I have a 5 month old Alapaha Blue Blooded Bulldog (brother to Binx44's(my niece) dog). We were feeding them Purina Puppy Chow when they lived with us, her dog did not seem to have any problems with it but Owen seemed to poop many times a day, as many as 10 times.
I talked to my niece and she posted on here about it, this was before I had an account on here. The main thing people were saying it could be the food. This week we mixed his Purina with another food(not sure of name as hubby did it and is still at work). He has been eating the mixture fine and does not seem to mind it.
Yesterday was his first full day on it and he did seem to poop less. When I woke up today there were numerous piles of diarrhea type poop on the floor and also some piles that were clear. The diarrhea piles did have some wet poop and some wet liquid. It was not only liquid. He had his breakfast and later on made another diarrhea mess on the floor. He is fully day trained and will let us know if he needs out. I let him out and he did more of the wet pooping outside. We are not getting after him for the messes as we understand it is not his fault.
I have lots of questions. Do I stop the new food or is this just an adjustment? How long do I give it? When do I need to take him to the vet? I am making sure he has plenty of water, what else do I need to do to prevent dehydration, I assume it works the same as it does for humans? What signs tell me he needs to go to vet asap? Do we try a different food right away or do we give him time to recover? He does seem to think he has done wrong even though we are not getting upset or anything, how do we let him know we understand he can not control it? Should I stop his daily treat of a pigs ear until this is over, he has been eating them for months so I believe it would not be a cause? Is there anything else I need to know to help my boy get better?
Thank you all
Moggy

Hey Moggy, welcome to AMHD!

The change in diet can definitely be cause factor in diarrhea. The only thing that is throwing me off is that you mentioned it was mucosy.This can indicate a number of possibilities, mainly parasites. But Parvo is on that list too. I would say diarrhea that lasts longer than 24 hours would mean this is not a food that will work well for him, or it is something else. Make sure to have plenty of fresh water available to him at all times.If you see blood in the stool, than bring him to the vet asap. He is up to date on vaccines and flea and worm treatment right?

If he is having bowl issues longer than 24 hours, I would switch to a boiled rice and hamburger meal and feed that for 24 hours, and then switch to another brand of food. Commercial brands are filled with fillers and by products. A lot of dogs can't handle these types foods, and your breed is prone to allergies and skin infections. A holistic brand of foods would be a great choice.

Thank you.. He is up to date on his Vaccines and was wormed last when he went in for his umm I believe 3 month needles.
You have scared me with the food allergies as we had a cat we had to put down as he has severe allergies and was basically living with a cone on and on meds he hated. He was not happy living like that. (miss you Pony*cry*)
I do have his water bowl filled and will make sure he has it it is filled at all times. I would not call the clear stuff mucosy, it looks like the stuff when he was younger and would drink his water too fast. I am asthmatic and know what mucous is it is not like that at all.
With the boiled rice is there a certain kind that is better? Do I just fry hamburger and mix in cooked rice?

You would boil the hamburger too, and the rice what ever you have at home is fine. Didn't mean to scare you! Allergy's can be controlled, whether it's with medication or just some food changes. My girl has some food allergy's, and it was trial and error but I finally found something that works for her. Two things to watch out for are, wheat and corn. Most dogs have allergy's to them in one way or another.

It sounds like he may be due for another wormer. It should be done on a monthly basis, especially in the summer months. Worms can be the cause of diarrhea. You can also try giving her a table spoon of plain yogurt with her food, this helps even out the bacteria in her belly and usually helps with the runs.

Ok will get ahold of the vet tomorrow and get some pills to do it monthly. I should have some plain yogurt if not hubby will go get some we will start that with his noon meal.
We are hoping to get him a high quality dog food as I want my boy to have the best. My niece has one she has recommended so I will probably go to that one.
Thank you for the instructions on the hamburger/rice. If it does not improve by supper that will be his supper meal. I will say he is still active and alert. He is playing with his toys and running around as puppies should be :)
I just hate having my pets ill as they can not tell us what is causing it and I am a mother hen to them all.

Susan

His problems could very well be from the food. If after a 3-5 days of constant diarrhea, its time to discontinue use of the dog food you were planning on changing over to.

Some dogs cannot handle the rich, oily foods such as Canidea. I have also heard that Wellness is a hard food to transition over to. I'm not to sure what types of foods are good in Canada.. I'm sure Aurora Bell knows :P

Also, sometimes changing over from low quality foods such as Purina products will send your pups bowls into a panick.

Mucus in the stool typically means inflammation of the bowls. Put him on a bland diet for awhile such as brown hamburger and rice or even boiled chicken and rice. Get him to give you a solid stool then start slowly back into the dog foods. Find what your dogs stomach agrees with. Purchase small bags.. Make sure there is a 30 days guarantee on the bag so you can return it within 3 days if your dog hasn't accepted the food.

Try not to give lots of treats or salty chewies such as pig ears during a food transition. Too much will create this mess.

Your pup seems to have a sensitive stomach. You might want to look into "sensitive formulas" for food. When shopping for food (doesnt matter what type of food) always look at the meat source. Is it an actual animal? And it should always be the first ingredent. Don't ever settle for "animal byproducts" or any other type of byproduct.

http://dogfoodanalysis.com/.. This is a good website to read up on the different foods and what they are rated. Its not a opinion for buyers, but actually researched. It explains why byproducts in food is so bad.

Good luck

If you are planning on going ot the Oven Baked like Binx uses, it's a very good quality food.

Yes that is the food we are going to be starting him on. We have only heard good things about it from my niece.

Just an update for people who are following this thread.

When we got up there were no accidents and so far he has not had any diarrhea. We are going to keep going with the yogurt today and keep an eye on him. Also no pig ears either as we want to be sure he is feeling better.
Thank you all again for your advice and helping me calm down. I do tend to worry about him getting sick, as I do with all of my pets.

Susan

Thanks for the update! No problem, that's what we're here for! :D

P.S. We LOVE pic's!

I will have to talk to my niece about how to put pics on here. We both have a lot of both dogs as they lived with us for a couple of months.

It looks like Mr Owen is all better. He has had normal poops(today is the 2nd complete day). I gave him a pigs ear this afternoon and he was so happy to see his treat back.
We are going to be start deworming him monthly so he will be healthy in that aspect.
I am hoping to post pics soon of my baby :)

Yay! Thanks for the updates, and can't wait to see the pics!