the area clean, dont think she could have eaten any droppings, but its a possibility so I'll keep an even closer eye on it, thanks.

When i say i feed them human food, i mean when we have things like rice, chicken,lamb, veg, things that dogs eat too. I only give them dog food when there are little leftovers or if we are having unsuitable foods, such as pizza, curries etc.

Back to the Arden grange. I do like the sound of it. My mam will possibily buy online for me.(haven't asked her yet,lol) What is the best place to buy from?
Thanks again.xxx

[Kimberley]

Eukanuba is full of protein, your puppy would probably be bouncing off the walls, Arden grange was the only thing that settled Coco when he was younger, he couldn't even tolerate Burns.

Breeze when she came to my was on Bakers, utter rubbish wouldn't waste my money on that stuff, both of mine are BARF fed.

[LouiseH]

You could try pro plan sensitive salmon & rice, it's available in Pets @ Home stores. It's wheat free and they do a puppy version of the salmon & rice.

[bracken]

You could try pro plan sensitive salmon & rice, it's available in Pets @ Home stores. It's wheat free and they do a puppy version of the salmon & rice.

Thats a good one    So is JWB I have used this for years and have 2 dogs with a sensitive tummy 

Personnaly would not feed Wagg or Eukanuba

[babushka]

I think a lot of people buy AG from a place called Berryfields don't  know if I've spelt it right. Waitrose also sell it if your lucky enough to have one near.

[wilfsaunty]

I'm going to stick my neck out here 

Wagg wouldn't be my first choice of food but if your pup is doing well on it I would be inclined to hang on switching the food to a higher quality food for the moment.

My reasoning being - in a very short space of time your pup has had lots of changes to its diet.  You know that on Wagg your pup's stools are solid so I would probably let your pup get over this change in food (probably for a week or 2) and then switch, very gradually (a pup that had had no problems I might switch over 4 or 5 days but with a pup that had had problems with diarrhoea I would probably switch more slowly - say as much as 10 to 12 days).

Not all foods suit every dog and whilst Burns is a good quality food if it doesn't suit your dog then its not worth buying.  (My 2 always looked like RSPCA cases on Burns because they just didn't hold their weight).

The other thing to have in the back of your mind is that the problems you've been having may not be completely down to diet and if she is still having problems - regardless of what food you're feeding then its possible there's something else going on.  We've seen more and more cases of Campylobacter in young pups.  If her tum doesn't settle I would probably get her checked by a vet - campylobacter is very contagious and can be transmitted to humans. 

[kalem]

Im gonna add my penny worth too 

I tried several brands of dog food Lemmy was very very funny with his food, Chicken based foods seems to give him runny poo's then found Asda stock a natural food called Harringtons anyway purchased a bag Lamb and Rice weened him onto it well tried he ate the new food and left his JWB 
Is now on Harringtons fully and his coat his shinny, his poo's are wonderful, it has defo stopped his wind  and best of all he Loves it, Asda and Tesco's have sole rights to stocking it 

[Han]

I'm going to stick my neck out here 

Wagg wouldn't be my first choice of food but if your pup is doing well on it I would be inclined to hang on switching the food to a higher quality food for the moment.

My reasoning being - in a very short space of time your pup has had lots of changes to its diet.  You know that on Wagg your pup's stools are solid so I would probably let your pup get over this change in food (probably for a week or 2) and then switch, very gradually (a pup that had had no problems I might switch over 4 or 5 days but with a pup that had had problems with diarrhoea I would probably switch more slowly - say as much as 10 to 12 days).

Not all foods suit every dog and whilst Burns is a good quality food if it doesn't suit your dog then its not worth buying.  (My 2 always looked like RSPCA cases on Burns because they just didn't hold their weight).

The other thing to have in the back of your mind is that the problems you've been having may not be completely down to diet and if she is still having problems - regardless of what food you're feeding then its possible there's something else going on.  We've seen more and more cases of Campylobacter in young pups.  If her tum doesn't settle I would probably get her checked by a vet - campylobacter is very contagious and can be transmitted to humans. 

I have to say that I agree with this. Darcey had a very bad tummy when she was tiny and switching her food around would not have done her any good at all. It also took a fair few vet trips and antibiotics to sort her tum out.

[lovingdogs78]

Hi, thankyou all . I will change gradually in about a week or 2 as i really don't want to cause runny poos again.

I can shop online now. so the foods im interested in include, Arden Grange, JWB and also Harringtons.  Im thinking JWB is probably the best option as my local petshop sells it and i could get it delivered if needs be. However i've heard its been/or going to be taken over by pedigree. Do you think the food quality would decrease, or will it just be the same?

I had a look for Harringtons dog food yesterday in Tesco and they only has one small 2kg bag. This would worry me if i couldnt find enough, suppose i could shop online for that too.

And finally, wheres the best place to buy Arden grange online? Does anyone know why this food is mainly only available online? is it a new food?

Sorry for all the questions.

[babushka]

No AG is'nt a new food it's been around years, their based in Sussex near Brighton. They do have a good delivery service the food arrives within a couple of days.

[Daisy`s mum]

hi fellow newbie we had terrible trouble with daisy when we 1st brought her home her poos were soo bad that in the end she was passing water    many trips to the vet later ....i boiled some chicken and she had that with boiled rice for 4 days until her poo went back to normal i then carried on with the rice and chicken gradually adding the hills  ....and she is now happy and settled on hills with nice firm poos 

[Michele]

And finally, wheres the best place to buy Arden grange online?

Over all this site is usually the most competitively priced for Arden Grange (and other brands)
http://www.berriewoodwholesale.co.uk/