We have a ten week old puppy, which the breeder fed on Burns Minibites, mixed with either natural yoghurt or low fat cottage cheese, and then rice pudding an hour or so before bed.

We have continued to feed the puppy in the same way and I have to say he absolutely adores it and gulps down every scrap. However, his poops are really runny and I wonder if it is because he has too much dairy product in his diet. In a day he gets probably two teaspoons of each of yoghurt and cottage cheese, and then a good tablespoon of rice pudding in the evening. His poop is runny, but he doesn't have diarrhoea, and otherwise he seems really healthy.

On the Burns website, it says that you shouldn't add anything to Burns food except maybe a little cooked veg. Does anybody believe that adding dairy like this has any benefit to the pup? On the other hand, could it be doing him any harm? He certainly doesn't need anything to encourage him to eat as he's like a hoover and would eat non-stop if allowed (OH says he gets that from my side of the family as we're all, erm, big boned!!!)

hi mark if he eats well i would stop it the food he is eating is a good food and as everything he needs !! his poo should start to go harder then , is he due to be wormed or just wormed?  that can make poo softer ,and start to add a little bit of veg to his diet if u wish it is good for them ,my 5month old loves carrots and it helps with teething too !! when he is older (raw)but needs to be cooked for now 
good look with new puppy what breed is he ? :)

The natural yoghurt (is that live?) is good for his digestion.. its a probiotic if its live yoghurt and has no sugars added to it..

The cottage cheese again should do no harm.. but probably isnt particularly useful.

The rice pudding though.... not at all useful and probably harmful and probably the cause of the runny poos. Full of sugar and not very digestible stuffs.. definately drop that.

I agree with theemx. Although he might find the rice pudding yummy it's no longer any use to him (probably originally used to get him eating). Drop that and see how he gets on. If his poo's are still runny, drop on of the other dairy products (I would suggest the cottage cheese) and then the yohurt if he is still not firming up. This will mean you will know which ingredient he is reacting to for future reference. (Helpful if he ever gets an upset tummy and you are inclined to use yoghurt to help- won't work if he doesn't react well with dairy).

Thanks a lot guys. We will definitely drop the rice pudding, and I have already started reducing the other dairy products. He certainly doesn't need any help eating as he's a greedy bugger. :o) I may stick with the probiotic yoghurt for a little while. Cheers for the tip.

He's a wheaten terrier, and so if nothing else this will mean I can stop cleaning dried rice pudding out of his little beard!

I make my own live natural Goat's milk yoghurt-no sugar added at all. I make a litre at a time & add fruit to mine & nothing to the dogs They line up for it