Is having a sensitive stomach common for rat terriers? I have had jack for about 7 months (he is almost 3 years old) and when I first adopted him, I would treat him with a kong with peanut butter in it and he just loved that. More recently (in the past 2 months or so) his stomach has become very sensitive. If he gets even a lick of anything that is not dog food, he has  varying degrees of diarrhea. It only lasts for that day or the next day then he is back to normal. Does anyone else experience this with their ratties? I like to give jack things like peanut butter, carrots, and other veggies on occasion but he just doesn't seem to handle it well anymore so I have stopped. Any thoughts?

Any "abrupt change" in a dog's diet causes digestive upset. Not a problem for humans. Food experimentation doesn't usually bother us. But dogs' digestive systems are actually quite primitive compared to ours. We loving owners fail to remember that every new bite of people food we give them is an ABRUPT CHANGE. Dogs that are given people food often will, at the very least, tend to be "gassy" all the time and in most cases, will suffer audible stomach/intestinal gurgling noises and/or diarrhea. This is even worse in young puppies.

I agree that any abrupt change or new food item added to their diet can cause upset.  But in this case it sounds like he WAS eating carrots, peanut butter, etc. with no problem and then started having problems, is that correct?  Have you changed dog food lately?  What kind of dog food does he eat?

Sensitive tummies are really an issue for rat terriers in general.  Now, my whippet, has a very sensitive tummy, she has just gotten to the point where she can tolerate an entire baby carrot...but she always been that way.

That is correct. He had previously been eating these foods with no problem up until recently. When I adopted him in October, the shelter was feeding him Iams Small Dog and Toy (green bag) so he has continued to eat that with a mix of Pedigree Canned Beef Chunks. I give him 1/2 a can of the Pedigree and about 1/2 cup of the dry dog food per day. He has been on that diet since December. I know that it is best to keep dogs confined to their pre-determined diet but it would be nice to give him veggies and other things without the worry of having to go out 6 times throughout the night.

JMO but I would start him on a high quality food.  Iams and Pedigree are really low quality foods, lots of fillers in them, sort of like junk food for dogs.  There are many high quality foods to choose from that aren't filled with corn, wheat, soy (ratties are prone to allergies and some are allergic to these ingredients), preservatives, etc.  The higher quality foods have more meat and natural ingredients in them.  Check out www.dogfoodproject.com and especially the bad ingredients list and then see what's in the ingredient list for Pedigree and Iams.

Some of the high quality foods are Canidae, Innova/Natura/EVO, Merrick, Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, etc.  You won't find them at PetSmart or Walmart or grocery stores.  Petco has Solid Gold, NB and Avoderm.

The best thing you can do for your dog for a long, healthy life is to educate yourself on what you feed him. JMO 

He is young so I would stay with kibble. Some dogs are like that, my two eat anything and are fine short of a little gas .

What is close to you? I would find what is close and see if they carry quality brands. I feed Canidae (and I love it!) but others on here feed various good foods, pick the one you think will work with his belly.

Ingredients list in Iams small & Toy breed:

Chicken, Corn Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Chicken Meal, Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Salt, Flax Meal, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Caramel, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Calcium Carbonate, DL-Methionine, Rosemary Extract.

This is a pretty low quality food. Yes, a specific meat is the first ingredient (Ingredients are listed by weight, so the heaviest are listed first, which (usually) means that the first ingredients make up most of the food) but because general meat like just "chicken" and "Turkey" are 80% water content, it really belongs further down the list because the process used to make dog food removes the water content.

 The second ingredient it Corn meal. Although Corn meal could be ok, it should never be one of the main ingredients. Corn is concidered a low quality grain, and besides, I thought we were feeding carnivourus dogs, not cows!

 By-products like chicken by-products are low grade ingredients like animal hooves, hair, heads, feet, bones, and other such hard-to-digest products.

 Beet Pulp is a controversial filler and is the dried residue from sugar beets. While it isn't nessisarily bad for your dog, I don't like to see it so far up the list.

 Artificial flavors like "chicken flavor" should never be used in a dog food. If it was labeled "NATURAL chicken flavor" it could be acceptable.

 Dried Egg Product is a by-product, and although not really harmful, I perfer to see just "dried egg".

 Fish oil is good, but the type of fish isn't specified.

 Although Salt is ok if it is VERY far down the list, I don't like to see it up so high.

Caramel?! Since when have sugars become a natural part of a dog's diet?!

The one good thing about this is that, unlike many low grade brands, it does not have an unidentified meat source other than 'fish oil' like "meat meal" "animal fat" "poultry" "pork" "blood meal" ect. Never, ever get a food without any specific meat source...these could be anything from roadkill to dead zoo animals, and even euthanized dogs and cats! Read more about dogs and cats in pet food here:

http://petcaretips.net/euthanized_pets.html

 I was not able to find the ingredients to the specific canned Pedigree, but I do not trust Pedigree because of the ingredients in it's other types of food. It is perhaps one of the lowest brands out there, and I use to feed my Sam this crap until I figured out what is in it.

 I now feed him Canidae all life stagies. many here also buy Canidae, and others buy Innove/EVO and Natural Balance, all of which are good companies. I have been thinking of trying Sam on the Blue Buffalo Blue Wilderness...I don't like the look of other types of Blue Buffalo.

Here are some sites you should check out. The first is a review of dog foods, and the secound site is basic info on dog nutrition and dog foods.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

Here is a specific page on dogproject.com that lists ingredients you should look for an avoid:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=betterproducts