loose bm

Question
I have a four month old miniature poodle.  He was given to me at three months by a friend of a friend who said she was "moving" and couldn't take him with her.  He is registered with papers.  She had done all of the age appropriate vaccinations, worming and such.  He is a bright, obedient dog who has been easy to housebreak and is as cute as can be.  She sent with him Iams dry puppy food which I assume he had been eating.  The first few days were horrible with him having uncontrollable  diarrhea.  I took him to my vet who checked him out for worms (which was negative) and put him on an antibiotic for giardia (sp?) and prescription dog food - purina EN for four days.  The diarrhea improved some not being quite so runny and less frequent.  I went back to the dry food after four days and the uncontrollable water came back.  I went back to the vet and he gave me anti-diarrheal medicine for two days which didn't do much, so I went back again.  He put him on 12 days of the same antibiotic along with prednisone and swithched him to science diet i/d formula canned dog food.  He did ok for 12 days but the bms never became what I would call normal.  I tried dry food with, unfortunately, the same runny results. I have since been feeding him cooked rice with some canned dog food and they still are not good with frequent accidents.  His bowels move sometimes 6 to 7 times a day.  He seems to always be hungry and doesn't act like he feels bad and is VERY active.  He is a great dog otherwise and I would love to get this problem cleared up.  I guess my question would be how often to puppies normally poop in a day and do you have any advice on food?  I noticed another person asked about digestive problems and you suggested beef.  Is chicken not good?

Answer
Hello Betsy,
I would say that a normal BM for a Poodle would be around 2-3 times a day on average.  
As for what food to feed, I would suggest a high quality food such as Nutro Natural Choice, or Eukanuba because you want to keep away from fillers in the food that might upset your boys tummy.  You might also cook and add the rice back into his diet to boost his fiber, and you may even add Flaxseed meal or a fiber supplement for people to his food.  Read the directions for an average adult and cut it by half.  
The advise that you mentioned about the beef/chicken didn't come from me.  I suggest chicken over beef because chicken is easier to digest than beef.  When you switch to another dog food, even if there is a heavier amount of diarrhea to begin with, stay with the new food for about a month or more to get the dogs system used to the change.  
You might also call another Vet for his/her advice just to see what they suggest.

You might also ask your Vet about meds for people for Diarrhea such as Immodium AD or Pepto Bismol to give him.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions, please feel free to ask.  

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim