Best Dog Food for Loose Stool: Diets For A Dog’s Sensitive Tummy

Is your pup’s poop watery or soft? Don’t panic. It’s pretty common in dogs to experience diarrhea and loose stools. In most cases, this unappetizing condition goes away after a day. The messy part is usually the cleaning up part.

There are quite a number of possible triggers for diarrhea in dogs, just like in humans. Food intake is usually the culprit but there are also other common causes like food sensitivities, bacteria, medication, and even stress.

However, there are also some more serious cases of dog diarrhea that need the vet’s supervision.

But if your dog is just having a simple case of an upset stomach from something she ate, either because of rancid food or food allergies, the right dog food can pretty much ease her digestive issues, and her stool will start firming up.

This review will focus on the best dog food options for soft stool in dogs and give dog owners a better idea about dealing with a dog’s diarrhea. For loose stools, a shift to dry dog food could help in hardening a dog’s stool.

But not just any dry food can do the trick. First and foremost, any dog food you give to your fur baby must be high-quality dog food, which is made with high-quality food components.

We have reviewed dozens of pet food brands to find the best dog food for loose stool as well as support healthy digestion.

Choosing the Best Dog Food For Loose Stool

What’s the best dog food for stool in dogs – dry food, wet food, raw food, cooked food, freeze-dried? Does a specific brand matter in choosing the right diet? Are premium brands the best dog food option?

First of all, you should know what your dog prefers to eat. If she’s used to eating wet food or cooked food, she may hesitate to touch dry food. But in general, dry food complements loose stools better as it doesn’t add more fluids.

If your pup is used to wet food, you can gradually transition to adult dry dog food, at least while her poop remains loose. In this review, you’ll find some recommendations for best dry dog food for diarrhea. 

A raw diet and freeze-dried dog foods are not advisable when your dog is experiencing diarrhea. A bland diet is the better alternative if your pup is accustomed to raw or cooked meals.

A bland diet means foods that are easy to digest and easy to the digestive system, and contain ingredients that can firm up stool. For dogs, this can be boiled chicken meat with white rice or sweet potato. 

A boiled lean chicken meat and sweet potato recipe is a simple dish you can make at home to soothe a dog’s sensitive stomach.

Natural dog food options like prepared or cooked fresh dog food are okay if the fat content is not so high, and if they have enough fiber.

Not all premium brands offer a balanced and complete diet or are safe for your dog’s food sensitivity. By the same token, not all cheap brands are bad. This is why you must check the ingredients list and guaranteed analysis on the label, instead of just picking a brand.

Additionally, if your dogs have a weakened digestive system, some supplements may be recommended to add digestive enzymes and boost digestion. 

 

Best Dog Foods For Loose Stool

1. Ollie Fresh Chicken with Carrots

If you want to try fresh dog food, we recommend Ollie’s chicken recipe, which is close to a bland diet suitable for most dogs with loose stools.

A NYC based company, Ollie Fresh Pet Food specializes in providing fresh, prepared meals for dogs. Each pre-portioned recipe uses a healthy mix of whole and natural ingredients — all appropriate for human consumption — with supplements thrown in for good measure.

Aside from premium-quality fresh chicken meat, this recipe also has excellent carbs and fibers from carrots, peas and spinach. 

They carefully source their ingredients from reputable farms in the U.S and Australia. Each partner must go through an extensive certification process to become a supplier. All of their food is made only with whole, human-grade ingredients.

Giving your furry pals fresh food is surely nutritious and delightful as it’s composed of unprocessed ingredients and also exploding with flavors. For older dogs or dogs with teeth and gum issues, fresh food is sheer joy. 

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2. Blue Buffalo Basics LID Healthy Weight Turkey & Potato Recipe

After reviewing so many kibbles worthy of recognition, our top choice as the best dry dog food for loose stool is this one, and it’s easy to see why. Most, if not all, of the qualities we look for in a dog’s diet to take care of loose stools, can be found in this adult food. 

Blue Buffalo is a renowned pet food manufacturer for its premium-quality products, and its Basics line is surely among the best dry dog food formulas.

This outstanding kibble is perfect for dogs with food sensitivities and food allergies as well as canines that need to reduce weight. Real turkey is the only animal protein in this limited ingredient dog food, with high-quality carbohydrates from natural whole foods led by oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes, and peas. 

Though the protein load is just 20%, which is relatively low for dry dog food, the fat content is also very low, at only 9% minimum crude fat that’s easy on the gut.

As for the fiber content, mostly from superfoods like pumpkin, flaxseeds, chicory root, and berries, this kibble has among the highest loads in dry food at 10%.

And of course, this dry dog food is certainly packed with vitamins and minerals, and antioxidants, in a blend that’s exclusive to Blue Buffalo called LifeSource Bits. These ensure balanced nutrition for your four-legged pals.

Fish oil supplies the essential omega fatty acids for a healthy immune system and healthy skin and coat. Moreover, this formula includes a wealthy hoard of probiotics for the dog’s gut health. It’s free from cheap fillers, artificial colors, artificial flavors, or poor-quality animal by-products.

The comments are mostly encouraging with just a few on the south side. One customer claimed her food-sensitive pup started having loose poops after trying this diet.

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3. Nutro Natural Choice Healthy Weight Lamb & Brown Rice Recipe

Real lamb meat is the first ingredient in this adult food, which is a high-quality protein. And the other ingredients in this recipe are also remarkable, including the sources of carbs and fibers.

By the way, this kibble has a max of 11% fiber, which is among the highest in all premium brands, and the highest on this list. 

The protein load is a decent 24%, and the fats are very low at 7% min, which is suitable for dogs with sensitive stomachs and soft stool.

Moreover, this dry dog food includes pumpkin, which is a superfood considered to be excellent in controlling diarrhea. The formula also includes chicken fat, which apart from enhancing the taste also supplies omega fatty acids. 

This remarkable dog’s diet is also loaded with essential vitamins and minerals for complete health, and free of artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

Many customers said their dogs loved this diet and that it helped their overweight dogs cut down on their weight. There are however a few complaints about this dog’s food as having too many fibers.

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4. Earthborn Holistic Unrefined Smoked Salmon with Ancient Grains & Superfoods

This kibble clearly has first-class ingredients to make a stellar premium product. Real salmon from trustworthy sources is the first ingredient, which is a novel protein with prominent other health gains.

The rich carbs and fibers, including prebiotic fiber, in this diet come from an astonishing array of human-grade plant-based ingredients that include blueberries, cranberries, apples, kale, broccoli, spinach, carrots, and high-quality grains like quinoa.

What’s even more impressive is that pumpkin is the third ingredient in the recipe, which is again a great ingredient for unhealthy stool.

This dry dog food offers 24% minimum protein and 17% minimum fat. And it has a generous 9.5% max fiber content.

And like a true premium dog food, the formula doesn’t have any undesirable ingredients like cheap grains and artificial preservatives.

It’s surely enriched with essential vitamins and minerals too. And yes, it has probiotics to support digestive health and help alleviate a pup’s sensitive stomach.

Most of the respondents at Chewy gave this choice food for dogs the thumbs up. The most common word used in the comments is “great.” There were just a few comments about their picky pups not too impressed with the taste.

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5. Wellness Simple LID Lamb & Oatmeal Formula

Among our top choices for the best dog food for loose stool is this one because it is specially formulated for dogs with a sensitive stomach.

Made with real lamb meat, a high-quality animal source, lamb meal, and other first-rate natural ingredients, this dry dog food is also great for dogs with food allergies and food sensitivities. 

The fat content is just 12% minimum, plus 4.75% max fiber content. It is teeming with vital vitamins and minerals, including a generous dose of glucosamine for bone and joint health.

For the extra boost in your dog’s digestion and to assist in calming sensitive stomachs, this dog food is also enhanced with probiotics.

With 4.4 stars rating out of 5 at Chewy and with over 84% of reviewers recommending it, this highly regarded food for dogs received highly positive reviews, mostly about how it helped allergic dogs and also those with GI issues.

However, one customer said her dog had allergic reactions after feeding on this dry food. And a few also said their finicky pups didn’t touch this chow.

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6. Natural Balance Fat Dogs Chicken & Salmon Formula

Another notable food for dogs that’s hard to ignore in this list of best dog food for loose stool is Natural Balance Fat Dogs Low-Calorie formula.

A quick look at the ingredients and guaranteed analysis will instantly tell you that it’s suited for dogs with sensitive stomachs as much as it is for obese canines.

Chicken meal and salmon meal are the main protein sources for the ample 26% minimum proteins in this diet. Amazingly, this dry dog food has low-fat content of just 7.5% min (from chicken fat) but is abundant in fibers with 10.5%, which is appropriate for dogs with loose stools.