Which Food For Saint Bernard Puppy?

[Raine]

I'm new here and I have an almost 11 week old male Saint Bernard named Bubba. He's currently eating Pro Plan large breed puppy food, which is what the breeder was feeding him. He's has quite a bit of gas, and his bowel movements are somewhat loose. He seems to have a sensitive stomach or the food is just not agreeing with him. I'd like to switch to another brand. But after walking through the pet store and looking at the different brands I'm clueless. Solid gold and Eagle pack from what I recall are good quality foods. But with Bubba being a large breed, I don't know where to start. Should he be kept on a large breed puppy food? Or switched to a high quality adult food?

Any idea would be great! :D

EDIT, After reading through some of the posts here I gather he should be kept on large breed puppy food for at least 12 months. Now I just need a brand suggestion?

Edited April 21, 2005 by Raine

[StevieandSally]

aawwhh Bubba! ... (quote from Forrest Gump :D )

Thats no good he has those problems no good at all.

Your right about the Large or Giant breed kibble Raine,

Eaglepack or Nutrience are very good kibble but you will need to introduce slowly over a few days as you ween him of the Pro Plan.

If you start him on raw chicken necks this should help firm up his poos and improve his tummy. Just feed them in one meal through the day and dont mix with the kibble as they don't digest well together.

If you are still having problems you may benifit from a natural "barf" diet which you can find heaps of info on by using the search feature at the top of the page.

You have to be very careful how you feed you giant breed puppy, the Saint club has a guidline you may find helpful....

Click On This Link for Weight Guide

[StevieandSally]

Raine I just realised you are from Canada and I just wanted to add that Im not familiar with "Solid Gold" and am only assuming the Eagle pack are the same over there as we get it imported from the US here. Im not sure about the Nutriece though.

[Sagittarian]

Hi Raine

Welcome to you and Bubba!

If you would like to send me a private message (hit the PM button), then I would be happy to talk about diet etc with you. Let me know how much you are feeding now, plus any snacks etc, in fact anything he consumes each day!

Regards

Phillipa Clark

Portway St Bernards

[Clyde]

:protest: And we must have some photos of Bubba pleeeease :D Gorgeous name for no doubt, a gorgeous puppy.

[espinay2]

Ooh, dont you just love those big geaorgeaus pups! If Bubba were with me he would be raised on a raw diet. All my dogs are. I have Pyrenean Mountain Dogs.

Some resources:

www.yahoogroups.com/groups/RawPup

www.rawmeatybones.com

www.switchingtoraw.com

www.b-naturals.com (take a look at the articles)

there are quite a few books available but one you may like is 'Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats: The Ultimate Diet' by Kymythy Schultze. Kymythy is a Newfoundland breeder.

[Raine]

Thanks for the welcome. I will take some new pics of Bubba today. My camera isn't that great, so most of my pics are blurry. Outside pics are clear, so next potty break I'll take the camera out with me. That is Bubba in my avatar though.

I'm going to take him back into the vet on Monday. He's due for his next set of shots. He's been dewormed 3 times so far, but I'll get the vet to check his stool just in case there is something else going on.

Judging from that weight chart he's just over average weight. He's 30 pounds and he'll be 11 weeks on Saturday.

Here's a link to Solid Gold's website Click me I think Eagle pack is the same, it's shipped here from the US also. Eukanuba is also another option since I can get that also.

I will go pick up some chicken necks today and give that a try. Even if I don't completely switch to a BARF diet will he still benefit if he gets a few meals a week of chicken necks? Or is it better to just stick with one diet?

Sagittarian, Pm'ing you now. :D

[KOE]

Rielly had the poops from everything except Eukanuba once fed on that and chicken wings he was fine, any other dry kibble was a disaster.

[Raine]

isaviz, I have a feeling that Bubba may be the same way. Hopefully I can find a food that works for him. Luckily he's doing great with housetraining, those poops would be horrible to clean out of the carpet.

I've also added some pics of Bubba in the photo section.

[debazen]

Hi Raine

Congratulations on your new addition,

As Bubba is a giant breed, care must be taken not to over feed or over supplement him,

Too rapid growth or excess weight can cause stress on young still growing joints and cause or exacerbate problems in the elbows or hips,

Just let him grow nice and slowly,

Our Dane is also a giant breed and his breeder was very clear on what to feed him, he was only ever fed an adult kibble with a protien level no higher than 23 %

He has some variety added to his kibble of an evening, veges, or sardines, abit of scrambled egg, liver once a week,

He loves fruit, like watermellon, bananas, apples pears,

Just monitor Bubbas weight closely to make sure he is not getting to plump,

If I remember right I think Saints continue to mature and grow for the first 3 years,

He sounds like a real cutie,

Have fun with him, with these giant breeds they dont stay small for long,

Susan

[Raine]

I've been following the general guidelines on the Pro plan bag regarding how much to feed. Most days he's eating 4 cups. But there are days where he eats a bit less or a bit more. I also read about the protein levels and the Pro plan large breed puppy is 28%. I'm going to look for Royal Canin today.. If they don't have the giant breed formula I'll try the Eukanuba.

I weighed him again today just to double check and he is exactly 30 pounds.

[Dogsfevr]

Raine contact the breeder with the problems you are having & they if good should assist you in finding a suitable diet with the breeds best interests.

I now as a breeder i always like it when puppy owners ring us up first with any diet issues where we can through the daily feed chart & see if anything else is been given besides the biscuits or that the dog is senstitive to the brand & an alternative is needed,the breeder is the first port of call as many guarantee there pups feed on a said diet .

[Raine]

I did speak with the breeder and she recommended keeping him on the Pro plan and that switching his food now might cause more tummy upset.

So then I took him into the vet yesterday and he said there are no parasites or bacterial issues going on that could be causing the loose poop. He thinks it's more of a food issue and that I 'should' slowly switch him to a different brand.

He's been eating the pro plan large breed puppy food since weaning, is it possible for him to be suddenly sensitive to it?

So now I have 2 very different opinions from 2 people that I trust.

[StevieandSally]

Personally I don't think Pro Plan is a very great food and if your dog is not handling it then all the more reason to get him off it.

The vet probably would or should know better than the breeder.

You don't know the breeders motive for using that brand, it may have worked for them, but it maybe just that it has been successfully promoted to them rather than they have analyzed the ingredients.

I still think the brands you have mentioned as well as the others mentioned here are far better than Pro plan.

Dont forget if you start the dog off with a few chicken necks chopped up, or whole

I'm pretty confident it will help almost straight away. Wings are ok too but I prefer the necks as they have that white centre in them and no skin and are a bit safer as the dog grows and may tend to wolf the food down. You can also feed turkey necks and chicken frames as he gets bigger or chop them up if needed now.

...Just make sure you dont feed kibble with that same meal...

[Raine]

I looked for Royal Canin giant breed and they didn't have any in stock. The owner said I'd need to order it, I'd rather not start that just in case she can't get it on a regular basis. Or forgets to order it. So I bought Eukanuba large breed puppy formula instead. I've started mixing it in the Pro plan in small amounts. I'm crossing my fingers.

I also picked up a couple chicken neck and I tried giving him one for breakfast and he looked at me as if to say "What am I suppose to do with this!!" I'll keep trying with it though.

[StevieandSally]

haha! yep its funny to see their first reaction to raw food :rolleyes:

good luck with it, hope its all sorted out soon!

[Guest yaz123]

Wow, I was pretty excited when I read your post - I did a search on Google for Saint Bernard with soft stools and your posting came up, which was a coincidence since we have an 11 wk old Saint Bernard and we live in Canada too! Our pup also looks a lot like your little guy, but Guinness's birthday is Feb 13 - I think your puppy is a week older. From the day we brought Guinness home three weeks ago he's been having nothing but soft stools/diarrhea, and we too did a slew of tests for parasites which all came back negative. We were using the Nutrience for large breed puppys that the breeder recommended, and switched to another food that a long time Saint Breeder recommended with no luck. Currently, we are trying the Solid Gold WolfCub large breed puppy food made with Bison and Salmon. We have also started to give him Pepto Bismal a couple times a day and it seems that he only has firm poops when he has the Pepto Bismal. We've asked the breeder to take Guinness to his vet to do some bloodwork tests to find out if it's a food issue or something bigger. I'm pretty sure it's a food issue but I'm stumped at what to do since he can't be taking Pepto Bismal everyday. If you do find something that works with your guy please let us know - we'd be grateful for any suggestions!

[roughstock]

Personally Pro Plan is great from what we have found on our dogs.

I also know a few Breeders of Saints who use it on thier pups with great results.

Maybe it was a bad batch from the factory it is made here im Australia now

Have you made contact with Purina at all ?

they may also be able to help with advise

[Raine]

yaz123, Bubba was born Feb 02. Close though, had me all excited too for a second there. I will let you know how Bubba's food switch works out. Have you tried Eukanbua with Guinness?

Bubba's stool are somewhat better now. Not to sound gross but his stool starts out normal and then turns soft. I'm currently mixing the Pro plan and Eukanuba half and half. So I'm hoping that once he's eating just the Eukanuba that will stop.

He's still refusing the chicken necks.

roughstock, I have not contacted Purina. Might be a good idea.. maybe something has changed or I got a bad bag.

Edited May 1, 2005 by Raine

[Guest yaz123]

Hi Raine;

Just to let you know, the Solid Gold's Wolfcub's Bison and Salmon seems to be working - along with the Pepto Bismol. I did some research and apparently the Pepto helps coat the lining of the pup's bowels and that helps them in healing whatever is causing the inflammation. So far so good with the solid poops, but I don't know what will happen when we stop giving the Pepto! Curious as to where you got Bubba from - we got Guinness from Nerthus Kennels here in Ontario. Also curious as to how Bubba is with exercising and walking on leash - sorry, a bit off topic but it's pretty neat to talk to someone who has a Saint pup the same age!