Hi everyone. I just recently became a member here. I found this forum looking for good foods for a Siberian husky. Mika is 7 years old, and has a very sensitive stomach. But it has been very hard to find a good food that not only will her stomach agree with it, but that she will like too. She is not a highly energetic dog, but is still moderately active. Her stool has been really runny, almost to the point of diarrhea. And her tastes keep changing. Any ideas? She is currently on her last amounts of Earthborn Great Plains feast.

Welcome Melissa to the forum, what a great looking dog and great pic! Earthborn is one of the best foods out there. Kinda tricky, have you always fed Earthborn? Have you rotated flavors? If you rotated did Mika still have loose stools? How much do you feed?

I hate suggesting a different brand, unless I knew those answers. To me it sounds like Mika's age and being less active that this particular flavor and possibly brand is at the wrong ratios. Meaning too high in protein, too high in fat and too low in fiber. Can you answer my questions and then see what can be changed? Has Mika seen a vet recently to rule out any medical issues? I'd be more than happy to help, just need a little more info.

She had been through a couple flavors but from another brand. She was originally on Premium Edge with chicken, but the grains were upsetting her stomach. So we were told to try something further away from chicken since she wasn't a huge fan of that. She has been on Earthborn for the past couple of months. She has been to the vet, and they suggested science diet. But that made her have horrible runny stool. She is a more calm husky but still loves her long walks and hikes. She's not a big fish lover, we had tried that as well.

Vets tend to be great resources when it comes to healthcare and medicines but their choice of pet foods leave a lot to be desired.

One of the major problems we have with Huskies is that they process their food quite a bit differently than other dogs - and recommendations for the amount to feed from someone who doesn't have a Husky is invariably way too much. Renee asked a few questions that you partly answered but the "how much? how often?" need to be answered as well. Also a couple of pictures of her standing - from the side and from above - would help us as well.

While this may sound condescending, it's not intended as such. You do know that the best way to change a dogs food is a little at a time (25% new food -> 50% new food -> 75% new food, for example) so that she has time to adjust to it before you've completely replaced her old food. Changing food without doing it gradually will almost invariably result n diarrhea.

Oh no! You're not being condescending! It's an honest question. You are just informing and making sure. I did do the transitioning from her old to new food with what we had left of the Premium Edge. Unfortunately due to me not having an actual computer right now, using my phone lol, I am not able to get pictures on here at the current time. Not too computer savvy with photos. As for how much she is getting, I put down only three cups or so of food per day, only because she eats slow and I tend to leave it down for her. I've tried getting her on a schedule. But it generally doesn't work out because she does eat slow.

Renee is probably the most knowledgeable person I know when it comes to dog foods so she can answer you better but to me, especially with a high quality food, 3 cups seems kinda a lot of food and might be why she is having runny stool. Huskies really are somewhat light eaters. My two get about 2 cups per day of kibble.

Do you happen to know how much Mika weighs?

Melissa, I think most of us with adults are feeding about two cups of food a day. My Sasha, who's about the same age as Miko gets two cups a day (one morning /  one evening).  Now she'll eat more if I let her - but then she wants to make more trips outside, so she doesn't really seem to be gaining anything.

Just off the cuff, from what you've said, I'd cut her back by 1/4 cup a week (every couple of days at most) until you see her stool starts to firm up - I'm betting that will happen at about 2 1/2 cups and it'll look "good" when you get closer to two.

Vets are notorious for recommending too much food for Huskies since they generally just don't know and dog food manufacturers are, obviously, in the business of selling dog food so the more you feed, the more they sell - their recommendations are generally too much for a 'normal' dog and way too much for most Huskies.

Ok I will cut her food back to the amounts you recommended. Should I keep her on the type of Earthborn that I mentioned she is currently on?

I'm kind of waiting for Renee to chime in but personally I wouldn't change food and amounts at the same time. You couldn't be certain then what caused the good (or bad) change. If you haven't seen some improvement by 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 cups then it's time to rethink the situation. I really do think the problem is simply that you're feeding too much ... on recommendations from people who don't know Huskies.

Sorry Melissa, weekends I get on late at night only. Al and Jimmy however did great! Yes stay with what you are feeding for now and lower the amounts, like Al mentioned decrease about 1/4 cup for a few days, still runny lower another 1/4 cup. I would bet at 2-2.5 cups a day she will have firm stools. If not, well we can work on something else. Huskies eat 20-25% less than what is recommended on packages and most normal dogs. To put it in perspective, my girl is way above breed standard at around 70 pounds and eats 1.5-2 cups a day. A pure sibe at around 50 pounds give or take will eat around that amount (I supplement with raw, so in reality most days she eats 1.5-2 cups kibble and 3-6 ounces raw). I also feed twice a day, I do let her free feed, but she nibbles about 1/2 cup in the am and then the rest in the pm, imho it is better to split the meals up into 2 feedings. Make sure you give it a few days at a specific amount before determining anything is wrong, it certainly takes several days for their stomachs to get used to a changed, even if it's just a decrease in food.

Sorry it took me a while to respond back to this. I am already slowly reducing her food now and making sure she has had enough good exercise throughout the day. Thank you guys so much for your advise. I will keep you all posted on her progress and let you know how she is doing. Thank you so much for the help!