Bland Diet for Dogs With Diarrhea: Recipe and When to Worry

2026-08-17 Daniel O.

Quick Answer: What Is a Bland Diet and How Do You Feed It?

Boiled skinless chicken breast and plain white rice, roughly 1 part chicken to 2 parts rice, fed in small portions every 6 to 8 hours for 3 to 5 days.

A common starting portion used in veterinary client-education material is about 2 tablespoons of the mixture per 10 lbs of body weight, given as small frequent meals on the first day rather than two large ones.

Once stools are normal, transition back to normal food gradually over 5 to 7 days. Going straight back is one of the most common reasons the diarrhea returns.

And the part most guides leave out: a bland diet is a short-term measure for an upset gut, not a treatment. If diarrhea lasts beyond 48 hours, keeps returning, or comes with weight loss, the bland diet is not the answer and continuing it just delays the real question.

Why a Bland Diet Works

Nothing clever is happening. You are reducing the amount of digestive work required while an irritated gut settles.

Boiled lean chicken is easily digested protein with almost no fat. White rice is a low-fiber, low-residue carbohydrate — it leaves little behind to ferment in the colon. Nothing is seasoned, nothing is rich, and nothing is new.

That is also why it should not be a long-term diet. Chicken and rice is not nutritionally complete. It is short of essential fatty acids, calcium and several vitamins. Fine for a few days. Not fine for a few weeks.

How to Make It

Chicken. Skinless, boneless breast. Boil in plain water until cooked through — no oil, no salt, no seasoning, no onion or garlic, both of which are toxic to dogs. Drain, let it cool, shred it.

Rice. Plain white rice, cooked in water. White, not brown — this is the one place where the "whole grain is better" instinct is wrong. Brown rice carries substantially more fiber, and fiber is what you are trying to avoid.

Combine 1 part chicken to 2 parts rice. Some veterinary sources use ratios closer to 1:4, weighting further toward rice. Either is reasonable; if in doubt, more rice rather than more chicken.

Serve at room temperature. Not hot.

Reasonable substitutions

• Boiled lean ground beef, with the fat thoroughly poured off, in place of chicken
• Plain low-fat cottage cheese as the protein, though skip it if your dog is sensitive to dairy
• Boiled peeled white potato or plain pasta in place of rice

What not to add

Butter, oil, salt, stock, seasoning, onion, garlic, and — despite how often it is suggested — pumpkin. Pumpkin is fiber. It helps some digestive complaints, but it is working against the purpose of a low-residue diet.

Slippery elm is a common addition at this stage and is generally well tolerated, but give it apart from meals rather than in them — and apart from any medication.

How Much, and How Often

Start around 2 tablespoons per 10 lbs of body weight per meal, and adjust to your dog.

Day one: small meals every 2 to 3 hours. A stomach that has been emptying itself does better with little and often than with a full bowl.

Days two to five: space out to every 6 to 8 hours as things settle.

Water matters more than food. Dehydration is the actual risk in diarrhea, not the missed calories. Keep water available at all times and tell your vet if your dog will not drink.

Coming Off It

Do not go straight back. Once stools have been normal for about 24 hours, blend over 5 to 7 days:

If stools loosen at any stage, drop back a step and hold there longer.

When to Stop and Call the Vet

A bland diet is for a dog who is otherwise well and has an upset stomach. Not for a dog who is unwell.

Call now if you see:

• Diarrhea lasting more than 48 hours
• Repeated vomiting, or inability to keep water down
• Blood — fresh red, or black tarry stools
• Lethargy, weakness, collapse
• A painful, tense or swollen abdomen
• Signs of dehydration: dry gums, skin that stays tented when lifted
• A puppy, a very small dog, a senior, or a dog with an existing condition — these have far less margin, and the 48-hour rule is too generous for them

When a Bland Diet Keeps Not Working

This is the part worth reading carefully, because it is where the standard advice runs out.

A bland diet resolves a one-off upset. If you are here for the third or fourth time, the pattern is telling you something: recurring diarrhea is not an acute problem happening repeatedly. It is a chronic problem with quiet periods.

Signals that you are looking at something ongoing rather than something passing:

• Diarrhea that improves on bland food and returns within days of going back to normal food
• Weight loss, or weight that will not come back — particularly alongside a large appetite
• Stools that are pale, greasy, unusually voluminous or foul-smelling rather than simply loose — see yellow cow patty stool
• Ravenous hunger, scavenging, or eating stool
• A dull coat, poor condition, low energy between episodes

What that can point to varies, and most of it is more common than the rarities: dietary intolerance, parasites such as Giardia, chronic enteropathy or IBD, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and — less commonly but very much worth excluding — exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, where the pancreas stops producing digestive enzymes and food passes through largely undigested.

None of these are diagnosed from a food bowl. The workup is a conversation with your vet: fecal testing, and usually a GI panel including cTLI, cobalamin and folate.

The reason this site exists is that the chronic version gets missed. Dogs live for years on cycles of bland diet and temporary improvement while the underlying cause goes unnamed. If your dog is on their fourth round of chicken and rice this year, the bland diet is working exactly as designed — and it is answering the wrong question.

Frequently Asked Questions

What bland foods can I give my dog for diarrhea? Boiled skinless chicken breast with plain white rice is the standard. Boiled lean ground beef with the fat poured off, plain low-fat cottage cheese, boiled peeled white potato and plain pasta are all reasonable alternatives. Everything unseasoned.

What dog food will stop diarrhea? No food stops diarrhea — it gives the gut less to do while it settles. If diarrhea stops only while your dog eats a particular food and returns whenever they do not, that is a diagnostic clue rather than a solution.

Do dogs poop less on a bland diet? Yes, and that is the point. Chicken and rice is low-residue, so less comes out the other end. Falling stool volume is usually the first sign things are settling.

What can I feed my dog with an upset stomach on a bland diet? The same chicken-and-rice mixture works for general upset as for diarrhea. For vomiting specifically, ask your vet before feeding anything at all — some cases need the stomach rested first, and that is not a call to make at home.

Can I use brown rice instead of white? No. Brown rice contains considerably more fiber, which is the opposite of what a low-residue diet is for. This is the one context where the less processed option is the wrong one.

How long can a dog stay on a bland diet? Days, not weeks. Chicken and rice is not nutritionally complete and will cause deficiencies over time. If your dog cannot come off it without the diarrhea returning, that is the signal to investigate rather than to continue.

Sources

1. VCA Animal Hospitals — Bland Diet Instructions for Dogs and Cats https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/bland-diet-instructions-for-dogs-and-cats

2. PetMD — What To Feed a Dog With Diarrhea https://www.petmd.com/dog/nutrition/what-to-feed-a-dog-with-diarrhea

3. Advances in Dietary Management of Gastrointestinal Disease — WSAVA Congress, via VIN https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=8768&id=3850256

4. Texas A&M Gastrointestinal Laboratory — Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency https://vetmed.tamu.edu/gilab/