Nutro Large Breed Adult Lamb and Rice.

Hi Robin,
Try feeding Casey a little pumkin to help with his stool being so loose. I have a feeling his tummy troubles are stemming from his HW treatment and has nothing to do with the food you are feeding them.
Maybe offer him some boiled chicken with a little rice for one meal and some of the kibble mixed in with it for the other meal until his treatments are over with and his stools are a bit firmer.
The pumkin needs to be plain and not used for pumkin pie.
Also you can give him a table spoon of just plain yogurt to help him with his digestive enzymes in his tummy.
Sending him quick recovery vibes and a belly rub. Dilly sends butt sniffs and licks.

Hi Angel..
 
thanks!   Casey is actually the well one.(except for the loose stool). hes my english setter mix.  
 
Coal (black lab) is the one going thru the HW treatment  (only 12 days left to go and we are thru!!)  he will be so happy to just run around outside in 2 weeks.  I can tell he wants to especially when we go out back with Casey and Coal has to stay on a leash.
 
So is Nutro a good food?  I rev'd in the mail a bunch of coupons this weekend for about 2 dollars off for a bag of their food and they seem to have this program where you buy 10 bags and get one free.  
 
they both are having days where they only eat once.  Do you  leave the food down if they dont eat within 20 mins??  I do but didnt know if i should or not.    
 
 
I just wasnt sure about the food and how its agreeing with Casey.    Will try the pumpkin tonight.  And yogurt.  If hes not better in a few days I will have to take him to the vet i guess.   he doesnt do well at the vet.......  he freaks out as soon as we get there and they have to hold him very firmly. 
 
neither dog is really happy the past 2 months cause they really are buddies.  They have been together the past 7 yrs and this is the first time they have been seperated even if its only during the day while I am work.  Casey loves to be inside he would nap all day with me if i would let him.....lol... hes 75lbs and takes up the whole bed!!!  But he doesnt like to be crated and cant leave him alone in the house.   My dad comes over and walks Coal for me during the day. 
 
But anyway... hope you guys are having a great day!   give Dilly a hug!
 
 

I thought I got the two mixed up... lol
 
Yeah, Nutro is a good brand of food for dogs. I use the Lamb and Rice formula since it is better for them, no by-products in any of their food either. Yay!
 
As for the vets. Once both are healthy and are able to play with eachother again, I would just take them for a visit to the vets. Even if you do not go into the clinic itself for the first few trys. Bring an extra yummy treat, like liver, it has to be something over the top of what they normally get as a treat, know what I mean? Let them sniff the door, walk around on leashes of course, on the grounds, click and treat for good behavior. Eventually you will work your way to the door and open it, click and treat, continue doing this until you are actually inside the clinic. Even give the tech's some treats to give them. Eventually the goal is they will no longer be scared of being inside the clinic.
 
I had a dog that would loose his legs everytime we went inside the clinic. Now he is great. I go in for a quick visit with him and he prances around like he owns the joint.
 
Thanks, we are having a good day so far.
 

ORIGINAL: robinsegg26
they both are having days where they only eat once.  Do you  leave the food down if they dont eat within 20 mins??  I do but didnt know if i should or not.    

we leave food down for about 20 mins or so and if they dont eat we take it up. amelia is usually the one who doesnt eat all her food. and if we leave it then sydney will eat it. so either way amelia isnt getting all her food for that meal.

First, I am glad to hear Coal will soon be able to run and rip and snort (as my Dad use to put it).  I know you will also.
 
The pumpkin is a good idea, but if it takes pumpkin to firm up his poop, you probably need to go to a different food for Casey.  What works great for one just doesn't always work for another.

Nutro is a good brand of food for dogs.

not so. Nutro's Ultra line is pretty good, but really overpriced. The large breed formula mentioned is at best a middle-ranking grain heavy food with a ridiculously high price tag. It costs as much or more per bag than the premium foods around here, and since it's so grain-heavy you end up feeding more, so it actually costs more to feed than a really high-quality food.

Any suggestions on what to do??? Should i maybe switch their food? I went to the lamb

 
Myself and several people local to me use that "mid-grade, grainy, over-priced" Nutro with great results. Most of them have labs that hunt. My dog is part lab. His eyes are clear, his coat is shiny, and he has plenty of energy. If he's used to Nutro and is having some kind of upset, you might try the remedies suggested. If not, be prepared to have to feed him something different. I use the Nutro Large Breed Adult Lamb & Rice. I tried him once on Innova and he developed allergy symptoms. Back on Nutro, he's been fine ever since then.
 
I try not pass judgement on any food, as it is not about what I think of it, or a regurgitation of someone else's opinion, it is about what your dog needs.

again, how can you possibly know you are having great results? I'm sure the coat looks good because Nutro puts oils in their foods to make the coat look shiny. I'm sure he's full of energy, after all, he's quite young, is he not? Doesn't mean the dog will be healthy and vigorous at age 16, which seems to be the average lifespan of raw-fed labs. I see grain-fed labs looking ancient at age 10. The breed seems more prone than many others to lose muscle mass when fed these protein-deficient grain based kibbles.

Doesn't mean the dog will be healthy and vigorous at age 16, which seems to be the average lifespan of raw-fed labs. I see grain-fed labs looking ancient at age 10.

 
Any senior dog's diet needs to change to better their health regardless of raw fed or kibble.
 
Most high priced or other wise dry dog food add's oils in their food. Be it canola oil or fish oil, flax seed oil. Oil is still added in the dry kibble. So I don't find your arguement Nutro not being good for a dog.  I don't find the Lamb and Rice formula to be excessively grain heavy. It works for my crew and I have tried everything from Flint River, to Solid Gold, now those are high priced beyond reason in my opinion. Supplementing them with fresh veggies, and meats on occassion also helps.

vigorous at age 16, which seems to be the average lifespan of raw-fed labs. I see grain-fed labs looking ancient at age 10. 

Mudpuppy;  Is this a trend you've seen in general with raw fed dogs? Are there many cases you know of personally of raw fed dogs living beyond their life expectancy?

again, how can you possibly know you are having great results

How old are your dogs and how do you know you are getting great results? Bloodwork? Sandra's dogs eat Purina and have great bloodwork. I think the jury is still out on labs that eat foods with grains looking or acting aged, or not. More to the point, I have nothing against others feeding raw and I accept, anecdotally, that the results are good, so far. Though, scientifically, I think it bears more analysis. I'm tired of what I feed getting crapped on incessantly. Everyone takes a breather and accepts that some dogs do well on Purina and some can only do well on SD rx's. Every time Nutro is mentioned, it's the crap of the ages. OP has stated that the dogs have done well on the food but one is having an upset and even I may suggest that she may have to feed that one something other than Nutro. Or continue with the food and add something for the stomach upset. But you can't leave well enough alone.

I would respond with more but it would seem contentious and I'd rather help the OP than have an argument or derail the thread from what she was intending.
.

I agree with Ron.  Nobody can know a dog is in tip-top condition and live to be 16 because of his diet--or die at 7 because of his diet.
 
Ever hear of Pappy Boone?  He was a golden Retriever that died this srping a couple of months of so after his 19th birhtday.  He was born in Florida on Jan. 27, 1987 and after a divorice and some foster homes, he ended up in a nursing home where he lived for about 8 years.  He was not fed dog food, but was fed table scraps...and we all know that means lots of jumk he should never have. 
 
One lady that worked  there that fell in love with the poor dog--who was 150+ pounds, toenails so long they curled under, and she managed to get custody of him--but had to give up her job at that nursing home.  In March of 2004, at age 17 he had a massive heart attack caused by the anesthesia when he had a tooth pulled.  But he recovered.  And he still made visits to other nursing homes with his "Mom".  There was big news when he turned 18 last year, and then again when he turned 19 this year.  But sadly, he did end up at the bridge a couple of months later.
 
But the fact remians that for at least 8 years he was fed very poorly.  He didn't have raw nor top of the line, nor even bottom of the heap and he still made it to 19.  There is no mention of what he was fed after adoption, but he must have been around 10 at the time and after years of poor food....he should have been in such bad shape it didn't matter what she fed him, his health would have been so bad.  Well, sometimes bad isn't as bad as you think, and good isn't as good as you think.
 
If anyone wants to check this out, go to ask.com and type in golden retriever Pappy Boone.  The story was all over my golden forums..

Didnt mean to cause a big uproar..

I am going to have to switch Casey (my english Setter) to another food.  Even adding the pumpkin in his food his stools are pretty loose.  hes not having as many as he was but when he does use the bathroom I am not noticing anything firm.   Coal (my black lab) is doing great on it.  It was pretty funny they both sniffed at the pumpkin when they were first getting it mixed in but now they eat it up...

We didnt have this problem when they were just on dry kibble so maybe i need to wean them off the can and see how it goes.   They only get about about a tablespoon and a half mixed really well with their dry kibble.    I only started the can because Coal was going thru (and still is) the HW treatment and the vet had given him can food at their office and thought I would continue because I couldnt get him to eat at home right away.... 
 
So another form of Nutro??  or just a totally different brand??   

but anyway thanks for your help... and sorry for the uproar...  []

No uproar, just a difference of opinions is all. lol
 
Glad to hear you have things figured out.

You mentioned that neither of them had a problem when they were on the dry kibble. Why don't you try them both on the dry stuff and see if that helps?
 
As for another brand of Nutro, that would be up to you. I personally only like the Lamb and rice formula because it has no corn in it.

Again, you are welcome. And no probs here. lol