Best diet for GSD?

[King Herald]

We just adopted two five year olds, male and female, and both seem to have sloppy poop. They were on a diet of Wainrights dry food in the rescue Kennels. The female has a bit of arthritis, and is on joint supplement, Nutraquin +, 3 capsules a day.

Any suggestions what/if we should change them to, or should they be okay staying on dry food! Something is not right though, or could it just be the stress of the kennels?

I gave the one her medicine in some canned tuna this morning, they both definitely like canned tuna.

[King Herald]

I'll try them for a few days on this Wainrights 'mature dog with joint supplement', we bought and see if anything changes. Then move onto another. I assume they will be a bit unsettled after moving from a metal box into our luxury palace here.

I just gave them half a carrot each, as they supposedly love them..... they had a taste, dropped them on the floor. Hmm...

[King Herald]

I'll try the shaved carrot later tonight.

We'll see how they go on the Wainrights, then rotate through different types until we see an improvement. They definitely don't seem to eat much at all, which was what the kennel told us before we brought them home.

Arden Grange has been mentioned quite a few times too, and a friend gives it to her two GSDs.

[King Herald]

Came down at 6 am today and found a puddle of brown goo and spatter around it. Someone had a sudden shart for a guess.

I think it may have happened before I let them out at midnight for ten minutes, as there were a couple of brown dog prints in the conservatory, which was closed all night.... surprised I didn't get any on my own feet.... I should have turned the light on......

Today I gave them a dish of their normal dampened Wainrights...... and they both sniffed and walked away.

I guess/hope they are still just settling in. Blue came in from the garden this morning, jumped on the sofa, sprawled out, like he had lived here for years.

[King Herald]

I'll have to go buy some more carrots, the last one we had is laying out in the garden.

[King Herald]

citizensm1th said:

how are we supposed to give a proper diagnosis with out pics?

dogs not stools!

[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/yNKUSAwL[/url]

[King Herald]

Fingers crossed tonight is less adventurous.

Neither of them touched their kibble this morning, until my daughter poured a little juice out of some tinned hot dogs onto them, then they got wolfed down.

She seemed very lethargic and down yesterday but definitely seems brighter and more enthusiastic and playful today.

I'll give it a few more days and see if anything improves. If not, it'll be a change of kibble to one of the suggestions above. If the watery diahorea persists I think a visit to the vet will be required. Just registered them at 'Vets for Pets' today.

Panning for pet insurance too........

[King Herald]

easy_rider33 said:

We feed ours on a raw meat diet. Typically 1.5kg per meal of minced chicken, turkey or beef. We also give him bones and other bits of animals. He ate a full duck carcas yesterday instead of the usual.

I'm a bit curious when and why dogs went from eating meat to eating biscuits. Is the sensitive stomach GSDs are well known for something we humans have caused?

Anyway, I woke up at 4am and came down to check them out, no mess, rejoice, so I let them out into the garden for ten minutes.

My alarm went off at 6:45 and I awoke to the heady smell of dog dung....

Explosive diarrhoea in the kitchen.....

Now we have no carpet tiles in the kitchen, just the ceramic that was underneath.

Not sure whether to remove the food for 24 hours as Andy suggested? First I'll call the kennels as they cover us medically for the first week and I'd rather get some feedback from their own vet before I go any further.

[King Herald]

easy_rider33 said:

IMHO I think the introduction of processed food and the "bulking" it out with lesser product is half the problem with industry in general. Why add more meat when you can get to the same weight by adding gravy, peas and carrots.

Also in another note by feeding raw is that the stools are a lot smaller and predominantly dry.

I guess dog food is treated the same as the sort of stuff we humans get, filled with packers, preservatives etc.


I'm wondering whether I should introduce some raw chicken and liver etc into their diet?

Unfortunately I've decided to move their sleeping area out into the conservatory for the moment. I'll leave the outer door open far enough for them to get out if they feel the call of nature.

I called the kennels today and they said that it is fairly common for their rescues to have a runny load for a week or so after leaving, and that most of the digs in the kennels are like it because they survive mainly on charity donated food and tend to have to mix and match with whatever dog food is given to them.

[King Herald]

Guess I'm off to buy some rice tomorrow then.

Oddly enough, our dogs in the Philippines ate rice every day, with some Argentinian corned beef and Pedigree biscuits mixed in.

I bought them a couple of pigs ears today, they liked them, but they will probably be pebbledashed all up the conservatory wall tomorrow.....

And no, no slug pellets or anything like that in the garden, just a tattered, brown-stained lawn and a couple of demolished flower beds. Who would have thought the best grass and weed killer was a spray of liquid dog poo?

Edited by King Herald on Tuesday 9th May 17:55

[King Herald]

FiF said:

And be strict with the rest of the family, none of this juice from tin of hot dogs or can of Tuna or whatever, just because they've got cute faces and look hungry.

Oops, I did it again today, added a bit of hot water to a spoon of sardines to moisten their kibble.

The kennels told us to add some water, just enough to soften it. I guess it is back to basic kibble then. I did find some respectable logs in the garden this morning, not sure who they belong to, probably Blue. A bit of chilli con carne, but no more watery stuff.

I shall continue to observe.

[King Herald]

I heard that deer horn is good for them to chew on, to occupy them etc, as it tastes and smells good, but they don't actually digest it?

[King Herald]

Hmmm, ours are five, so not sure they'd be into it, but they do like chewing their balls. Well, my balls.

I mean balls I bought, neither of them has any balls of their own.

This is coming out all wrong, isn't it.


Had a little bonding session today in the yard. 20 minutes with a dog comb...... this is one and a half dogs, Blue wouldn't turn over.

[King Herald]

It is actually the male, Blue, who has the loose bottom. I thought it was Sky as she is on medication. It is more like heavy chilli than watery soup though, so not really too much of a problem....unless he decides to release the chocolate prisoners when we are out walking them. I have NO idea how you cope with that mess.

We tried them with some rice added to their dampened biscuits today, they ate most of it quite happily.

[King Herald]

They've been on Arden Grange for adults three days now, and they love it, empty the bowl straight away. Their poop doesn't seem to have changed a lot, it is gooey to firm, but not diarrhoea at all.

Still not sure of the protocol if they squeeze a gooey one out when we are walking them. We tend to feed them an hour before walkies, then let them out in the back garden as soon as they've finished eating.

[King Herald]

FiF said:

How do mean, not sure of the protocol if they squeeze a gooey one out. You clean it up as best you can, we carry kitchen towel sheets to mop up in case of real issues. Yep it's grim work but has to be done imo. All goes in the plastic bags and then bin it.

We use a small dustpan and a trowel in the back yard, but as mentioned, maybe better to feed them after walking.

Handling two large and unpredictable dogs, with main leads and head collar leads, on doesn't leave many hands for carrying a dustpan. We're learning though.

[King Herald]

They have yet to poop once in our evening walks. Tonight we took paper towels and more bags, and a carrier bag, just in case, but we did leave their evening meal until after we got back.

I can't believe how much fur I'm getting off this pair, when I brush them. Probably a ball as big as my head off each one. Not sure if they are losing weight, or they were just so thick with loose fur before.

And they have definitely settled in well, taken over the house almost.

Big boy Blue.

[King Herald]

We feed them twice a day, 7 am and pm now, after their walk.

Still not sure exactly how much they need to eat. With Wainrights they rarely finished their bowl in one sitting, but came back to it several times. With the Arden Grange biscuits Blue empties his right away, but Sky tends to leave some, which Blue now polishes off if allowed to.

Sky was a real porker when she first got to the rescue centre, and loves her treats apparently. We don't give them any, maybe a few single biscuits occasionally during the day.

[King Herald]

Our female, Sky, has 49kg written on her papers from when she was vaccinated in February. That was when she was put in the kennels and they told me she was pretty fat. They have slimmed her down because she has bad hip/arthritis, so I want to be careful she doesn't start to pack the lbs on again.

I'll take her into our vet for a checkup and a weigh soon.

I heard stories that their owner used to cook them a chicken every day to eat, not sure how true that is.

[King Herald]

bexVN said:

Wow 49kg is big for a male shepherd let alone a female. I would imagine she needs to be under 40kg at least. (biggest and very overweight male I knew was 54kg)

We didn't get a weight for him, just her. He is a lot bigger than her too, so I guess she must have been pretty damn porky three months ago. If anything she looks/feels a bit bony now, but you can't feel her ribs.