i have a 1year old male chocolate lab. He's 110lbs. He's not fat at all, he's just huge. He gets 5c a day, 2.5c at breakfast and dinner. We recently have transitioned him into adult food however he has been having some loose and soft stool. He was on purina pro plan focus large breed puppy and we were transitioning him into the purina pro plan large breed adult. He had a similar issue with puppy food when we fed eukanuba large breed puppy. He had diahreha all the time until we did the pro plan. I feel we may need to change foods again. Any input onto what maybe good? I feel he is sensitive to his food. I don't know if I should change his protein his current food is chicken and rice.
Hi there,welcome to the Forum......I might be being a bit thick but I don't understand the 'c' as your measurement? Where did you get your amounts?If you are certain that your dog is not overweight and your vet is happy with his appearance then there would be no need to reduce food ...a runny tummy can sometimes be an indication of too much in too few meals. Most of us on here that feed kibble never feed the full recommended amounts to our dog.Bringing up the question about what is a good food brand will get you a lot of replies with many varying answers.....we all feed so differently and it can get really confusing as you try and navigate through all out thoughts and opinions. Your dog may well be sensitive to his food ,it took me a long time to get my dogs tummy stable ,he is on a hypoallergenic type now although I don't agree that he has allergies......long story! My first action before you start considering intolerances and sensitivities would be to make sure that the amount is right and ,with your dog only being quite young if it's possible ,I'd go back to 3 meals a day and as long as he's drinking and otherwise ok I'd give it a little time to see if he settles.....if you are seeing no change in say 3 days then I'd be taking him in for a checkup to see that there are no other underlying health issues and to discuss solutions to the tummy troubles with your vet Best wishes'
I assume "c" is cups? As Angela said, most Labs are very efficient at eking the maximum nutrition out of the food they are given, so generally need to be on far lower amounts than other breeds of similar size. If you're feeding the guideline amounts, I'd suggest cutting back on the amount, maybe to 4 cups a day to start with, and see if that settles his tummy.
I had never heard that before, but we have always fed less than the Mfg recommendations, too. Tilly at 67# is on just a little over 2 cups a day and Cooper at 85#, just a little over 3 cups. Blue Wilderness would recommend 3+ and 4+ based on their weight.
Sorry yes c is cups! The vet is happy with his weight and they suggested 5cups a day. He's drinking and acting normal otherwise
We are feeding less than the guidelines suggested on the bag of food, vet said 5c is good for him. I just wonder if this adult food is not the one for him.
Normal weight for an adult english lab is 75-85 pounds; american lab 60-75 pounds. So yours is a freak on the weight scale. Surprised by your vets comments. FYI Good thing your moving away from Purina Focus. We're you aware that it is a plant based kibble with 49% carbs? Dogfoodadvisor gives it a "not recommend" status. Could explain your dogs weight. Less fillers, less carbs and better yet no carbs, more fat and protein. The other option is to consider a raw diet.
How big are the cups! My two 30kg (not sure what that is in lbs) Labs have one and a half coffee mugs a day each, half a mug in the morning and one in the evening. I would try reducing his food a little and see if that solves the diarrhea problem, perhaps 2 cups on morning and 2.5 cups in evening for starters?
I know, al the vets we have seen at the practice are happy with his weight, you can still see his last few ribs too. He's just huge.
We have a friend with two Black Labs that are in the 120-130# range. They are huge. They look more bench than field. I haven't seen them with Cooper recently. They may not be much taller than she is.
You could try a food with a different protein source, i.e. not chicken. My last lab (also a choccie!) had skin problems and got upset stomachs easily and he did best on a fish-based diet. For many years this was tuna and rice but he was also OK on Symply salmon and potato (brand of kibble). Currently I feed Molly James Wellbeloved duck and rice, but she seems to have a cast iron stomach and could probably eat anything.
