Undigested food in poop?

So we're moving Darby (9 weeks) over from the Bil-Jacs frozen that the breeder was feeding to Natural Balance. We're at about a 50/50 mix at this point. This morning after breakfast I saw that she pooped out some whole pieces of the Natural Balance with her stool. Her stool was fully formed, but a little slimy and soft. The Natural Balance pieces were whole (dime sized) and appeared unchewed. I resisted the temptation to save a few bucks by rinsing them off and reusing them.

I know that a little tummy upset isn't uncommon when changing foods, but I'm bothered that she's apparently swallowing the Natural Balance whole. She may not be used to doing much chewing since the Bil-Jacs is soft.

Should I break up the Natural Balance into smaller for now, or will that just enable her to continue not chewing up her food? Advice?

A lot of dogs are gulpers instead of chewers. Instead of breaking it up, you could add warm water to the food and let it sit for a couple of minutes to soften it.

We softened Herschel's food purposely until he was about 10 weeks old (he's a chewer and we didn't want to hurt his teeth). We still add a lot of water to each bowl just to make sure he gets enough fluids (exercises like crazy) but we don't let it sit before giving it to him.

In fact, with your dog's preference towards the wet food she will probably like the softened kibble.

That's a pretty good idea, I believe I'll try it. Although I'd sure like that not to be necessary forever. Ultimately I'd rather not have her be too fussy about stuff like that. I think she has a difficult time perceiving hard/crunchy things as food. I've tried a few different training treats to see which she'll respond to, and she just spits out most dry treats. Apparently she believes her teeth are only designed for the couch and carpet.

If you have to moisten her food for a long time (or forever) in order to aid her digestion, I don't think that's a case of her being "fussy" so much as her way of eating and your way of helping her out. Dogs are all different on how they chow down, so if she turns out to be a gulper and non chewer for life, helping her with some moistening would be a good thing for both of you. But who knows? It could just be a adjustment period in the switch from wet to dry.

That's certainly true. We'll see how it goes. I moistened it for lunch a few minutes ago and she licked the bowl clean, so it obviously made it more appealing to her.