Doggy Diarrhea

Question
I have a yorkie who is about 9 mos. old and whenever she eats too many treats or gets stressed out for any reason she gets diarrhea.  I am currently feeding her Science Diet Lamb and Rice puppy formula (that is what my vet recommends).  Is there any other food that is better for this or anything that I can give her to prevent it?

Answer
Hi Carrie,

First, recurring bouts of diarrhea can be caused by parasites. Have you had your puppy tested to rule this out as the root cause of the diarrhea?

If your puppy's regular diet of Science Diet Lamb and Rice isn't causing her to have diarrhea, then changing her diet won't help her problem.

You didn't say what treats you've been giving your puppy, but if they are causing the diarrhea, the solution is limit the number of treats you give your puppy, or change treats. You shouldn't give your puppy rawhide, as this can cause diarrhea. Too many treats can make a dog or puppy unwilling to eat it's regular dog food because it has "filled up" on too many treats during the day. Plus, too many treats can cause your puppy to get fat, which isn't healthy.

Though your vet has recommend the Science Diet Lamb and Rice puppy formula, there are better foods for puppies.
In the food you're currently using, the first few ingredients (what the food is primarily made of) are:
Lamb Meal ("meal" means meat, that had the water removed), Brewers Rice, Rice Flour, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Whole Grain Wheat, Animal Fat.
Besides having a lot of grain sources, Corn is an inexpensive filler that can cause allergy problems in some dogs. Also, in your current food they just list "Animal fat" on the label, which isn't as desirable as identifying the source of fat used (such as beef or lamb fat).

A better quality food is actually made by the same company, Hill's Science Diet Nature's Best Lamb and Brown Rice Puppy Food. In this food, the first few ingredients are:
Lamb, Soybean Meal, Lamb Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Brown Rice, Pork Fat

If you'd like to compare different brands of puppy food, this site as a good "comparison wizard":
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp

If you plan on changing your puppy's food, do so gradually over a period of 5-7 days. To change food too quickly can cause diarrhea.

You didn't say what stressful situations give your puppy diarrhea. If you'd like to get back to me with that info, I might be able to suggest ways of keeping your puppy stress free.

Best of luck,
Patti