Does your mali have irritable bowel syndrome? - Page 1

My nearly 2 year old male mali has a hyper-active bowel.  We go for long walks, with him running off lead in the woods.  Typically he will have a normal bowel movement, and then several minutes later another.  As the walk goes on he will have one to three more, and they get loose, and he gets a little crampy.  Stools have been negative for any parasites/giardiasis.  I feed Pro Plan, and supplement it with Van Patten's dog roll that I use during obedience training.  I've experimented with witholding one or the other without any appreciable difference in his bowel pattern. He maintains a good weight and good athletic condition.  I know malis tend to be hyper, but he is calm in the kennel, and very clean.  Any advise would be appreciatted.

, brewers rice, whole grain wheat, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn germ meal, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal digest, dried egg product, salt, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, Vitamin E supplement, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex.

The highlighted, underlined and bolded ingredients are probably your problem. I would switch to a Kibble that has no corn and no wheat products, and maybe even no grain at all. This is what I feed my dogs, when I can't afford raw.  http://www.naturesrecipe.com/dog_grain_free.aspxChicken there is also a couple of other kibbles that I like Avoderm and Blue Bison.

I have the same problem with my mals. My male more than my female. I have struggled with weight issues with my male and he used to do the exact same thing when off lead. If you can't feed raw then try Taste of the Wild, it is kind of expensive. 4Health works great also. Both of these foods have no wheat-no-corn-no soy. Taste of the Wild is grain free also. TOTW and 4Health are the only 2 foods that will give him normal bowel movements and keep him at a healthy weight. Hope this helps.

I have had sevral Mals with bowel issues. I now feed Taste of the Wild with very good results also. May want to try some plain yogurt mixed in for a while also to get that good flora going also.

Thanks guys! I have been wanting to make the switch to a BARF diet, but need to do some reading so that I am sure I am balancing the feedings correctly, and feeding an appropriate quantity.  One other question, if you don't mind...Do you do anything to slow down your dog's food intake?  This dog is tremendously driven, and digs into his bowl like its the last supper.  I have never seen a dog eat this quickly. It scares the crap out of me. He doesn't chew a damn thing, he gulps it down as fast as possible.  He doesn't have any competition from other dogs, as he is kenneled alone in my garage, and even when I leave him alone to eat, the food is gone before I can get out of the garage.  I'm concerned that this behavior will cause him to bloat one day.  ...Your thoughts?

Put water in his food. About 1/3 the amount of what the food is.