Not sure what to do about GSDs diet

[Greypaw]

I've got an 11 month old GSD who (on the advice of the trainer) was on Royal Canin GSD puppy food. He was consistently underweight though (the dog, not the trainer), and Royal Canin has terrible reviews so I have been slowly transitioning him to Eden over the past four or five weeks. He currently has probably 90% Eden and about 10% Royal Canin mixed in.

Since he's had more of the Eden, his poo has been really runny and it doesn't seem to be getting better as time goes on. I don't know if this would improve if I was just feeding him 100% Eden, but I can't see why it would (am I wrong here?). His weight is slowly improving I think, though I can still see his ribs. He has bundles of energy.

I don't know whether to stick to the Eden, which I know can cause runny poo in some dogs, or move him onto something else. And if I move him onto something else, I don't know whether to pick something with a similar protein content (like Applaws or Millie's) or whether its the protein that's the problem.

Anyone got any wisdom to share?

[Usermuser]

I moved my dog from Harringtons to Eden after the local shop owner raved about it to me. It had the same effect, lots of runny or very soft poo even after he'd been fully transitioned to it (gradually, obviously). I've read that too much protein can do that -not sure if that's true. We've moved him onto james wellbeloved hypoallergenic which is meant to be good. It's definitely improved it but still not great. It might work for you though. I've also read that quite a few dogs are allergic to chicken, duck and turkey -which seem to be present in most dog foods... Maybe that's an issue with your dog. We're about to try our dog on a salmon and potato variety -possibly Simpsons.
One thing that also massively helped our dog was the Yudigest probiotics which you can get on Amazon. It really seems to have soothed his gut and made him digest stuff so much better when nothing else really worked. Took about a week to take effect. Anyway, good luck with it. It can be really frustrating and worrying when nothing seems to agree with your dog's tummy.

[Gooseygoosey12345]

Too much protein can cause that. Also you don't want bigger dogs to grow too quickly as their joints can suffer so he doesn't need huge amounts of protein right now. James wellbeloved is a good food so if he doesn't improve I'd suggest transitioning to that too

[WatcherOfTheNight]

I've heard a few people have the same issues with that food.
Have a look at Millies Wolfheart Op,my lab had a terrible runny stomach as a pup,sorted almost immediately on changing to Millies.
I also gave a probiotic paste,think it was pro kolin plus.

[TondelayaDellaVentamiglia]

both of our dogfaces have been on RCGSD since coming off the puppy food.

The first one went onto it after having a terrible bout of colitis....anything other than poached chicken and rice went straight through him as green mucousy diarrhoea ....that was a terrible 8 weeks :v

Also noticed a marked improvement in his amateur dramatics behaviour once he was settled on it. That may have been coincidental though...but he did seem a lot calmer

We did try to change to something else...can't remember what...but first dog went back to the squirts and the second started busying in the house and he never ever did that. SO we are stuck with it.

They are 9 and 7 now!

[Greypaw]

Thanks all, this is really helpful. Goosey, this is the reason the vet wasn't overly worried about his weight - she said he was underweight but that it could work in his favour as he'll have less stress on his joints.

Really I was worrying that he was underweight because the food was such bad quality and he eats so little of it. He's just not that bothered about food at all so I was thinking that the little bit of food he does eat ought to be good quality. Sounds like I need to cut down on the protein though. It would be good to know what the ideal proportion ought to be for him - I'll see what I can find out.