6month puppy being fed Blue Wilderness and has lots of gas, any suggestions?

lgrace · #1 14th December 2009, 07:34 AM

Hey all my boxer puppy is 6 months old weighing about 40 pounds. We originally fed her Purina puppy chow cause that was what the breeder had been feeding her. We recently (about a month ago) switched to Blue Wilderness for puppies because it was recommended by a trainer at petsmart. We wanted something that was healthier for her that didn't have all the corn, grain and other additives. But she has been having horrible gas on the food...we never noticed gas problems on the Purina puppy chow. Her stools are only occasionally loose and she hasn't been showing any other signs of problems.
Does anyone have any suggestions of what we should do? The Blue bag we bought is empty now so we are trying to decide if we should continue with the same food or go on to something different. I have read on the forums that a lot of people feed the Wellness brand to their dogs...should we switch to that?
Any suggestions or ideas you have would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Lydia

ronkar · #2 14th December 2009, 10:54 AM

Does Blue Buffalo have a "puppy" Wilderness formula? Do you mean Blue Buffalo Puppy or Blue Wilderness? I ask because I feed my 14 week old boxer Blue Buffalo Puppy and I feed my 7 year old boxer Blue Wilderness. The Wilderness is obviously alot better but Im reluctant to feed my puppy because I dont think its "all stages". Anyway, when I switched my older boxer to wilderness his gas was horrific. I get nausiated just thinking about it. It was pretty bad but It went away eventually. Also, new food should be introduced slowly and gradually. Rapid food changes can cause your puppy to have gas, diaherra and other problems. Hopefully one of the experts, moderators will chime in and provide better insight.

lgrace · #3 14th December 2009, 11:59 AM

Yeah sorry I put the wrong name, it is just Blue Buffalo for puppies, not Blue Wilderness.
It seems our pup is having the same problems your dog did with the horrific gas! Its just awful.
We did transition her slowly, over about 10 days to the new food like someone had suggested and she did have some loose stools then but we expected that. And from what I have read it takes a bout a month for a dog to really transition with their food and its been a month or longer. So I thought by now the gas would be gone.
I just don't want to buy another bag of Blue Buffalo if she is gonna keep having problems. I have also been reading more on the forums and it seems we should switch to an adult food now. Will it be bad to transition her again to a different food after only a month?
Thanks again!

BxrMommieNAZ · #4 14th December 2009, 06:22 PM

I'd switch. Blue causes gas in a lot of Boxers. Maybe a grain free food would help or simply another brand. No issues with switching however I would recommend you switch over a 5-10 day period.

LeeUmm · #5 14th December 2009, 10:12 PM

If you transitioned normally and she's still having gas, I'd switch. There is no 'right' food for every dog. The food could be great in theory, but just not mix well with the dog. Every dog is different, and it seems she's just not handling it too well.

Check out Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble and grab a brand that is 4 stars or higher.

One other thing to keep in mind is that some people suggest not feeding a puppy formula, and just stick to the adult stuff. In this article if you scroll towards the bottom after the last table/chart, you'll see the paragraph on it. Only suggesting since it could open up up other kinds to try.

lgrace · #6 15th December 2009, 11:53 AM

THanks for the responses. I think we are going to switch food. We bought a small bag of the Blue to transition her and we are looking at Taste of the Wild Praire Kibble because it has a high rating on the food analysis page and its cheaper than Wellness. If you know of any reason why we shouldn't use Taste of the Wild let me know!

SteveL · #7 15th December 2009, 03:38 PM

I switched to TOTW and Rocky is doing fantastic. I went to the fish one first (pacific stream?) and am now switching to the duck one. The fish one smells terrible and he is not crazy about it but it did clear up all of his gas and loose stools. Oh he does still burp but that is kinda cute... Never seen a dog burp before

LeeUmm · #8 15th December 2009, 09:16 PM

I hate to be that guy, as I've brought this up in a few other threads, but you did ask.

TOTW contains a preservative called ethoxyquin that may or may not cause cancer. Do a search here and Google to see.

I had my girl on the large bag and it was great. Gas cleared up, solid stool and she loved it. I don't really have anything bad to say about the food or company, but I switched to Acana which is made by the same company as Orijen, and is ethoxyquin free. I mainly did it for the price reason, as the outlet factory I get food from doesn't sell TOTW and Acana was significantly cheaper.

Do the research yourself and come to your own conclusion on what you feel comfortable with. I really don't know how big of a deal it is to be honest. Just figured I'd give you the info for you to decide.

sesua · #9 22nd December 2009, 05:28 PM

My girl was originally on Purina Puppy when we first got her from the breeder. We switched to Blue Buffalo Puppy and the gas problems got really bad, esp when sleeping! Plus her poops would not firm up. We switched her to Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet and everything got dramatically better. It's an all life stages brand. I believe the Blue Buffalo was just too rich for her. Good luck!!