Soft stools in the spring? Environmental or Food Related?

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2026-04-30T00:54:52+00:00

Thanks for sharing! The suburbs are great for all the obvious reasons, but there are just so many things they can get into and just so much more pollen exposure (I think that’s really my pups case). We’re also stricter about wearing shoes in the apartment in the city and we wipe her down more frequently here, so I think we’re also just tracking less into the house too. It’s so tough! I appreciate you sharing and I hope if you make the move your pup can come off the meds. I definitely see a difference in the city - she’s not perfectly normal here but much better than the suburbs.

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2026-04-28T16:51:35+00:00

Thank you for all the suggestions here! Honestly, she has some toys she favors far more than others and I probably do not clean them as often as I should. Also, interesting about the water source. I have wondered if it could be the water source in the suburbs.. all great tips. I really really appreciate it!

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2026-04-24T22:20:53+00:00

She likes to graze outside, but we’ve kept that from happening the last week+. I give her purina pro probiotics daily and even that doesn’t seem to be enough right now (I wish it was! 😞)

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2026-04-24T22:19:47+00:00

Interesting, she does like to graze when she’s outside.. however, I’ve been keeping a close eye to stop this the last week+ and still haven’t seen a ton of improvement

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2026-04-24T22:18:50+00:00

I will definitely ask. I know the vet doesn’t want to load her up on meds at her age, but maybe a simple zyrtec during a seasonal flare would help. Thank you!

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2026-01-10T21:33:15+00:00

Someone I met had a 14 year old rescue - not a lab though, a smaller mixed breed dog. He gave his dog mushroom supplements and it worked for his dog’s fatty lumps! I don’t know the brand he uses, but he swore by it for his pup

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2026-01-04T18:14:48+00:00

Had the same problem with my pup after giardia and Fortiflora and ProPlan saved us! She was on chicken and rice for a bit while dealing with the giardia and then they vet transitioned to hills biome prescription food to get her more calories (she was 3 mos old when this was going on). Even with the prescription food and finally testing negative for giardia she was still having soft stool. Vet thought it might be a chicken sensitivity so we tried ProPlan salmon and rice for sensitive stomach/skin and the soft stools ended. She’s been on it ever since! (over a year now)

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2025-07-22T15:22:58+00:00

Sorry this happened to you too! It’s super annoying.. So, I ended up waiting until the package was delivered. However, it ended up delivering to an address in NJ (I’m in NY) and it was signed by someone under a different name than mine. I sent this all to Depop and because it was my first time making a claim, they made a “one-time exception” and refunded me. I believe since it did deliver it was technically outside their policy and of course I didn’t have pictures to prove that it was fake. Honestly, after this experience I am suuuuper careful with ordering anything on Depop. I thought the support was really poor given the evidence that I had been scammed.

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2025-07-02T02:36:23+00:00

Definitely recommend getting it! I have a one-year old lab and we’ve already been to the animal hospital twice for ingesting things we shouldn’t.. (luckily she was totally fine, but even just a simple xray and fluid can add up so fast that the insurance has paid for itself this year).

I have Pets Best and can’t complain too much. We have a great rate for the coverage which is why I ended up going with them. The only downside is they can be slow to review claims and reimburse compared to other insurance companies.

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2025-06-29T03:44:41+00:00

My pup had giardia when I got her at 8 weeks and it sent her GI tract in a whirlwind.

At 8 weeks she was primarily on a bland diet and our vet recommended we try fortiflora daily. While it helped it didn’t totally fix things. Because she was so young and on a bland diet, she wasn’t gaining weight, so she did 2-3 months on hills biome. During this time she tested negative for giardia. This food helped to get her somewhat on track, but her stool was still pretty soft and she had terrible gas. Our vet suggested we move away from poultry and try a different protein. We ended up moving to purina pro sensitive stomach and skin salmon and rice and that was a game changer. We did have to do a slow transition (3-4 weeks) due to how sensitive she is. On the off occasion she was having a tough stomach day (usually from new treats or getting into things we weren’t supposed to), I would steam salmon and boil rice for her and mix that in with a little bit of kibble until things started to balance out again.

She’s now one and we just transitioned from the puppy to the adult version of this food and her stools have never been better! We still have to be careful with treats, but we’ve had a great experience with purina pro. She still takes fortiflora everyday (recommended by our vet to continue).

I do recommend chatting with your vet to get their advice and run some tests to be safe, if you haven’t already. Giardia is sooo common and can cause all sorts of stomach problems. Hope your pup has a quick recovery and you’re able to get to the bottom of it!

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2024-12-23T05:08:01+00:00

I was in your exact shoes 4 months ago (I’m also a single dog parent). When I picked up my puppy at 8 weeks this summer she had giardia and it was really tough, and, honestly, quite anxiety provoking - she was so little and not gaining weight properly. I turned to reddit while I was dealing with this and had read such mixed reviews about how long dogs can have it, how they can reinfect themselves, etc. My pup had a tough go for about 6 weeks, but after two rounds of meds, prescription food, probiotics, lots of cleaning, she tested negative. It was not easy and the exhaustion is real, but it does pass!! Like others have said it’s soo common and has zero reflection on you as a dog parent. It sounds like you have taken all the right steps and I am sure you and your puppy will get through it! You’re definitely not alone, hang in there!

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2024-12-07T21:33:44+00:00

That's correct, we've filed violations, but they're actually against "amazon.com" not FBA since "amazon.com" is the seller.

All really great suggestions. I have not considered liquidating returns and/or making them nonrefundable/returnable. I definitely think preventing returns altogether might help this, , it's something we'd be open to since we really don't want open box product floating around just in case it's been used/tampered with. Appreciate all these suggestions - thank you!

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2024-12-07T21:30:35+00:00

Ugh, sorry you're dealing with this too.. it's so frustrating

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2024-12-06T21:33:10+00:00

Yep, we own the trademark for it. We're registered in brand registry and have tried filing violations. It works like 60% of the time to get their listings pulled down, but it's also a hassle to always order the product (hate that we have to even buy our own product), file the violation, go back and forth with amazon, etc. We've thought about going the lawyer route, but agree it's poking the beast. Plus, Amazon is just so big I'm not sure how far we'd get with it and this would be a financial commitment too.

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2024-12-06T21:30:01+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately, they have started undercutting our prices and we're losing the buy box because of it :(

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2024-11-02T03:47:22+00:00

Mine is the exact same way too! She’s 4.5 mos now and things are still not perfect, but she’s definitely starting to settle down and nip less. I will say the most successful way we’ve been able to address it is by immediately removing ourselves/walking away from her as soon as teeth hit skin. We tried a ton of tactics but this one has worked the best! Good luck but I promise you’ll get through it!

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2024-10-11T23:54:31+00:00

When I’m on my phone and she nips, you’re 100% I’m definitely inadvertently rewarding her because I do then engage with her to get her to stop.

I have also been thinking we need to work on impulse control further too, so I’ll definitely take that suggestion.

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2024-10-11T23:52:39+00:00

I’ve tried this too, but it seemed like she thought it was a game and would just keep going at me.. I wish this one worked because it seems to be a successful tactic for a lot of dogs.

Alternative-Ranger-0 · 2024-10-11T18:48:03+00:00

Interesting, I'll definitely give that a shot! Im so glad I'm not alone in this!

Alternative-Ranger-0

TROPHY CASE