non-allergic reactions to dog foods

Question
I have a Norwegian Elkhound female (15 mos now) that has been having problems with dog food.  She came to me from a very good breeder on Avoderm and wonderfully healthy at 10 weeks.  In just a couple of days she would have very loose stools and I figured she was just adjusting.  Not the case!  She would have 1-2 episodes of loose (or liquid) stools a week.  She was check by the vet and put on dewormers which dried her up..only to reappear shortly.  After 2 months we switched foods (carefully transitioning) to another good healthy brand of puppy food.  Nothing changed.  Since then we have tried many different brands of holistic foods.  Nothing changed.  Recently we changed her to a leading professional brand of good food (found at Pet Co) that contained higher amounts of grains and of course many ingredients that I didn't want to feed.  This was more of an experiment than a permanent change.  The stools were good!  However, I had a guilt trip feeding a brand with so many potential negative ingredients!  I switched her to Artemis Power Formula (high protein/fat) with the addition of acidophilus.  Stools still good.  However, here are the things that did not change and has me concerned:
- easily over-stimulated and out of control
- cannot maintain good weight...often skinny
- lack of focus
- lack of quality coat...grows new coat just to shed it
- no signs of skin problems or itchiness

She is from excellent breeding and very intelligent.  We have done a full spectrum of bloodwork and stool check at a year only to find that everything is perfectly normal.

I am now thinking that there is too much protein for her to assimilate.  HELP!

Marlene

Answer
Hi Marlene,

Well first of all, congratulations on doing your homework and keeping an open mind about diet. All too often, people become very emotional about food, and unwilling to consider change. In my line of work, we need to be open minded and look for options, which can include a home made diet (raw or cooked) as well as changing foods and working with combinations of all of the above. It seems you have tried a few options, but let me assure you there are still some more stones to turn over. :)

The first thing that comes to mind here is that during your dog's critical growth phase she was unable to assimilate all the nutrients that a growing dog needs, so hence the ongoing poor coat and weight issues. I am immediately thinking that a home made diet and supplement protocol is ideal, but not sure if this is an option for you? I understand that you don't like the ingredients in the food that seems to "work" - when this happens, it's often a fiber and/or fat issue, and you can either assess the nutrient composition of the food that works and search for a commercial diet that parallels it, or you can implement a home made diet  and work with fresh ingredients.

I would like to see that coccidia has been ruled out as well as IBD(Inflammatory Bowel Disease). I work with many cases of IBD and it's truly not well managed with commercial diet. Each case is individual and fat, fiber and protein levels all need individual levels. I can help you with this professionally, or I can make some more commercial suggestions here.  Before I do that, I would like to know the name of the food that you found worked best, even if it's one you anticipate I won't think highly of. The nutrient composition can provide me with a lot of information and I can help you locate  food with similar levels and better ingredients.

Hang in there,  fill me in some more,and let's see what we can do to help.

Catherine