Is Good Always Better???? Problem with my 8 month old.?

Question

I have a 8 month old boxer puppy, he is healthy, up on shots, worming, not running a temp, eating well.
I feed him Nature's Recipe Puppy made with Lamb & Rice. made with no beef , corn, wheat. no by-products. he has been on this for about 3 months.
My problem is that he has the squishy runs... it starts out hard and fine but then omg... he is house broke so thats not the problem.
I don't think he is absorbing what he needs with this food.
Shoud I take him back on to Purina's Puppy Chow (what he was on before) that has more fillers and junk? Is healthy (human thoughts,not what dogs really need) better or 90% of dogs do just fine on the good ole' stuff like Pedigree and Purina for years
Are the marketing ploys toward our thoughts and not just want a dog really needs.
I just want his system to calm down. The vet says he is fine, it just might be a food allergy.. might be the lamb???
Just need some thoughts
Thanks

thats and idea Amanda...
Nature's Recipe is 25 %
Puppy Chow is 27 %
Pedigree is 27 %
I made a list and compaired labels this morning... not sure what it is... might be not enough fiber or to much omega 3 &6 in the N.R.... its mind boggling

Answer 1

I think that your instincts are right and that your pups' system is not absorbing the food. And if the Vet says it might just be "food allergies" ... then this food may contain ingrdients in it that your dog cannot digest properly so stop feeding him this product. As for trying another brand - a good food should contain at least one real meat and if possible more. All dog food have by products and grains, although some no longer contain corn. I would suggest that you do some research on the net - at least the info you will get will be not be diluted by person opinions.

Answer 2

Even a top quality food is not necessarily good for *all* dogs. Every dog is an individual, some may be allergic to certain ingredients that other dogs have no problem with.

Before going back to a low--grade food, I'd suggest trying out a few other good ones, or maybe a different variety.

I had one dog that could not eat kibble at all, he was allergic to every one I tried. I had to make his food myself.

Although most dogs will do "just fine" on low-quality food, it's not necessarily the best way to do things. Most people will do "just fine" on McDonalds and TV dinners, but that doesn't mean that it's healthy.

TRE: Do you not realize that Eukanuba IS the same company as IAMS? It's like saying don't feed Purina, use ProPlan.

Answer 3

Maybe their is too much protein in the food? too much protein can cause the runs... especially for puppies. If the food has over 30% protein, I'd make a switch to Innova puppy or Canidae (which have a 20% range of protein).

ADDED: Hmm... that protein amount seems fine. It might be the possible allergy to lamb. Either get him an allergy test or take the cheaper route and get him a differen tfood to try. The same company that makes Innova makes a great food for dogs with allergies called California Natural. It has the least amount of ingredients than any other dog food... only 6 if I remember correctly.

Answer 4

Here's a site with dog food reviews. No marketing ploys here.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
The big companies (Purina, Pukeanuba, Science Death, Pedigree) have the most ads. The smaller companies (Solid Gold, California Natural, Flint River Ranch) don't spend as much on advertising.
If your dog is having a digestive problem, I don't see why you feel that you must go back to a terrible food. There are plenty of other brands available! Additionally, you may want to try reading Dr. Pitcairn's book for help:
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=CDN142

Answer 5

Dog food marketing is directed toward the consumer not the needs of the dog. To make it visually and sense of smell appealling. There really isn't any reason for any of the fillers, i.e. corn or animal parts, sometimes even ground feathers are added to to the cheaper brands to increase the protein ratings.

Two of the best dog foods are Science Diet and Bil Jac. Bil Jac is pure meat with virtually no filler. I have never had a dog have a problem with Bil Jac. Science Diet has lots of different forms to meet most needs.

Lamb and Rice formula's are usually the food of choice if a dog has food allergies.

Answer 6

.protein could be the factor!.

.also. we had our dog on california natural Lamb&Rice and it turned out it was the Lamb that didn't do her well. She had the runs also.(turned out she is allergic to Lamb, beef and pork)

.We are now feeding her Wellness Simple Food solutions 1 Protein 1 Carbohydrate Duck and Rice formula and she is doing great on it!.

Answer 7

many dogs are sensitive to some meat sources, he could very well be intolerant of lamb, try a chicken based high quality food,
lamb is a very rich meat, and often too rich for most dogs...larger breeds especially tend to not do well on only lamb based diets.

Answer 8

good problem 8 month

Answer 9

NO IAMS!!! They do some messed up animal testing....it's terrible. I feed my dogs Eukanuba, and my cats. They love it and though you pay more for it, it lasts longer because they don't need to eat as much to get what they need.

Answer 10

I have my dog on Science diet small bites and he does great. Its a good food recommended by my vet. My vet also recommends Eukanuba and Iams.