# Serious Question about Feeding - Please help!



## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

I'm turning to the vizsla brain trust here for advice.

W is about 18 months old and he's a big vizsla. Very tall, weighs about 65 lbs. He's not overweight - in fact, most everyone comments on how skinny he is.

The problem is... he eats more than recommended and doesn't seem to be processing his food. We have always had him on TOTW (alternate between salmon and high prairie). He eats about 4-4.5 cups per day. His first stool in the morning is solid, but his second one is runny. Based on some searching of the forums here, we decided to switch him to purina pro plan sport. We had a couple goals with this: harden up his stool, help him eat less kibble while keeping weight on him, etc. Long story short, he has been on the purina pro plan for about two weeks now (after the appropriate mixing of the two foods), and he is still eating about 4-4.5 cups / day and his stools aren't hardening up. If anything, they are softer.

Wilson gets supplements -- eggs, lean meats, etc. We cannot raw feed at this time.

Any advice? I finally ordered some of this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AR91EV8/ref=pe_385040_30332200_TE_item to see if maybe it would help him absorb his food better.

At this point, I'm inclined to switch back to the TOTW because at least I'm not stuffing him full of grain. Any thoughts? 

Not a great picture, but here's a few photos - as you can see, he is a lean 65 pounder.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

From the pictures he does not look underweight to me.
Pro plan has different foods, so if your wanting to put weight on, you need to look at the calorie count per cup.
Some of these dogs require less, but some need up to 2000 calories a day.
Exercise can play a part in loose stools. Some dogs will have firm stools, but after heavy exercise they become loose. I haven't found changing foods to fix that problem.
You just need to figure out if its exercise induced, or the food. Finding the right food is not always easy ,and sometimes its a pain until you hit on the right one.
Mine get cottage cheese or yogurt 3-4 times a week. During the hunting season I put 1/2 tablespoon of corn oil over their food, and it helps them keep weight on.

I know I probably didn't help answer your question, but not every food works for every dog.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

He looks fine.


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## marathonman (Jan 15, 2013)

From the pictures, your boy looks good. Feeding recommendations on bags are typically just a starting point. We have our 19 mo 60-65 lb boy Jasper on ToTW as well. He probably gets 4-5 cups a day, plus chicken or eggs (and dehydrated food when he's into it). 
If you wanted to see if it would help, you could add oats to his meals for a little extra fiber. Greek yogurt or cottage cheese is also good for helping get his system right.


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

He looks good to me, but I can see how you'd be concerned about the loose stools. 

Our girl is a small 45 pounder but eats 3 cups a day...so I am no surprised at all that your boy needs 4+ cups a day. For the loose stools, have you tried giving him a small amount of canned pumpkin (pure pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling) every day? This will help keep him regular. We give our girl a dehydrated sweet potato once a day. If we run out and don't give them to her for more than a few days, I notice that she will suffer from occasional constipation and diarrhea.


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

Interesting - thanks for the comments. 

A few things, I guess I am worried about the recommended guidelines on the back of the bag, because it seems like he's eating way more than he should. But, I suppose the manufacturers are accounting for the fact that there are lots of dogs who simply don't get enough exercise. W gets plenty.

Some of his loose stools are caused by activity, but I don't think that can be blamed for all of them. I am worried mostly about the stools because they teeter on loose pretty much all the time (except for the first morning one). I'm just not sure if what we're doing is right.

As for the photos - I personally think he looks fine, but our trainer was worried about keeping weight on him. I am hearing from a lot of people (including our trainer who has GSPs and vizslas) that he's skinny and could use a few more pounds, especially in the hunting season. I am personally fine with him the way he is, but the comments combined with the loose stools has me worried.

Finally, I like the suggestion for canned pumpkin as a regular item (we give it to him occasionally when the stools are very loose!), but not on a regular basis. He does like sweet potato, so perhaps I should start giving those to him on a regular basis.

I'm glad to hear others are giving their pups about 4-4.5 cups of kibble a day and that's fine. thanks for the input everyone


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

We free feed our dogs TOTW and they eat about 8 cups a day combined. Have you tried a probiotic for loose stool? Ours get it while running or after a long swim from the salt water, but if not exercise induced we give a probiotic and it helps them a lot.


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## OttosMama (Oct 27, 2011)

Hi! Our dog also eats more than recommended amounts. He is 55 lbs and has just about 5 cups of TOTW a day. I think it's common for Vs to eat more than most dogs. Otto isn't the type to eat if he's not hungry (will leave his breakfast sitting around for hours before getting to it) so I know he needs it. Just like some people, some dogs are naturally lean. 

His stools are firm at first but his second and third (on one on leash walk) are usually much looser! As long as his first is firm, I don't worry about it.

Your boy is still growing. He will probably fill out in the next few months. I think he looks great!


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## tknafox2 (Apr 2, 2013)

I don't generally get into the discussions about food because we feed our dogs "Kirkland" from Costco, and I guess I am wary of
disapproval. But Both of my V's came from the breeder on the Kirkland puppy chow, and with Fergy, we just graduated him to Adult kibble, and I have kept him on chicken. Both Pearl and Churro eat Kirkland Healthy Weight. Kirkland is rated in the top 10 Premium
Dog foods. All of the dogs are very healthy, very shiny soft coats, lots of energy, and NO Allergy's, and stools are perfect. We also give raw eggs, assorted vegi's, sweet potato (Fergy loves them whole), lean meat, bones. Fergy eats 3+ cups plus about 1/2 cup of Natural Balance food roll. I would free feed if I could, but not with my other two chow hounds.
When I had Foxy as a pup on the Kirkland puppy chow and she grew out of it, we tried many different expensive high quality foods, but she became allergic to both chicken and salmon... IMO this many have lead to her low immunity. 

I do have some friends who rescued a puppy mill bitch, and she had a multitude of eating problems. They finally found "Honest Kitchen" and She is now doing excellent. That product can be purchased online and even put on an auto ship.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

At 18 months, Savannah was also eating quite a bit more than the recommended amount on the bag. I came to the same conclusion you did; the bags probably reflect average dog exercise as opposed to what a V does normally. Also at 18 months, Savannah would get a dollop of canned pumpkin a few times a week and she would get a sweet potato treat every morning. We phased out the canned pumpkin but the sweet potato treat has become part of the morning routine.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

> I don't generally get into the discussions about food because we feed our dogs "Kirkland" from Costco, and I guess I am wary of
> disapproval.


If your dogs are doing good, that's more important than approval. I've tried more dog foods on the dogs over the years than I can remember. Some I've paid a very high dollar for with lack luster results. I now have a different outlook on changing foods. If my dogs are doing good on a food, why tempted fate. Just stay with what works.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

You could try cutting back his portions and see if he absorbs a greater percentage of it without losing weight.

Pumpkin, probiotics, cottage cheese, and all the other go to solutions never worked for Scout when she was on TOTW. I ended up going the raw route, but had I stuck with kibble the next thing I would have tried is a human grade bonemeal supplement. Start with a teaspoon, add it to some pumpkin or yogurt and mix it up with the kibble. You could also start saving your eggshells, grind them up in a coffee grinder when you have enough, and feed like the bonemeal. I've started that recently since Scout always leaves the shell.


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

Dharma is getting a boiled chicken thigh in her kibble in the morning. She gets 2 cups of Oven Baked kibble mixed with some warm water. She may or may not eat again at 5 PM. Sometimes stools are solid, sometimes they are not. Dharma was the runt of the litter and not very mature. Giving her anything other than kibble and chicken was disastrous. This being said she is putting on weight and filling out now at 1 year of age. She looks good and is happy.


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## Canadian Expy (Feb 27, 2013)

Aspen's build sounds exactly like your pups - a lean 65 lbs. We used to have the same problem with his stools - firm in the morning and loosening as the day gets on. We did as Einspanner mentioned and actually cut back the kibble and added yogurt or another probiotic supplement we keep. The reduction in kibble has solved the soft stool problem consistently for the past 4 months. We break his feedings into 3 times/day. 

Our guy is still a bit leaner than we would like but the vet says he is a healthy size/weight. He does get the exercise poops regardless of how much kibble he has eaten, and there is nothing that can be done for that.


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

This has been extremely helpful. Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions. 

I'm relieved to hear that the progressively softening poops throughout the day isn't something that's out of the norm for our cinnamon dogs. Will experiment with supplementing and see how that works. When my husband was marathon training, Wilson did get his fair share of sweet potatoes and he liked them. So, we'll reintroduce those into the diet.


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## Bella9613 (Jul 1, 2014)

So I am now questioning if we are feeding our V enough. :-\ We get a lot of comments from people that think we are starving her. Here are 2 pics taken today, one from the front and one looking down on the top. You can always see her ribs. She has been on Purina One Puppy (from the breeder) since we got her. She will be 10 months old on the 6th of July. We give her 3+ cups of dry kibble a day plus she gets baby carrots as treats as well as other nibbles (like hot dog pieces) if we are training her. I had read somewhere that you should be able to see a V's ribs. Would appreciate any veteran Vizsla owners comments on whether she looks healthy or should we increase her food (which is consumed in a matter of 30 seconds at every meal)!!


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Hi, Bella9613! To answer your question... Yes. I think you should increase the amount of food you are giving her. She does look too thin, in my humble opinion. 

My Vet has always told me that you should be able to feel your dog's ribs easily, but not see them. This goes for every breed of dog, including the Vizsla. Yes, they are naturally thin and athletic, but the ribs should not be visible. 

Maybe you could research the brand of dog food you give her, too. I rotate brands for my boy, Willie. The fact that she wolfs down her food so fast is telling you something... She's hungry! 

Anyway, she's a beautiful dog and I know you want the best for her. Best wishes to you!! ;D ;D ;D


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

While she doesn't look like she's starving or anything, she does look a little too thin to me. Try increasing her food. Also, you may want to consider switching to a higher quality food. I hate to be the one to bash on other people's choices for their dog, but the truth is that the food she is on now isn't that great. Here's a website I like to use to look up reviews on dog food. 

As you can see, Purina scores pretty low. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/purina-one-smartblend/

Hope that helps!


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

I agree with mswhipple - she could use a few more pounds. In addition to her being too ribby, I think that her waist is too thin. V's should be thin, but I think that she is a bit too much so.

As to her appetite: of the 4 V's that we've had & have, 2 were/are voracious eaters and the other 2 were/are indifferent. She might be an enthusiastic eater even with more weight.


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## Bella9613 (Jul 1, 2014)

Thank you everyone for your input!!! We just fed our Bella 2 heaping cups of dry kibble and she seems quite happy with that! We will continue with about 5 cups a day (from previous 3 cups) and see where she is in a couple weeks. She's been getting some really hard running at the dog park almost daily so that's probably burning a ton of calories. This is a great site with awesome V people- so glad I found it  Thanks again!!


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## aliciavp (Mar 14, 2014)

Hi there - not sure if this will help... our pup is 6 months, and we seem to have his digestion sorted.

He gets per day:
1-1.5 cup kibble in the morning topped with either small amount dehydrated food/small amount canned/scrambled egg with peas.
Raw chicken wing
1/2 cup kibble split into two kongs, with added cottage cheese, mashed banana & peanut butter
1 cup kibble in the evening topped with dehydrated food/small amount canned/pumpkin/yoghurt 
1 small rawhide treat before bed
training treats 

his poos first thing are always rock solid. If he does a second during his morning walk its almost always softer. When we at work he normally does another in the yard which is solid, then another solid one during his evening walk.

I only ever notice looser ones after long plays or when he's got an upset stomach. Hope that helps  

edit: was lazy and didn't notice the second page!


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