Dietary Concern: Dog with recurring Bowels issue - Page 1

I have a 21month old male German Shepherd who since about 5 months has had recurring bouts of diahhreah. He has been through the ringer of vet exams, tests etc. He almost died in June because of dehydration due to the diahhreah. The only thing left is a biopsy which the vet said because he has low white cell count is potentially deadly. He was given long term antibiotics which seemed to hold of the problem, but it recurs when he is off the pills.

I have done some research and found a study that was done showing that in the digestion of Tryptophan a by product is created( have to go find the article) that essentially stops the bowels recurring cycle of irritation and runs.

I have been very slowly switching him to a diet of turkey and rice, give him raw chicken, yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese and various mixed vegetables, I am still adding in kibble. I have seen a few days when he will have some diahreah but overall I feel this diet is working quite well.

I was wanting to know first:
has anyone else had this issue with their shepherds?

second:
Does anyone have a good set of diets that would ensure the dog is recieving full nutrition? ( the reason still adding kibble)

Okay to be more specific, I was given this dog because his owners could no longer deal with the issues. So I do not know what he was fed or when he was wormed, etc. I do have a letter from his vet stating that no specific reason for this condition can be found.  I have had him about 3 or 4 months.
 After some research I started feeding ground turkey, cooked, mixed with rice and mixed veggies. I mix this with a corn free kibble. I occasionally feed him raw chicken. every other day I give him about 1/4 c of either yogurt or cottage cheese on top of his mix. About  twice a month he gets raw beef shanks. When he isn't having the runs, his stools are quite nice, medium brown, firm but not hard and no straining. He does not eat stools and does not graze in the yard. I am starting to see some weight gain, not much but just a nice little coating of flesh over his rib cage. His personality is good, he has high energy and loves to play, not depressed or seemingly not feeling well.

He is a German dog - directly from Kahler Heide kennels in Germany.  I have seen a lot of people having issues with the German shepherds and digestive problems, many switching to raw food diets, and I have to think there must be something to it.

Reasons for recurring diarrhea, other than bacteria infection:

Undiagnosed parasitic infection (giardia seems to be one the vets often miss.)

Inflammatory bowel disease

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI)


Is your dog a poop eater? That can often cause recurring problems.

The gal in my sig used to get sick every spring, as she'd eat all sorts of rotten, decayed stuff that had been fermenting under the snow all winter long.  I had to muzzle her until the grass greened up, and the lawn had been fully cleared of anything she might want to snack on.  I suggest you watch your dog closely while he's in the yard to see what he's doing that might be contributing to this.

Adding a bit of canned pumpkin to the food can often help with the stools.

Some people have reported marked improvements by switching to raw, but since I don't feed raw, I can't help you there.

Too much fat in the diet can cause loose, runny stools.

So can overfeeding.


Good luck with solving this. Some dogs just have sensitive tummies. Often I've heard it reported that they outgrow it as they get older.

 "giardia seems to be one the vets often miss."

That's because you can do slide after iodine-stained slide without seeing the little bastards.  On endoscopic exam, you'll then see the resulting slide "wall-to-wall" with the stinkin' things.

Most Vets do a snap test for giardia?? I would ask them about SIBO that needs to be treated with Tylan. Flagyl does not work on that

I had the same problem when my boy was younger, WORM FOR WHIP WORM.  Regardless whether they can find it or not;  some vet's can't find their ass with both hands.

Also since the german's are somewhat sensitive  and can have some issues;  I have my boy, even now, on a real good probiotic and I just leave him on it.  I was told once they have whip worm they need to stay on probiotics.  I get this from the health food store in the chilled section and it has to be kept cold but I feel it has helped my boy with the same problems;  the raw diet did not help him when he had this problem in fact, it made him worse. 

What worked the best for him was I made a doggy stew, 3 vegi's, 3 lbs of meat and sometimes some type of grain and to plug them up, white rice (about 1/2 - 1 cup per pot of doggy stew.  Now this is stuff you would eat.  Add water, I flash cook;  I don't let it keep boiling away so the vegi's still have lots and nutrients and the meat is rare cooked, you can also use ground chicken, turkey, pork, beef lamb.  This is also a good time to tell what your dog does best on which one of those meats.  I don't mix meats;  I just use one meat per pot of stew.  You can also use potato instead of any grains in case it is the grain that is the culprit. 

Also I put the vegi's in the blender and puree them first  you can also add an apple to the puree mixture or not, this insures that they are getting the vegi's vitamins and not having to totally break them down as with whole vegi's.  You can do this with frozen also.  Be aware of peas also, some dogs cannot take peas for whatever reason, my Dalmation friends dog cannot take peas the the Dalmations are sensitive to them.  Go figure.

Good luck.  This mixture added to kibble insures they are getting optimum vitamins and minerals, I even added romaine lettuce after my boy was able to digest. 

Also; PANACURE is probably best for worming & giardia 5 day interval.  Sounds like a lot but for what ever reason it works.

I know other breeders that use beef rib bones (RAW ONLY) for a little xtra nutrients and calcium.

I had much trouble finding something that Hero could eat..We had all the tests done all negative too.

He would get very sick with any grains. ended up with a grain free food and his issues cleared up.

Had reboot his system by feeding cans of Science Diet I/D and then once he became solid, incorporate different feeds to see which worked. (I'll gladly take the heat from the board on Science Diet - it worked for my dog). The dry version of SD-I/D made him really sick! Hero also had trouble with milk, and all milk produces - except for goats milk, and anything too fatty - like dinner scraps.

To this day, he will refuse any tidbit that has mostly wheat - bred, crackers etc.

Also one last thing, I would drop the dairy products;  some can be very sensitive to those and adding probiotics takes care of way more than yoguart or cottage cheese as far as flora(s).

I have to agree that most vets couldnt tell you which way to leave their own parking lot. Its really pathetic. Ive had many dogs with the condition you describe and they all had something different. One had EPI (starving appetite all the time and bone thin) one dog was dx with cocidia (hope I spelled that right) fungus in the GI tract was one etc etc etc. I was stuck at one point on the antibiotic wheel but got off when I realized it was just a bandaid to the real problem that I will say the vets never helped me with.
If your having a bout of the runs make sure you give gateraid that works wonders. I feed raw now and got completely off the grains. Once in awhile if I am eating it myself Ill throw some to the dogs. I feed raw beef since I personally dont think that the dogs do so well on the raw chicken and even with the turkey I cant maintain a good weight. I get canned veggies for their filler. I also feed raw veggies but not too often. And I give fruit. Ive spent the last few years on canine nutrition and making sure the dog gets the right vitamins is not hard. I actually feed Very Green from Trader Joes and add a cal/phors suppliment. We are all raised to think that somehow bagged dog food is the ONLY way to go but really, its the least of ways. Only go the antibiotic way if ITS THE LAST RESORT. I do herbs about 99% of the time and if I have to do antibiotics I will use them.
Its frustrating when its your own dog and you cant figure out whats wrong. Unfortunately even with a vet in the picture its a trial and error. You can PM me if you like I can give you al the things Ive tried so the others dont have to read them.

Good Luck!

I agree with Nans gsd.
Often times Whip worms are the culprit that do NOT show up on slide tests. They can cause constant or intermittent diarrhea. in one end and out the other as if they can't even digest anything. so they lose more and more weight.
If that is combined with Giardia, whoa baby. this diarrhea may or may not have blood in it.
The Pancreas does act up and seems to cause bad diarrhea too, but usually happens on a diet with more fat in it.
they usually act pretty sick and may vomit and pass bloody diarrhea.

I would go with the added probiotics like nan suggested and also the panacur wormer. and maybe something to slow the gut down alittle while giving the wormer/meds. something like Koalin Pectic .
Long term antibiotic use also causes diarrhea due to it killing the beneficial bacterial that lines the gut. Yogurt and Cottage cheese does help replace some, but think you might need higher does to repopulate the gut.

I give panacur liquid at the rate of: 1ML per 5 lbs body weight -once a day for 3 days. repeat in 10-14 days. do it again. this is the rate for whip worms, and it will also get hooks and round worms, and also may help in giardia.? 
Flagyle according to  size- once a day for 5-7 days is recommended. this can cause stomach upset, thats why you might keep some Kaolin pectic on hand or use when medicating. it hasn't hurt any or mine.

Lief,
not sure what SIBO stands for. brain block.  Love the picture of the Shepherd . really Beautiful!

Weezy.