[PotentialDobby]

Quick question:

Probably nothing but I figure I will cover my bases and get some opinions. Last night, my 6.5 month old female non-spayed Dobe had a case of the runs like I couldn't even describe. It could have peeled the paint off my walls. Anywho, clean it up and my girlfriend today described her as being "hungry." Always looking at her bowl etc, even though we fed her same portions as normal. Has constant access to water, this AM I changed her to chicken/rice but the diarrhea has been a off and on again thing for a few weeks now. She's fine with worms and any sort of parasite(according to the vet) as the fecal float came back A-OK. I'm currently feeding her the Orijen large breed puppy... could it be this food is simply to rich for her? Any help would be great, thanks in advance group.

 

[Dobejazz]

Has she ever had solid stool on Orijen? It seems to be to rich for a lot of dobes

 

[KevinK]

I've personally never fed orijen, but I have seen lots of other members say the same thing... Like mentioned above, seems to be a bit rich for some dobes. Some are fine on it, some are not. If the vet says it's not medical, I would definitely try changing the food up.

 

[PotentialDobby]

I've personally never fed orijen, but I have seen lots of other members say the same thing... Like mentioned above, seems to be a bit rich for some dobes. Some are fine on it, some are not. If the vet says it's not medical, I would definitely try changing the food up.

Now that I think about it... Not that consistently no.. she will have a solid stool here and there but not ALL the time and the Orijen is actually a recent change.. Well this kind of stinks, I try to get the best for my girl and I do more harm than good I really like the Orijen because of the Glucosamine/Chondroitin within the food and the grain free nature of it...

Any suggestions?

 

[Murreydobe]

Now that I think about it... Not that consistently no.. she will have a solid stool here and there but not ALL the time and the Orijen is actually a recent change.. Well this kind of stinks, I try to get the best for my girl and I do more harm than good I really like the Orijen because of the Glucosamine/Chondroitin within the food and the grain free nature of it...

Any suggestions?

You might try feeding less of the Orijen before you give up on it completely. Sometimes the problem with these super premium kibbles is overfeeding.

 

[PotentialDobby]

You might try feeding less of the Orijen before you give up on it completely. Sometimes the problem with these super premium kibbles is overfeeding.

Yeah I could try that. I didn't think I was feeding her a ton to begin with tbh. She is about 60lbs and I give her roughly 3 cups a day of the Orijen which is under the "recommended" guidelines.

 

[sheezbusy]

Take her off the Orijen. It is a great dog food for adult dogs but WAY TOO high in protein for puppies.

I would try Wellness puppy food. It is a bit more appropriate. Too much protein can run you into all sorts of problems.

 

[SoCalGirl]

I had a similar problem trying to give my dog good quality food but it was just too rich for her. Good luck!

 

[MeadowCat]

Take her off the Orijen. It is a great dog food for adult dogs but WAY TOO high in protein for puppies.

I would try Wellness puppy food. It is a bit more appropriate. Too much protein can run you into all sorts of problems.

While this food may be too rich for this pup, Orijen is not too high in protein. The idea that high protein is dangerous for pups is outdated and disproven by studies. The important thing to consider for pups is the calcium/phosphorus.

 

[Fitzmar Dobermans]

I've had very good luck with Holistic Selects as far as good poops. I've used it with two litters and many of my puppy homes still feed it with very good results.

Healthy Dog & Cat Food with Select Actives | Holistic Select

 

[PotentialDobby]

While this food may be too rich for this pup, Orijen is not too high in protein. The idea that high protein is dangerous for pups is outdated and disproven by studies. The important thing to consider for pups is the calcium/phosphorus.

This is actually what I have always been told by my mother(worked in vet field for god knows how long.) and I didn't think the Orijen food fit into the category of excessively high. I remember looking at TOTW and not buying it because of that very reason.

On another fun note my vet wants me to buy all this factor and blood clotting stuff to spay my dog even though her DNA test shows her not to be afflicted by the Willebrand gene mutation What a dog week..

 

[Toby'shuman]

I would be asking my Vet why he wants me to do this if I were you. It's surely one thing if your Dobe tests positive for vWD but another if he doesn't.

 

[KoaRad]

I feed Orijen and at first I was having stools that were too soft - I lessened up on the quantity (he needed considerably less with the new) and actually added a probiotic each day and have seen a 100% improvement. This may not be the case for you, I have seen threads where the Orijen just didn't settle well with the dig, but you might want to try this first - I know I HATE the food transition period.

 

[mmctaq]

On another fun note my vet wants me to buy all this factor and blood clotting stuff to spay my dog even though her DNA test shows her not to be afflicted by the Willebrand gene mutation What a dog week..

The only three reasons off the top of my head that a vet would make such a statement are: greed/dishonesty, ignorance and stupidity. I would prefer that any veterinarian that I used did not have any of these characteristics.

Is your vet advising you to spay your puppy soon? Keeping in mind that it is likely that your vet is afflicted with one or more of the above flaws, I would suggest that you do some thorough research on this yourself, and make the medical decision that you believe is in the best interest of your pup.

Oh... and what the other folks said about trying a reduction in food quantity. Too much food is a common cause of loose stools, and the concept of too much protein doesn't make a whole lot of sense with regard to carnivorous animals.

 

[sheezbusy]

My boys were having loose stool and I addedd probiotic with EXTREMELY favorable response. Tycoon's poops like a playdoe fun factory. He is on one packet of FortiFlora and two tablets of Healthy Select. Now he is much better.

Lisa

 

[PotentialDobby]

The only three reasons off the top of my head that a vet would make such a statement are: greed/dishonesty, ignorance and stupidity. I would prefer that any veterinarian that I used did not have any of these characteristics.

Is your vet advising you to spay your puppy soon? Keeping in mind that it is likely that your vet is afflicted with one or more of the above flaws, I would suggest that you do some thorough research on this yourself, and make the medical decision that you believe is in the best interest of your pup.

Oh... and what the other folks said about trying a reduction in food quantity. Too much food is a common cause of loose stools, and the concept of too much protein doesn't make a whole lot of sense with regard to carnivorous animals.

Well the long short story is I went to vet A, and they wanted to spay her at 5 months which I was questioning. On the previous visit a vet tech informed me that Dobe's get aggressive due to high growth rates which causes the skull to push against the brain so I was already on high alert(as I said above, I came from a vet family so I'm not completely ignorant, just about Dobermans). They then told me she didn't have worms even though I provided a stool sample with a round worm doing it's dance. So I switched to vet B and he was kind of surprised that they wanted to spay her that early... We get the dog de-wormed etc.

Now, the reason why this is relevant is because I had bought an insurance plan thinking I was doing right by the dog that included the spay etc @ vet A. Vet A is a big chain vet, which is all I will say. They had told me I need to get a DNA test done which I did. Now, my location is saying "we don't have time to do the spay" so they need to send me to an office an hour away. Even though it is the same vet chain, I have to drive 65 miles for a consult and they want me to re-pay them for the DNA work and pay for factor amongst other things to have on hand when the dog has already been cleared?! I asked why I need the factor etc etc if the dog is clear and I was told "because that is how we do things." Yes, I know, I know my mother gives me crap almost every week about ever going there because I should have "known better." I think because it was MY first puppy by myself I got blinders on and wasn't thinking clearly, who knows. Live and learn.

So, last night I just decided I'm going to eat the money as a loss for now, take her to get spayed at Vet B who does NOT want new tests to be done being that she is clear. This vet is also where the people from the afore mentioned chain store bring their animals... Being that they have a vet in house, I think it is safe to say something is off if they bring them to a DIFFERENT vet. Does it stink I lost a few hundred bucks? Yeah sure, but I'm glad I'm not taking her to Dr. Giggles @ vet A which I could have regretted later. At this point my concern is getting my little girl on a good quality food that she has normal stools with and getting her spayed by a reputable, knowledgeable office(which I have found). I can always pursue legal action if I so desire later against the other one.