# Soft Stool and Switching Food



## ks310 (Sep 28, 2015)

Hello all,

I havent written in a while. Our baby Monica is now 7 months old. From the time we got her at two months we've mostly fed fed Acana puppy food. Their puppy food is one of few rated 5 star in quality in Dog Food Reviews. For a few months her stool has been softer than when she was a small puppy.

We ran out of food last week and bought a small bag of Hill's Ideal Balance. Her stool was immediately firm again with no liquid. This food brand overall only has 3 stars on Dog Food Reviews but specifically the puppy variety we bought has 4 star rating. I know it's silly to only look at this site but they have really good breakdowns of why they rate the way they do.

So my question is this: Is soft or firm stool based on food an indicator if a certain food is good for her or not?

Anyone have any experience on Hill's Ideal Balance puppy food?


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

Dogfoodadvisor.com Go with a grain free 5 star food. 

As long as stools aren't runny you're OK. They should be consistent, if they change noticeably it's often an indication of some other GI issue like a parasite or infection.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Stools should be firm as this allows them to express their anal glands naturally. I was never able to achieve that on even the highest rated grain-free kibbles however. For me a homemade raw diet was the way to go and resulted in overnight changes.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I'm a firm believer in going with what works for your dog.


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## ks310 (Sep 28, 2015)

einspänner said:


> Stools should be firm as this allows them to express their anal glands naturally. I was never able to achieve that on even the highest rated grain-free kibbles however. For me a homemade raw diet was the way to go and resulted in overnight changes.


So would you say that firm stool on a new food vs softer and sometimes runny stool on an old food means the new food is healthier for her?


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Well, not exactly. My theory there is that the rice, oats, and barley that make up the second through fourth ingredients are creating enough fiber to firm them up. In the diet I feed, bones actually serve that purpose. I'm convinced grain-free is the way to go with dogs, but with most grain-free kibbles you lose that fiber. I would guess that's why I and so many others have struggled with them. 

I've got to run off to work now, but I think I'll return later and fill in some more info here. You can definitely overthink what you feed your dog, so if you're pleased with how things are going now, stick with it. My first two dogs were fed Iams for all or most of their lives. The first one passed at 16 and the second is still going at 13/14. Lots of people here feed kibble with grain and have long-living, healthy dogs.


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## ks310 (Sep 28, 2015)

einspänner said:


> Well, not exactly. My theory there is that the rice, oats, and barley that make up the second through fourth ingredients are creating enough fiber to firm them up. In the diet I feed, bones actually serve that purpose. I'm convinced grain-free is the way to go with dogs, but with most grain-free kibbles you lose that fiber. I would guess that's why I and so many others have struggled with them.
> 
> I've got to run off to work now, but I think I'll return later and fill in some more info here. You can definitely overthink what you feed your dog, so if you're pleased with how things are going now, stick with it. My first two dogs were fed Iams for all or most of their lives. The first one passed at 16 and the second is still going at 13/14. Lots of people here feed kibble with grain and have long-living, healthy dogs.


Thats a good point. I grew up in California in the mountains. We had a sheep dog mix, quite large. She lived to be 18 and we also always fed her very basic cheap food. Although I have to say our Vizsla has the most sensitive stomach of any dog Ive had before.


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