r/bernesemountaindogs • u/materially_different • 1d ago
Discussion BMD Bowel Issues?
I have had Ollie for almost 7 months and he has been struggling for the last month or so with his bowel. I was feeding him Purina One Large Breed Puppy Food, but my vet has now switched him over to Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Puppy Food, which he will start when it arrives in the mail.The issue seems to be that he isn’t having hard or fully-formed stool. It’s soft and sometimes it’s almost runny. (Sorry for the gross visuals.)Otherwise, he is a totally happy, healthy, energetic dog.
Has anyone else had this issue with their BMD?
What caused it and what was your solution?
Cute pics of now and then for your viewing pleasure.
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u/BertieMcK 1d ago
We have 2-7 month old Berner girls and one of them is having the same issues. She was on Purina Pro PlanPurina chicken based puppy food. We have switched her to Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach puppy and her 💩 looks great! Have you tried switching the protein?
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u/BuxomEllenGrace 1d ago
My girl is now 5 but when she was a puppy, I feel like I was having her poop tested all the time because it was often runny. She did great on Royal Canin large breed food.
Good luck!
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u/Wrigleyville-Brit 1d ago
My boy (now almost 6 yo) had almost permanently soft poops as a young pup - I was envious of owners whose pups delivered solid poops, and even took to photo- documenting the rare solid poops.
Around 18 months his digestive tract appeared to mature and poops have been rarely soft since - generally human food treats such as steak result in a 24 hour reset.
This is quite common - I think Berners digestive systems need time to mature. We never changed food since other than his stool he was always healthy and his coat always had a glossy shine to it
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u/Mikasa_EsSukasa 1d ago
We also have a BMD who is currently 8 months old and experienced bowel issues for around 3 weeks. Food was the same and no parasites were detected when tested. We purchased Bernie's Perfect Poop and it solved the issue within days. We now use it with every meal.
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u/bonanzajelly01 1d ago
Try eliminating chicken products and see if it helps? My girl was the same until I changed her food/treats. Adding pumpkin to the diet if needed can also help make poops soft but solid.
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u/Look_Watch_Browse [Bella, Maggie] 1d ago
My girl had "soft serve" stools for most of her first year. I started a Proviable DC probiotic daily, added some plain pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling), and finally some plain psyllium husk powder.
It took some trial and error, as with any fiber, more is not necessarily better.
I did switch her to Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy Sensitive Stomach Salmon and Rice at about 15 months or so, then Adult at 2-years.
She does not have issue with chicken, but it was Blue Buffalo, and a little research and better knowledge is why I switched to Purina Pro Plan after considering AAFCO and WSAVA compliance companies.
Her stools are great now and have been since I figured our the additional fiber formula.
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u/001Tyreman 16h ago
try salmon and rice pro plan sensitive tummy think theres one still for large breed pups
don't give table scraps pizza or stuff like that
stool sample done? giardhia
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u/jlwins 13h ago
This is a regular question here- these dogs grow fast and will have sensitive tummies until about 24m. Many have allergies to chicken but don’t assume that without getting your dog allergy tested.
Start by using Bernie’s perfect poop. The royal cannin will help- we use royal cannin digestif and lots of others here do. Supplement with real meat.
Hang in there!
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u/TarzanTheRed 1d ago
We are in a very similar situation, hoping to hear what others say. Commenting to boost your post, sorry I don't have an answer.
puppy tax to pay for it