Expert: Kaza - 9/30/2007

Question
We've just had the pleasure of getting the MOST adorable bichon puppy of 16 weeks. He has settled really well,however, we are concerned.  He doesn't seem to be drinking much water, and is having one poo a day at most...and hard ones.  Is this part of adjusting to a new environment and what can we do.  Otherwise he is very happy, and so are we.  He eats about 25grams of Royal canine twice a day, (although he is given 25 three times) with a bit of wet food at lunch.

Answer
With that diet he should be drinking far more, the diet is not adequate for such a young puppy, his stools will be greatly reduced on the diet he is on.

I would chnge his diet to include the following:
green beans, mashed potatoes, wet dog food,chicken, white fish, salmon , apple, pear, a little cheese, a small portion of dried food.Oatmeal.
The problem you will encounter is the next few months, Bichons need a good source of fibre, they do far better on pork and duck and white fish than they do on a dried food.
If you keep the pup on just dried food you WILL increase the potential for stones, of which Bichons are predisposed too, and that is life threatening.
I have no doubt that your vet thinks dried food is great, however they area taught about the canine not individual breeds, in fact they have very little real experience with individual breeds at all , therefore they can only give general advice.

Hard poop will eventually cause anal gland problems that can be avoided with the better diet.

If you wnt more help log into my health site and look up in the search box
How , what and when to feed your versailles pup

that will give you a better indication on what is required at this age.
www.eurobichons.com


Thanks