So... Koda has been doing great on TOTW Pacific Stream. His stool is firm and dark. We've been adding raw egg and some yogurt to it on and off along with just feeding the food plain and he's been eating pretty consistently.

However, he's started to poop like decent sized BMs 5 times a day, but he's not gaining any weight, so it's not like we're feeding him too much-- or are we? Any ideas?

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Tori, we had a similar issue when we fed our Dakota Taste of the Wild High Prairie. While his stool on the TOTW was never very firm like it is on Evo or raw, his stools were noticeably larger and more frequent...and smellier too! lol

Since then I've put him back on Evo and even given him premade raw every now and then as well as an occasional dehydrated raw dinner and his stools are back to being very small, ultra firm, less smelly, and less BM's period.

Edit to add: I fed our Dakota the same amount of TOTW as I did Evo, yet on TOTW I could easily get 3-4 BM's per day while on Evo/raw I get 1 maybe 2 BM's per day. So I doubt it is a case of feeding too much if Koda's maintaining his weight.

TOTW did the same to our Evo (the dog, not the food!). Except his tummy wouldn't handle the strength of TOTW so we had constant messes when we came home. Evo (the food, not the dog) was also rough on our boy - but not near as bad as TOTW. He's on raw now and we rarely have a maximum of two poops a day and it's far less than most dogs' stools. His stools on raw are firm, light brown to white-ish and hardly smell.

Ok so im getting worried reading all this since I am switching our 2 to TOTW their poop so far seems good but we have not switched 100% yet, looks like Jack's poop is Harding up for the first time since we got them and he is not farting near as much as he was, I think Sierra's have gotten smaller, been about 2-3 weeks now I think. and im sorry gonna sound stupid but what is a BM?

a BM refers to a Bowel Movement When he poops

We've had success on TOTW, our only problem is the pooping excessive amounts during the day. This didn't start until we had switched him completely for over a month... so it wasn't something that appeared right away.

Now I'm debating what to do

i was wondering if that is what it was, thanks for clearing that up, well i guess i will keep my eye out for that issure with ours. how much are you feeding him? i was feeding Sierra and Jack 1 cup of food 3x's a day and am now trying to cut back to 2.5 cups a day and then maybe to 2 cups cause i think that is what it says for dogs over 50lbs.

jbealer wrote:

i was feeding Sierra and Jack 1 cup of food 3x's a day and am now trying to cut back to 2.5 cups a day and then maybe to 2 cups cause i think that is what it says for dogs over 50lbs.

How much do your dogs weigh? My boy is 58 lbs and he was eating 1.75 cups per day of TOTW mixed with a little bit of wet. He still eats 1.75 cups per day of Evo now mixed with a little wet and any more than that and he will gain weight.

Okay- see, Koda is on 3 cups a day (1.5 in the AM, 1.5 in the PM).... I suppose that's too much, but he's not gaining any weight....

Well Sierra weighed in at 52 lbs the other day at the vet and I think Jack is about the same all though he is starting to fill out now, noticed his collar is getting tight on him he is only 1.5 yrs old. I still have the old food mixed in so I am hoping to get them to 2 cups a day when they are fully on TOTW and I will watch there weight and might lower it if they do gain. Our dogs do not get many treats so that I can make sure they are eating the food, I know im such a mean mommy! they only get half a bone every morning when it is cage time and only get bones when it is cage time, they do love the raw hides and they are all over the place in the house and I noticed with this one brand of compressed raw hide bones they were eating them faster then normally and Sierra was putting on weight so they do not get them as much anymore either. They do get cooked chicken and veggies as a treat almost every day rather do that then processed treats.

Excess pooh is usually a sign of overfeeding. The dog is using what he/she needs and the rest is just passing through, literally being "wasted."
Dog food manufacturers base their recommended feeding amounts on "normal" dog breeds but in this respect, sibes are not normal dogs. Their metabolism is such that they make more efficient use of food than other breeds and do not need the same amounts (although your sibe won't tell you this, he'll happily eat whatever you put in front of him). Also, the better quality the food, the less cheap "filler" there will be to convert uselessly into pooh.
The same is true for protein levels - there is often an assumption that as a tough working dog, sibes need a high protein food. In fact, unless they actually are working extremely hard for long periods, they will be adequately nourished on a basic "maintenance" level food.

One of the biggest problems related to us by owners wishing to give up their Siberians to welfare is that the dog (usually a young male) is hyper and out of control. We generally ask the owners to do an experiment and cut down both the amount they are feeding and the protein level of their food for a couple of weeks before making a final decision on giving up their dog. In many cases, at the end of the two weeks, the owners ring us and say, "I don't believe how much he has changed" and keep their dog.

Mick

Not that I am enjoying paying so much for TOTW we are switching foods because we believe Jack needs a grain free food diet and this brand was a bit less expensive then Evo and seemed to be of the same quality so that is why we have started feeding it and it seems to be working, we were testing some of the other brands with him as well and he did not like them very much. I did read what you just wrote on your site and so far Jack does not seem to have any more energy then before but that is something we will keep an eye out for as well.

jbealer wrote:

so far Jack does not seem to have any more energy then before but that is something we will keep an eye out for as well.

Just out of curiosity, what was Jack on before? I don't think TOTW will give you an over-energetic husky truthfully.

When I had my sibe on TOTW his energy level was what I would consider "normal" as in he was very energetic without it being 'too much'. When he is on Evo his energy level is through the roof and the difference is literally night and day. On TOTW he was more like a normal dog, on Evo he's like a husky on speed...sounds dangerous when I put it that way. LOL Seriously after a switching him to Evo I couldn't believe it was the same dog who totally changed almost overnight just from his food. We've tried a number of different foods on him and he does by far the best on Evo (high protein) and while he could afford to tone it down a little (well, a LOT) energy wise, I keep him on it and give him extra exercise to compensate for the extra energy.

We had Jack on the lamb and rice from kirkland from costco.

jbealer wrote:

We had Jack on the lamb and rice from kirkland from costco.

Oh That looks like such a decent food. I give my sibe the Kirkland Lamb/rice and Chicken/rice dog biscuits and he does well on them. He generally does not do well with rice in his food products but the little bit in the Kirkland biscuits does not seem to bother him. Love their prices.

Jack still gets half of one of those biscuits a day to get him in his crate and i hope i do not have to stop giving them as well, grain free treats are alot of $$$$$$ Sierra did great on the food but to keep them on the same food she is changing as well.

I hope the TOTW works out for you. It never did completely agree with mine. Started having issues once I reached a mix of 25% Evo and 75% TOTW. I still switched him over completely, had him on TOTW for 2 months and then switched him back to Evo and once back on Evo his tummy issues went away. Good luck to you and please keep us updated.

Mick- are you saying then, that I am feeding Koda too much and I should try cutting down on his portions? I was afraid to do this because he's not gaining any weight, so I don't want to make him go hungry, which is what I am afraid cutting back on his food might do.

I guess I am just asking if I am understanding right and huskies just tend to process food better, so that he's actually just getting rid of the excess instead of putting on pounds. Is that correct?

I read it as you should cut down the food, that is what we are hoping to do we are at about 2 1/2 cups a day for them down from 3, Jack has seemed fine with it but i think Sierra is hungry since she stole a bread stick off my plate last night and she has never taken food from me before! oh i don't think we will ever figure out these dogs!

I think that's what we'll try. I'm really happy with the TOTW. His stool is firm, he seems to enjoy it, we mix it with some low-cost ingredients to keep it different, and the price is right. Evo was great, but he was barely eating a cup of it a day, and with the price, I was not too thrilled about buying more mixers for it...

Koda wrote:

Mick- are you saying then, that I am feeding Koda too much and I should try cutting down on his portions? I was afraid to do this because he's not gaining any weight, so I don't want to make him go hungry, which is what I am afraid cutting back on his food might do.

I would cut back and monitor his weight. As long as he doesn't start losing weight (assuming he's at his ideal weight right now) then you should be fine decreasing his food...plus think how much money you'll save from turning into useless poo.

Cutting back on food for any animal, including us, is going to make us a little hungry but the great thing is that they, and we, can adjust. I've cut back on feeding portions before for my sibe, my chi, and my two guinea pigs when they needed to lose weight. ALL of them went through a period of being more hungry than usual for a week or two and then they were fine once they got used to their new portions. It's hard to see them act all hungry but if they are healthy and at a healthy weight then I'd work on being a little more firm, it's hard I know...I've had to cut back on my sibe's treats and dinner since his cute, little puppy eyes gained him an extra 4 lbs recently. So far we've got one pound down and three to go.

Thank you, Val I will try that then and let everyone know how it goes. Thanks for the tip... I probably would have freaked if he seemed more hungry than usual LOL. It's good to prepare in advance.

Just to update:

Koda has been brought down to 2 cups a day of the TOTW Pacific Stream formula. His BMs have totally gone back to the normal 2x a day! Apparently you were all right and we were feeding him too much

Also- now that he's fully on TOTW, stool is still firm and dark and he finally enjoys eating his food again. After cutting back to the 2 cups, he's stopped leaving food and eats it all in one sitting again We don't even need to add egg or yogurt (although we still do a couple of times a week for an added treat)!

I know TOTW doesn't work for every dog, but we're really happy with what it's done for Koda

Excellent! That's such great news Tori! So glad it's working out for both of you.

TOTW has also been working for Jack and he is having firm stool, now if he could only poop in the same spot life would be good! (he is a poop and walk kind of dog!) i will be buying another bag this week and we will be on the 2nd bag with out mixing in food so i will be able to better judge how long the bag last our 2 and if the food is still working for them.