New Food Adjustment

Chicken Soup is a decent food, IMO.  I have no idea about puppies but my 50lb dog eats about 2 to 2.5 cups a DAY of a kibble that's fairly similar in kcal to chicken soup.  What guidlines are on the bag? 

Again, I don't have experience with puppies but two weeks seems a long-ish time for tummy upsets.  Have you tried adding a bit of a dairy (plain yogurt, cottage cheese, etc) or perhaps some plain, unspiced (not pie filling) pumpkin?  Most dogs are good on dairy and the good bacteria help the gut and pumpkin is good fiber for either firming or loosening when given in moderation (tbsp a day or so?)

Also -- sure he was vet-checked when you got him, but might be worth a visit to your vet if you haven't already to check for simple things like parasites. 

Good luck!  I'm sure there are other folks here much more educated than I who can fill in more blanks as well.... :)

 How much Pedigree was he eating? Pedigree is pretty low calorie. You could compare the calories, and see how many more he's getting. If he's getting a ton more, reduce him by a bit (like 10%) and see if that helps.

I had a friend who was feeding Pedigree, and I gave her a bag of super premium food that made my dogs itchy. One of her dogs suddenly got FAT. We looked it up, and the same amount of food had twice the calories! Those dogs only got dog food for one meal, the other meal was fresh food! It was crazy... 

At seven months old, you can switch to the adult version with no problem.  He's pretty much past the age where any excess calcium will be a huge problem, and Chicken Soup isn't heavy on the minerals anyway.

Many working breeds have what I used to call "trash tummy."  They can handle trashy food just fine, but put wonderful premium foods down in front of them and their gi's go bonkers.  

Try a couple different fiber sources if simply changing to the adult version doesn't do the trick.  First, try insoluble fiber in the form of pumpkin (just a tablespoon of pure canned pumpkin, not the pie filling), green beans, oat bran, or even a small sprinkle of Metamucil or other psyllium powder source. 

If that doesn't help, try prebiotics such as fruit pectins, FOS, and inulin.  I just discovered this fact - a great source of FOS is canned or frozen asparagus - just throw in the blender and pour over a meal!

Good luck! 

 Wow, Becca, I didn't know that. Maybe that's why Emma goes nutso for asparagus? She's usually not much for veggies, unless it's broccoli or asparagus. She goes CRAZY for both! I'll have to get her some... 

I would cut back the amount of food you feed him.  

My lab, a 70 lbs lab, in his first year, never ate more than 3 cups a day.   I never fed puppy food.  I have always used all life stages formula.

He is now 2 years old (his weight of 70 lbs has not changed since he was 1 year old), very tall and lean.  He is now eating 2 cups a day (with home cooked food added, eggs, sardines, canned innova evo or wellness 95% meat, fruits, veggies ...etc..).  

Too much food will also makes my lab to have runny poops.

Did you mix the new food slowly with the old food?  Like usually you'd do 3/4 old food with 1/4 new food to start and slowly up the amount of the new food.  I know you mentioned mixing it with rice, but I didn't see if you mixed it in with the old food as well?

I'd add some probiotics, cut back on the amount of food, and see how it goes. 

Yeah, isn't that neat - it's such a tasty veggie, too, when it's tender.  I get to craving it too - now I think I know why, with my IBS.  Yum, asparagus with hollandaise (fake Core style).

If the adult doesn't work, you can again go up to the senior brand temporarily (for one bag) and then re-introduce the adult slowly when the bag of senior gets low.  You'd not want to keep a pup on a senior diet forever, but it's a very simple way to step rescues from trash food to premium diets.  I used to use Canidae Platinum before they changed it.  That was a fantastic product.     Now I just steam apples and mush them up and that seems to do the trick, along with the introduction of high-grade Probiotics.

Thanks everyone for the advice :o)  We cut back on Charlie's food to 1 1/2 cups twice a day and added pumpkin.  He seems to really like the pumpkin, but not the change in amount of food.  He'll survive, though   His "samples" are becoming a little more solid and he's not so gassy, which is a really good thing.  His gas could clear a room!

1 to 1.5 cups twice a day sounds about right, maybe a little generous, at 7 months but then, they do grow pretty fast in the first year. Shadow, who is part Lab was at 22 inches at 1 year. Now, at 5 years, he is 26 inches to the shoulder. Labs grow to 23 or 24 inches, sometimes taller and most go well over 50 lbs in adulthood, making them a large breed in some issues, even if the don't get much taller than 24 inches. Labs, as a breed, can be prone to Hip Dysplasia, both from genetic reasons and sometimes, from structure. So, you may consider formulas that are for large breeds. The primary difference is the calcium ratio and some foods contain glucosamine and chondroitin, though there is no hard evidence that the amounts present (trace or supplemental) are providing any preventative or therapeutic effect, as yet.

On the other hand, an all life stages formula might be okay since Labs are not a giant breed. In very large and giant breeds, overdose of calcium interferes with the function of the parathyroid, which can cause skeletal problems. But I don't know if this effect is present in Labs. But I've always feed Shadow as if he were a large breed. He weighs 65 lbs, which has been holding for more than a year, so I assume that is his adult weight. He is actually a mix of Siberian Husky and Lab, with a predominance of Sibe in metabolism, temperment, and some physiology. For example, his bones are less dense because of the Sibe heritage.

In the end, if he likes the food and he's getting good vet visits, then it's probably okay and any dog may go through a little upset adjusting to a new food. I've heard of dogs having a problem switching to raw until their systems get used to it. So, I can imagine some would happen with changing a commercial diet.