Help!! Soft stools STILL

Well his aren't that soft, but they're pretty close.  I just attributed it to the change from Puppy Chow (by the breeder) to the Science Diet we picked out for him.

health-wise, it could be roblem-- soft stools do not empty the anal glands. And often soft stools indicate the dog is not digesting the food.

I just attributed it to the change from Puppy Chow (by the breeder) to the Science Diet we picked out for him.

ORIGINAL: slimjack

Hills has a bunch of Science Diet formulations.  Which Science Diet variety did you pick?

ORIGINAL: DakotasDoode
Which Science Diet variety did you pick?

Puppy Small Bits

ORIGINAL: slimjack

Puppy Small Bits

Ingredients: Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Brewers Rice, Fish Oil, Flaxseed, Soybean Oil, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, vitamins (L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.
 
 
Dried Beet Pulp (a stool hardener) is the 5th most prevalent ingredient and you've still got soft poop.  You might want to try something different.  This also has soybean meal as the #3 ingredient.  It adds to the protein % on the label but is not efficiently utilized by dogs.  You haven't menioned itching so I guess your dog is not allergic to soy. 
 
As for corn as the #1 ingredient and unspecified animal fat as the #4 ingredient I'd say you can do a lot better and for a small dog the cost difference should not be significant.

ORIGINAL: DakotasDoode

... I'd say you can do a lot better and for a small dog the cost difference should not be significant.

I'm more than open to suggestions that won't break the bank. 

As for corn as the #1 ingredient and unspecified animal fat as the #4 ingredient I'd say you can do a lot better and for a small dog the cost difference should not be significant.

 
Now THAT'S nice. Someone suggesting a better food to someone else, without even a HINT of attack or judgement. That's pretty impressive for this board recently! []
 

That California Natural must not be the most palatable of foods.

 
I've heard this before, but I fed California Natural Lamb to Cherokee for a while, and she loved it. She's a pretty kibble-picky dog too. She used to regularly vomit bile from not eating, even though she'd have food always available. That was back in our Science Diet/Iams/Eukanuba etc. days though. Also, when I decided to cut grains out of her diet, she was on CA Nat., and I had just bought a bag, but didn't want to feed it, so I gave it to my sister who also has a kibble-picky dog (that dog eats ANY real food, but give him dog food, and he's pretty picky), and he LOVED it too. So I would have thought of it as a pretty palatable food, if I hadn't read here that a lot of dogs don't like it.

I'm more than open to suggestions that won't break the bank.

I don't know what you currently pay for Science Diet in your area, but in Southern California I can get Canidae for about the same price if not less. I had my step son (who was feeding Pedigree to his dog) switch to Canidae. He was going to go with Science Diet and I compared the price difference for him and locally he can feed canidae cheaper than SD.   Just a thought.[8D]

He was going to go with Science Diet and I compared the price difference for him and locally he can feed canidae cheaper than SD.

ORIGINAL: jjsmom06

Don't forget he needs an itty bitty bag of Canidae!  []

I'm more than open to suggestions that won't break the bank.

ORIGINAL: slimjack

I thought by now a Pug owner would have jumped in and suggested something.  I tend to think this guy [linkhttp://home.att.net/~wdcusick/06.html]http://home.att.net/~wdcusick/06.html[/link]  has a point (whether I agree completely or not) so what works for my German Shepherd may be quite different from what works for your "portable" dog.

Scout's aren't runny either, but they are soft so they fall apart when you pick them up. Health-wise, it's probably fine.... it's just for the sake of my gag reflex that I'd like them firmer! [:'(]

 
     Not necessarily ... firmer, smaller stools mean the food is more bioavailable to the dog & he's digesting it more fully. I hate those soft ploppy stools, lol. Its the worst thing to clean with multiple dogs and will inevitably leave the yard with a certain odor [sm=blush.gif] lol
     Just a suggestion, but Eukanuba Lamb & Rice is a good food that always firms up stools fast. I had a dog with colitis a few years back who couldn't tolerate ANYTHING. We tried the canned pumpkin, fasting, boiled chicken w/ rice ... Still had the squirts after a week and a half. Thats how I got back into feeding Euk. I picked up a bag of the L&Rout of desperation - had tried everything else in the pet store. Colitis symptoms, including all mucous, cleared up after one meal! I know its ingredients are frowned upon here, but I have very healthy dogs on it w/ awesome coats. So might be worth a shot giving it a try [sm=2cents.gif]

Sci-Fi's not a pug, is he??  I thought he looked like a French Bulldog??? 
 
Do you live where there is a Petco??  You could pick up Natural Balance and the bite size is pretty small.

Sci-Fi's not a pug, is he?? I thought he looked like a French Bulldog???

ORIGINAL: willowchow

You win the prize! []  From another thread in the pics forum I see you nailed it.

Scout in Canada,
 
I am by no means a dog nutrition expert, however I've been doing a little experiment of my own with my dog.  He sometimes has looser stools, sometimes has firm stools.  He eats Solid Gold 2 x a day and gets a kong filled with carrots, yogurt or cottage cheese, and a bit of peanut butter during the weekdays. 
 
I think that the dairy is what is making him have looser stools - I've cut out the yogurt/cottage cheese over the past few days and it's been pretty consistently firm.
 
Just my two cents   I, too, had heard that most dogs, even if they can't digest dairy, do ok with yogurt/cottage cheese but I don't think that's always the case.

I think that the dairy is what is making him have looser stools - I've cut out the yogurt/cottage cheese over the past few days and it's been pretty consistently firm.

 
It sounds like you might be right about that. I'm going to try switching foods once we're done this bag of Cal Nat, probably to TWO which sounds like it might be more appealing. And no more dairy.