Have you tried any of the different flavors, or the canned?

I wonder if he might have giardia? I copied the statement at the bottom from a website on it, plus I have a little DachChi that had it for a long time, even went through a pregnancy of 4 puppies, and fed them. I felt so bad I was too ignorant to try harder to find out what was wrong with her.
What are the signs of a Giardia infection?

Most infections with Giardia are asymptomatic. In the rare cases in which disease occurs, younger animals are usually affected, and the usual sign is diarrhea. The diarrhea may be acute, intermittent, or chronic. Usually the infected animals will not lose their appetite, but they may lose weight.

When I first adopted him, i was feeding him half a can of the wilderness formula, mixed with the lamb puppy formula. After a few weeks, I weaned him off the canned to only the dry. His stools have been loose for well over a month. I think this food is just too rich for him. I have been researching foods all night, and am still confused about what to switch him to. I was interested in brands like Innova, but after reading reviews of the line, see that loose stool and gas are common complaints.

You should probably take him to a vet and have him tested for it or coccidiosis

Or, look over this website: http://www.beaglesunlimited.com/beaglehealth_giardi asis.htm

I remember it from a long time ago. Notice the yellow highlighted section.

He actually had coccidiosis when I adopted him, along with ring worms. He was on albon, and flagyl, and something else that I cant remember the name of right now.... He has finished all of his meds, and went to the vet less than 2 weeks ago. They did a stool sample then, and it showed that his parasites have all cleared up. Because of this, I am thinking I need to switch the food. After reading a ton of reviews on dog foods last night, I think I am going to transition him onto the Natural Balance venison formula. It seems have helped lots of dogs with the gas, and poo problems. fingers crossed!

We have a two year old Lab and a two year old basset both of whom have been on Blue for over a year. The lab has a very sensitive stomach and does very poorly with additives in her food and has always done well on the Blue. Last month Blue officially became the most expensive food on our pet store shelves at just a few cents shy of $50 for the 30lb bag and around the same time both dogs began to have stomach issues. The lab developed extremely loose stool and had to come off of food and onto a brown rice and boiled chicken diet for a few days and then had to have pumpkin and rice added to her diet. She began dropping weight (5lbs in less than 10 days) and 15lbs into the bag I took her to the vet who could not find anything wrong with her. The vet suggested I change her food and I have been transitioning her very gradually to the Nutro venison ever since. As the portion of Nutro to Blue increases her coat is looking better, her stools are better, she is gaining back her weight and no longer seems as hungry as she was. the basset is doing very well also with the switch. i am not sure what happened but my dogs began having problems the price increase took effect which makes me wonder if there were formulary changes in addition to the price increase.

Now that I think about it, my husband who is mostly home days with the dogs commented that one of them had diarrhea, or loose stool. This has been a month ago or maybe a little more. I do remember the price change, but always have so much going on didn't correlate that to the stool problem. He's been out of town for 2 weeks and I'm overun trying to take care of all our animals by myself, plus work fulltime (half sick this week) so it's difficult to try to track down who's having the problems single handedly. I may try the brand you mentioned and ask the husband to see if he can detect if it's helping. Thanks for your very candid and helpful input!

Anyone that has more time than I do, care to write to them and ask about a formula change? (without mentioning any problems, of course)

Labbie1 and all other interested parties: I have spoken with Dr. Micky, one of the veterinarians in charge of formulating Blue Buffalo pet foods. There has been no formula change. His only conclusion is that Labbie's lab likely developed or exhibited an exposure allergy to one of the ingredients in Blue. Perhaps the protein, could be the barley.

I, personally, caution against any Nutro foods. Nutro foods are made by Mars, the same company that makes Pedigree. You can't trust a company that makes a horrible quality product like Pedigree to make a truly worthwhile food in any of the Nutro brand formulas. Mars Foods/Masterfoods is a horrible supercorporation that doesn't give a damn about pet health, only about profit. There are plenty of other foods to choose from that could greatly help your dogs.

Growing up we had a lab that was allergic to lamb meat... I currently have a three month old lab on the chicken puppy kibble and he's doing great! Some times the protein is harder to digest, which can cause gas and possibly your stool issues... I hate to see anyone give up on such a great brand, since it's been so good to us! Hope you find what works best for you and your buddy, though!

Journey to Fromms Dog Food as I did escaping blue after two months.

Every one is happy now.

Transitioning a dog to a new diet while the animal is being treated for parasites is not a good idea. The dog's system was already under a lot of stress from the parasites and medication, not to mention the move from a shelter to a new home, so it really isn't a surprise that his digestive sytem "revolted." Your intentions were clearly for the benefit of the animal but you may have been just a tad too eager. I am glad to hear that he has returned to normal. The next time you decide to change his diet keep some canned 100% pumpkin (not the pie filling varieties containing spices) handy and add some to the meal. The fiber in the pumpkin helps soothe the digestive track and firms up the stool at the same time.

I actually did implement the 100% canned pumpkin into his diet, and unfortunately it did not change his anything while he was still eating the Blue. I really wanted this food to work, and went through almost 30 pounds before I knew I had to make a switch. He is thriving on the Natural Balance Venison formula. He very well could be allergic to lamb that was the main protein in the Blue puppy I was feeding. Going to keep him on a limited ingredient diet from now on, unless unforeseen problems develop. Thanks for the input!

My guess is that you were feeding too much Blue. It is richer than most of the others. That does not mean that it is too rich for your dog. It means you have to feed less!!!!!!!!!!

Bluejay- I have described my situation quite clearly. Your comment seems to hold a contradiction. You say that Blue is richer than most others, but my problems must be due to overfeeding. Charlie is a mixed breed (guess is lab and coon hound) and at the time I began feeding him Blue, he was 4 months old. He has seen two different vets, and I was told by both that his expected mature weight is 60 to 70 pounds. I was feeding him approx 3 cups a day, with minimal treats. This is in the mid range of what Blue recommends to feed a puppy of his size. I have stated before in my posts, that it was my assumption that the food was too rich OR he may have a lamb allergy. His problems all cleared up after I switched his food from the Blue! It angers me that you assume that I am overfeeding my dog, without looking at all the facts that I have clearly stated. I do not think Blue is a bad brand of dog food, nor am I attacking it. It just did not work for him!

I apologize for angering you. That certainly was not my intent. I was under the impression that you were asking for suggestions. I didn't say that your problem MUST be overfeeding. I said MY GUESS is that you are overfeeding. I was basing this on long experience with seeing people switch from a lower quality food to a high quality food like BB and feeding the same amount of the much more nutrient dense food and loose stools and flatulence is a very common sign of overfeeding. I have done some investigating and am now more convinced that you were overfeeding. Average weight for a four month old lab is about 20 pounds. I realize that the Blue Buffalo states the amount to feed based on the pup's present age and weight at maturity (I don't agree with this). Many companies state the amount based on the pup's present weight and age, which I think is much more accurate; however BB states that a cup of the lamb puppy formula contains 554.1 kcal per cup. Several sites on the internet (listed below) state that a 20 pound pup needs 900-1200 kcal per day. Using the average of 1100: 1100 divided by 554.1 = 2.02 cups per day. I still think you were overfeeding and I don't mean that as a disparagement or a criticism. I was merely trying to help. The kcal is a much more exact way to figure although not all companies state the kcal (you can call the company to find out). Perhaps my exclamation points are what angered you. They were intended to emphasize the "too much" rather than the "too rich." I am certain that overfeeding is a very common problem. I am not pushing Blue Buffalo but like to see dogs fed one of the higher quality foods (Wellness, Solid Gold, Innova, Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo).

http://www.phouka.com/dogs/dog_amount.html#cal_pup
http://www.lizzyshealthypetfood.com/index.asp?PageA ction=Custom&ID=42

BLuejay-I apologize for my reaction, and thank you for the advice. His problems could have been due to many issues. After all, he had parasites and was quite skinny when I adopted him. I adopted him from a high kill shelter, and even though he was just a pup, he was on the urgent list. The shelter had been feeding him Science Diet, which he turned his nose up at ( smart dog!) so transitioning his food was impossible. I really really wanted Blue to work for him. I brought him with me when I bought his first bag of Blue, and the associate tried to show me other foods, but I refused. My senior min pin has thrived on it! His stool issues would just not improve. It only got worse. One day was it was practically liquid, and I was so worried I called into work and took him to the vet. He had already finished his medication from the shelter. According to his fecal test, the parasites were gone. They put him back on metronizadone, which improved things. But sure enough, the stool issues went back to pudding after he completed the medication. I tried mixing in a little canned straight pumpkin, but it didn't make any difference. In total, I fed him Blue for over a month and a half. Was I over feeding him? It's possible, but I am more apt to think the issue was a food allergy. I spent many hours researching food brands, in order to make an informed decision on what to transition him to. I read about Wellness, Canidae, Innova, and many others. I opted for Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Venison formula, which is a LID diet, and works well for allergy prone dogs. I think that this is a high quality food. It is about ten more dollars a bag than Blue, but the results I have had are worth the extra money. Like you, I believe in feeding my dogs high quality foods. My min pin ate Nutro for years, but I switched him to Blue b/c I wanted to give him a better food. Years ago I thought Nutro was great food, but after researching dog feed, I realized I was wrong. It angers me when I go to the grocery store and see bags of Pedigree, or Ol Roy in people's carts. After three mere days of transitioning him to Natural Balance, all of his issues cleared up. No more pudding poops, biting his paws, or having to poop 6 times a day. His coat is softer and his eyes are brighter. He is now 6 months old, 38 pounds, lean and strong. I only wonder how big he will be at his mature weight. The lab/hound mix is essentially just a guess. I also see signs of Boxer, and maybe even a little Pit. Debating whether to have him DNA tested. Again, I thank you for the advice and apologize for my flippant reaction to your initial comment.