Questions for all you Mighty Dog stockpilers!!

[kval07]

Okay, so I currently have around 150ish cans of MD. I feed one can a day to each of my dogs. Both of my dogs have TERRIBLE smelling poo. Like sometimes it makes me throw up stink. And my puppy Roscoe has very loose stool ever since we got him. They couldn't find anything at the vet.

Today I was feeding them the MD and DF came in and said it smells just like their poo. Never crossed my mind before.

Does Mighty Dog affect your dog's system? Do you notice them having really stinky poo, or close, but not quite diarrhea when they eat it? I'm thinking DF must be right. I'd hate to think that the $12/5lb bag dry food I feed them is doing this. DF says why do I think they give away those FREE Mighty Dog coupons??

Thoughts/opinions?

If this MD is the culprit, I have to get rid of it. We have new carpet and I can't keep cleaning up loose stool from a still potty training puppy. I'd also love to quit gagging when I clean up messes. I guess I should also start looking for deals on a different brand of wet dog food. My dogs go nuts over it, so I don't want to completely cut it out for them.

[greenrays]

What dry dog food do you feed?

I've never fed wet food to my dogs, nothing of any value in those cans so I can imagine what it must smell like.

Can you try maybe a week or 1/2 week w/out wet food to see what happens??

Hope it gets better soon!

[mzbeers]

I noticed that the kinds in gravy are worse than the non gravy varities. Try the non-gravy ones, and see if it makes a difference.

[kval07]

I feed Natural Balance dry food. I think I'm going to cut out the wet food for a week or so and see what happens. I dread paying for wet food. I would buy the Natural Balance wet food, but it is almost $1.50 a can!

[TBEventer2002]

Canned dog food can sometimes create issues because it is basically junk and water. It is often the culprit when it comes to loose stool. Puppies especially shouldn't be on canned foods because their little systems are so sensitive and the transition to adult formulas from puppy formulas is already stressful enough. There's nothing really absolutely wrong, persay, with canned food so long as you feed it as a side dish to the main meal of dry food (which you are).

If the puppy is still having loose stool despite deworming and fecal checks, you can try a bit of bland diet to help his little system "reboot." You can purchase a formula through your vet (we deal with Purina and Eukanuba, so we sell EN and Low Residue, both of which come in a dry and wet formula). If cost is an issue, you can home-make a diet for a few days of BOILED meat (chicken breast or hamburger) and plain white instant rice. You would make 2 parts white rice to one part meat. Feed the same daily volume as the puppy is already getting, but break meals up in half and feed twice as often (hope that made sense!).

Hope that helps! :) Good luck and let us know how things go.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

I only feed wet food in the winter to give my dogs a little extra fat to help in the cold Wyoming winters. I don't really notice a problem with poo cause both of my dogs really process the heck out of their food and they have pretty dry poo (and they poo outside)

[blissful]

I've just started to feed my elderly dog a small can of food each day in addition to his normal dry diet. He's quite senile and is starting to get thin. I'm hoping the canned food will keep him from losing more weight. Plus, he loves it. At 15 (which is very old for a sheltie), I think he should be able to eat whatever he wants. Now if I can just convince my fiance of that.

I'll let you know if he starts to have any nasty poo issues.

[couponsmakecents]

I have noticed the same thing but I have started mixing the MD with the dry and only using 1/4 of a can and this seems to have helped. It gives them a little treat but still keeps things in balance.

On a side note, I am moving toward making my own dog food and hope to be able to do this in a few months.

[jillynoodle]

oh no i consider u the queen of iso of mighty dog!!!!! my dog has lots of cans also i mix in her wet food...i have not seen (or smelled:giggle2:) any change but your dogs are so tiny this can for sure be something thats affecting their little systems...my dog is an almost 100 pound boxer so she can pretty much eat anything including things that arent food and she is ok...i would definetly cut out the mighty dog and see what happens..good luck!!:smile:

[kval07]

oh no i consider u the queen of iso of mighty dog!!!!! my dog has lots of cans also i mix in her wet food...i have not seen (or smelled:giggle2:) any change but your dogs are so tiny this can for sure be something thats affecting their little systems...my dog is an almost 100 pound boxer so she can pretty much eat anything including things that arent food and she is ok...i would definetly cut out the mighty dog and see what happens..good luck!!:smile:

No kidding!! I have over 100 coupons that expire tomorrow, all of which I paid .15 ea for. :sad: After talking with DF, we really think this is what the stink is all about. I have to switch them. My puppy Roscoe is so bad, he makes me puke on a semi-regular basis. I hate it. Just picking up with doggie bags sends me in to regular gagging fits.

Wish I would've been smart enough to figure it out before, or that DF had mentioned it before I went on a coupon acquiring frenzy.

[Kimberlin]

I have a yorkie who is 2yrs old and 2.5 lbs, and a doxie 16lbs. They both love the MD so I mix it with their dry dog food, at first I gave it to them on the side of the dry food but my yorkie would only eat the MD and kept getting bad stomach aches. Since I've mixed it she is fine because she will eat both, no smells, no more stomach aches. Hope this helps.

[kval07]

I have a yorkie who is 2yrs old and 2.5 lbs, and a doxie 16lbs. They both love the MD so I mix it with their dry dog food, at first I gave it to them on the side of the dry food but my yorkie would only eat the MD and kept getting bad stomach aches. Since I've mixed it she is fine because she will eat both, no smells, no more stomach aches. Hope this helps.

Sounds like a good idea. I don't think DF will even allow MD in our house anymore now that he knows what causes the nasty smells.

My yorkie is 11lbs and has no problems eating it. He goes crazy over it. It's just the coming out part that is terrible.

[TheWoman]

No kidding!! I have over 100 coupons that expire tomorrow, all of which I paid .15 ea for. :sad: After talking with DF, we really think this is what the stink is all about. I have to switch them. My puppy Roscoe is so bad, he makes me puke on a semi-regular basis. I hate it. Just picking up with doggie bags sends me in to regular gagging fits.

Wish I would've been smart enough to figure it out before, or that DF had mentioned it before I went on a coupon acquiring frenzy.

If those coupons are for absolutely free dog food don't let them expire. Get the mighty dog and either donate it or sell it. Throwing out the coupons is like throwing out 100 cans of dog food.

[manders13]

Might sound crazy but its worth a shot...

When my moms dog gets like that (she eats mighty dog and purina one both..) we mix rice up and put it in her wet food. Works like a charm.

I don't give my 2 poms wet dog food. They get enough junk. They only get Iams Smart Puppy food, and carrots and of course doggy treats, unless they go to Grandpas then he spoils them! LOL

[kval07]

If those coupons are for absolutely free dog food don't let them expire. Get the mighty dog and either donate it or sell it. Throwing out the coupons is like throwing out 100 cans of dog food.

Oh, I would never do that! It's all good. Jillynoodle took them off my hands. The humane society will get my other 100+ cans later this week. Now I have to find another wet food to stockpile and hope for different results.:sad:

[Liz]

Canned dog food can sometimes create issues because it is basically junk and water. It is often the culprit when it comes to loose stool. Puppies especially shouldn't be on canned foods because their little systems are so sensitive and the transition to adult formulas from puppy formulas is already stressful enough. There's nothing really absolutely wrong, persay, with canned food so long as you feed it as a side dish to the main meal of dry food (which you are).Mighty Dog is "junk and water." But it is pure misinformation that all wet food is "junk and water"--I can name a dozen brands off hand that are not only superior to wet foods, but a hell of a lot better than the Purina and Eukanuba that you're recommending below.If the puppy is still having loose stool despite deworming and fecal checks, you can try a bit of bland diet to help his little system "reboot." You can purchase a formula through your vet (we deal with Purina and Eukanuba, so we sell EN and Low Residue, both of which come in a dry and wet formula). If cost is an issue, you can home-make a diet for a few days of BOILED meat (chicken breast or hamburger) and plain white instant rice. You would make 2 parts white rice to one part meat. Feed the same daily volume as the puppy is already getting, but break meals up in half and feed twice as often (hope that made sense!).These "prescription" diets are heavily by-product and grain based with very little meat. Not what a healthy dog (and a dog with a little case of the runs from a bad food is still healthy) should be eating, or any dog for that matter.
______________

In general, what you put in is what is going to come out. I'd put Mighty Dog as the culprit. Wet food as a whole is not junk--but as a general jrule, if you can buy it at the grocery store (pet food), it is garbage. I've fed my St Bernard a mix of canned (varying from stuff in gravy or just the stuff that's almost like ground meat) and dry, but I've never has a diarrhea incident related to his food (dry is EVO from Innova, wet is usually some form related to that).

[mlb1985]

I know I Only Give My dogs Wet Food Every Few Days Mixed with Dry Food.
That Useually Keeps My Dogs Regular.

Now My Staffordshire Terrier IS an ODD dog, I bought them Some High Dollar All Natural Food (BOGO!! LOL) and They Would eat Less than a Cup a Day Combined! My other dog is a Dashound/cocker spaniel Mix.
Turns Out My Big Girl HATED the Food. So i had to Mix Some Wet Sith it for her to eat it.

(I gave Up And Bought Some Other brand Of cheaper food She Likes LOL)

But if The Mighty Dog Isnt Working for Your Doggies Give it to A Dog RESCUE OR The shelter.

Good Luck!!!

[kval07]

Okay, today I picked up the very first normal poo from Roscoe my puppy. Both of their business looks totally different. I haven't fed them the MD for two days. They do look all pathetic laying down by their bowls around dinner time when I normally feed it to them. But in the mean time, they've been getting Natural Balance dog food rolls, which they inhale.

[mainelycoupons]

On the Purina hierarchy MD is pretty low. As someone else said:if you can buy it in a grocery store....
the gravy ones do seem to be worse for stools. I know the problem ingredient in that one recall is in the gravy ones, but not the old fashioned regular mush variety. Makes you wonder.

Not all wet food is bad, and it definitely comes in handy for picky eaters or when your pup just isn't feeling like eating but needs nourishment of some sort.

I noticed alot less issues with the Purina ONE cans I have stockpiled. Still not the greatest, but a tad better. I prefer getting free cans when I buy my Wellness from Petco (plus the buy10get1 for dry food).

The better quality the kibble, the less you feed and the less comes out in the end. Better may be more for a smaller bag but its all about the cost to how much you feed. And I've never fed what the bag says without ending up with a pudgy pup.

[jwahlton]

I have decided that Newman just can't handle this brand. I have mixed a bit with his dry (Benefil for overweight dogs) every couple of days and he then poops in the house. He rarely ever does that, but I don't think his tummy can handle the MD. He doesn't do that when I feed him the Ceasar dog food with his dry. I guess I'll just donate my cans to the dog shelter!

[gingersunshine]

we had to take 2 of our dogs to the vet about 3 or so months ago because of anal glands...all i can say is ewww when they had to "milk" them. that stench was horrible. but they told me that if you have sudden switches between dog food--we use alpo for the big dogs with occasional cans of wet and only wet for the teacup chi-chi (rescued from a meth house and was badly abused and can't chew dry--another long story). but the only thing that had changed was when i got a bunch of free dry iams--anyone remember the $5 off coupon?? well, it not only hurt the dog's tummies, we had horrible smelly poo, and a huge vet bill..needless to say, we try to stick to one kind of dog food and gradually mix if we are going to change brands.

[chitownmelli]

I stopped giving my dogs MD after I smelled an open can, the smell reminded me kind of either paint thinner or gasoline, and I said - there is no food that smells that way. Alpo makes my big dog throw up. Every time.

I do think there is something to that changing over the food slowly stuff. My dogs always do better when we stick to what works. Our dog's current diet is Pedigree in the yellow bag, the regular adult formula, and they love Beneful so we mix a bag of that in (we keep their open food in a huge plastic lidded thing) when we have it which avoids that introducing it all over again period since it's kind of always there. Wet foods that they get mixed in as a treat once or twice a week are the pedigree and they love that purina one, (which is by the way really really easy to mix into the food) I think it is - red can, got a bunch free not too long ago??? Other than that, they love to have things like carrots and plain rice in their dishes every once in awhile.

We get them what we can afford and try to stick to the same things for the sake of their tummys, and to answer the original post, their poo smelled worse than almost anything I have ever smelled when we gave them the mighty dog when it was free.

[kval07]

I haven't fed my dogs MD since I posted this. Roscoe's diarrhea is gone, and I don't gag when I clean up after them anymore. They had been getting the Natural Balance dog food rolls as a treat every now and then. I just started feeding them those on a daily basis. I buy the little .99 ones at Petco, and they get 1/2 of one per day. I don't want the big ones because I hear they got moldy pretty quick once you open them up. They do great on the Natural Balance dry food, so that won't be changing. Especially since I stocked up majorly during the $10/$50 coupon Petco had out.

[prtlndblnd]

I have been mixing one can along with dry (Iams), 2x per day for about a week. No issues except I think the gravy ones give him the toots.

[LovesDivine]

I stockpiled a ton of MD. But as of today, I am beginning the switch to home made food. I am going to gradually work it in until they are off the processed stuff. I used to feed my beagle home made exclusively and got sucked in to the free food and stopped. He was a very happy beagle when he realized I was boiling a chicken!! He's been keeping an eye on the kitchen all weekend. When the rice and veggies came out, he about started drooling. My pom licked her bowl clean and she never does that, always leaves bits of dry behind. This time she ate all the dry cuz it was covered in yummy mommy food.