Toy Poodle of 18 months

Question
Hi Kim,

My male toy poodle (Truffle) seems to be having a weak stomach. He has diarrhea about 3 times in just the last 2 weeks. Am very worried. He did not have a change in his daily dry food recently at all.
Brought him to the vet, he says Truffle's OK, no need for any x-rays, etc. Was recommended The Royal Canin Low-Fat (Digestive), is this any good? Will this be good for his coat and color as well? Truffle seems to like it and I wanted to ask for your advice if he can have this for the rest of his adult years.
Please advise if bananas, eggs, apples, sweet potatoes and carrots are OK for toy poodles especially those with slighter weaker stomachs. What kind of meats are best for them?
Also, I see lots of toy poodles losing their color (Truffle is on darker brown) after about 2 years old, are there any ways to maintain the healthy color and shininess of his coat?
Thanks for your time and sorry for the many questions.
Kind regards,
Mabel

Answer
Hello Mabel,
Thanks for the kind regards.  Don't worry about your questions as I enjoy being able to help people help their pets.  

You can give your toy Poodle Pepto Bismol for his diarrhea.  For a dog his size, I would give him 2 cc.  Give him more after 12 hours if he hasn't stopped having runny stools.  

You can also fix him this mixture and add it to his regular food.  It will help his stomach (once he acculmates to eating it) and also help his skin and coat.

1 lb Hamburger, Lamb, or Turkey Burger (I would suggest the Lamb because it is more gentle on a sensitive dogs stomach)
1 can Sardines in Olive Oil
1 cup Spinach, blended with the Oil of the Sardines
1 egg scrambled
1 1/2 cup Special K or Total Cereal
1 Apple Blended (or you can use 1/2 cup of Applesauce)
1/8 tsp Garlic powder
1 grated carrot
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked using broth (either a meat or Veggie variety) for better flavor
1/2 cup Cottage Cheese (optional)

This mixture is for a large dog, so you can either 1/2 the recipe or freeze some of it for later.  
If your dog likes the Sweet Potato, you can shread some up and add it to the mixture.  Add it just before you give it to your dog so that it doesn't get bad in the mixture.  This recipe will keep well in the fridge for about a week.  

The Royal Canin food is a good brand, as is Iams, Science Diet, Eukanuba, Sensible Choice, Bil-Jac and Nutro Natural Choice.  As with the lamb above, you might try to find a dog food with Lamb meat rather than chicken because the chicken and corn in most dog foods can upset sensitive stomachs.    

As for a brown dogs hair color, the Brown is a fading gene, and most brown dogs fade as they age.  If you have a darker colored dog, he may stay darker for longer, but he will most likely fade eventually.  
The diet above will help your dogs coat to make it look darker because of the healthy oils it adds to your dogs coat.  

I hope this has helped you some.  If you have other questions for me about this or other questions in general, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim