Ok, this is my second litter that has been started on Orijen LBP and I really wanted this food to work but both litters have not done well. They have very soft stools which only firm up a little if I cut way back on the food to the point that they become underweight. Even tylan is not firming things up. My five week old litter is getting 1/4 cup a day each and it is still too rich for them. Stools are very frequent and just awful and the pen is a mess in the mornings. We all know how miserable it is to have a whole litter with loose, frequent stools.

So I am thinking of California Natural for next year. Any feedback? I don't think they have a LBP but Adult Chicken and Rice seems too low in protein and fat (21% and 11%) Also calcium/phosphorus seem to high (1.5 and 1) So I'm looking at their Chicken and Rice regular puppy (protein 26%, fat 16%, calcium/phosphorus 1.3 and .9) That seems good right?

As much as Purina Pro Plan has messed up their other formulas this past year or so, I really like the PPP Puppy Chicken and Rice food. It's perfectly balanced for puppies, nice and stinky, (the pups love the scent) and the puppies have perfect stools. I really hope that Purina doesn't change this formula, it works for us.

Pro Plan Puppy C&R. Not large breed. My pups would drop dead from starvation on 1/4 cup a day at 5 weeks. Mine get all they want to eat. I make sure there are leftovers for mom to clean up. They get about 1/2 cup each 4 x's a day. So, perhaps 2 cups each per day at 5 weeks. Feed those pups something they can handle. They are starving.

I to feed Purina Plan Puppy C&R (not Large Breed). My puppies thrive on it. Very firm stools, that p/u easy. Strongly recomend.

CN is a good food and the 26/16 is good - for "next year".

But you need to switch your 5 week old pups onto a food they can tolerate and gain on. Try the CN.

Good luck.

I loved the Orijen LBP for the past 4 litters. Maybe you are feeding too much? Have you also checked stools for coccidia and giardia? With all the snow we had, one litter went soft and had to have metroniazole for a week. They had just eaten too much snow.

Stools are negative for parasites and these pups haven't even been outside yet.

I am wondering if there is a reason everyone seems to feed the regular puppy and not large breed with the Purina Pro Plan? I have always fed adult or large breed and thought that regular puppy had the wrong calcium and phosphorus levels.

I have a friend that had the same problem on Innova LB Puppy. No parasites, stools were horrible. They ended up on Eukanuba LB puppy, and are doing great.

I used to use Pro Plan LB formula, and my 5 week old puppies would eat it and it would come up immediately. They too were switched to Eukanuba LB with great results. Good luck.

I recently had the same thing happen with a litter on California Natural Lamb and Rice Puppy Chow. On the advice of a longtime breeder/friend, I switched to Purina Puppy Chow and everything went back to normal. FWIW, I'd used California Natural with other litters with no problem; I'm not sure why it created soft stools with this particular group of pups. (And yes, they were tested for all the usual suspects!)

I have tried several puppy foods over the years and always end up with Iams Smart Puppy for Large Breeds. My instinct says not to use it as it does have some corn in it. But the poops are always perfect, lovely coats, health and energy. I just sent a litter of 10 home on Iam's - all vets said pups were in wonderfully healthy. By 16 weeks I have families switch to Diamonds Naturals Chicken and Rice. I get excellent hips and moderate growth on this protocol.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! to everyone who recommended I switch the puppies over to Pro Plan Chicken and Rice puppy. Like another poster here, I was always opposed to feeding a corn based food and this food is definitely very heavy on the grains. But there is no way to argue with the results! My puppies are eating double the amount of food now and their stools are beautiful!!! Thanks so much for the very good advice.

Actually I noticed a difference when I fed the regular Orijen puppy, the stools were formed and normal(barring any digging in the gravel) but this litter I started on the Large Breed and the stools were softer, another breeder that feeds the Oijen LB puppy niticed this as well. My last litter was raised on the regular and at 8 weeks I switched the puppies I kept to their LB formula and the stools were softer for a while(and a bit smellier too) I think I will go back to using the regular Orijen puppy for my next litters or use the 6 Fish it has the same calcium/phos ratio.Since my litter is 7 weeks already I'll change my keeper to the 6 fish and recommend the Puppy for the new owners.

I have fed my puppies up to 8 weeks Performance puppy from Pro Pac and I´m very satisfied with that.