tips for feeding my puppy
 

So ... in this moment his food is exclusively Purina Pro Plan ...
Unfortunately his poop is somewhat liquid some times ... so first question is ... this is normal for a CSW ?
My vet recommended me Royal Canin Gastrointestinal ...should I give him ?
When can I diversify his food ? Now is two months old ...

Hi, this sounds familiar to me :)
My CSW started with NutraGold and had diarrhea most of the time, she even had to be at the vet some days. Then we changed to Purina ProPlan... it went better but sometimes diarrhea was back and she was very skinny. Then we changed again to Satisfaction and it's the food we are giving until now. She is strong and energic, likes the food, makes less poop and all the intestinal problems never came back again.
Don't know if that's a breed problem but... her siblings had similar problems.

hi :)

my csv cannot handle 'kibble' that contains cereals.... so i have to feed him non grain kibble(fish and potato) and raw ;)

also...has your puppy been 'de wormed'

Coccidia can be a problem for young puppies (many older dogs also carry it, but have no/few symptoms, as their immune systems are more mature). But I assume your vet has already checked for this. It must be treated with special medicine and is difficult to clean from the environment.

Feeding too much at one time (especially some of the high protein kibbles) can cause diarrhea. My dogs also have had difficulty with foods containing chicken and fish, and also grains (rice has been ok).

I recommend to new owners of my puppies to feed raw food as long as possible. But when they decide to feed dry food, I recommend the best quality dry food. Of course each puppy is different and what is great to this puppy, can make diarhea to other puppy. When my female was a puppy, we used two different kinds of dry food. Hill´s did not work (probably too much corn in it), put Purina Pro Plan was the target. We use it until now (Rena is 5 years old) without problems.
And don´t forget (tupacs2legs mentioned it) - puppy must be dewormed and also outer parasites (flees etc.) must be gone.

Please make sure that you're not feeding too much as that can cause diarrhoea as well (remember that the feeding amounts on the dog food packets are guideline amounts only & every dog is different), a little and often (5X per day) is better than 2 big meals. I think as well that a natural diet (eg RAW or BARF) is the best for your dog, but it's not always possible (I drive a truck so it's not practical for me when I'm away working), also it can be more difficult to feed the right amount when feeding a natural diet (especially with regards to overfeeding calcium & phosphorus). I have fed Orijen to my 7.5 month old pup since I've had her & she is very healthy, I'm very happy with it although it is expensive.

Do a lot of research on the internet as well, I would never just listen to any vet's advice about which food to give as they are nearly always sponsored by one or other of the pet food makers. Everybody has a different opinion about dog foods & of course everybody thinks that they are correct :lol:. If you do choose to feed dry food then of course make sure it is for "Large Breed Puppies" as this is especially important with regards to not overfeeding calcium & phosphorus.

Thank you ...
When do you recommand to change from dry food to raw meet ?
Is not too young now ?

Hi Deocamdata :).

Read carefully the label of the kibbles, so that you can make comparisons with other type.

Do you change the food abruptly? Change in feeding must be made gradually, we took one month to make the change between the Junior kibbles to the Action kibbles of the same productor :).

It's quite common for pups to have such problem. It might be just a reaction to changed environment (different set of germs), some kind of allergy, etc. In our case puppy Purina Pro Plan (rice and lamb) helped, together with elimination of poultry and change of all cleaning liquids, washing powders, etc. to very mild ones, so the pup had no contact with strong detergents.

Remember about HD precaution, don't let the pup run/walk up, and especially downstairs, and make sure the floors are not too smooth/polished. Most responsible owners carry the pup on the stairs as long as they are able to. Old carpets and rugs, that you can later throw away are practical, alternatively anti-slip cream for the paws might be used.

Shadow and all of her pups did very well on Royal Canin Large Breed food, with a minimum of 1/3 daily intake being raw meat and bones (chicken necks are good for the little ones till they get their adult teeth).

Please let us see some new pictures of Karlos soon :)

My vet's opinion regarding the raw meet with bones: the collagen from the bones will cause in time steatosis .... and after a period I will have a dog with a diseased liver ...
What do you think ?

I agree with prey model raw if possible. We have been feeding this for about 3 years now. My CSV has never eaten kibble before. And about your vets' diagnosis on the liver - there are even raw diets proscribed to dogs with liver issues, so ..

Is not about the meet ... it's about the bones ...

I know that.. We don't only feed meat ..;-) a complete raw diet has meat, bones, and organ.

If it is reassuring, blood analysis values for all of my dogs have all come back normal multiple times. We test 1x a year for the younger dogs and 2x a year for my older one (14 years).

Sooooooooo

2 months old

http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...a/IMG_0019.jpg

OH MY GOOOSH... Look at those ears!!! So cute!!! (don't worry, they eventually will be up and about in not time, but they are so sweet when the ears are a bit down XD)

Very nice puppy!!!

And very prankster eyes ghgh :D

Just what I thought too, Enid :lol: That's a little bundle of mischief there...

It is long story... and there are also several solutions:

- most of the puppies have some problems at new homes (because of different bacteries). Diarrhea can cause even "new" watter. It is something what can not be changed - the puppy must get used to the new environment.

- sometimes it an be caused by worms. Csw puppies eat everathing they find so it is good idea to use some kind of deworming plils which you give the dogs for several days: Aniprazol or Panacur.

- many young Wolfdogs are alergic on different things. Sometimes it is food, sometimes it can be washing powder or washing-up liquid you use for the floor. They only possibility is to find out wat cause the problems and to elimianate it. In the most cases adult dogs can again have contact with the "forbiden" things - the "allergies" dissapear when the dogs get adult...

In many cases simple solutions make miracles: carrots (dried) or oak bark.

We give different food already to small pupppies. The basic food is always high quality dry food (without crops) (for example White Wolf, Orijen, Wolfsblut, Tast of the Wild, also Acana) but the puppies get from the beginning also fresh meat (chicken, rabbits, game), yogurt, cheese, eggs, fish oil.

The reason can be giardia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardia_lamblia) - all dogs imported for one of the origin countries which were tested in our country were 'carriers' of lambia. And I heard in other countries it is the same - common but in many cases unknown problem.

I will not speak a lot about it - anyway in the case of diarrhea which is coming back and back again just be sure to deworm the puppy with Panacur or Aniprazol. You give it only one time but for several days (3-6).

Even if te problems were not caused by giardia the puppy will be at least sure that the puppy was properly dewormed.... ;)