I have a pedigree GS male, 5 years old. He is about as big as they come in this breed, is long haired, mountain variety and straight backed. A traditional GS. He has a lovely nature and is very much treasured.

Can anybody help ? It is very worrying.

Does the GS breed suffer from a delicate stomach or digestive system ?
Somebody told me they do.

Reason is, my dog has frequent bouts of diarrhea lasting several days, then it gradually clears up and he goes a few weeks OK, then back it comes again.
He is healthy, eats well, shows no signs of any pain or distress, in fact apart from these nasty loose motions, he is perfect. He must weigh about 40kg.

He is fed twice each day with dry food, not over fed. We use Purina dry all-in-one. It comprises small round dark brown biscuits with a hole in the middle.
This food contains ALL the vitamins and nutrients needed and is made by Pedigree Pet Foods.

Any comments on this will be appreciated, especially from somebody who has had similar problems with GS`s.

UPDATE 30 NOV.08
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We changed his food from Purina Omega to Jame Wellbeloved dry food, choosing the 15kg bag of Lamb & Rice adult large kibble, hypo-allegenic, having no beef, pork, soya, dairy products or eggs in it. It contains natural seaweed, alfalfa, yucca extract and several other healthy ingredients including all the necessary vitamins. This JWB is rather expensive at £39.50 per 15kg bag, but the big guy is worth every penny.

He has been on this new food now for about 10 days and his diarrhea and loose motions problem which has been with us for a very long time has disappeared completely. All is now quite normal.

The change in his motions was almost immediate, perhaps only a day after starting the JWB. I cannot believe that a simple change in food can act so successfully so quickly. He has been on Purina all his life and grown into a very big and healthy dog, with no problems at all except the motions one which has been intermittent, not continuous.

We are now hoping all is on course for a trouble-free future for him.
He loves his JWB and jumps about with excitement at feed times. He also seems happier. I do hope we have cracked it. It is said by others that the coat and skin will benefit also - we will have to wait and see.

I would like to thank all the people who kindly responded to my initial letter appealing for comments very much.
KAS

hi and welcome

all i can say is that a gsd (an probably other breeds) shouldnt excersise an hour before and after feeding.
Im not sure if thats of any help
.....have u contacted a vet about this?
Maybe he is eating something outside which is upsetting his stomach?

Hi ya Kas
i've had 2 gsd and i havent had this problem..i fed my 2 on vitalin i'm not sure if you can still buy it as i now have poodles.lol i know .what a change.
do you change his food at anytime? just curious to see if it may coincide with his upset tummy...
ps.......great dogs aren't they

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I have a GSD came to me as a 3yr old with awful tummy trouble she was on eukanuba so I tried RC GSD Nutro now she is on and doing really well with Bozita dry her weight has gone from 18kg to 35kg shes been us 2yrs

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My two have senstive stomachs, they go fine for weeks then i might just give them a treat or tibit they dont normally have and they get very loose, i feed JWB & tripe as it has no additives that helps, they were on beta and were loose all the time, they are a lot better now but still get loose if i give them something they dont normally have,

Hello.

I have always thought, german shepherds have sensitive stomachs. He sounds a good weight to me aswell. Has he been fed something which is unusual to his diet?

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No Karen, he has been on the food I described for a long time.
He has almost no treats, one Bonio biscuit per day and tiny end pieces of sandwiches, when we have them. Nothing really.

The vet said his weight is perfect for his size - he is a very BIG dog.
He has been wobbly with his motions ever since we had him as a puppy, never ailing, just normally formed/soft motions, with this periodic diarrhea. It usually lasts about 5 days, then back to "normal".

Our vet said that GS`s are susceptible to tummy troubles and I posted this to get some wider views on it.

Thanks for your reply. We are in Luton.

I think you mean pancreatic insufficiency. This is something which presents as chronic watery diarrhea. This condition is treatable, with pancreatic enzymes and a low fat diet but the regime must be strictly adhered to.

I have so far had 4 GSD's, none of which have had this problem, so my advice to you would be enjoy your shepherd, and stop worrying

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we've always had a GSD in our family and never had a problem but we mainly feed a BARF diet to all our dogs so that mite be why.

Hello Shan,
Thanks for your comment - what is BARF ?
Are you in the UK ?

Motions looking good at present. Appt. with vet next Monday.