# Challeneges feeding my 4 month pup.



## Gator (Feb 9, 2012)

I am in new territory with my new pup. My last dog did not have sensitive stomach issues and around a month ago (3 months of age), my new pup started with loose stools. She behaved fine and had plenty of energy and a week ago weighed in at 20 pounds. She was on Science Diet and about a month ago would only eat about 6 mouthfuls and would not finish the rest. She start to look too thin so I reach out to the local dog exerts for help and then my vet as well. He put her on a sensitive diet plan and she is not allowed to have anything else but water. Her stools were pretty much back to normal except the last one of the day was usually looser not sloppy soft. Well on Sunday she ate a poached chicken breast (uninvited) and enjoyed a second one Monday (also uninvited). On Tuesday morning she had diarrhea but by evening her stools were loose again, (no diarrhea). She finished all her meals on Tues. Wed. morning I found a whitish liquid in her crate but it did not smell sour. I think she threw up during the night. She would not eat breakfast and but wanted to play. She ate lunch at the dog sitters and about 4 hours later threw up partially digested dog food and threw up liquid a half hour later while I was picking her up. It smelled sour. The sitters said she didn't seem to feel well in the afternoon and then she threw up. She is now sleeping the evening away. I did not try to feed her.

I should also share another puppy at the sitters came down with the same symptoms, (diarrhea & vomiting) and is back to normal now after a few days. She could have picked this up. It's hard to know for sure. However this is the first she has thrown up and I am worried because this could mean things are getting progressively worse. (I have a call into my vet and will probably speak with him tomorrow.)

I'm having a hard time sorting all this out. She was with my parents in Dec. and I found out towards the end she was getting people food daily because they were worried about her being thin. It didn't affect her stools and stomach in any way at that time. All this started a month ago when I started puppy training class (using organic pork hot dogs) and started with the dog sitters, (they have a puppy play group in the morning and a nap time in the afternoon.)

Am I over reacting? This feels pretty serious to me.
And why did this start a month ago and not when she was getting all the pan drippings at my parents? This went on for month at their house.


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## anne_wilcrest (Oct 20, 2011)

is it possible that the hot dogs or treats at the dog sitters have soy based ingredients in them? it's common for vizslas to be allergic to soy - and the 3 times my pup ate something with soy based things in it, she got sick- every. single. time.

penny was recently under the weather and the vet recommended boiled chicken and white rice. (2pt carb to 1pt protein) I bought an unseasoned roasted chicken ... i really didn't want to cook it myself... and cleaned it, put the bones and chicken broth in the water that i boiled to make the rice (she just got the flavored rice, no cooked bones) and fed her the chicken as treats throughout the day - now she LOVES getting sick.  obviously that's pretty top shelf stuff, but maybe you could do use that just til she normalizes or you figure out what the problem is?
...
i've also been mixing in a bit of her food and hot water on it all and mixing it up. (make the top shelf last longer, and so her food won't be a shock when she has to go back to it in a few days)

another thing for upset stomach that has worked wonders for us (every time her stools get a little too squishy) SWEET POTATO. i pop one in the oven til a knife easily slides all the way through it, take it out, let it cool, then cut it into cubes and you can either mix it into the food (penny will just pick them out to eat first...) or give it to her as treats in training/ throughout the day

as far as getting her to eat- i recommend these treats - 
http://www.drugstore.com/products/p...m=pro_treat_raw_naturals_f&CAWELAID=909775802
(they are everywhere - petsmart etc, i just wanted to show you what they looked like)
they crumble into a powder super easily (like space ice cream) and I sprinkle that powder on her kibble then pour hot water over the whole mix and stir. it's the only way i can get her to eat on a regular basis. (it's awesome because she can't pick out the "best parts" like with other additives)

you should be able to find other ideas (ie; chicken broth!) for that in this thread:
http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,2972.msg20831.html#msg20831


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## Gator (Feb 9, 2012)

Thank you Anne! Great suggestions. I will try the chicken and rice.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

My puppy gets a table spoon of mashed sweet potato in every meal. It works wonders for him! Also I would consider getting your pup on a hypoallergenic food if they have a delicate stomach. There are lots out there have a look online.


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## JillandDan (Sep 8, 2010)

We started having tummy issues with Holley a week after we got her from the breeder. After many vet tests, meds and chicken/rice diet (now she is picky with eating dog food). we found out she has fiber responsive colitis. We were giving her pumpkin but now I make baked sweet potatoes and found a daily pill by Vetri-Science that was recommended by my vet as well. She has an occasional flair up but is good otherwise.


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## Melda (Feb 22, 2012)

Hello, I had the same problem with Tamra when she was a pup, I also had her on science plan for puppies, which I found to be too rich. 

To stop the soft poos I fed her homemade chicken and rice only, it took 3 days to get back to normal and then I gradually introduced Iams dry food for puppies with her chicken and rice, she used to pick the chicken/rice and leave the dry food, so I started heating it with a bit of water and mixing it well with the dry food, that seemed to have done the trick

I also mixed a couple of tsp of tuna in brine or water with her dry food, that also worked and didn't give her a bad tummy.

She's continued to be a picky feeder well into her adulthood though, but is a massive improvement on her anorexic days...


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