Rule # 1 in Managing Diet Issues:

               "The best guide to your dog's digestive health is The Poop."

        Its all about the poop...

Yup, as gross as it may seem, your dog's poop is one of the best indicators of your dog's health.

Ideally, Poop should be nicely formed, not smelly, never greasy, no worms and should happen after every meal. If any of these traits are missing, your dog has a diet issue of some sort.

Note: Just because you can't see worms in the poop doesn't mean they're not there. Worms (and bacteria) can be in the dog but not seen in its poop.

For instance, if the poop is really smelly, then the dog's digestive tract just isn't processing the food well and I'd suggest looking into another food choice. Cow pies, runny poop, bloody poop...these are all signs of potentially serious health issues. So keeping an eye on the poop is one way you can effectively monitor your dog's health.

Rule # 2 in Managing Diet Issues:

" There are many occasions when a dog's diet must be altered "

	surgery
	illness
	growth issues
	refuses to eat (and not associated w/an illness)
	excessive eater
	hormonal fluctuations (common to intact dogs)

We'll try to address each topic above and offer some helpful advice.

First, and foremost, its vitally important to remember three things:

1. A typical Vet has a very limited understanding of nutrition.

    -All Vets are NOT created equal. Some are better than others. NONE know everything.  A good Vet will readily tell you they don't know everything about canine nutrition. A bad Vet will never own up to this fact.

    -Yes, Vets can be a good resource about your dog's nutrition.  But the fact is that Vets just don't know nearly as much as we'd like them to! This is especially true about canine nutrition.  Most Vet Schools only require 5 course hours of education on nutrition prior to a DVM degree, and those hours cover more than just canine nutrition (horse, pig, cat, cow, etc). Suffice it to say, its very likely that your Vet doesn't have nearly as much experience with large breed dog diet issues as a very experienced ethical breeder of 15 years or more. Of course, most Vets get more education about nutrition from hands-on experience in practice (like practicing on your dog). However, even at best, the average Vet just doesn't have nearly as much knowledge (or experience) with canine nutrition as we'd like to think they should have.

    -Some Vets like to think they know more than they do. And Some Vets will undermine the advice of a good, experienced breeder who actually knows what they're talking about.  So while its a good idea to run diet plans by your Vet, this doesn't mean your Vet will have the right answer for you. When in doubt, consult a professional canine nutritionist.

2. A typical Breeder has a very limited understanding of nutrition.

    -All Breeders are NOT created equal. Some are better than others. NONE knows everything. A good Breeder will readily tell you they don't know everything about canine nutrition. A bad Breeder will never own up to this fact.

    -Most experienced Breeders have more knowledge of what diets work best with their large breed dogs than ANY VET will know. They've raised their specific breed for years and they know what works and what doesn't work. PLEASE RESPECT THIS BREEDER KNOWLEDGE and experience.   

    -Many breeders may not understand good nutrition for their large breed dogs. This is why the interview process is so important. Before you buy a dog from a breed, ASK and find out what they know (and don't know). Ask about their experiences with raising large breed dogs and find out how many they've personally raised from puppyhood. Use good common sense and references in determining if this Breeder knows what they say they know.

3. What you/Vet/Breeder don't know about canine nutrition, can easily harm your dog. So if your dog has some serious diet issues, please - please! - seek out a professional canine nutritionist. If you have a good Vet, then he/she will know a good canine nutritionist to refer you to in your area. Chances are good your dog's breeder will know of one, too.

4. Diet suggestions you'll find on this website are just that: Suggestions. I am only offering my advice based on my many years of experience. I hope to offer alternatives to people who are searching for solutions for their dog's diet issues. But I DO NOT replace the need for the guidance of a professional canine nutritionist.

SURGERY

Prior to planned surgery, dogs are supposed to have had all food and water withheld for at least 12 hours prior to surgery. This has many benefits, which includes minimizing any breathing issues from vomit, etc.

Depending entirely on the surgery type, a dog may require stringent controls on diet after the operation. Generally speaking, its usually the best idea to go very light on the dog's diet post surgery. We've often fed our Rice/Meat diet (below) to dog(s) during the days following our dog's recuperation from a surgical procedure.

The Veterinary surgeon doing the procedure will most likely be able to guide you about diet for your dog post surgery. Be sure to ask about this ahead of time so you can be well prepared with the right plan.

ILLNESS

Here's a time-worn recipe I've used for years to help dogs with upset digestive tracts, and/or for dogs who are ill and need an undemanding diet for awhile (like after a trauma, during cancer therapy, etc).

Note: Among meat choices available, Chicken seems to be the easiest meat for my dogs to digest.

My basic recipe:

	3 parts cooked Basmati Rice
	1 part cooked meat rinsed of excess grease (chicken or beef)

Rice:

I choose Basmati rice because its non-processed, so it retains its natural balance of nutrition and doesn't have any chemical residues that 'enriched' white rice has. In a pinch, I'll substitute regular, plain white rice for Basmati. However, I never substitute Brown rice, because this is a complex carb that requires a long digestive tract for processing. Dogs have a short/quick digetive tract, and cannot process brown rice properly (no matter how organic the brown rice is). I have successfully supplemented organic cooked pasta or cooked, plain potatoes instead of the rice. But I have always seen better results from the rice.

Meat:

I generally use one (1) of these:

     - fresh cooked chicken rinsed of excess grease

     - canned chicken or turkey that's stored in water (white meat seems to work best)

     - fresh cooked lean hamburger, rinsed well to remove the excess grease

I don't use canned tuna or any other fish, as often-times this meat source is not mild enough for an upset digestive tract to manage properly.

Variations:

Its rare that I add anything to the above diet for a sick dog. However, I wouldn't keep a dog on the above diet for any length of time without adding some more nutrition. For dogs that I feel can handle it, I've occasionally added raw/steamed/cooked vegetables to the above recipe. Its important to understand that some veggies are more difficult for your dog's digestive system to process than others. I advise avoiding diet items that cause excessive gas during your dog's digestive process.

There are lots of chat lists of dog lovers who feed raw/real food as their dogs' daily diet. If you wish to add veggies, I suggest consulting some experienced breeders on those chat lists (www.groups.yahoo.com) Some veggies I've fed...spinach, carrots, various peas, lentils, various beans, bok choy, cabbage, cucumber, various squash, various potatoes, water chestnuts, ginger, garlic, celery, etc. Again, in managing a sick dog, I rarely add anything to the above diet. This is because the goal is to keep the diet very bland until the dog's body's natural defenses regain control. And be careful to limit new diet items, so if something causes a digestive issue, you know which item it is.

When to Feed:

I tend to feed a sick dog the above food in at least three small meals per day (more if needed). Each of these meals will consist of between 1 to 2 cups of food total (more or less, depending on the dog and the situation).

Small meals are important because you want to limit the amount of impact that eating will have to your sick dog.

If I know that I'm going to be managing a sick dog on the above diet for several days, I will cook up one large pot of the rice, and a pot of fresh, lean hamburger or fresh chicken (or buy several large cans of the white chicken or turkey). And I'll divide individual meal portions into either Ziplock freezer bags or small plastic containers that can be put in the freezer. Then, at each meal, I pull out one bag or container which represents an individual meal portion. I'll heat up either in the microwave or on the stove with a little bit of water. This keeps me from having to cook at every meal.

Going Back To Commercial Dog Food:

If all goes well, your dog's digestive tract should respond favorably to the bland diet above.  You'll know this because the poop will have become normal or mostly normal (mostly well formed, not smelly, regular).

To put a dog back on dog food, after the poop is normal, I will add 1 part dog food to the above diet.  The goal is to only offer a small amount of dog food as added to the bland diet, and see how the poop (and tummy) responds. Remember that most dog food represents a significant digestive impact. Keep the commercial dog food amount small at first and only gradually increase commercial dog food amount. If the dog seems to respond well, each day increase the volume of dog food and decrease the volume of rice/meat. After several days, your dog should be back on all dog food, again. This process should take at least 1 week to 10 days, minimum.

If the dog's poop gets loose after you've introduced the commercial dog food, I suggest you keep the level of commercial dog food the same until the poop returns to normal. If after about 2 or 3 days, the poop doesn't return to normal, I suggest you eliminate the commercial dog food from the diet altogether. This means that that commercial dog food isn't agreeing w/your dog and another commercial dog food should be tried AFTER the dog's digestive tract has stabilized again.

GROWTH ISSUES

If you have a puppy that is a breed considered 'large breed' or 'giant breed', or if you identify that any of those breeds are in your mixed-breed puppy - then your puppy is at risk for Growth Issues.

In the space of one (1) year, a large/giant breed puppy will experience tremendous growth in height. This growth WILL BE effected by diet.

There are several studies today which support the fact that the protein-fat ratio in the large/giant breed pup's diet is perhaps one of the most critical factors in growth. This is why many dog food manufacturers offer 'Large Breed' lines in their products.  If you read the labels, the protein-to-fat ratio is much lower (should be) for Large Breed foods versus regular foods.

Simply put: Too much protein-fat causes too fast growth.

Some very experienced, successful Bernese breeders swear that total caloric intake affects growth more than protein-fat ratio. Using their input, cutting back on total caloric intake would reduce growth rate.

One common sign that bones are growing too fast for the joints to compensate (and the kibble is too rich) is a distinctive turning out of one or both of the puppy's front feet while in sitting position.

Another sign is the bending of the 'wrist' or knee of the puppy's front leg(s).

Its important to realize that once you recognize that there is too rapid growth occurring in your puppy, this problem is most likely at an advanced stage. And correctly slowing growth down may take several weeks or months, depending on your dog's age and where his/her growth rate is at.

Some breeders choose to feed adult food to large breed puppies at a young age. We believe the goal there is to moderate growth to a slow process. However, we also believe that puppy may be missing out on some basic nutrition that will affect it at some point, probably during adulthood.

A great way to monitor nutrition is to feel your puppy's coat: is it healthy? glossy? vibrant? or dull, lifeless? Another symptom to monitor is your pup's eyes: do they look healthy? How about activity and energy - is your puppy full of life or slightly lethargic? (Note: level of activity can be breed specific, so that's to be considered). Coat, eyes and energy can all be indicators of the level nutrition.

So, how do you adjust kibble to fit your puppy's current growth pattern? This is easy and can be done without gastric upset if you choose a kibble with very similar ingredients in both puppy and adult formulas (like California Natural).

For bones growing too fast, a cure we often choose is to swap adult food for 1/2 of the puppy kibble - so the end result is the puppy gets 1/2 puppy food and 1/2 adult food. This commonly occurs somewhere between 4 months and 6 months of age. We continue to monitor the bone development over the next few weeks (and the feces) and may again alter kibble choices depending on what we feel is happening with the growth pattern. 

During diet transitions (like from one kibble to another), its important to watch the poop, and understand that it may take a few days to re-settle a dog's digestive tract. More than 10 days of loose stools sends me and that dog to the Vet's. Bloody stools - at any time - sends me and that dog to the Vet as promptly as we can get there.

Keeping similar ingredients in kibbles that you're changing from/to is perhaps the single best thing you can do to help the transition.

Be aware that changing kibble can cause gastric upset. This is of most concern when you're blending two kibbles that do not have very similar ingredients.

If you must blend two kibbles of differing ingredients, blend slowly by adding only a small amount of the new kibble in each feeding Slowly increasing volume of new kibble with every third or fourth day's feeding. Be patient with this transition. If your puppy/dog still has major gastric upset even after using this slow transition method, that's an important sign that that kibble is not appropriate for that dog.

Another method of backing down the level of protein-to-fat ratio, is supplementing cooked Basmati rice for kibble. If you choose this alternative, be aware that you're disturbing the balance of nutrition in your pup's diet. So do not choose to allow Basmati rice to replace kibble for very long.

By the time 6 months rolls around, our large breed puppy is usually on totally adult kibble.

There are exceptions, of course, like the puppy who is a picky eater and is constantly underweight - that's a puppy who will probably be on puppy kibble longer than 1 year.

And for really large breeds, like Irish Wolfhounds or Tibetan Mastiffs, we usually transfer from puppy to adult kibble by 6 months or so.

REFUSES TO EAT

If the dog won't eat whatever it is that you're offering, then it doesn't matter how superb the diet is.

Important: Lack of eating can be one big sign of serious health issue(s). Consult your Veterinarian or Canine Nutritionist or Breeder Promptly!! Don't just assume this is a personality issue without researching possible health issues. Among other possibilities, very often Thyroid Malfunction is connected with picky eaters.

Picky eaters often (choose any of the following):

•  don't like the texture of the food offered

•  don't like the smell of the food offered

•  don't like the flavor of the food offered

•  aren't in a comfortable surrounding

•  are responding to some sort of stress (probably unrelated)

•  are responding to negative training about eating habits

•  are spoiled by being allowed to eat something other than their intended diet (table scraps, treats, etc)

Try the following:

•  Don't feed anything except the meal (no treats, no scraps, etc)

•  Change the food / diet  (go to a different kibble, go to a BARF type diet, etc)

•  Feed alongside the family meal (with their humans)

•  Feed separately in the kitchen while you're cooking a human's meal

•  Feed separately in a private space the dog is known to like

•  Feed with another dog present who is a known good but polite eater (won't eat the other dog's food)

•  Flavor the food (add a touch of garlic, ginger, etc - but never salt)

•  Try adding some real cooked meat in the meal

Never, never, never adhere to this old wives tale without employing caution and wisdom:

"The dog will eat when its hungry"

Yes, this could be true - perhaps your dog isn't hungry enough? But there are also many other important factors to consider. I've had dogs starve themselves into a major case of shock from not eating (greyhounds were the worst).

SO DO NOT depend on the dog eating 'when its hungry enough'.  Use wisdom, and be creative. But keep the dog's health ever in focus.

For serious non-eaters, keep a diet diary of your dog's behavior for at least one full week and consult your Veterinarian or Canine Nutritionist promptly. The faster you diagnose a serious health issue, the better for your dog's prognosis (recovery).

EXCESSIVE EATER

This is a very typical Bernese Mountain Dog trait. One term we Berner people use to refer to our canine excessive eater is "Chow Hound". 

Important: Excessive eating can be one big sign of serious health issue(s). Consult your Veterinarian or Canine Nutritionist or Breeder Promptly!! Don't just assume this is a personality issue without researching possible health issues. Among other possibilities, very often Thyroid Malfunction is connected with excessive eaters.

Excessive Eaters often (choose any of the following):

•  eat so fast you think their meal was inhaled (aka, the Hoover Syndrome)

•  eat most anything offered

•  eat most anything not offered

•  counter-surf for fresh fodder

•  eat poop (may or may not be picky about whose poop or how fresh it is)

•  occasional or constant excessive gas

•  show serious food aggression

•  show no food aggression

•  try to eat so fast there's nothing for anyone else to get

•  finish their food fast enough to gain the chance to forage someone else's food

•  have occasional constipation

•  have occasional diarrhea

•  occasionally vomit from eating too fast

•  will eat even if they're stuffed full of food

When I have an excessive eater, I ALWAYS seek professional analysis of my dog's health. My Vet is my first stop. Among other things, my Vet will do bloodwork analysis and fecal analysis.

After I rule out serious health issues...I do two things:

1. If nothing shows as wrong physically, then I often seek out counsel from a Canine Nutritionist or a Nutritionist I respect. Sometimes, excessive appetite can mean the dog's body simply isn't getting enough nutrition. Its a fact that some dogs digest certain food sources better than others - and every dog is different. One dog may not do well eating a very high quality kibble while another dog does great eating it.  Very often, the dog's digestive ability may not reflect human logic.

2. If nothing shows as wrong physically, then I closely study my dog's personality and emotional responses (at ALL times, not just at mealtimes). I discuss this behavior with other experienced breeders and dog owners. Then I begin trying alternatives to see if I can determine any emotional issues my dog may have.

AFTER ruling out both potential health issues AND potential emotional disorders, I try the following with my excessive eaters:

•  intelligently offer fresh, raw, meaty cow bones from the butcher (use big bones only and promptly toss 2-day old bones) - raw bones can act like a baby pacifier and curb excessive food cravings

•  feed at least two, possibly three small meals per day (don't increase volume, just split it up)

•  substitute 1/2 of regular kibble for diet kibble

•  NEVER feed ALL diet kibble as I deem that a bad diet choice (and often compounds the problem)

•  change foods (often, a dog may be a chow hound on one food and eat normally on another - go figure)

•  add more canned food (not on puppies, though)

•  feed a 'real food diet' (I've seen great success dealing w/excessive eaters by changing to real food versus kibble) 

•  change environment where the dog eats (i.e., if the dog eats alone then he's not competing w/another dog for food - although it may take awhile for him to realize this once you separate him at mealtimes OR feed your dog after the family eats instead of before the family eats, so he knows dinnertime is really, really over, etc.)

•  reassure that there is ALWAYS plenty of fresh water available (sometimes thirst can make a dog think they're hungry)

•  for an active, healthy dog, I may INCREASE food volume (caloric intake) - as the dog may NEED more food!

Never assume that just one test rules out any possibility of a health issue. If the excessive eating continues despite your best efforts, get more Vet tests done.

Note: Thyroid should be tracked to determine any irregularity. Just one thyroid test doesn't prove much. Hyper-Thyroid is one very, very common cause for excessive eating.

HORMONAL FLUCTUATIONS

When living with intact dogs, dealing with their hormonal fluctuations will probably be a way of life.

Just like humans, dogs' personalities can alter slightly when their hormones alter.

Domestic breed bitches usually come into heat/season about twice per year, or more/less often. And as a human female may do, a bitch can exhibit non-normal behaviors.

When a bitch goes into heat, she may either be hungrier than usual or she may go off her food altogether. And when a stud is exposed to a bitch in heat, he will most likely ignore his food altogether.

During these special seasons/occasions, I allow the dog's preference to govern what diet I offer.

For both bitches and studs, I will probably increase certain important items in their diet (protein, for one). 

If the bitch/dog refuses food altogether, then I use some of the alternatives I posted above in REFUSES TO EAT.

Bottom line is that I give the bitch/dog more leniency with diet when their hormones are raging.

If poop gets loose during the 'hormonal surge', then I switch the dog to the bland diet of rice/meat mentioned above until the poop gets more normal. And I slowly return the dog to his/her regular diet.

Remember: The above represents only my experience, the experiences of others that I know of, my personal research and my resulting opinions. 

If you've found a different/special diet that works for your dog, we'd like to learn about it. There's always more good information to learn about dog diets!!