# Wolfhound Lurcher with a very sensitive tummy, any suggestions on dry foods for



## Rawwwrchazli (Mar 16, 2012)

That's Leo; Ugly isn't he?

Leo is a 7 year old, Neutered Lurcher and since he's been neutered (he was 2) he's had a very sensitive tummy.
Any food he's given gives him the runs.
He's been vet checked for anything untoward more than once in his time which has cost a fortune (!) and all we can establish is he's just got a sensitive stomach/over active gut.

We feed all our other dogs a mix of raw mince and dry kibble/tripe.
3/4 thrive on that.

In 7 years we have had Leo on that above diet, chicken and brown rice, Wagg, Beta Brutus sensitive (which is Salmon and he ate that under protest because he doesn't like fish), Bakers, Dr Johns and various other dry food aimed at dogs with a sensitive gut that you can get in most pet shops; and most of the time he's okay for a couple of weeks then gets the runs again.
Keeping weight on him is a nightmare; being a Lurcher he's either asleep or going nuts, and he's still full of energy when he's out on a walk; charges around like a mad man!!

The longest he's been okay on one food was an un branded kibble in the shape of rings from a big whole sale food shop near me, he was fine on that for nearly 3 months and then just lost it.

Food doesn't make him sick, just poo.
And he's so fussy, if he doesn't like something he just won't eat.

Is there anyone on here with any suggestions on something we can try him on that will be okay on?
Even if I have to order online or make it from scratch myself.

At 7 and being so leggy I really want to get some fat on his bones so he doesn't get stiff from not having any padding.
He actually sleeps on a big arm chair so he's not on a hard floor, but he's getting on a bit, so I want to build him up.

I mean, he's healthy. He just had his boosters today and the vet was happy with him (same vet since he was a puppy)...until Leo let one rip in his surgery...enough to take skin from bone is that smell...
He's booked in to have his teeth cleaned and claws trimmed in a fortnight.
He's HATES having his claws trimmed. Has to be sedated, he goes NUTS.

He's just an all round weirdo, runty dog.
My brothers dog. That's what happens when you let a 14 year old chose a puppy from a litter. He picked the one that 'looks like a little lion cub'...the runt.

Lol.

He doesn't look like a Lion cub any more...I dunno what he looks like....scruffy article.

I luffs him reaaalllyyyy.









Look at him, he's all like, 'I know you're talking about me, go away'


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## lisadew24 (Jul 31, 2010)

Don't buy any cheap foods like bakers, wagg and beta for a start they are crap full of crap foods. First you will have to stop all treats of any kind you kneed to find whats up setting his stomach. I find Sheldon can't have any thing with rice in it so and i buy things with potato in , burns pork and potato is very good unfortunate he doesn't like fish because fish 4 dogs is good as well or wafcol. When you pick your new food you will have to gradually introduce it over 7-14 days and keep feeding the same food for about 4 weeks don't just give up after a few days if you find that his stomach still isn't right then pick some thing else and do the same. Once you find a food that suits him then gradually add one treat at a time so you know what you can feed him and what you can't, I can't give Sheldon any pedigree treats. Good luck and he's gorgeous


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## bdargon (May 1, 2010)

Have you tried James Wellbeloved or Hills? They are abit pricey but are usually what my vets would recommend for dogs with sensitive stomachs.


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## tinyfish (Nov 11, 2008)

Sounds like his gut flora isn't quite up to scratch, have you tried culturing some Kefir? Dogs often even like to eat the Kefir grains, not just the actual Kefir! A starter culture is only about £3 on Ebay, and it's healthy for humans, too. Good luck!


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## Salamanda (May 28, 2008)

Defiantly avoid foods with coloured biscuits they are full of additives. 
James wellbeloved, hills and royal canin are good brands. Pricey but they will help with the tummy problems and you will see a huge difference in the dogs coat condition. 
You can also feed him raw chicken wings and legs as a treat.


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## Rawwwrchazli (Mar 16, 2012)

Never heard of Kefir, I'll have a read on that. What exactly is it?

We don't really give our dogs treats as such, like out of bags. Just bones occasionally (though now I've read that Rawhide is poisonous they won't get anymore) and if we put our cups of tea on the floor, they're gone; or if your name is Floss, any unguarded tea anywhere is hers.
If they are being trained as pups or, in Dally's case, if she's being refreshed on her guard training, mum uses cooked liver or chicken.
Leo doesn't get trained though. His brain can just about cope with 'sit'.

We never just do a direct switch, it's is always gradually over a week or so, but after 2 weeks (normally) of having the new food on it's own he just goes all poorly again, I mean time does vary.

He always looks sad, but when he's poorly it's heart breaking. He just wants cuddles all the time.
He drops weight so fast because of his ''breed''.

It must be horrible for him.
Been 5 years and we've not been able to find or fix the problem.

I'll pick up some Burns Potato and Pork in my lunch break tomorrow; see if he'll eat that.
He doesn't touch Hills  fussy you see!
James Wellbeloved will be next if Burns doesn't work.
I've never seen Royal Canin at the food place, is that something I have to get via the vets or am I just not seeing it because I'm not looking? That place is MASSIVE!
TBH, the price isn't a concern, at the end of the day if it works and gets some fat on his bones in his nearly old age, then it's worth it for him.
Even though he is ugly and smelly.

It's a pain he can't eat what the others do, must be much better for him nutritionally to have raw meat, rather than dried biscuits.

I hope we can find something for the poor beggar.
Are some dogs just prone to things like this, or could it be down to him being the runt or poor breeding?
And it's odd that it kicked off after we had him neutered, no?

I mean he was 10 weeks old when we got him; we saw all the litter and both parents and the mum and dad of the sire of the litter and they were all top notch as far as health and build was concerned. 
I mean I was 15, but my mum has always had workers so she knew what she was looking for; and my old country boy Grandad was there!!

I dunno, I'm grasping at straws, I'm just worried about him more now he's starting to go grey around the chops.

I think we'll have to have some exploratory tests done again if we can't find a solution from here. It's just not nice for him being poked and prodded by the vets and he's so easily stressed and very highly strung; so we'd prefer if we can fix it this way so he's not all anxious.




PS.
Pedigree is poison; we don't touch pedigree


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## lisadew24 (Jul 31, 2010)

I wouldn't touch royal canin its made from chicken feathers and the company was sponsoring bear baiting in Ukraine


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## Middleton Mouse (May 16, 2013)

We use taste of the wild for our dog who is a GSD cross, she seems to get runny poop with nearly everything else we've tried her on and we tried pretty much all the top quality dried food brands including Acana and Orijen.

www.whichdogfood.co.uk is quite a good resource for comparing brands.


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## 2manydogs (Oct 23, 2007)

That's. A strange one,when I had dogs and fed them butchers waste,you could stand on their poop it was that hard,
Hope you can sort it,he is stunning dog,
Could you road walk him bit to keep his nails down?


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## Rawwwrchazli (Mar 16, 2012)

Thankful for all your help guys.
 lots more for us to try now.


We do road walk him, but because he trots rather than walks his feet aren't really on the ground long enough for that to keep his nails down very much.

I mean, he gets them done at the vet about once every 3-4 months so it helps, just not hugely.
His dew claws grow very quickly and very curly too, so he has to have them done.


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## tinyfish (Nov 11, 2008)

Re. your question above, Kefir is much like a probiotic yoghurt, but it's got more strains of beneficial organisms and because you culture it yourself they are really fresh and active. :2thumb:


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## Rawwwrchazli (Mar 16, 2012)

tinyfish said:


> Re. your question above, Kefir is much like a probiotic yoghurt, but it's got more strains of beneficial organisms and because you culture it yourself they are really fresh and active. :2thumb:


^_^ 
Thank you


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## BMo1979 (Feb 13, 2012)

I've just started my dogs on Millie's Wolfheart which is completely Grain and Gluton free. They seen to enjoy it, but it does have quite a strong meaty smell (which personally I don't mind but my OH is complaining, lol).
It's in the same price range as TOTW, which I recently stopped feeding as it contains tomatoes and tomato pomace and I've now read that tomatoes are not healthy for dogs (thank, Feorag, for the link) and the size of the kibble is a bit small for large dogs.


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## lisadew24 (Jul 31, 2010)

Rawwwrchazli said:


> Thankful for all your help guys.
> lots more for us to try now.
> 
> 
> ...


Try walking at beaches


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## Middleton Mouse (May 16, 2013)

BMo1979 said:


> I've just started my dogs on Millie's Wolfheart which is completely Grain and Gluton free. They seen to enjoy it, but it does have quite a strong meaty smell (which personally I don't mind but my OH is complaining, lol).
> It's in the same price range as TOTW, which I recently stopped feeding as it contains tomatoes and tomato pomace and I've now read that tomatoes are not healthy for dogs (thank, Feorag, for the link) and the size of the kibble is a bit small for large dogs.


I've just ordered a sample bag of this, thanks for the recommendtion.

They seem to have some really good chewy treats too, bought some cow oesophagus, tripe and some training treats.


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## RhianB87 (Oct 25, 2009)

Where in the South East are you?
I have just started my fussy lurcher on Nurtiment, and he loves it, which is amazing for him. One of the big Chubs lasts 4 days with mine.

Nutriment

They are based in Camberley which is why I asked where you are and they are happy for you to pop down to the office with your dog and to talk about them.


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## Rawwwrchazli (Mar 16, 2012)

We're in Hertfordshire, I have no idea where in relations we are to you! Lol.


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## RhianB87 (Oct 25, 2009)

Rawwwrchazli said:


> We're in Hertfordshire, I have no idea where in relations we are to you! Lol.


Quite a long way I think 
You can order it online as well so maybe give them a call to talk about it. 

Its the first food my 10 year lurcher has really liked and not causes any issues with him.


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## carpy (Nov 13, 2007)

beautiful dog, I've got a deerhound lurcher of some description.

For really dodgy stomachs go to your vet and get some royal canin vet diet recovery pack stuff, that really helps. There is a company called the natural dog food company that sells very good quality stuff and have dry food for sensitive stomachs.

Thing is, dogs don't have opposible thumbs, they aren't really designed to eat food out of a can, they are carnivores, look at the teeth! People are always amazed how much an older dog will suffer from bad breath, oily smelly fur, various deficiency related illnesses . . . It's because we feed them things they aren't supposed to. Try supplementing him with 2 or 3 raw chicken drumsticks in the afternoon between meals (preferably free range because of the additional vitamins and minerals the animals get from foraging outdoors but even cheap ones are very beneficial). Dogs love them and they are great for all manner of things. All that having been said your dogs have a decent diet already, I really feel for dogs that spend their lives eating dry food!

EDIT: Also given his age and his lankyness, the bones will be a great way of supplementing calcium which will help his bones and joints no end!


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## Ameliaxx (Apr 9, 2010)

BMo1979 said:


> I've just started my dogs on Millie's Wolfheart which is completely Grain and Gluton free. They seen to enjoy it, but it does have quite a strong meaty smell (which personally I don't mind but my OH is complaining, lol).
> It's in the same price range as TOTW, which I recently stopped feeding as it contains tomatoes and tomato pomace and I've now read that tomatoes are not healthy for dogs (thank, Feorag, for the link) and the size of the kibble is a bit small for large dogs.


Was just about to recommend this, very good food I've got some for my pups and she has had no problems with it and my older wheaten and he loves it too.

The chews are brilliant if you want a quiet 15 minutes while they chew away Inca goes mad for them


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## Rawwwrchazli (Mar 16, 2012)

Thanks for all your help guys!

We decided to start him on Royal Canin first; we popped into the vets while we were out and spoke to him and picked up a bag, my friend has a Labradoodle that has a sensitive tummy and it works for him.
James Wellbeloved is next and then Burns because for some reason Burns is hard to get around here -_-
Hopefully Royal Canin will work.

He's getting his first taste with his current food tomorrow.

We offered him raw chicken last night and he turned his nose up.
-_-

Millie's Wolfheart seems like a good bet, but I don't want to be spending out money like that if he doesn't like it, so mum ordered a sample first. If he likes it the cost won't matter if it works for his tummy and we'll buy a bigger bag and see how he goes. 
Royal Canin is easier to get hold of though, so I HOPE that works.
I feel so sorry for him, getting all old and gnarly. 

Hopefully with all this help we'll have him on the right track at last!

He's been out in the car today do he's all excitable. He loves the car.


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