HELP ME WITH MY DOGS DIET!

newdogowner

Story is, have a new dog and he has been suffering from diarrhea for the past two days..he is only a new member of my family (!) and I put it down to a change in his diet (i have been feeding him tuna and caesar cos he wasnt eating the dry mix)... its impossible to keep him in the house at night cos he woke me twice in the middle of the nite to let him out to poo! :eek:
I came home today and my boyfd told me that he had been constipated all day..running to the end of the garden and trying to push!! whats up with my little fella? I dont want him to be in discomfort

Sigma Force

You should expect to let any puppy or new adult dog out in the middle of the night for the first while, this isn't something that goes on forever so having broken sleep is all part of it. Unless you have somewhere very warm for the dog to go next winter it will probably be easier to have him in the house.

The change in diet has probably messed his tum up a bit, stick to one type of food he will eat the dry if you stick to it. Wouldn't feed him too much tuna.
Perhaps just the dry food with a little sunflower or fish oil on.

If he's constipated then a weetabix with warm water mushed up will help.

andreac

Tbh if hes had the runs and now is constipated then i would advise a vet trip as his little tummy obv isnt right.

With regards feeding, hes only eating the nice stuff because you are giving it to him and hes learnt to eat the tasty stuff and leave then nuts.
I would advise feeding the nuts without the other stuff as this is only encouraging your dog to be fussy with his food.

If you leave the food without the tuna etc for a few days believe me he will eat it. Dogs dont go hungry so he will eat it if he realises its all hes getting.

Just offer the food, leave for 15 mins and take up again and dont offer anything until next mealtime. After a few days he will learn that his dinner is all he gets and will eat up. Dogs are clever and if he thinks he will get something tastier he will hold out and you will feel sorry for him and offer him the tasty stuff.

How old is the dog? is it a pup?

newdogowner

ok so..he is a five year old .. will stop allowing him to guilt trip me... DRY FOOD It is..is this substantial enuf tho? He is only a little fella but i feel im starving him!!

andreac

Yes its more than enough but make sure its a good quality complete food that you can get in any good pet shop. Just stay away from supermarket brands and ones like Pedigree, Bakers etc as they are all crap and full of artificial colours, flavours and fillers.

If you want to add something once or twice a week then thats fine, but add something like, sardines or tuna, not tinned food and make sure the sardines etc are in sunflower oil and not brine.

Graces7

newdogowner wrote: »

ok so..he is a five year old .. will stop allowing him to guilt trip me... DRY FOOD It is..is this substantial enuf tho? He is only a little fella but i feel im starving him!!

They are all very good at making you feel like that. Those huge brown eyes...

Our rescued collie was half starved and now eats all in sight at a rate and in a way she cannot possibly taste it. Not a pretty sight and still always demands food.

But they soon get used to the rules...This one sings and dances for her food.

lorebringer

Sometimes runny poo can indicate dodgy or infected glands, followed by squatting and making motions to poo but nothing happening really sounds like it could be a gland issue. A trip to the vet might be called for.

On the food front, I can only echo what has been said - dry only until he gets used to it and don't free feed. Once he gets the message that nothing nicer is coming he will eat!

Maja

Hills science plan is very good. My dog even choses this sometimes over othet stuff. Did you give him milk? Dogs dont digest milk ,so dont.
If you dont want to feed him with ready food - cooked chicken breast with rise half to half is good or pork liver also cooked with pasta , cottage cheese , cooked egg with bread.

newsatten

hi, just to say all the replys were correct.. i would say it was his change of feed. priorty is get ur dog on dry food. stay away from the cheap crap. good choice would be kasco complet resonably price, gain complete it or pet master silver , all above bags are all 15kg and cost less that euro20. as was said add a lil sardines or tuna in oil. but not more than 4 times a week. some cod liver oil would be good also just add apporite amount in his feed most days. if u are worried about his weight and are worried he isnt putting on weight check him for worms. also mabey once a week a small amount of boiled rice in his feed wont do him no harm.... some ppl might say rice bloats in a dogs stomach.. let me squash that here and now... 29yrs working and rescuing dogs and rehoming dogs , it has never happened. some dogs you can change there dry feed every few months in case they get board with the same tasting kibble. some dogs wont like the change . but i think if u can get him on the dry kibble u cant go wrong.. let me know how it goes

branwen00

if you mix in some wet food into decent dry food for the first while it will get your dog used to eating dry food which is much better for your pet providing it is good dry food, each week decrease the amount of wet food so your dog gets slowly used to eating the dry food, need to have lots of fresh water every day.

Hope he gets better soon!

Jennyfer

I went through similar cirumstances with my dog when I got her. To settle the tummy, boiled rice mixed with pro-biotic natural yoghurt. This was my life saver while I tried to find a brand of food that worked for her. Shes on Orijen now, its pricey but havent looked back since. I went through what you're going through for 5 months!

ghost_ie

Graces7 wrote: »

They are all very good at making you feel like that. Those huge brown eyes...

Our rescued collie was half starved and now eats all in sight at a rate and in a way she cannot possibly taste it. Not a pretty sight and still always demands food.

But they soon get used to the rules...This one sings and dances for her food.

Our youngest - a rescued JRT cross - was also half starved and has never lost the habit of hoovering (it can't be described as eating - there isn't even a crunch) her food. As soon as the dishes come out for dinner or breakfast she grabs a large toy snake that squeaks and jumps around the room making the darn thing squeak as if she's killing it. She also dances on her hind legs in front of her dish as I carry it into the room.

Our middle dog hated dry food when we got her and refused to eat it - a fact which gladdened our oldest dog's heart (she's a lab/collie cross and is never full). I found putting a teaspoon of cod liver oil on her breakfast and a little gravy on her dinner helped her get used to the dry food and she now happily eats it.

seamus

newdogowner wrote: »

DRY FOOD It is..is this substantial enuf tho? He is only a little fella but i feel im starving him!!

Fill a glass with water, take out a piece of the dry food and put it in the glass overnight. The next day have a look at how much it has expanded. I know a bowl of dry food looks like nothing, but if you imagine it all expanding in his stomach, it's actually quite substantial.

One key thing is to avoid changing the food too often when you're trying to figure out what's wrong. If your dog's stomach is upset, it will take time to settle down. So if you switch him to another brand/flavour of food and he turns his nose up at it, give him time. He won't let himself starve and will eat it when he realises nothing else is coming. Although they recommend at least six weeks to determine if a food is working for your dog, you can usually spot an improvement in appetite/poo after 2 weeks.