My vet advised a diet of chicken and rice too and it made my shepherd worse. He could not believe she was allergic to the chicken.

But when I changed her to a grain free fish kibble all her problems cleared up. And my vet was extremely sceptical about the high protein content of that food but she has flourished on it.

On the other hand that kibble did not suit my goldie and after some experimentation she is on Burns lamb and rice and doing well.

I recently spoke to a friend with a two year old lab who has had diarrhoea since she got him. She has finally found a food that suits him and the diarrhoea has gone. I know it was one of the Burns recipes but I can't remember which one.

I'm sure there is the right food for your dog out there somewhere. It sometimes just takes a bit of time to find it.

If the dog has Colitis ( & a lot call it IBS nowadays) & is fed red meat, raw or otherwise, it could very well make it worse. & yes check with your vet before a diet change with a dog that is so sensitive. Is the diet a perscription diet or one you can buy in the petstores? White fish is tolerated very well by dogs with digestive sensitivities. What age is the dog as a pup will have different needs.

If adult, you could try him with lightly cooked white fish & rice or potato, my personal preference is potato as its so bland & long green beans which are full of vitamins, nutrients & good for roughage. Lots of people home cook for their dogs.

When you have dog with sensitivities, you live & learn. Its like everything else once you get him stabilised the spells of being unwell get less. Also some young dogs to some extent settle as they get older probably largely due to the owner learning what sets it off & not feeding it

Thank you all for the advice , I have to confess I am a bit of an idiot and had not realised there were 3 pages of advice untill just now. After reading everything I have booked louis into the vets for 5.50 this evening . I feel better informed than I have done before and have written down all the key points you have all raised ,I am hopefull of getting some answers . Thanks again i will let you all know how we get on.

That's interesting - that means the blood is coming from the anus, due to the straining - a bit like when we humans have piles (sorry to be graphic )

Why vets recommend chicken and rice god only knows - the chicken is fine, but with dogs (like mine) who are sensitive to carbs it is the very worst thing you can give them. Rice to my old boy Hal was absolute poison, and whereas Tai can tolerate it - although it does give him the runs and dreadful wind - Ben's bottom just explodes if given rice, or any carb for that matter.

Many, many dogs thrive on rice, but just as many it is poison to - far better would be to recommend plain cooked chicken, without the rice, IMO.

Very best of luck and fingers crossed for you and Louis

she won't be allergic to chicken - it will be the rice that upset her so.

So we are back from the Vet £45.00 lighter and none the wiser.Imentioned the BARF diet and the vet was horrified he said it is dangerous not enought vitamins etc I tried to explain about the veg etc but he would not change his opinion. Louis has been given medication for parasites again as a precaution but nothing to stop the bleeding ! I am sure he doesn't have parasites as my other dog is fine and every time Louis is treated she has to be treated as well. My Vet has reccomended to do a bowel biopsy as he does not believe a pup of 6 mths can have a food allergy. I don't ever remember feeling this helpless in a few days my little man will be back to normal , well untill the next time. Surely exploritory surgery of this type seems excessive. Can someone please help me to get him started on a different diet . I have got some cod for tomorrow should I mix it with his usual food over a period of days? I thank you all for your previous advice but please i am in dire need of help now.

The man is a total idiot then - if I were you I would change vet!

My vet, when we mentioned to her that we were putting Hal onto the BARF diet said fine, but you do have to follow it very precisely, no cutting corners, else your dog could end up malnourished. That is the sensible response. She pointed out to us that for many people, it proved too daunting/too difficult - and therefore, best not to do unless we were prepared to commit totally, which we were. That was some 10 years ago. I would not dream of feeding my dogs on any other diet.

You poor darling ... I can only suggest change vets - suggesting surgery at this stage is preposterous - no doubt motivated by money.

My advice would be to feed something bland like cooked cod or chicken, NO carb, for a couple of days and see what comes out the other end - if after a couple of days things seem to be improving, then increase the quantity for a further day, with possibly scrambled egg as well and then if all is still well my advice would be to do some research on raw feeding proper. There are loads of people on here who can advise you, and there is a ton of info on the internet. Ian Billinghurst's book "Give your dog a bone" is an excellent one.

my colitis boy had it from a pup,is ur wee one stressy or highly strung?

is your dog actually loosing weight?

i would advise fish and mashed sweet potato for now with pro biotics mixed in,and rather than big meals say,4 smaller ones.

.....and look for another vet

Oh you must be at your wit's end deciding what to do for the best. Firstly, I think your vet is rubbish!! Keeping on and on with a worming programme for what??!! If he suspected Giardias then that would have only required one treatment for 3 days of Panacur, some Metronidazole which I think you had before, and then 2 weeks later, another 3 days of Panacur job done! Anyway, the giardia would have caused a very yellow, highly offensive, diarrhea whereas your dog has just got diarrhea and is straining causing the blood.

Forget that rice, my dogs don't tolerate it either, so I use what Tupacs has suggested mash potato (no salt or butter) or sweet potato which is good for binding them up. You can also try a teaspoonful of OATbran from Sainsbury's which a very good vet of mine recommend for my dog who has periods of diarrhea.

If you use chicken, use only the breast and boil it, so that there's no fat to upset the digestive system even more. Chicken or fish are easy on the gut, and little and often, so that the gut has a chance to heal itself. Don't put too much potato in either coz that's full of starch, you want more chicken, a lot more chicken than the potato.

If you want to bite the bullet, I recommend getting a tin of original Chappie (the chicken and rice one upsets my dogs badly), but both mine had a bout of really bad diarrea last week, so I instantly changed them onto Chappi with some shredded chicken and the result was instant, normal, solid poo's no mucous no water from that day on and they're still on it. At 6 months old, you need to sustain the growth with your dog though, so you will have to find a good food that will do that for him. Royal Canin do loads of different kibbles (and tins) for sensitivity control, digestive low fat, so you wouldn't do bad trying one of those, although a bit on the expensive side.

My previous gsd had horrendous diarreah, they couldn't find the cause until she had an EPI test done (this is a special test costing around £100 which you vet has to send some blood away to a special lab), but I doubt your dog has this, BUT, the vet put her on Royal Canin Sensitivity Control capelin and tapioca and I never looked back, from the day after she had it, her poo's were and stayed perfectly normal. If ever she had a Bonio or a tripe stick, back it would come!

All the best, I do hope you find some kind of remedy to settle down his poor rear end.