GreytNanaimo

If you are still having digestive issues, I recommend having a blood test for more obscure parasites. I tried everything with my grey and every time it got better it would go back to being bad again. Found out he had cryptosporidium, a relatively rare parasite that is virtually undetectable and is commonly found in cattle which disrupts the whole digestive tract. After a week long treatment (which was not fun, it cleared out everything in his system) and the addition of a probiotic for a month he was back to having solid (but soft) poops and feeling so much better. I now have little additives in his meals to keep him regular and support his microbiome such as kefir, bone broth, fish stock, etc.

Hello! I adopted my grey (also a large male) just over a year ago when he was 2 years old and had the same troubles, he would just eat anything he could (including trash, an entire corn husk, a remote, etc.) so much so that he ended up needing surgery! He was (and still does to a much smaller extent) resource guard so I understand the struggle of feeling powerless. I initially started by putting his muzzle on him every time we went outside no matter how long we were going to be out for, but this only kept him from getting large pieces of "contraband". On top of his obsession with eating just about anything he was also gobbling up his food as fast as he could and guarding it from anyone who may "take it away". Additionally, similar to as you say, he was getting sick with a poorly stomach at least once a week in which he was absolutely miserable. I'm not sure if your grey is having issues to this extent, but leading up to his stomach surgery it was many-a trips to the vet for anti-nausea, dehydration, etc. Thant being said here is what I did which helped him! (bear with me its a rollercoaster) 1. I immediately made him wear his muzzle every time he went outside (as you mentioned you do this); however, I took it a step further by only letting him outside while on a short leash (4-5ft.) so that he would be close to me and I could easily redirect him from contraband. (this was a short term solution) 2. I also went ahead and dog proofed the section of house he was allowed to roam freely in (to limit him from getting into anything). 3. I split his total food intake (4 cups of food) into 4 separate meal times of one cup each to see if it could keep him "fuller for longer", it wasn't super helpful for me, but it is something simple to try. 4. Next I started to talk to my vet (who specialized in greyhounds) about potential intestinal parasites. We initially tested for the typical hook worm (and derivates) that tend to ail retired racers; however, he tested negative, but just to be sure we went through a round of deworming. Not super helpful, but it was a good starting point because my vet noticed that his microbiome was not in great shape. 5. After not seeing much progress, I took him back for a detailed blood work test (more expensive but IT WAS WORTH IT). The detailed blood work revealed that he had cryptosporidium a relatively rare parasite that is virtually undetectable and is commonly found in cattle which disrupts the whole digestive tract. After a week long treatment with medicine (it was not a fun week) he bounced back. Not only was he no longer eating every little thing he could find, but his resource guarding had improved tremendously as well. 6. As I have continued working with him, I have found that adding little things to his food (i.e. kefir, bone broth, sardines, fish stock, goats milk, etc.) helps keep him more interested in his food as opposed to the less appealing contraband ( training him with a little reward for eating what he should). It also helped regulate his stomach which has become pretty sensitive following surgery and a parasite clean out. Hopefully this gives you some ideas on where to start. I hope it is helpful and keep up the greyt work! (if you have any questions let me know!)