cgs

I do the yogurt thing too when I think he's left too much behind. Usually now it's just a little bit and the little dog comes in and does cleanup. Percy has actually had more dandruff lately. We gave him a bath Monday, so that may have dried out his skin and made it worse. Glad to hear about the neg fecals! I'm wondering if my vet's protocol will work--Advantage Multi only. Two rounds of panacur and 3 of drontal did nothing.

You did your best and it sounds like nothing would have been enough. She wasn't happy. I think you did the right thing taking her back. I know it's hard for you guys though. Some rescues won't allow you to adopt again if you've returned a dog. So if you have to go to a new one that doesn't know your history, ask them for a dog that's not fearful. I was looking back at your first post and you said there were signs when you first met her. Next time around, you can look for a dog that is more affectionate and interested in people. I was worried about Percy not connecting with us because he seemed to ignore me when I met him. Turns out he's super sweet and easy, but not super affectionate. He'll follow me around, but he doesn't come up to me for affection. When I pet him, I wonder if he even likes it. He doesn't wag when petted. If I stop and he doesn't walk away, I'll pet some more, figuring he likes it. I guess my point is, you can't always tell what a dog is like when first meeting them, but there are signs and the kennel people should know. The kennel lady told us Percy was sweet and would be easy and she was right. Good luck.

Percy was whining a lot this morning, so I got up early and let him out and he ran out and ate grass like a starving horse. He did this a couple weeks ago and I saw then that he had eaten some of a houseplant. So I figured he ate it, felt sick, and went out to eat grass. But this morning there's no evidence he ate anything he shouldn't. His stomach is really gurgly and he wanted to go out again--in the rain--and eat more grass. I'm withholding breakfast. My husband often lets the dogs out when he gets up at 4am and he says Percy will often eat some grass then. So I'm wondering if I should just take him off the IAMS. Most days he seems fine, but if he's eating grass sort of regularly and has bad days when his tummy is really upset, maybe I should switch. I was thinking the houseplant made him sick last time, but now I'm wondering if the upset stomach came first and he thought the plant would help like grass.

My reasoning for going back to Kirkland is that Percy's poop has been really good on IAMS + Olewo carrots, even though it was pretty bad on IAMS alone. So I figured if it was decent on Kirkland alone, then Kirkland + carrots would be even better than it is now. Though really, what he has now is fine. Even in the afternoon, I can usually pick it up log by log and it holds together. Sometimes it's too soft for that and I have to try to scoop under, but it's still formed. it would be great to find a food where he doesn't need the carrots, but Kirkland + carrots is still cheaper than a lot of other foods. Purina Pro Plan doesn't have dried beet pulp, so I'm hesitant to change to that. It's also higher protein. But no fruits and veggies.

I'm thinking of having Percy tested again, even though the vet said not to bother for 6-12 months. I'd like to see if we're making progress. Others here seem to get ride of the worms in a shorter time-frame. It's been 2 months since he was last tested and 3 months since we started treatment. Seems like longer. I was having issues with his poop after opening a new bag (new formula) IAMS. Olewo carrots have made his poop really good. But it was really bad without it, so I may switch back to Kirkland, which was better without it. I still have a large bag of Kirkland. Or maybe I'll try something else.

Seems like it would be more trouble and cost to have different formulas for a 15lb bag vs a 30lb bag. I don't see why they would do that.

Costco kibble is small. I don't know what minichunks look like, but Kirkland adult chicken is pretty small kibble. Not sure how you'd get much smaller than that. I compared big and small bags of IAMS in the store and the ingredients were the same. I was comparing the large breed version.

The IAMS has tomatoes, which dogs are not supposed to eat. The email didn't say that this was a new ingredient, so maybe it was in the old batch. I wish I had the old bag. Maybe I'll go hunt around the stores to see if I can find an old bag. I had a 15-lb bag, which I'm guessing doesn't sell as much for a large breed dog. Maybe there are some old ones at Petsmart or somewhere.

It does seem like the small amount of fruit wouldn't matter, but something is making things bad. Maybe it's the spinach--that's higher up. The Kirkland has kelp, and while he was better on that than on this new IAMS, he wasn't great on that. IAMS offered me a voucher for Nutro lamb and rice, which has no fruit and veggies. Percy didn't seem to do as well on lamb as on chicken (the Nutro chicken has fruits and veggies), plus it's a much more expensive food. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do. The Olewo carrots are really helping, so I may just be stuck with using them all the time. I'd prefer to just dump kibble in a bowl, but the carrots aren't a big burden but do add cost. And he doesn't love them--once the kibble is gone, whatever carrot he's managed to avoid is left in the bowl. He prefers plain kibble.

Posted in the food forum--Iams changed the formula in the last year and my new bag was not the same as my old bag.

So it sounds like it could be your first bag on the new formula, but if your dogs change food often with no problem, it'll probably be fine.

Humph. Their website is not up to date. The ingredient lists for the others are updated. So I guess maybe I need a fruit-free food? But he's been much worse on the new Iams than on the Kirkland, but the fruit on the Iams is way down on the ingredient list. It's higher up on the Kirkland. Maybe it's the spinach in the Iams and the kale in the Kirkland? Maybe it's the caramel color? Ugh. Who knows. Neighsayer, your dog is ok on it? How long have you had this bag?

I started feeding Percy IAMS adult large breed green bag toward the end of May and his poop definitely improved. I had a 15 lb bag, so it didn't last long. I got a new 30 lb bag and started that in early June. His poop immediately got softer and really runny at times. The bad was really really bad and the good wasn't as good as it had been. And there was a lot more bad than good. And he was gassy. I contacted IAMS and asked if they changed the formula. I had noticed the new bag had multi-shade kibble where the old bag was all the same color. Yes, they changed the formula in 2017. Here's part of the email I got: We are so incredibly sorry to hear about this experience. Our IAMS® PROACTIVE HEALTH™ Adult Large Breed dog food has had no formula changes since 2017. At that time natural (Caramel) color was added to create the dual-colored kibbles. We also added fruits and vegetables such as spinach, beets, peas, carrots, apples and blueberries. She asked for more information about when I bought the food, the best buy date, etc. Unfortunately, the product code number and best buy date are nowhere to be found. Must have been at the top of the bag where I cut it off to open it. I remember when I switched from Kirkland to IAMS and I compared the ingredients. I definitely didn't remember there being blueberries, apples, peas, etc. I distinctly remember noticing that Kirkland seemed "better" because it had that stuff. So I think maybe the fruits and/or veggies are not good. Kirkland has carrots, peas, dried kelp, apples, cranberries. No blueberries, no spinach. He didn't do as well on that, so maybe fruit is a problem. I noticed the ingredients on the mini-chunks didn't have fruit and veggies, so I asked the person if that was up to date and I may try switching to that. But sheesh, I want my money back. I did start adding olewo carrots to Percy's food last night and it's made a vast difference. Even his afternoon poop was excellent today.

Percy's poop has gotten really nasty again and I think it started when I opened a new bag of food a few days ago. Same IAMS green bag, just a different bag. It seems to me that the kibble is more varied in color. The first bag seemed all the same, at least that's what I thought. It could be my imagination. But has anyone had problems with a recent bag or just in general whenever they start a new bag?

I had used the carrots for a while, but then he started trying to eat around them.I was actually thinking of trying them again because I feel like his coat isn't as shiny as it was.

Every thread ends up being about hooks. Hate these things. Percy regurgitated his breakfast the other day. I don't think I would have worried, but I was glad to have this thread to tell me not to worry! I had stepped outside, so didn't hear him barfing. I came in and found him standing over a pile of kibble seeming to wonder what it was doing there, lol. I put him outside where he barfed up the other half. I swear he could have just eaten it again. It was pretty much in it's original form, just a little wet. I waited an hour and then gave him breakfast again, half at a time. He was fine.

I posted some of this in the hookworm thread...I switched to IAMS green bag and things are better, though still not what I'd like them to be. His poop has definitely become more formed and less soft almost all the time. Sometimes there are still drippy parts on top or an occasionally really soft poop all the way through. But all in all better. So now my question is about volume and picking it up. It's still to soft to just pick up claw-like piece by piece. And it's too much to get my hand around the whole thing. So I try to shovel in from the bottom, but this rarely works well. I've often ended up using two bags. The first gets the bulk of it and the second gets the rest that smeared on the grass. Because it's still difficult to get it all up, I still try to get him to go in common areas, rather than someone's lawn. I'm female, but my hands aren't particularly small. This is my first large dog. Is this normal? My little dog's poops are solid and dry enough that I can usually pick them up log by log and it holds together.

I've been pretty lucky. Percy had some paint-peeling gas in the beginning, but I think that was the cheese I was giving him to try to teach him the stairs. Once we stopped that, he was pretty good through TOTW, Kirkland chicken, Kirkland lamb and now IAMS. He has had little bouts of gas in the last day or two, but nothing that lasts. I smell it and then it's gone. When it was bad in the beginning, omg, it was bad.

Great news avisher! PaddysDad, I just wipe with a damp cloth too, but have done it later the same day or the next day because I can't stand it. At least in our case, it doesn't get on anything--he sticks to his beds.

So far I've only found this:https://www.drugs.com/pro/advantage-multi-for-dogs.html Shampooing 90 minutes after treatment does not reduce the effectiveness of Advantage Multi for Dogs in the prevention of heartworm disease. Shampooing or water immersion 4 days after treatment will not reduce the effectiveness of Advantage Multi for Dogs in the treatment of flea infestations. However, shampooing as often as once weekly may reduce the effectiveness of the product against fleas. I don't normally shampoo him afterward, but after his fur dries and it's been a few hours, I have often rubbed him with a damp cloth to get the ickness off his fur. He's not soaked in water and I don't use soap or shampoo. I'd hate for the one treatment he's getting for hooks be ineffective because I'm trying to clean his fur. I can't stand it being sticky and oily. Ok, now I found this--don't know how accurate it is. The info above is from the product label itself. https://www.wikihow.com/Apply-Advantage-to-Dogs Advantage takes about 24 hours to absorb in your dog's skin. Therefore, you may want to avoid bathing your dog or allowing him or her to get wet for 24 hours after applying Advantage to ensure full absorption of the treatment.

How long after applying Advantage Multi can I wash off Percy's fur?

Dogs will get into things. We had a tree taken down and my dog is now picking up large pieces of wood shreddings and bringing them inside to use a chew toys. It would be impossible for me to pick them all up. Most of them were actually removed. I pick up large pieces that I see when I'm in the yard, but more are buried in the soil just waiting for Percy to dig them out. Thankfully I was able to take it right from Percy's mouth without any reaction whatsoever. It sounds like your daughter may have been home alone with the dog and was probably right to worry about what he had. Sounds like all of you will need to learn how to trade up. Until that is established, in a situation like that, I would try to distract the dog away from the prize. Does the dog run for the door when the doorbell rings? Then ring the doorbell? Will he come when he hears the leash or his food bowl? Then do that. Once he leaves the prize, leash him or crate him and then remove the prize. For me personally, not having dogs growing up and being bitten more than once by a neighbor's dog as a kid (nasty little thing and for some reason they'd ask me to look after him when they were away), I don't know that I could keep a dog that bites. If picking grass off his butt caused a bite, it seems like you never know what else might cause a bite.

There's been some mushiness the last day or two. Not horrible, but not great. I didn't give any Advantage Multi, so I'm glad to know it's not that. But I do wonder if it could be a 2 week worm cycle. I may give Advantage today and see what happens, or may wait until Friday, which would be 3 weeks since his last dose. He did have a couple treats, but I accidentally got these mini-treats, so they're bone shaped treats literally the size of a Flintstone vitamin. I don't know how many he's gotten--I never give him treats, my husband does--but it couldn't be that much. Prior to that he'd had some dentastix and he was having good poop on those days.

Lol PaddysDad. I read that paragraph about converting the doses to my daughter. She commented that her friend who is a middle school math teacher could make a word problem out of it. This friend is a horseback riding friend and does often use word problems related to her horses.

He had a good solid afternoon poop! It was probably in the top 3 of all time for quality poop! That's 3 days in a row with better poop and really good today. Looks like IAMS is doing the trick! I hate that he doesn't like it nearly as much as the Kirkland. But I love that it's cheap and easily available at multiple stores within a mile of my house. I should put this in the poo thread instead of the hookworm thread.