I have a 6 1/2 month old GSD. I currently have her on Wellness Dog Food. When I bought her 3 months ago, she was eating a mix of junk, including Ol Roy. I switched her to Wellness, and noticed that her stools became more soft. She also had a bought of worms, so we got that treated, but she still has pretty softly formed stools on Wellness. Is it possible it is too rich?

My freezer is full of raw bones and my pantry stocked with pumpkin and supplements Leerburg recommends. My older dog has colitis, but can eat raw bones and even Salmon Oil, but not much fatty meat or organs. But my puppy, each time I feed her raw, she ends up with the runs. She also will vomit out chunks of undigested bone the next day. Here is what a feeding schedule would look like: AM and PM 2 cups Wellness Adult Food, plus light treats during training. On raw: 1 1/2 cups Wellness AM, mid day she gets a raw bone which may be turkey neck or chicken leg quarter, then PM 1 1/2 cups Wellness. I am afraid to switch her to totally raw because she is thin and still growing. I worry that I will not be feeding her enough for her growing body.
I suspect that Wellness is a rich dog food, and I have considered switching to something else dry while I make the switch. I have read that bones and dry food should not be mixed, but I do it with my old dog and she has no problems. I am just at my wits end to know why she is having this bowel problem. I have read all the books and all Ed's posts, and I still don't know exactly what to do. Any advice you all have would be so appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Wellness, for whatever reason, can be harder to digest for a dog who has been on a crap kibble, IME. I have had the best luck as far as transition, with Orijen. Typically, too MUCH food is the leading cause of loose stools. What happens if you cut the amount in half for a few days (just to see)?

Chunks of undigested bone in vomit is typical of a dog who has not developed the necessary enzymes to digest bone thoroughly; this is a temporary thing and will improve.

As far as the 'raw bones' you are using, they aren't really bones as much as they are food, so you may be having problems b/c of the kibble/raw/kibble again schedule. A RMB is more like a soup or knuckle bone, and is recreational in nature as well. Chicken leg quarters are a staple in many dogs' diets.

How much does she weigh? Can you feel/see her ribs and/or hip/pelvic bones?

Unless you transition 100% to whatever diet you decide, you will continue to experience this. You can certainly do half kibble and half raw (in different meals), but switching from all kibble, to half and half, and then back again is IMO, too much for this dog. Some would be fine; apparently, this one is not.

She weighs about 43 pounds. Yes, I can see her ribs and pelvic bones. She always seems to be starving to death, whether really hungry or food motivated or both, I'm not sure. I feel like 2 cups of Wellness is a lot of food and she seems to poop most of it out from the volume of her stool. I thought when I went to Wellness, there would be a marked decrease in volume, as it is in my dog who is on raw and Science Diet Light. Because she is so thin, I worry about feeding her less. I'm a half Polish woman raised in the south and on top of that, Baptist... so eating is life! LOL.

So, if I go all raw, then what would I feed her until she develops the ability to digest the bones? Chicken breast with and without bone, hamburger, small amounts of turkey necks? Is that enough to sustain her and keep her healthy? I know I can't give lots of skin, organ meats or fatty fish or oil yet. I'd like to go totally raw and skip the dog food all together. What would you suggest as a daily diet until her stomach develops more?

I wasn't saying to not feed the bones; I was just saying that what you're seeing is normal and will improve if you decide to go all raw. I'd copy the diet plans on the site and skip kibble altogether. For whatever reason, it doesn't sound like she's absorbing the Wellness. 2 cups is a reasonable amount of food...any health issues at all? She couldn't possibly have EPI could she? Very thin, always loose stools...

With my dogs if they aren't getting enough fat they won't put on weight.

If your pup is thin and hungry then she probably needs more food.

If you keep floating her between raw and kibble all day, every day, it will take a long time to get her digesting properly, if at all.

If you insist on doing both raw and kibble do one in the morning and the other in the evening. Kibble takes longer to digest than raw and a mix in the gut can be a mess.

If it were me I would switch her to raw cold turkey. As long as I'm feeding plenty of bone/calcium and not excessive fat I have not had a problem with loose stools. I fast new dogs/older puppies for a day, then they get the same raw diet as everyone else and I never have any loose stools with them, even on the first day. If I am feeding meat with no bone, such as beef or pork meat, I roll the meat in bone meal or Di Cal. They never puke up powdered bone or calcium.

Are you sure your older dog with colitis is not adversely affected by the mix of raw and Science Diet? Why are you feeding Science Diet???

Tammy, here are a couple of suggestions. First of all, if you are going to be feeding both kibble and raw, you need to separate by more time. Kibble digests very slowly compared to raw.

If it were me, I would feed only twice per day. Personally, I feed kibble in the morning and raw in the evening; this works well for my dog, but I have seen other posts from people indicating that it caused stomach/bowel issues with their dog. You may have to decide on one or the other. Raw is best, of course...

For the raw portion, start out with one protein source. A good one is deskinned chicken backs. They are easy to digest. Add a dollop of plain yogurt with active cultures to her raw meal. This may help gear her stomach toward digesting raw. Once you see firm stools (like, a week's worth) you could add another protein source, like chicken necks, or maybe chicken legs. Also, at this time you could add salmon oil and vitamin 'e'. Go slowly with adding new protein sources.

Also, she might benefit from the addition of digestive enzymes like this:
http://leerburg.com/55.htm

Have you read the Leerburg raw sample menus?

http://leerburg.com/diet2.htm

There are many knowledgeable folks here who can help you get started. Keep us posted!

Plain Yogurt or Kefir with active cultures is always a good addition to help the gut balance itself out. The added calcium is a benefit as well for growing pups.

Probiotics would be good for both of your dogs.

Has she EVER had normal stools since you've had her? While feeding her more is logical if she's thin, the fact that her stools are loose on only 2 cups of food is a little concerning, especially if you've been feeding Wellness for 3 mos. Now, like I said before, if you are continually switching between diet plans, that could be the culprit as well.

Has she been tested for coccidia?

Good call. I think she was wormed, but not otherwise tested. Tammy said she'd had worms and was treated...but I wonder how thoroughly the vet looked into the issue once they found so many worms. Many would assume the worms were the whole problem.