poo woes... any ideas?(doberman people?)

[shadowpaints]

history:

Odie is a 2 year old standard blue doberman. he is 31 inches at the shoulder. we got him last July for the idea that having a big dog would help deter people who try to break into my house.
when we got him it was obvious he had a allergy. he had sores on his feet and legs, was practically hairless, and VERY thin . the old owners were feeding him a very cheap food (old Roy i think)

got him home, took him to the vet the next day. he got wormed and we discussed the possible allergy. we decided it was probably corn. we put him on Exclusive Lamb formula. we also put him on Fish oil pills to help his coat. he started gaining weight and got a nice shine to his coat. 2 months ago my roommate left her dogs bowl of cheap (dog chow) food on the floor and Odie got a few bites before i got it away from him. in 4 days, Odie lost all his hair, and lost 40lbs. he wouldn't eat or drink anything, had to take him into the vet for a bag of fluids, and he started to perk up. we have been able to get 20 lbs back on him but not any more. his hair is still really thin.. with lots of spaces with just skin.

negative for heart worms (tested in January)

he is currently getting 6 cups of food (exclusive) PLUS another 3lbs of boiled hamburger. he gets plenty of cold water all the time also, its available 24/7

he is a great dog, i LOVE him so much , so good with the kids, chickens and horses.

the only issue is, 3 times a week he will poop in side. he gets let out 5-7 times a day, with the longest outside times being early in the morning, and later in the evening for play time.
he never pees in the house, just poo.. he is also the ONLY dog that does this ( i have 3 shelties, a lab and a st Bernard mix inside, plus Odie) he is fed separately, and exercised adequately.
his poo has never been 'formed' so to speak. but not really diarrhea, kind of in between. he also has VERY bad gas
my vet and i are stumped. he is not testing positive for any other allergies, fecal test is clear.. what are we missing??

thanks ahead of time for your help... here are a few pics of Odie

this pic of odie last fall

play? yes he has natrual ears

where he normally sleeps with my 5 year old daughter

 

[bagendhens]

firstly hes beautiful...

the gas/loosness could either be a MILD allergy or it culd be that the foods too rich for his system, seems alittle odd since i assume hes been on this good food for a while now, but mabe hfter getting an upset tummy his balance was thrown off and now hes been left inblanced.

first thing i think id try is adding parsely, a little canned pumpkin (no sugar added) and some good greek or home made yogurt (live actuve cultures, or otherwise a good probiotic powder).

the parsely is a wonderfull natural and safe gas relife, pumpkin is naturally binding in small doses, and yogurt or probiotics to help reestablish to good bacteria in the gut.
ive personally found loose is enough for a dog to cause accidents, especially in gassy dogs (you ever got that feeling that you needed to fart but it wasnt realy a fart you needed?)

for the wieght issue you might want to try slowly starting on satin balls
http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satinballs/satinballs.html

they are very rich and will pack on the weight quickly so go easy on them but i have used them extensivly with many breeds (like great danes) that tend to have some issues putting on the weight.
in my experience dobies tend to be prone to troubled tummies.

(but most of the dobies ive met are byb/mill dogs) LOVE the breed though, absoulty beautiful!

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Canned pumpkin is a very good idea, just make sure its 100% Canned Pumpkin -- NOT Pumpkin Pie Filling!

To be very frank with you the severe allergies/sensitivities to food (say this because of his extreme reaction you described, after only a couple bites of food), sounds like he's got auto-immune disorder which can be attibuted to his breed AND color. The vet won't see allergy tests positive with an auto-immune disorder, and the only thing you can do is manage him...plus get him on an allergen free food. Oddly enough lamb is one of the most common proteins that trigger an auto-immune response and it was something I couldn't feed my GSD who had diagnosed auto-immune disorders.

Feed a food that is free of soy, corn, wheat and rice. Get a food that is an alternative protein source such as fish, duck or other wild game. Stay away from beef-like proteins such as buffalo.

My GSD would also have random boughts of soft stool in the house and he never got over it, but nearly stopped when I switched him to Taste Of The Wild dog food. He also gained and maintained weight and didn't get itchy-tail any longer. The poo in the house isn't related to house breaking and it's not something you can train out of them, but you can manage it by making sure you know they have emptied their bowels at least once that day.

I know it probably sounds like I am over reacting to what you describe, but once you see these symptoms first hand it's hard not to go there. Not only have I see this with my own dog, but now working at our Humane Socieity I see it often in other dogs, and they are diagnosed before being adopted out as special needs.

 

[shadowpaints]

thanks for the replies!

we are taking him to a different vet tomorrow. the vet i use is 'old school' and suggested i take him to a new age ( as he called it ) vet . we are looking at a bunch of possible problems, the vet i talked to (taking him to tomorrow) mentioned several things, most of which are serious. i feel awful, because it never hit me that he had never had a firm bowel movement , and so him pooping in the house is likely not his fault.

i feel awful, because im sure he is not feeling well even though he acts just fine.

i love this guy i really hope we can fix it!

 

[farmchick897]

I noticed you have chickens around, could he be getting into their food? Did they test for guardia?

 

[adgcountrygirl]

My grandma's little dog is allergic to chicken... Ironic? I had never heard of a dog being allergic to chicken and you wouldn't believe how many dog foods have chicken in them!

 

[shadowpaints]

that was last fall, the chickens are now in their own runs. the feed has always been put up where the dogs cant get to it, and he is only out side when supervised its quite puzzling at this point, im hoping the younger vet will have a better idea.

 

[Liafast]

I was feeding a male standard poodle I have a wheat/grain free food due to the fact my other standard is allergic to grain. Piper (the male) started loosing all the coat around his eyes so I swiched all my dogs to raw. I got Piper's health record out and was looking at the dates of his vaccines and about 4 weeks before he started loosing coat he received his rabies shot. I checked on the internet and found vaccine reaction are a common isuue and they cause auto immune problems also. Piper has an exempion from the rabies shot due to the reaction.

 

[Liafast]

Also within 2 weeks of feeding raw his coat was already coming back in.

 

[bustermommy]

I would definitely try the yoghurt. My dogs love it and whenever they have a problem (one kept finding something in the back yard that was poisonous, we don't know what) it helps a lot. This is also the only time they have ever pooed in the house since new puppies. Our vet had suggested probiotics, but they apparently taste nasty. They just can't help the poo; it's not under their control.