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My puppy has loose stools transitioning to adult food. What to do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Goldendoodle | Male | neutered | 11 months and 24 days old | 36 lbs

I started transitioning my dog from puppy to adult food (75% puppy, 25% adult) yesterday (Sunday). The puppy food is Iams Proactive Health Smart Puppy (chicken) and the adult is Iams PH Lamb & Rice. My dog has had looser stools as the day has gone on. Will eat pumpkin but not rice. Should I try to give him adult chicken food instead of a different protein? Should I feed him blandly for a day? I don’t know how much less adult food I can give him since it’s already only 1/4 cup.

2 Answers

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Answered By Lindsey Edwards MVB, BSc, IVCA

Veterinarian

Published on May 18th, 2020

Poor Murphy, he sounds very sensitive! Limiting change to the adult, chicken version may help if available and a probiotic paste can be very helpful for any diet transition. In sensitive pets, a 10% change every 3-5days can help reduce upsets. In large breed dogs, puppy food is ok up to 15months so there is no immediate hurry

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    Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

    Veterinary Technician

    Published on May 22nd, 2018

    If you suddenly switched his food without a gradual changeover, it can definitely cause digestive upset. I would pick up all food and then offer a bland meal of boiled chicken and rice to see if it helps settle his stomach, then try to feed his original diet until you decide on a new food. Products such as Science Diet, Purina, Royal Canin, etc all offer very high-quality foods and focus on a variety of issues such as sensitive stomachs, large breed, etc. When you do switch food, you'll want to switch over a period of 7-9 days, gradually adding in more of the new food each time, to help reduce the chances of digestive upset. if reverting to the old food doesn't help, or the GI upset worsens, a vet check and stool sample are best to rule out common issues such as parasites, allergies, etc that could be causing your pup's distress.

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