Hello and welcome to the forum. It sounds as if your Lab is having a rough time of it right now. Has the vet given a diagnosis? It sounds rather like colitis. Is he still on Collards dry adult variety? If so, is it the turkey and rice or the salmon and potato? Wet food is smellier, tastier and perhaps easier for them to digest than dry food so it is understandable that he prefers this. Collards wet scores higher on the Dog Food Directory of this website - it has has more meat (first on the list of ingredients) and the carbohydrate is brown rice - preferable to some other types.
The problem here is that if your dog does have an intolerance it is a case of finding out what it is. You have two choices:
* Discuss it with your vet and start a controlled elimination diet. This begins with a prescribed food from the vet which contains hydrolysed protein and other ingredients that the dog should not be intolerant to. Gradually different foods are added and the response noted. It takes a fair while to do this but if it is done properly the owner should have an idea what the problem is.
* Try to establish the cause of the problem yourself by changing his diet. As a start, many people try a grain free approach because some dogs seem to be intolerant to one or other of them. If you check out the Collards turkey variety
here you will see some items which might cause problems. It also has a lot of rice - presumably white since it is not labelled as brown. Rice intolerance can occur in dogs but it is difficult to say whether this has caused problems with your Labrador.
If you decide to go with the second option, it would be sensible to go completely grain free (no treats containing grain). Wet food might be preferable. If you look at the Dog Food Directory on this website you will see Filters (below Brands). Go down each one and place ticks in the boxes of your choice. I've just tried it using:
Type - wet complete.
Food properties - natural, hypoallergenic, grain free, clearly labelled.
Avoid ingredients - all red and cereal.
After clicking 'go' I have two pages of products. Look at the list of ingredients and find the simplest (i.e. fewest). The products that would (possibly) be easiest to obtain i.e. from a shop are:
Fishmongers Natures Menu Country Hunter Cans. I have heard good things about this as a friend's dog has colitis and has been much improved on it.
Evolution.
Wainwright's.
However, have a look through yourself because I might be wrong.
One other option is to consider raw feeding. Many people swear by this for dogs with this sort of problem. Some vets don't care for this method so if yours is one of them, he or she may be more amenable to one of the ready prepared complete meals. These come frozen so freezer space is essential. You may have to order them on line but some pet shops have them in stock. Three to consider are: Natures Menu, Natural Instinct and Nutriment. All have customer support helplines and if you are minded to try this, please contact them first.
Try to stick with one meat source for a few weeks so that you can be sure it suits. Fish is a good place to start. Remember not to give any treats - sea jerky should be OK. Please let us know how you get on.