Diarrhea, kibble related?

I recently got a dog from an animal shelter, she's about 6 months old and I was told she was a German Shepard mix, I've had her for about 2 weeks now...she's a smaller dog, averaging between 25 and 30lbs. She was in excellent health, has all her shots up to date, and was spayed and has healed wonderfully.

When I brought her home she was fine, hyper and happy and normal stool. It seems though, that as the food she had been given at the shelter finished going through her system and the new food I've been giving her has kicked in, she's had diarrhea, and it's only gotten worse...I've tried having her go 12 hours without food, to try to settle her stomach, but it did nothing for her. She's still as hyper and happy as she was, but its no fun to have to let her out every 45 mins...nor is it to clean up her accidents when she can't quite make it to the door in time...and I know she doesn't enjoy it either.

I'm feeding her pedigree for puppies, never any people food or table scraps...but after doing some research, I'm thinking of trying something new...

Is it bad to give a 6 month old puppy adult dog food? I was considering trying Pro-plan for dogs with sensitive stomachs. Suggestions on which puppy food is the "best"? Is there a puppy food for sensitive stomachs?

I'm going to give her plain chicken and rice for dinner, along with half of an immodium pill to see how she does...chicken and rice the next couple days, then gradually introduce a new kibble, whatever it may be. How about plain scrambled egg by the way? Is that gentle on their stomachs as well?

I hate to have to take her to the vet and stress her out even more...she's drinking just fine also, I've made sure of that so she wont become dehydrated...any advice or suggestions would be appreciated though.

First, welcome to Chaz and Kudos to you for rescuing!!! What is your puppy's name?

Scrambled eggs are baaaaad for diarrhea so don't do that. And Pedigree is a baaaaad food. There are much, much better foods out there, so if you're going to switch, do a little research first. Canidae and Innova are both good foods, and there are several others.

I would guess the current problems are due to 1. stress of going from shelter to a new home and 2. change in foods. You're totally on the right track with withholding foor for 12 hours (I might even withhold it for 24 hours) and then start with bland chicken and rice. Do NOT withhold water, as your pup can become dehydrated. You can give her pedialyte if you are concerned about dehydration. You can also give a tablespoon of canned pumpkin (just plain canned pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling) and the will help immensely.

It is a good idea to give a GSD pup adult food at around 6 months because the puppy foods will cause her to grow too fast and contribute to joint problems.

Goodluck and let us know how she does!!

also congrats for rescuing your pooch!

I agree with CM, also I feed one of my dogs the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin/Stomache for his skin issues, and have to say he's done very well on it, sorry can't lend info on the stomache end of things.

Also, something to ponder, did your vet do any giardia/coccidiosis/fecal testing?? Just a thought since she came from a shelter and gosh knows what they could pick up from there.

Good luck with her
diane

it sounds like it could be the food. might want to check with the vet though... just to make sure

Her name is Sana btw, and here's a quick pic of her as well.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Turns out it was the kibble after all. I gave her the chicken and rice for two days before slowly adding in the new kibble. I decided to go with Pro Plan and she's all better now. She loves this kibble, it's like a treat for her, lol. She's got more energy too, which I didn't think was even possible for her!

Sana is beautiful!! I'm glad she's doing better.

welcome to chaz she is cute and I am glad she is doing better. hope you enjoy the forum!