Is the food Im feeding my pup to rich?

Question
I have a 5 month old husky. I've been feeding him solid gold wolf cub and he has diarrhea. The vet gave me a homemade recipe to try and it worked. It stopped the runs, so I started to slowly add his dry food to the mixture and he has the runs again. My trainer told me his food might be too rich for him causing diarrhea. What would be a good alternative brand to feed him thats not as rich but is still high quality dog food? Also, would feeding him plain baked sweet potato chunks be a good treat alternative?

Answer
Hi Rachel,
I definitely agree with your trainer. Just because you have a big pup, who looks and acts strong, this does NOT mean that his digestive system can handle certain foods. Of course, there is always going to be a certain amt.of experimenting with food if a dog is showing an intolerance to some foods or if the food is just too hard for him to digest. And when it is, the pup WILL have diarrhea or vomiting. AFter all, a pups digestive system is immature, not fully developed and sometimes the slightest (and too fast)change or a food that is too rich can bring diarrhea.

Even though so many dog foods tout stages in dog foods this is a gimmick yet, having just said that,you might try Wellness Puppy food for now as it has always been easily digested by my dogs. Again, you have to experiment a bit but please stop your current food as your dog is not able to digest it, obviously. Wellness,has ALWAYS worked well for my dogs as they were growing. Wellness has the sweet potato in it so that part of your question is solved. Just for your information, I am a rep for Healthy Pet Net and this company sells holistic dog food which means no preservatives except natural ones. Please check out this link and see if you think you would want to try a free sample with your dog. Dr. Bicks does not yet make a wet food but most dogs, all stages of life, do great on this food, WHICH IS NOT SOLD COMMERCIALLY--THIS IS VERY GOOD TOO because you KNOW when you buy it that when it arrives it will be totally fresh and will not have sat in trucks or on shelves for months and longer when you get it. Anyway, if you'd care to,  Check it out:

www.healthypetnet.com/YorkieSue

If you want to go commercial then try Natural Balance which is FOR ALL LIFE STAGES. Your dog has no special problems so this is good. This food is much blander than the others (Wellness is too by the way) and it comes in dry and wet.

I would steer clear of Sweet potato chunks if you decide to use Wellness. And if you do want to use them, DO NOT USE TOO MANY OF THEM AND PLEASE, steam them, don't bake..if you lightly steam, you will save a lot of the nutrients that baking will take right out. Another good treat is banana slices. But really, If your dog is five months, then you are already feeding him 3 times a day right? Why does he need treats at this time anyway? For training purposes? If so, let me know and I will suggest good foods for training a dog..healthy ones.

Hope this helped you a bit, Susan