Yes, rawhide is a bad idea. Rawhide is NOT digestible and, it swells when it gets wet. If a dog swallows too large a piece, it can cause a blockage that requires surgery to remove. For Dakota, I'd give her one of the non edible Nylabones - something she can chew on but can't break apart and eat. Get one of the BIG POWER CHEWS for her, or one of the Football Double Action Chews that way she can chew without upsetting her diet.

Once you get the diet under control and, assuming chicken is fine for her, see if you like Better Than Ears and Dream Bones. I also like Member's Mark (Sams Club Brand) Grain Free Dog Treats for dog biscuits. Coconut, Pea, Pumpkin, Peanut Butter, that's it. Simple and, my dogs love them plus, even with a meat sensitivity, like chicken, a dog with a touchy digestive system can likely still have those.

Mine get bully sticks (or the homemade version there of when we butcher a steer ourselves), raw bones, marrow bones if I have them, Better Than Ears, Dream Bones, Busy Bones, Nola Chews and, tongue jerky from hog, cow or, deer tongues that I make myself for them.

Of course, with a cattle rancher for my daughter's father in law, spring is cutting and branding time so, then the dogs get to feast on mountain oysters when we do the cutting and branding.

I've yet to have one that has a problem with the foods I give them. I've seen tons of dogs have problems with field corn, the stuff in lower quality dog foods. Poor dogs pooping 5-6 times a day, huge poops and, the owners don't realize that isn't right - too much indigestible content in the food they are eating. My pups need to learn to eat seasonally, much like they would in the wild. I eat seasonally, especially for my meat so summer is more fish than anything else, with something else only twice a week. Fall is deer season, winter is good for rabbit - they don't have such bad cases of fleas then. Hogs are nice and lean in the spring and, if I have time, I can got get snow geese in the fall too. I raise the chickens and rabbits so, there is always some of that to go around.

So I don't know a whole lot about food an digestive problems, but even though everyone else has made you feel better about her size and weight, I'm here to help even more haha. My pup just turned 9 months and is about 29 pounds and skinny and small enough that I'm always getting comments on it. She gets(and typically eats) 2 cups of Victor dog food a day but she self feeds as she needs it so I usually put 2 cups out in the morning and sometimes she eats it all during the day and others there will be up to a full cup still left in her bowl the next morning. Dakota looks healthy, yes small, but healthy as you can't see her ribs in an unhealthy way and she still has plenty of time to fill out and grow. Being medium breeds, they aren't suppose to be the huge 70-100 pound "huskies" (usually part mal at that point but no one admits it or knows because they are told they were pure) that you typically see anymore and also females are generally smaller anyways. Here's a pic of my girl to show you that she's rather skinny even at 9 months. All her littermate(5 girls in her litter) are 38-50 pounds already and my girl isn't a runt, but is just small. They all have their own body types and growth rates. Hope I helped a little more
*PS: She's a little skinnier today than normal because she hadn't eaten too much the past three days while we were gone and left her with the breeder for a few days so she'd be in good care while we were traveling. But she's still skinny and you can lightly see her ribs when she's stretched out even when she's eating 2 full cups a day*

Please keep posts here on topic to Monika's situation and concerns. She has been given some great advice on where to start but until she has had a chance to try that advice please do not go down the rabbit hole of dog food in her thread. I have split the discussion into its own topic where you can discuss the scientific evidence of ingredients in some dog food and how they may affect dogs with sensitive stomachs to your hearts content. You can delve deeper there. Thank you. Good luck, Monika! Hope to here your baby is doing better soon.

Momof3&asibe wrote:

I am curious as I was researching the site you had mentioned called DogFoodAdvisor and I noticed the Merrick brand on it. I see it had a high rating and they do have a Grain Free puppy texas beef & sweet potato dry food as well as real buffalo and sweet potato.  I recall when we 1st got our pup speaking online with an old friend who gives her dog Merrick brand as he had a sensitive stomach but he is a labradoodle but regardless she said this food worked the best for him.  I was just wondering if anyone has used the Merrick brand and what results did they have.

Rumo ate Merrick Grain Free for months. It is well-regarded, and seemed to be good for him. If your dog's digestion might be sensitive to grains, it might be worth a try? I don't know if vet has discussed with you about possible grain sensitivities/food allergies, etc. Merrick is on the pricey end... check if your family budget can handle it!

We eventually switched to Kirkland brand since we are Costco members and the ingredients seem to be good -
Rumo likes it and is doing fine on it.

Hmm, so here's what I would try if she were my pup...

Stop eating Hills and try the natural easily-digestible "bland diet" kind of foods that members have suggested (boiled chicken, rice, yogurt, pumpkin). (boiled chicken + white rice always worked magic for Rumo.) Wait, wait, for a few days & see if her tummy feels better....?

If tummy is getting better, add a bit of quality kibble to each meal. Wait, wait, & see for a few days how her tummy reacts....? If her tummy accepts, then gradually use more & more kibble until meal has shifted to all kibble.

If that doesn't work - I'd research Raw feeding and then try that! ( I think Raw is great, but as a busy freelancer and Mom who cooks for the family 5-6x a week, sourcing & planning raw foods for the dog isn't something I want to do right now)

If Raw didn't work, at that point I would be back at the vet's...for more testing. :-(

PS
I am no expert, just somebody who has survived a few bouts of doggy diarrhea.

Hope she will feel better soon!

I know that for me, when I worry over something, it feels better to have an "action plan" (like above) to follow.

I wanted to thank everyone for all your help with Dakota. I had decreased the amount of food that she was getting to 1 1/8 cup of dry and limited the wet to 2 teaspoons and recently omitted the wet altogether. Her stools have returned to normal. It seems that giving her 3 cups a day of food was too much and it was causing her to have very soft stools. Thank you again for all your help.

Thank you CloverField for sharing a picture of your pup. She is beautiful and doesn't seem to be thin as I look at your picture and look at my pup. I suppose I have looked at too many very fluffy husky photos and thought they all should appear as thick plump dogs. Not sure why I thought it to be that way but I suppose it was the photos I have seen online and all the issues our pup has had. I give Dakota 1 1/8 cup of dry food and she eats it within 5 minutes which is concerning as I thought she must be so hungry to eat so quickly but she always was like this since we got her at 12 weeks so it may just be how she eats. Even when I gave her more food she would devour it in minutes so I had felt so horrible thinking I must not be giving her enough food. Again thank you for putting my mind at ease that our pup is normal.

@R_Shepsky Thank you for sharing your experience with the Merrick brand. My daughter had purchased Taste of the Wild grain free as I was discussing changing Dakota's food to either TOTW or Merrick brand. I have not tried it as of yet but am planning to in the next day or so.

If she does resort back to having tummy issues I will give her boiled chicken and rice. I have not purchased yogurt for her but I believe it needs to be plain greek yogurt, is that correct? I do have canned real pumpkin on hand as I have given it to her in the past. Thank you again.

Hey Monika, that menu sounds good for her, not too much but should easily be enough to keep her in shape. As you've heard and seen, one of the best indicators about the quantity (and quality) of a dogs food is that that comes out the 'other end'. I'm glad that you're getting her under control ...

That chicken and rice has been the saviour for many of us when our pups are a bit under the weather.

Our society seem to be of the opinion that if you (or your kids or your dogs) aren't rolly polly then there's something wrong ... and I'm sorry, that's generally wrong! I have three dogs - all get 2 cups of crappy but affordable food a day; two are slim, trim running machines who look like they could gain 10-15 pounds but my vet says "No" and I agee (ignoring 1: they both get the runs at 2.5 cups! 2: Her husband is the Sheriff, I *do* pay attention to her! ) The other is an older girl who will let me know in a heartbeat if I cut her food back at all and she's been slightly overweight since the day I got her. I've tried different foods with her and she's more concerned with quantity than quality ...

(( the following is off topic, mods may trim if they feel so inclined ))
There are two things I'd really like to see here - and both are impractical.
1) I'd like to see a rating aimed specifically at Huskies about the foods we're feeding and their quality. Impractical because we have so many different dogs and some will do well on a food on which another will get deathly ill.
2) Completely off topic I'd like to see us allow breeders have areas where they can talk about their dogs. Impractical since we can't tell "John & Glenn's Kennel" that they can't take part because they're a BYB and still allow "Karnovanda Kennels" for example, freedom to post as she sees fit (because I wouldn't expect anything out of line from her!)

Great to hear she has normal poop! :-)
And that you figured out that it was related to the quantity!

Yep, our slightly plump dog always eats like a starved wild animal...you would think it had been days since he had eaten, but I personally happen to know that he had breakfast, a bully stick, some cheese bits during training...and that he gained 7 lbs since his last vet visit! so, I agree that eating fast does not always mean that they need more food.

Thank you @Shepsky13 for sharing that your dog eats like a starved wild animal too. I have wondered if our pup had to fight for food when she was 1st born so she feels if she doesn't eat it quickly she will not have any or it could simply just be the way she is ... eat and get it over with to move onto other things.

She has been doing really well and we had Day 7 of the Taste of the Wild food transition yesterday. Unfortunately, I do not know what happened to our little pup as she was fine until my husband took her to a park/softball field as my daughter was participating in a tryout. They were there for a few hours and our pup was excited to be visiting with other people but when they were about to leave she had a bad episode of vomit and diarrhea. My husband said he saw some grass in her vomit and some kibble. I asked if she ate anything she should not and he said she is always sniffing and finding something. Sniffing is normal but its the things she finds that are concerning as he I know doesn't watch her as intently as he should when he takes her out to places. She continued to have diarrhea for an hour after coming home and I made her some chicken and rice for dinner as I wasn't sure exactly what to give her for her upset tummy. She has not been sick since yesterday early evening bu she also has not had a bowel movement. I have not called that vet as my husband says to wait to see what happens today. I just wanted to share what happened and see what food I should give her or when i should be concerned about her not having a BM yet. He says they may blame her food but that's ridiculous as I transitioned her to TOTW over a 7 day period and I would think she would not get an upset stomach from breakfast at 6AM until 4PM with drooling, vomit and diarrhea. Would she?

An old standby that I'd bet you have in your house ... Pepto Bismol Chewables!

If he's been eating normally and you think she just might have gotten something that gave her a tummy-ache then there's nothing wrong with Pepto (1/4 tablet per 20 pounds of dog) not to exceed once every 8 hours and definitely not to exceed two days.

Pepto is good for diarrhea but not good for constipation - for me, that's always a waiting game. To me, I don't feed much at all if a dog's constipated - if there's some kind of blockage, I don't want to make the situation worse.

And again this is opinion - since so much of the chicken / rice combo goes directly into the dog, I never expect to see much come out until it's back on a normal diet. Careful watching to make sure that something comes out within 24 hours is reasonable, over that, time for a vet call.

It may be heat and excitement that gave her an upset tummy. I would do the chicken and rice for 24-48 hours and slowly add in kibble once you get a decent BM. If no poop like Al said in 24 hours, vet visit for possible obstruction. Just a funny over my way.....my almost 3 year old gsd loves peaches, and I have chucked a few bad looking ones over to my side lawn. She picked one up on Saturday afternoon, told her to drop it, she decided it was a game and had me chase her telling her to drop it, when I got close, swallow, ugh she ate the whole peach. I went to work around 7 pm, and read a note left by my husband when I got home. Sofie spewed this, she puked and then heaved, peach pit thrown at 30 mph and traveled 10 feet or more. Glad she expelled it, don't think she would have been able to poop that out.

Thanks for your responses. I do have Cherry flavored chewable pepto bismol but not sure if the flavoring would be OK to give her as I think we must have purchased this for the children. It didn't even occur to me to try it. I know the Vet said to have some Benadryl on hand for any sting bites or allergic reactions but it never occurred to me to give her pepto bismol. I did give her 1 endosorb pill as the Vet prescribed this when she was having wet stools and said to keep some handy as most things occur on weekends or holidays when the Vet office is closed.

I just fed Dakota dinner of rice and chicken and it didn't occur to me that this food is absorbed by her so that may be why she has not had a BM. I plan to give her kibble and rice for tomorrow for breakfast but was hoping she would have a BM at some point today. I do hope she doesn't have an obstruction but I can't even imagine what it could be from. Of course she could be constipated but after yesterdays episode of diarrhea she can't have much in her system as she only has had chicken and rice.

@MiyasMomma I am so glad that Sofie expelled the peach pit but what a site it must have been.

Hello
I just wanted to share an update about Dakota. She is now eating 2 cups per day of dry Taste of the Wild food and is doing well. We had a minor setback after a picnic on August 11 but she only had slightly soft bowels for 1 day and I wasn't surprised as she was around everyone sniffing the floors and I would be surprised if she had not picked up a few crumbs here and there. I am not sure if it's something to be concerned about but I was expecting her bowels to be on a regular schedule after removing the soft food and changing her dry to TOTW but she at times can have 4 or 5 BM's in a day and 3 other days. Not sure since she is 9 months and still healing from all the medication she was on that eventually she will have regular BM's each day or not. I did also purchase Greek yogurt for her and froze it in an ice cube tray. She really enjoys them but I noticed my kids have given her 4 or 5 in a day so I am not sure if that's contributing to her many BM's as I had initially had been giving her only 1 per day.
Thank you everyone for all your advice.

I do have another concern with our pup which I think may be seperation anxiety but I posted about that separately but I am now wondering if her fluctuating BM amounts occur because of her anxiety. Any thoughts?