Kibble with the least plant matter.

I don't think it's the plant matter so much as it is the GRAINS, and especially the corn, wheat and soy which are incomplete sources of protein and difficult or impossible to digest.  If their bodies can't process the grain, then it's got to come out in the end, so to speak.

that said, any of the grain free products, like EVO, Barking at the Moon, and several others I don't recall, would work well.  I've got Thunder on Wilderness, which is mostly grain free, save a bit of oatmeal, just to keep weight on him over the winter.

Well I was using Orijen prior to raw but I was just wonderin if anyone had a idea of what the ratios were. Orijen claims 70% protein from fish sources and 30% plant matter but that seems a bit high for a dry food.

70% protein from fish sources and 30% plant matter but that seems a bit high for a dry food.

I think this statement isn't about % protein but that they mean that before they cook the stuff 70% of it by weight is fish and 30% is plants, mostly sweet potatoes I'm guessing. Timberwolf organics claims it's impossible to make a kibble that stays together if it's more than 47% meat meal. If they used wet meats as well as meals I'm sure you could state with truth that the food is 70% meats by weight. That's a bit different than what % of the protein in the food is from meat and what from plant sources.

Yeah, that doesn't quite make sense to me either.  I know that Wilderness is 42% protein, 90% of that from meat.  And that its a very low carb food.

I find that my dogs poop only slightly more on the regular Blue large breed than they do on the homecooked which IS mostly meat.

I have found Nature's Logic (www.natureslogic.com) to be the best in the poop department and when I fed that food, my lab gets awesome coat.... so shiny and soft. They have "plant material" but those are used in place of man made vitaimns.  I love the quantity of digestive enzymes and prebiotics added in the food.  It has millet (which I prefer over potatoes)....

I've found absolutely no difference between my dogs that get a "grain free" homemade diet (meaning the carbs are sweet potatoes or potato), and the ones that are on oatmeal and rice.

Based on this admittedly pathetically small sample, I'd guess that the increased stool size caused by some kibbles is caused by some other factor, possibly the use of fractionated ingredients or insoluble fibers.

With Gingerbread, I haven't noticed a difference in size, but the number of times he goes a day. I really like grain free foods with a moderate protein level like Fromm Surf & Turf and Wellness Core.

brookcove

I've found absolutely no difference between my dogs that get a "grain free" homemade diet (meaning the carbs are sweet potatoes or potato), and the ones that are on oatmeal and rice.

Based on this admittedly pathetically small sample, I'd guess that the increased stool size caused by some kibbles is caused by some other factor, possibly the use of fractionated ingredients or insoluble fibers.

And yet, your point is still valid. While we're on the topic of absorption, I was de-poopifying the yard, yesterday. And found a partially digested and eliminated cotton rat carcass. Cotton rat is common around here and is what most people are actually identifying when they say field mouse, at least locally. Anyway, without actually dissecting it and analyzing exactly what is left, it appears that some of the bones and the hide, with some fur still attached is what was shed in the waste. But it was as compact as most of the waste just a bit longer. Some insoluble ingredients could certainly stimulate peristalsis. Which is not a bad thing. Shadow will eat grass and leaves and the common wisdom has been that it is to spur on the digestion more than any desire to get nutrients from the plant, as a human would. IOW, even if the dog doesn't get nutritional benefit from the grass or the rat hide, it does perform the function of stimulating and cleaning the GI as it goes. IMHO.

I notice a HUGE difference in poop size between kibble meals and meals containing mostly meat.  But you won't see a difference between a kibble containing pototoes and a kibble containing grain.  It all just comes out the other end just the same.  You can try freeze-dried as a supplement insead of kibble but it is much more expensive than kibble (although you feed much less since pretty much all of it is digested so maybe it works out to be the same price).