# So food confused!!



## vtomblin (Jul 18, 2010)

I feed raw in the morning and kibble in the eve. I put a spoon of pumpkin in the chow too. Keeps the poo solid whether it's too hard or too soft. Works for both. 

I just went through giardia with both mine. It is super hard to get a positive test. If the protozoa are not shedding at the time it will test neg. When in doubt my vet treated with antibiotic which you are doing plus flagyl. Flagyl seems to cure most anything diarrhea. It works on giardia, new home scared diarrhea, garbage gut and alot of general upsets. See what your vet thinks. 

For the going out at night try a poochie bell. Google it it is sleigh bells hanging off the door knob. My guys including the new 12 week old pup ring the bell when they want out. You can have one on the bedroom door too. It's really easy. Ring the bell each time they go out and use your command. Then get them to bump the bells with their nose and let them out with lots of praise. I love it. 

You seem well informed with regards to food. So good luck!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I find home cooking really does not take that much time if you make batches, and freeze in meal or day sized portions. And the dogs LOVE it!


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## wowbaby (Jul 14, 2010)

I've seen the bells, but my husband likes to sleep with the bedroom doors shut and and air purifier blasting--I'm not sure we'd hear it. Worth a try though. I'm not sure how to train him on one kept upstairs. Last night I heard him nudging our bedroom door to come in but he had already had an accident. We're doing flagyl + amoxicillin, so hopefully it'll work for us like you say. I'd be curious for cooked recipes if you can vouch for good poops, I know he'd like it.


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

I think the problem is the combination of the raw hamburger and kibble. Try cooking the hamburger first. Also, I'd crate the dog at night.


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## partial2poodles (Feb 11, 2010)

I mix the foods just before serving and they have to clean it all....the bacteria builds if sitting out for hours. I used to feed way more kibble but now its less kibble in the morning with lots more yummy stuff...today they had beef heart, liver and par boiled tripe. When that is gone, they are satisfied till evening when they come in the living room with us and eat in front of the TV. They love laying around a cake pan and nibbling....just like us with a bowl of chips and pretzels. A few times of diarreah is nothing to get concerned about. Same thing happens with people....one day its hard, one day its soft.


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## Desiree (Feb 14, 2010)

The bacteria load of different batches of ground raw meat may be different each time you buy it. Your dog sounds like it has sensitive digestive system at this point in his life. Cook all of his meat if you can or just feed him a grain free kibble that works for him. 
If this was my dog, I'd just feed kibble and stop worrying about raw food and get him housebroken for the first year to eighteen months. Crate the dog at night because he won't get housebroke crapping on the carpet every few weeks. Once he has stopped growing and his digestive system has matured; I might try adding other types of foods for variety but for now keep it plain and the same. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

This is an excellent site for straight forward information on different diet options: DogAware.com: Diet Options for Dogs

I follow her guidelines, but don't add much in the way of carbs for my dogs - they only get a few ounces of food a day, and don't really need the carbs.


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## wowbaby (Jul 14, 2010)

Hey everyone, thanks for the input. Lenny is totally housebroken. We've left him uncrated while we're away for many hours with no accidents. He just has a hard time when he's sick and we're asleep. 

I found a sale on THK online and Hubby says no food is too expensive for Lenny  We both want him to love his food again, so we're going to give it a try. I think any add-ins will be cooked since he seems to have a sensitive tummy. I will probably look into cooking for him too, but this will get us started.

He is feeling much better! He started eating and getting perkier yesterday afternoon and today is begging to play fetch. He's even pretty easy to pill. Of course, a poodle with such good manners would be  I'm grateful for our vet's care and even more in love with my spoo!


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

If you still want to feed both kibble and raw, why don't you separate them by meals? I do raw in the morning and grain free kibble at night. Otherwise, I would do what cbrand said and cook the hamburger and mix it with a high quality grain free kibble. Some dogs cannot handle the raw mixed with kibble.


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## Desiree (Feb 14, 2010)

Glad to hear he's feeling better and that he is housebroken. So many dogs are given away for potty problems so I always think of fixing that issue during the first year no matter what. 

I just starting using THK Preference about a month ago. It's just veggies so you can add meat, cooked or raw. I've noticed that the stools are nice and solid for both my dogs. Good Luck!:alien2:


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## grab (Jun 1, 2010)

I've frequently mixed raw and kibble and haven't had an issue even with my sensitive stomach dog.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

When you were on RAW - were you doing the correct ratio of meat and bone? I ask because you were on the RAW for 5 months with 3 episodes (thats not that bad). When you feed too much meat this can cause diarrhea.

Also burger is not a highly recommended meat for RAW feeding. There are different variations from butchers and chains of stores, so you have to be careful feeding it. 

Many dogs cannot do RAW and kibble together. Great for those that can, I would not recommend it personally. There has been a lot of changes to your dogs diet. I had similar issues, there was no rhyme or reason for her episodes - so I bit the bullet researched and researched RAW because Suri's stomach didn't want any form of kibble. I am not anti kibble - but I would try the RAW again personally and be sure your taking it slow doing slow introductions to proteins and make sure your dog gets enough bone.


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## wowbaby (Jul 14, 2010)

You know Olie, I'll think about going back to raw. Can you believe that he wouldn't touch THK? I'll have to go on to their website and post the only negative review. It's a bit of a relief though since it's so pricey. He's been eating his kibble with more relish since I started changing up the toppings; yogurt, pumpkin, cooked ground turkey, freeze dried tripe. I did not feed ground meat when I fed raw--just when adding raw to kibble. The bone ratio with our raw diet was good. At least two of his diarrhea episodes have coincided with his Sentinel dose, so I'm going to watch him carefully next time and then I'll decide if that was to blame. It's listed as a rare but possible side effect, and at least one other dog on this forum had a similar reaction. I know dogs get diarrhea sometimes. I just want to make sure we're doing the best we can to support his system, avoid triggers and feed him healthy foods that he tolerates well. If anyone wants to buy a barely touched 10 lb. bag of Keen for half price, let me know!


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