Home cooked food

JC43

I've a 4 month old pup who toilet training is hit and miss. Some days I think the penny has dropped and he gets it and then he'll runs upstairs and poos in the landing carpet - while the back door is wide open for him to go out ! It's the only place that I've carpet and I think it's the same feeling as grass under foot.
Anyway . My problem is that I think the current puppy food is upsetting his stomach. Some times he's straining to do a no 2 and then more times loose stools. His puppy food is hills. And his poo really stinks.

Should I put him on home cooked food. Would home cook make him have loose stools considering I'm stilling picking up after him on the landing .

aonb

I dont know that Hills is really good quality food,
For a 4 month old puppy, with runny stools, it would definitely be worthwhile to change to something good quality - whether that is home-cooked or a good quality kibble. As an aside, has the puppy be wormed on schedule? If changing to a new food, you would need to do it gradually, his stools may get worse rather than better. What breed is he? make sure he has access to fresh water at all times.

On the toilet training - 16 weeks is very young - if its hit/miss hes getting there. What are you cleaning up the poo on the landing with - make sure its not something with ammonia. He may be getting into the habit of using the landing - I would block off access to the stairs for a while - put a box/barrier of some sort there, that the humans can get past.

muddypaws

What kind of a dog is the pup OP? Sometimes overfeeding can lead to soft stools, little and often is best with young pups.

JC43

He is a cross between a springer and a bichon. A lovely mix - the energy of a springer .
I'm cleaning up with baby wipes and scrubbing carpet with fairy liquid and hot water.
I thought I was doing the divil and all by using the hills puppy food.
Thanks

muddypaws

How often are you feeding him? Use biological washing powder to clean up, anything that has ammonia in it will smell like urine to a dog and they tend to keep going to the toilet over it.

JC43

Feeding him 3 times a day. Some evenings he'll sit at his bowl and whinge until I give another cup of dried food

aonb

some foods will suit some dogs, and others just wont.

Check the ingredients on your specific bag of food - I tend to avoid cereals/grains as one of my dogs had major skin reactions. I tend also to avoid "animal derivatives" as main ingredient/meat source. However, most dogs happily eat all sorts. Bichons are inclined to skin and allergy problems, also dental issues, so its a good idea to think carefully while she is a puppy about what will serve her best longterm and healthwise.

There are some excellent brands out there - Taste of the wild, James Wellbeloved, Arcana, Marcus Muhle, Applaws, Barking Heads - depending on what you can get locally. A lot of people on here use online stockists.

I feed my dogs home-cooked. Lots of owners on here feed raw. Its a trial and error to find what your dog likes.

Sounds like a nice mix - photo please?!

JC43

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JC43

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JC43

Thanks . I'll chance a homemade diet that I read on one of the previous posts. Think it was in reply to someone posted that the dog food they were using is working out expensive . Aonb recommended chicken and veg
What do I do ? Boil it all up together ? Then will I mash the meat and veg. What thickness. How much do I give ? Thanks

HONKEY TONK

Why not put a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs to stop your dog running upstairs. Do this until he is fully toilet trained

JC43

HONKEY TONK wrote: »

Why not put a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs to stop your dog running upstairs. Do this until he is fully toilet trained

Good idea - I got rid of the gate years ago when I caught my 10 year old climbing over it on the landing. He was sleep walking and decided to go for a little wander. Still happens - now in his twenties - but happens when drink on board or is particularly tired

borderlinemeath

TBH, I'd do some more research before just feeding homemade to a growing pup. They do need a balanced diet to thrive, so I'd be reading up on pups nutritional needs before throwing myself into it. When you cook food you alter the nutritional makeup so for a pup I'd look at raw feeding before cooked feeding.

Another option is a high quality wet food tailored for pups. Something like Forthglade or nature diet. With dry foods there's a lot of trial and error, some dogs can't tolerate wheat, which is in most dry foods, including hills. (Which always gave my oldest dog horrible farts). Some are intolerant to certain cooked proteins such as chicken or beef, so you could try a fish based option

DBB

I've been raw and home-cooked feeding for years op, but having never raised a pup on it, I didn't dare rely on either alone for my pup, who arrived last October... First pup I've had in years
Granted, she's a large breed, but I didn't want to take any chances and get the balance wrong for a growing pup. So I reverted back to a very high quality dry food (Taste of the Wild Puppy) mixed with raw or cooked meat, the odd raw chicken wing, tinned sardines, eggs etc... I'd say the dry made up 60-70% of her diet.
Once she hit 6 months and had done the mental growth spurt, she went onto 100% raw.

aonb

Shes a beauty OP - lovely combo

Id agree with DBB and other poster - your puppys growth/development will need a very specific and well balanced diet - so a good quality complete wet food would be safer.

When shes finished growing, you can consider home-cooked - I love it, my dogs love it, and have always done well on it. If youre not fussy (Im squeamish about meat), a raw diet is a very good option too

JC43

Great thanks

nosilver

We feed ours with a mix of chicken (beef as treat) and kibble. (royal canine bichon)

A few treats too - usually the goodboy chicken fillet strips or calcium bones.

Perfect stools since we got her (5 months old) over a year ago with just odd scutter.

One thing to avoid completely is cheese and other dairy products - not harmful, but cause the scuts.