# Overfeeding? Too Rich? Tummy Problems...



## justagirltv (Jun 3, 2014)

Hi ya'll I was wondering if I could get some advice/feedback regarding Bentley Bear's diet. 
When I brought him home from the breeder he was on Diamond Puppy food. I slowly transitioned him to Buffalo Puppy (light blue bag). I don't live near a Tractor Supply Store and I wasn't a fan of the brand. 

He had a bout of the soft serve poos which were cured with a vet recommended bland diet of rice and low fat cottage cheese (he loved it!). 
His stools went back to normal for a day or so then turned into pudding poos... :blush:We went to the vet and they said he had an overgrowth of bacteria in his guts and put him on Flagyl for a week, and he went back to normal. :aktion033:

His food was running low and I didn't want to change brands and I stupidly got him Buffalo Blue Wildnerness Puppy food because they were out of the light blue formula. I shouldn't have let the rep talk me into switching even though it's the same brand different formulation. I slowly over a week transitioned him on to the Blue Wilderness Puppy and he was fine until this week I noticed his stools were normal with soft serve on top in the morning and. 

I came home yesterday he soft served in his box. I fed him a little less for dinner and gave him a teaspoon of the low fat cottage cheese. He soft served again this morning on the carpet near his box (I think he hates soft poos, he doesn't like to do them in his box and he wants them gone ASAP).

I spoke with the vet and they told me to do the rice and cottage cheese (bland diet) or to come in and buy a can of bland diet rx food. If it doesn't firm up I'm bringing him in Saturday morning. 

Could he just have a sensitive tummy?
Could the Blue line be to rich for him?
He's 4 months old and weighs 6.lbs
He eats twice a day 1/3 cup per meal
He drinks only distilled water.
He's up to date on all puppy vaccines. 

The only treats I give him are Wellness Puppy (soft training treats, they are the only treats he likes). 

We were working on some training on Tues and could I have given him too many treats? They are small but I break them into tiny pieces (they are soft). The size of a pinky nail clipping. He's not food motivated. He wont take any other treat (except if his bff Molly is over then he magically loves everything).

The last time I blamed myself for letting him have tiny (pinky finger nail clipping size )pieces of cheese at Puppy Class and using that at home. I thought too much for him. No more cheese ever. 

I can't even focus at work because I want to stay home and cuddle him and make sure he feels ok. (He's acting fine he was a little clingy this morning). 

We went to the park last night and had the best time ever. The dog park was gross and I dont think were about that life so he was on leash in the regular part of the park. 

Here's a pic from the park 







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## bailey02 (May 1, 2009)

I think it could be the change in food. One of my dogs has a very sensitive stomach. Has Bentley been trying to eat grass?


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## RileyDC (Apr 20, 2011)

Ohhh My Goodness! I can see why you can't concentrate and would rather be cuddling with him! He is such a Cutie!!

It is probably the change in food....
When Riley was a puppy, a couple of times that I had changed his food, he had explosive diarrhea... even though I had been transitioning slowly. 

You can give him Canned 100% Pure Pumpkin. It will help firm it up.
I get Riley's at the pet boutique down the road from me. I flatten it out in a freezer bag and put it in the freezer... then break pieces off as treats.
You may also be able to get it in the grocery store, but make sure it is 100% pure Pumpkin... Not the pumpkin pie filing... that has added Sugars in it. not good.

Nummy Tum Tum Pet Products: Products

Also, if your baby does end up having a sensitive tummy... he will more than likely do best on a Limited Ingredient Diet. 
That is what I am finding with Riley... at 4-years old. He doesn't have a sensitive tummy... but he has issues with allergies. 

I refused to feed him anything the vet had listed... so I switched him to Wellness Simple Salmon and Potato [from a recommendation of a couple of friends who have pups with sensitive tummies... and/or allergy issues]. They have kibble and canned, which I love. I mix a teeny bit of canned in with his kibble.

https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/categories.aspx?pet=dog&cat=3


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## Lou's Mom (Apr 8, 2014)

Poor baby - he sure is a cutie! It may be the cheese or a combination of the different food, cheese and treats. I can't give Dallas cheese - she turns into a pooping machine! The other two do fine with it. My son's Lab can't handle it either. We tried the blue wilderness food when Lou was younger he had tummy issues with it. We tried Orajen - he wouldn't eat that. So we found Wellness and he's been on that most of his life, the girls have always eaten Wellness. I do sometimes cook some chicken or a tiny bit of hamburger with veggies and rice and add it to the Wellness just to break up the monotony. Lou is pretty finicky so I know when he stops eating the dry food he's wanting a break!


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## Lou's Mom (Apr 8, 2014)

Just to second what Riley's Mom said - I didn't feed mine anything the vet recommended - most vets only get one or two nutrition classes in vet school - usually sponsored by Science Diet or some other dog food co. You might want to search dog food reviews, it might help find the right food for him.


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

I would try something like wellness puppy-if you can find it. I would try a food with grain in it as opposed to grain free. One of the draw backs of grain free is that on most brands you won't have firm poo. You will have semi-firm, to soft serve.

Also, the honest kitchen All Natural Dog Food - Dehydrated Pet Food | The Honest Kitchen sells a probiotic goats milk which may help intestinal flora.


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## justagirltv (Jun 3, 2014)

Thank you all for you helpful and insightful advice! 

He hasn’t tried to eat grass he potties inside in his “faux grass” litter box. I live up high and I knew it would be very hard to potty train him on grass outside. How would I be able to pick him up and run down all those stairs? We do go for daily walks but he doesn't try to eat grass. He will also potty outside on grass which is wonderful!

I’m going to keep a few cans off 100% pure pumpkin on hand going forward. I had low fat cottage cheese left over from the last episode and its still good so I used that with a little white rice. For a bland diet he *LOVES *rice and cottage cheese. He knew I was making him rice and sat by the stove wagging his little tail. I don't cook so he knew it was all about him.

I think I’m leaning towards changing him over to Wellness Puppy. I will transition slowly. He had a small firm poo last night and this morning.:aktion033: I’m going to keep his vet appointment tomorrow morning. I really like and trust his vet and they love him too. Last time when he really had the pudding poo the receptionist / vet tech offered to watch him all day for me so I could go to work and not worry about him not drinking. He would flip his water bowl over in his Iris Ex-Pen. I got a glass chew proof water bottle for him that I secured with small bungee cords , the crate bottles don’t attach to the Ex-Pen.

I spent the entire day worried about him. Left work early and when I got home expecting to find him in his Ex-Pen with soft serve in his box, I found him waiting for me by the front door!!!! He had the best day ever.. I failed for not shutting my bathroom door all the way. He was running in circles with a Hello Kitty pen like it was some kind of prize. I’m not sure how he escaped. I have a self modified “maximum security” Ex-Pen. He jumped out on like day 2 so I ordered the mesh top. He busted out after two weeks. 

Who knew puppies could undo 12 of 16 Velcro straps? So I zip tied the top down all the way around. Then he started pushing it and getting out so I bought a 10lb hand weight and put it in the front. So it looks like I need one more for the other side. I’m thinking its time to let him have his apartment as his safe place but leaving him in the kitchen or bathroom with a baby gate. My apartment is laid out kinda awkward. I put some heavy file holders to keep him in today and I double checked the floor and made sure its safe in case he gets out. He pottied in his box so were good! (I have two boxes)








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## RileyDC (Apr 20, 2011)

How is Bentley doing ?
Did you end up taking him in to the Vet yesterday?


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## SammieMom (Nov 13, 2010)

I'd say yes to all 3 of your ? in your title. Change/too rich/bowel. These little guys are so little. Many of these boutique foods out there like Wilderness and so forth are gaged to larger breeds. I guess that's where the demand is. Many are higher than (recommended 26% or close) protein level for MALTESE livers. Speaking kibble here---as puppies I fed a lower protein and only a small breed formula in (either puppy) or (all stages) kibble like Fromm. They do have a puppy food as well or you can just feed all life stages. I learned early just (small amount) of treats or food for a toy breed is about same as giving a bowl to a large breed dog. Just takes a meal or treating at a class to reek havoc on Sammie's system when he was a puppy. I changed to a freeze dried meat from bravo and break up. I keep an extra bag of their food in pantry also incase. I like Fromm cause you can rotate proteins. We buy Tunalini and the wild bird over 3 yrs now. There are some great past threads here on foods we use for MALTESE. You should have lots choices in big city. Each food will tell you online where to find. I have now added Stella Chewy to their diet. 
Good luck.


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## justagirltv (Jun 3, 2014)

I took Bentley to the vet yesterday morning, and the vet agreed that Blue & Blue Wilderness (especially the Wilderness) might be too rich for him.
She suggested that I try Wellness or Nature's Balance. She said we might have to try a few times to find the best food for him. Since he's been on a bland diet, she said to slowly transition him to the new food over the period of 1 week. He lost an ounce (we were there last week for last set of puppy shots) I asked if I could give him pieces of the new kibble as training treats and she said that would be a good idea! (I rotate between treats and praise)

I think he will also be the kind of fluff who can't tolerate extra rich food or being over treated. He's not very food motivated. The only treats he will entertain are the Wellness Just for Puppy treats, and Plato Organic Chicken Treats (they are really big so he get's a half per day). I will do a better job of breaking his Wellenss Puppy Treats into smaller pieces (pinky nail clipping size) when we are training and when he goes back to Training Class. 

I decided to try Wellness. This might sound nuts but I was overwhelmed by all of the different options that Nature's Balance had to offer. They have an entire aisle at the Petco near me. He's also in love with his Wellness Just for Puppy Treats. 

I took him to Pet Smart (he deserved a new toy, lol) and there was a Blue rep there and he was very annoying about pushing Blue. I wasn't even in the food section! I understand that's his job but when I said that Blue doesn't work for Bentley he should of shut up and kept it moving. So I left Pet Smart. I'm a pharma rep for the lab I work for and when a Doctor makes it clear that they don't want to dispense I drop it and talk about something else). So we left and went to Petco. 

I will be dropping of the remainder of the Blue Wilderness at the vet tomorrow. They will donate it to the shelter.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

He feels lighter today. I hope the bland diet wont make him lose weight. He's been on it since Wed. Last night I garnished it with 5 pieces of kibble. His attitude (all sass!) and energy level hasn't changed.

P.S. I love my vet!! She didn't charge me for the visit. Since he didn't have diarrhea anymore she said "I'm not charging you an office visit to to talk, Bentley gave me kisses so were good"

If I worry this much and love my fluff this much. I'm soo scared to begin to thinking about having a human baby. I will probably be a mess! Even my parents worry and love him so much. They are in Connecticut. 

When he wakes up from his nap I have to wash his face. He stole by girlfriends makeup sponge last night and managed to get some traces of foundation on his cheeks. :HistericalSmiley: Maybe he wanted to come out with us? :wub:


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## lols82 (Nov 13, 2012)

I hope you get the little ones diet sorted out, we had so many issues with Sammys diet when he was young and no matter what dog food we had him on, there was always problems, bouts of collitis, sickness, tummy issues so we ended up agreeing with the vet and he's now on home cooked, and what a change in him, I now know what he's eating and no more tummy issues at all and no worry:chili:


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