Seems to me the first thing to try is changing his food. Different animals have different tolerances to foods. I had a Lab/chow mix that was terribly allergic to any kind of pork/ham.

Other dogs cannot tolerate grains/veggies---something Beneful has a lot of---see the ingredients----

Beneful ingredients
Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, sugar, sorbitol, tricalcium phosphate, water, salt, phosphoric acid, animal digest, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium carbonate, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, copper sulfate, biotin, garlic oil, thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite.

Having dealt with three dogs and food allergies issues, I would say this is your problem.

You need to feed a prescription diet, this will eliminate fillers (especially corn) that tons of dogs are allergic to these days, and lots of vet's don't recognize this.

Be sure to change food slowly, mix old with new over the course of a week or two until you totally switch. To determine a food allergy, dog needs to be on new food for about 5-6 weeks. If symptoms clear up, you have found the problem, without expensive testing.

I would also consult with your vet.

All three of my large dogs bring up bile on occasion but nothing like yours.

SG

What does the vet say? Have health problems been eliminated?

I would say vomiting and diarrhea are cause for concern enough to see a vet. Could easily be food allergies, parasites, IBD, bilious vomiting syndrome, etc. I'd try changing food like SG mentioned as long as the dog does not lose weight, become anorexic or lethargic. If the vomiting continues to get worse or if he starts having any other symptoms, then see the vet sooner rather than later.

One of mine may vomit once a week or less. My first Husky used to vomit bile about once a month, and it increased in frequency when he was dying of gastric adenocarcinoma. Unfortunately with that type of cancer, you're never too young- certain dogs (Chows, Akitas especially but any breed/mutt can be affected) with the disease in their families can be dead by 2 years old. Aleks was 11, but for a Husky that is pretty young. It's rare, but not that uncommon.

The timing, late at night, early in the morning, you feel like your not feeding him enough... those trends make me think about parasites. I'd probably get it checked by a vet.

And I would change the food and feeding schedule. Select a food that is good for dogs with allergies.

You said he eats one tub a day. Is that periodically throughout the day, on a free feeding schedule, or does he it most of it all once, in the morning?

I would only give half of his food in the morning and then give the other half in the evening. Making sure that he doesn't have an empty tummy at night.

Thank you for the replies. I will try switching him over to something else. I thought about looking into Wellness or Solid Gold.

I know he is very sensitive and gets sick easy. I have not taken him to the vet yet but looks like I am going to have to. I am worried that it may be more than just allergies. He does have dry skin and itches some. I try and bathe him in shampoos designed to help with that-they never do very much good though. I had him on vitamins and he threw that up almost every single time. The vitamins were an orange liquid and sure enough later on he would threw up some orange liquid looking stuff. So-I stopped giving him that even though it was doing wonders for his skin and coat.

I am having to crate him again while I am at work because I am afraid of him throwing up on the carpet. It is very hard to clean up and I rent an apartment so I am trying to be really careful about taking care of the place. I hate having to crate him though and he usually will pee when I try to put him in the crate. He gets so upset!

joepyeweed-I split the tub up. Half in the morning and half at night. He still throws up though. Could be a parasite I guess like you mentioned. How do they test for that?

The first test would be a stool sample. If you have a good relationship with your vet, you should be able to just drop off a stool to be tested. Cheaper than bringing the dog in and having them take a sample...

If your dog is on monthly heart worm preventative, then they should be looking for something that could be resistant to whatever you are giving. Some heartworm treatments take care of certain intestinal parasites, some don't... depends upon the meds.

If the stool sample is negative and the diet changes don't make a difference, then they probably should do a blood draw.

Realize that when people react to allergies they get watery eyes, running nose and hives. Dogs having itchy, flaky skin (and sometimes ear funk) is very similar to a person having hives or sinus trouble.

Testing for parasites is usually done through a fecal test. The vet will most likely give you a little jar to scoop some of his stool into and then you just drop it off at their office.

About the carpet - I sympathize. Do you have any areas that are tile/linoleum in your apartment, where you could put up a couple of baby gates to keep him contained? It would still be easy to clean for you and he may be more comfortable having a little more space.

As far as food, I agree about switching. Beneful doesn't have very good ingredients and a lot of by-products that are basically junk leftover from the human food processing industry. California Natural is a great food and their formulas are limited to one protein and one carb source - this will be helpful if you are trying to figure out what he does well on (if the food has many different ingredients it's harder to pinpoint). The foods you mentioned - Wellness and Solid Gold are excellent as well, and have limited/unusual ingredient lists that may work for you.

Another thing you may want to try, just until you get a handle on this vomiting, is to feed him 3 or 4 smaller meals a day instead of 1 or 2 bigger ones. Feeding him more frequently may prevent the bile vomits and giving him smaller amounts more often may be easier to digest. I wouldn't suggest keeping this up forever but just until you get a handle on the problem. Finally, my sensitive tummy dog has greatly improved on a raw diet, so if you are interested you may want to visit the Yahoo Group called "rawfeeding".

Here is a link that might be useful: California Natural

BTW, I usually just use a ziploc bag to take a stool to the vets. I grab a fresh one right after he drops it. Hopefully, its obvious not to use one that has been sitting in the yard for any period of time.

I totally understand about the carpet too. Aleks ruined the carpet in my office when he was sick, and I had to tear it up and put in laminate flooring. Of course renting, you don't have that option. Before he got sick and didn't vomit so much, I had him trained to puke in a wastebasket. When he got sick he didn't feel like moving around that much.

Honestly if I were your vet I'd deworm the dog regardless of fecal results. It's cheap, easy, and does not cause any harm to the dog. Fecal tests are hit or miss as far as finding parasites in the one tiny sample you look at. False negatives are common. I might do a fecal and if it is positive recheck after deworming, but if negative I'd deworm anyway just to eliminate parasites as a possible cause or exacerbation of the problem. In addition to a fecal float, I would also do a fecal cytology to check the bacterial balance, and a direct smear to check for protozoan parasites. These tests are generally pretty sensitive for what you are looking for, so if they came up normal I wouldn't worry about a bacterial imbalance or protozoa. Typical dewormers cannot treat bacterial imbalances nor protozoal infections.

As far as switching foods, give him something he has never had before and with limited ingredients. Since you were giving Beneful, avoid any diet with chicken, soy, corn, and beef, anything with BHA/BHT, anything with artificial colors or preservatives. I have used Natural Balance and Nature's Recipe for the limited ingredients and quality of foods. I now feed Solid Gold Wolf King, but since it has 2 protein sources- buffalo and salmon- it wouldn't be good for your dog until you figure out exactly what he can eat, one ingredient at a time. The other suggestions are also good as long as you get one protein and one carbohydrate source, neither of which your dog has had before. That is the key when working with food allergies.

As mentioned earlier homemade diets and raw feeding are also good options if done correctly, but can be detrimental if done wrong, so get lots of advice and information before trying that. My Max is on a home-cooked diet from a boarded veterinary nutritionist because he has many health problems and no one commercial diet worked. All of my dogs get raw food 2-3 times a week. As soon as I get a job, they'll all be switched to home cooked foods with occasional raw bones (Ana gets an upset tummy with too much raw), and I'll have some Solid Gold on hand for emergencies. But until then I'm doing the best I can afford, which is all anyone can do.

Instead of playing around with different foods, why not take the dog to the vet first? If this is IBD he needs to be treated for it and if he's been throwing up this often for 2 years, his stomach and esophagus could be damaged from the stomach acid.

There are inexpensive drugs that can treat this if he only has acid reflux. Get a diagnosis first..........then worry about finding a good diet.

In the meantime, you could feed him a bland diet such as boiled chicken, rice or pasta, and green beans.

A trip to the vet is in order of course. But in my experience, dogs also throw up (they can force themselves to do it) when they have something irritating their stomach, like a toy part they swallowed. The timing of the vomiting leads me to believe that he has an irritation or parasites, as these would be more bothersome on an empty stomach.

Try the bland home-made diet, have him checked at the vet. Watch for toys and other things he may be swallowing. Try feeding him a better diet and split his food into breakfast and a later dinner, to see if that helps.

Good luck!

In recent months, my dog has had occasional bouts with throwing up and diarrhea and just feeling bad in general. When it seemed to get worse, I took him to the vet and the poor boy has pancreatitis. This may be another thing you will want to rule out with your dog.
Vicki

My dog had that problem, so I started feeding her a snack right before bed, about 10 or 11pm, which worked.