Poop. Let's Talk About It.

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

Both of my pups have inconsistent poops. Sometimes soft, sometimes hard. If they go twice instead of just once in a walk (which happens sometimes) I'll get one semi-hard one and one the consistency of pudding. If we're at the dog park, sometimes Sol will go as many as 4 times. Starts semi-normal and then by the end he's just squeezing out a drop or two.

 

I'm trying to figure out which food is best for them, but on Nutro and now on ProPlan, and their poo is just kinda all over the map.

 

What kind of poos do your pups have and what do you feed them?

[Guest Jennifer4719]

I feed Iams and have nice firm poos. I know it isn't the top of the line food, but it works for my girls and they are happy, healthy and shiney.

[Guest MZH]

Normal and then mushy at the end of the first or if it's the second one is pretty normal, really.

 

The kibbles with beet pulp in them seem to make poops consistently firmer though. I wouldn't worry too much about inconsistent as long as it's not too hard or too soft all the time. It also depends on what their treats are and how many they've had.

 

Raw feeders always brag about their dogs having the best -- as in firm and small -- poops. They're probably right.

 

Marcia in SC

[Guest shirl]

I do a bit of raw with the kibble for my dogs, but I have noticed on the dog school walks that the raw eaters have def. better poops and def. less smelly

[Hubcitypam]

I feed Iams and have nice firm poos. I know it isn't the top of the line food, but it works for my girls and they are happy, healthy and shiney.

It was the only thing that worked when I went to heck and back with my colitis boy. These hoodlums now could pretty much eat anything but the Iams poos are hard to beat.

 

BTW -- Jennifer4719 you were a greyt secret santa. I just washed some of those zillion toys that have managed to survive...

[Guest Jennifer4719]

I feed Iams and have nice firm poos. I know it isn't the top of the line food, but it works for my girls and they are happy, healthy and shiney.

It was the only thing that worked when I went to heck and back with my colitis boy. These hoodlums now could pretty much eat anything but the Iams poos are hard to beat.

 

BTW -- Jennifer4719 you were a greyt secret santa. I just washed some of those zillion toys that have managed to survive...

 

Awww...thanks I am glad that the toys are holding up!

[Guest MZH]

Iams poos are beet pulp poos.

 

Marcia

[Tracey]

I took my kids off Nutro after the last bag made Chase's poops come out like water. The girls usually have had solid poops, but Chase has always been more sensitive. Since switching to Canidae, everyone's had solid poops. No gas, and they all like the food too, so everyone's happy now.

[KingsMom]

Since we switched to Canidae (after trying Natures Recipie, Kirklands, Nutro & Authority) Kings poops are about like you describe. The first one is pretty big and solid but if he goes a second time it's usually smaller and softer. He doesn't usually go more than twice. We had similar results with the Nutro but I just wasn't satisfied with all of the 'potential' risks out there. Really depends on the dog I think!

[Guest LazyBones]

gumby eats the purina one senior formula, and gets a little canned mixed in at night when she takes her medicine. her poops are solid 99% of the time. usually when she poops during a walk, there is almost no residue left behind on the cement when i pick up. sometimes her poops are a little softer and leave a little more residue behind, and sometimes they are firm and a little shiny. it is pretty rare for her to get the big D.

[Guest ProudGreyMom]

One thing I find with my guys....their poo will tend to get softer on walk. I think its from the excitement of the walk. This especially happens in a new surrounding.

 

Andy eats Iams because anything else gives him the D. He always has firm poos (except for on those odd walk days). Jake is on a special diet for his kidneys, plus two medications, so his are fairly firm.

 

The amount of feedings per day of course will increase or decrease the poo production!!

[Guest Jennifer4719]

I feed Iams and have nice firm poos. I know it isn't the top of the line food, but it works for my girls and they are happy, healthy and shiney.

Oh and I forgot to mention, my girls have very little gas

[Guest greytexplorer]

firm and a little shiny.

 

[Guest adoptagreyhound]

Funny you should ask, my hubby and I were just talking about our dogs' poops tonight on our walk. We used to feed Nutro until a new bag made both dogs very sick. We then tried a few other brands. Basically all of the food we tried, even the most expensive, produced 3 to 5 BIG poops a day per dog. It seemed like we were paying a lot of money just for the privilege of picking up poo!

 

We started talking and thinking about what was going on and then I thought to ask Derfaroo what she feeds Genie - the 20-year-old grey. Using a modified version of what we call "The Derf Diet" our dogs are down to one tiny, firm poo per day. We modified the diet to add some kibble - we're using Nature's Select which really seems to work with our dogs' digestive systems. (I understand that every dog is different.) We give them white or brown rice with boiled chicken or turkey breasts - about 3 cups at dinner (including 1 cup of kibble) and 1 cup for breakfast (no kibble). The Derf Diet includes lean beef but Sandy throws up if she eats any beef at all so that's out.

 

So, the bottom line (pun intended) is 1 poo per day per dog on The Derf Diet. Long live Genie Derf!!!

[Guest longdogs]

Do you really have a problem? The more they go, the mushier it gets and that's just the way it is. Some dogs like to go a lot, perhaps because they didn't like to foul their pens when they were racers. William was a serial pooper and would often go 6 times per walk. Things started off perfect and went progressively downhill. There was no problem with his food so changing would have made no difference.

Edited May 16, 2008 by longdogs

[GeorgeofNE]

My dog normally goes twice a day--but if I take him on a Greyhound walk, he'll go four times just on the walk! By the time he's finished, it's just liquid.

 

I've seen a few of the other dogs do the same thing--I think as his excitement level goes up, his metabolism cranks up too.

 

So, as others have said, I think your dog sounds pretty normal.

[Guest Murphys_mom]

My dog normally goes twice a day--but if I take him on a Greyhound walk, he'll go four times just on the walk! By the time he's finished, it's just liquid.

 

Same here. Murph will even get to the point where he "phantom poops" (he squats and sits for a moment as if he's pooping, but he's all out)!

 

In any case, we feed Nature's Variety kibble along with raw and he does great on that. When we switched to the kibble with raw, we definitely noticed a drop in the volume and better formed poops overall.

 

There's not really a nice way to talk about poop without it making you giggle a bit, is there?

 

[Remolacha]

someone on GT explained this very well a while back, and of course, I don't remember who Anyway, my paraphrasing: as the food moves through the digestive system, a lot of the liquid is absorbed in the large intestine. So, when the dog goes the first time, he's producing what's been through the system and is "ready". If he goes again (and Fletcher poops at least twice on every walk), it's going to be softer because it (the poop) hasn't been in the intestine as long, and all the liquid hasn't been absorbed. So, each poop, assuming the first was normal, will be softer. I know I have put this very unscientifically, but it made sense to me

[jodyksam]

One thing I find with my guys....their poo will tend to get softer on walk. I think its from the excitement of the walk. This especially happens in a new surrounding.

 

Andy eats Iams because anything else gives him the D. He always has firm poos (except for on those odd walk days). Jake is on a special diet for his kidneys, plus two medications, so his are fairly firm.

 

The amount of feedings per day of course will increase or decrease the poo production!!

that's always been true for Daisy too.

Edited May 17, 2008 by jodyksam

[Guest vahoundlover]

IF I remember correctly....If your dog is pooping a lot on walks (Butter does this) as each poo gets runnier and just a squirt here and there...it's a form of marking.