I measured my handfuls and it looks like in total he's been getting about 2.5 - 3 cups a day, so probably too much.
I haven't been taking his water up early, because I did that the first couple days, but he had a very dry nose and would cry in the evening for water. Mind you, the amount of water in the bowl is limited, so that he can't fill up on it.
Hopefully things in his tummy will sort themselves out in the next week, do you think I should still add the pumpkin?

Ask the tech to look for coccidia and giardia too, and be sure your de-wormer gets hooks and whips.
It's probably the food, like everyone is saying -- and maybe this kibble doesn't agree with him as well as his other kibble.
He is super cute and looks feisty!

 Quote: connie sutherland

(The other one, of course, is deviating from this protocol: "fed 2.8 times per day exactly 5.3 hours between meals." LOL )

Its fact.....I read it somewhere.....

E.T.A. Except during a waning crescent moon. And if you don't know what to do then, I'm not going to tell you.

The dewormer we use does get hooks and whips, yup. The poops he arrived with were much worse, and yellow, but I'm not sure if that was food or stress. We have basically zero incidents of giardia here, but I will look for it. He doesn't really gorge on the food, or go crazy for it, so I'm hoping it was just me over-compensating! My last dog had hypo-thyroid, and I always had to keep such a close eye on his food amounts and calories, I didn't want to starve the little guy!

 Quote: michael_wise

 Quote: connie sutherland

(The other one, of course, is deviating from this protocol: "fed 2.8 times per day exactly 5.3 hours between meals." LOL )

Its fact.....I read it somewhere.....

E.T.A. Except during a waning crescent moon. And if you don't know what to do then, I'm not going to tell you.

I'll just have to read the handbook faster, since the moon shines directly through my window and onto his crate... and is to the left of the mountain, but only by 10 degrees!

Like Connie said...I was thinking a fast, too, but not sure with a pup that young. But it might not be a bad idea to fast him & feed only non salted bated water or some pedeolyte for a day & see if that may stop the cycle & gives his GI tract a chance to recover. If you are concerned about fasting a young pup for a day, ask one of the vets where you work & see if they think that it would be safe to do with a young pup. I've not had to do it with young dogs only older ones a couple of times.

Not sure that I would limit his water, unless he is really gulping large amounts. But would pick it up around 6pm. You don't want him to get dehydrated, especially if he is having loose or pudding stools...he is loosing fluids thru that. Pups can dehydrate very fast & then you really have big life threatening problems.

The pumpkin might help, but not sure that I would add any kind of new foods right now.

You might consider switching him to boiled white chicken & very overcooked soupy white rice for a few days or so & see if that helps settle things down & then reintroduce the kibble in very small quantities. There is most likely chicken in his kibble so it would not be a new food & rice is not any kind of allergy problem as it is so benign. Since the chicken is cooked, not raw it should not be a problem to add some kibble to it. It would not be a nutritional issue unless you do it for more then a week.

Thanks Anne. Yes, chicken is the primary protein in his food. I didn't mean that I limit water in the day, only in the evening because I want to take it up, but he seems to want it so badly. I know that if he has to owe in the night it could be bad, but I don't want him to get dehydrated.
I am also very hesitant to fast such a young dog, especially since there is not liquid stool, black or odd colour or smell. He just had his third poop of the day as I am writing this (outside!) and it is definitely better than where we have been at precious days.
The only other thing that just occurred to me, is that I will start giving him boiled water. We haven't had a boil warning since the spring, but they are burning again up the mountain, so I guess it doesn't hurt.
I think I will try for one more day on a better planned out, plain kibble/no treats diet. If it doesn't get better I'll go bland chicken/rice.
Thanks for the advice everyone, so much harder to think straight when it is your own dog... and a little baby at that.

Could even be the water switch...this happened with my Grace years ago when she came home. She went from well water to city water and it definitely caused some problems.

 Quote: Melissa Hoyer

Could even be the water switch...this happened with my Grace years ago when she came home. She went from well water to city water and it definitely caused some problems.

Hmmm, well definitely could be a factor. I'm pretty sure where he was, they had city water... I don't think a well. Here we get our water off a creek that runs down the mountain. So, in the spring there are boil warnings because of the melt - stuff in it, etc. But it could just be the change, I started him on boiled water today.

Never thought about the water. I have city water, but have a filter on the water coming into the house & have an extra drinking water filter tap on my kitchen sink. We all drink the 2x filtered water.

Hopefully, it will all work itself out as he settles in. Sometimes you never figure out what is the cause, but it works its self out eventually. It's just a little scarey with a young pup.

It IS sometimes harder to think things thru when you are the one dealing with the issue with your own pup.