Switching Food = Soft Stool?

Question
Hi Labman,

Didn't know how to thank you for your last response, but it was wonderful.  Really helped (on the tearing up newspapers and biting)!  

We've since crated Patches (our now 4.5 month yellow lab) and she's super happy to go in there and play with her red Kong with peanut butter for a couple of hours.

SWITCHING FOOD = SOFT STOOL?
The problem we have now is that we recently switched her food from Eukanuba to Canine Caviar because it has better ingredients.  But after 10 days of mixing (1/2 Euka, 1/2 CC), we noticed that her stool remained unusual, i.e.- 1/2 soft (the CC part because it was a lighter colour), 1/2 ok (the Euka).  We switched her completely over to CC 4 days ago and she has had nothing but really soft stool, consistency of pancake batter.  She has to go poo more often, around 6 times as opposed to 4 times a day before and has been peeing in her crate which she never used to- as if she cannot control it.

Is this normal or cause for concern? Some people said it could take 10-20 days for some dogs to properly switch over.     

Thank you very much for any help/insight you can provide.

Sincerely,
Eggmag

Answer
No one chow is best for all dogs.  A few years ago I was feeding Lucky the same Pro Plan I feed most of my dogs.  To maintain good weight, I had to feed 6 cups a day rather than about 4 for most of them.  He also produced larger, softer, lighter colored stools.  I even checked with others that were feeding Pro Plan wondering if they changed the formulation.  Since then, my dogs are back to normal.  

I would drop the Canine Caviar.  It doesn't look like it is working for her.  None of the problems should happen phasing in a new chow over 10 days.  There is nothing wrong with Eukanuba.  I know a service dog school that feeds it.  They can't afford anything that doesn't produce healthy dogs with a long active life and have long term experience with many dogs on it.  Pay less attention to what goes into a chow and more into the outcome of feeding it.

Whatever you decide to feed, you may as well go to an adult chow now.  Even the large breed puppy chows are on the rich side promoting fast growth.  The American feed industry knows how to do fast growth.  Sturdy joints are another matter.  Slower growth gives the joints more time to develop.  Keeping her lean is important too.  Try to stick to the same protean source.  The more different proteins a dog is fed when young, the harder it is to work around problems later in life.

Glad to hear my ideas are working with her.  Dogs are individuals.  Like chows, what works for most, sometimes doesn't work for a few.