Super Poopers

[Guest Shermanator]

We've had Echo & Travel for a year now, and have come to the conclusion that they poop constantly. Our bridge babies, Sherman & Patton, were big 80+ boys, and never pooped as much as our 2 60 lbs girls! These girls double the poop the boys had in a day. The poop is inconsistent, some times firm, other times very soft. No rhyme or reason. They poop up to 3 times a day. The girls eat Kirkland's Lamb & Rice, same as the boys did. Towards the end of Patton's life, we fed Nature's Balance Venison and Sweet Potato, since he developed allergies to the lamb and rice. (His allergy displayed in his ears- he had the dirtiest ears I'd ever seen, until the food change.) The girls lick their paws occasionally, no chewing, just licking. I do not see any evident signs of allergies. If its food, then what would be another inexpensive choice? We've had some major hits to our budget recently, and are working to recover.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Does the brand you use make a food from another meat source? If so, that might be a good start. Usually, stool volume is largely relates to the amount of undigested/indigestible carbs and grains in the kibble. Lamb has the added issue of being higher in average water content than many other meats, so even where it's listed as the first ingredient in a food (by pre cooked weight) it loses more water weight in the cooking process than another meats and the result is less meat in the actual kibble than with a different meat and a smaller ratio of meat to junk.

[BootsyCollins]

Bootsy is the same way, and I dont get it. He poops 3-4 times per walk. Yes, that's 6-8 times per day. The first is perfect, the second good, the third pudding. Usually not a fourth, but if there is, it' s a tiny amount of super gooey pudding. It makes me insane. I have changed to a grain free kibble. No improvement.

[Guest KennelMom]

could be you're feeding them too much volume of food.

[AEB]

Bootsy is the same way, and I dont get it. He poops 3-4 times per walk. Yes, that's 6-8 times per day. The first is perfect, the second good, the third pudding. Usually not a fourth, but if there is, it' s a tiny amount of super gooey pudding. It makes me insane. I have changed to a grain free kibble. No improvement.

 

Kevin does this and Sadie did too. Honestly, I think the frequency of walk pooping has to do with excitement and the poop being softer each time has to do with it being further up the digestive tract. Also, both would poop twice maybe three times a day if not taken for a walk. But on a walk 3-4 poops has been normal for my guys. They run out of pee and they try to squeeze out more poop! Even Sadie, the pickiest eater on earth who would go days without eating sometimes would do this being empty. The way to guarantee a poop- or 4- take a walk!

[Guest Swifthounds]

Some dogs will poop multiple times on a wall because they've been trained "too well" to think that their expected task on a walk is producing stool. It's more common in dogs living where there is no yard and they must be walked to potty. If you don't differentiate "potty trips" from "exercise walks" the dog may think that a walk for exercise is for potty and "go" because it's what they think you expect. You can differentiate the two trips by walking for potty only in a certain spot, not including that spot in the exercise walks and always making them separate trips.

 

If the dog is producing multiple stools for other reasons, you could be feeding too much volume of food or too little meat versus carbs.

[OwnedBySummer]

Summer usually poops 3 times a day. I don't find that unusual in any way. Morning, mid afternoon and before bed. As to the poop getting less consistent as you're walking... I believe that's an exercise-related thing. I have watched the greys at our playgroup and they will almost all poop as soon as they arrive. Guess they can't run until they're lighter! Then they start to run and play. Then they poop again and it's softer and less formed. All the rest of the poops are just liquid and eventually they may get into position and nothing comes out, maybe just a drop.

[Guest BrianRke]

Mine do well on Diamond Naturals. Its a 4 star food and its only $28.99 for a 40lb bag.

[BootsyCollins]

I feed him 1.5 cups 2x per day. He weighs 75 pounds. I don't feel like that's too much, but maybe it is.

 

We have a yard, but he doesn't spend much time in it. He really enjoys his walks, so that's what he gets. Morning and evening, plus a quick potty walk before we leave in the morning and before bed at night. If we do hang in the yard in the evening instead of walking, he poops once.

 

Bootsy is the same way, and I dont get it. He poops 3-4 times per walk. Yes, that's 6-8 times per day. The first is perfect, the second good, the third pudding. Usually not a fourth, but if there is, it' s a tiny amount of super gooey pudding. It makes me insane. I have changed to a grain free kibble. No improvement.

 

Kevin does this and Sadie did too. Honestly, I think the frequency of walk pooping has to do with excitement and the poop being softer each time has to do with it being further up the digestive tract. Also, both would poop twice maybe three times a day if not taken for a walk. But on a walk 3-4 poops has been normal for my guys. They run out of pee and they try to squeeze out more poop! Even Sadie, the pickiest eater on earth who would go days without eating sometimes would do this being empty. The way to guarantee a poop- or 4- take a walk!

 

 

I agree with this - I think it's the movement and the desire to be marking, somehow someway. I hate it!!!

[Feisty49]

I love these discussions about P&P, especially P#2. They confirm that a Greyhound's digestive tract is... uhm... unusual, to put it mildly, something of which I was unaware when I adopted my girl, Annie Bella, 8 weeks ago. Obviously I have since learned that pudding, mush, numerous times, firmer, fewer times, yada yada, appear to all be normal.

 

Having said that, I did have her BM tested for worms and she had hook and tape. Ah ha! Give her medicine and she'll be fine. Yah, right. It didn't change anything. After a couple of weeks of the poo being more pudding than not, I called the vet who suggested chicken & rice for meals. That didn't help! A second call to the vet brought forth a 'script for Metronidazole and the suggestion to continue the chicken and rice until her intestines settled down. Within 24 hours, Annie had what I consider normal stools (well, normal for her) and she was pooing only twice a day! WOW.... I was practically doing a happy dance. "Normal" lasted for less than 24 hours, but then just now, she had "normal" again.

 

She's healthy, she's happy and she's maintaining her weight. Maybe all this worry isn't necessary??

[BootsyCollins]

Treat her for worms again, and make sure she's on a preventative that covers hooks. Hooks are HORRENDOUS to get rid of, and one treatment likely didn't kill them all.

[EnzaFerrari]

What she said - I had to treat Enza for hooks three times as they kept coming back. Luckily panacur can be found with a prescription online from various sites. I now keep a round in my "holy crap, the dog has a bigger medicine than I do" box.

[XTRAWLD]

Ryder goes EVERYTIME we take him out. LOL I think he's used to the routine of going out and eliminating and just kept doing that when we walk him.

 

Our boys poop a lot too, but you will find the amount varies depending on type of food you feed. Raw produces very little, some premium brands medium amount and the lower brands bigger amounts, just because there is less in there to digest correctly and be useful in their bodies.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I don't know that there's anything particularly unusual about greyhound digestion. If you think about it, they go through some pretty dramatic changes in the transition from farm/track life to home life - and not all for the better. They're weaned onto a diet high in meat and relatively low in carbs and fillers and stay on that for years only to have that ratio suddenly reversed. They go from a predictable routine with a job and lots of company to the opposite - and in an environment wholly new and strange. All of that is very stressful and makes them susceptible to GI upset and parasite infestations.

[cleptogrey]

PROBIOTICS!!! give it a try, you might be very shocked, when my dogs are either going too often or loose i cut open a couple of capsules for a couple of days, then reduced it to one per day(vitamin shoppe's own) and wethey are back to normal. also, as kennelmom said, maybe too much volume. so maybe cut back a tad before you start testing or changing foods.

Edited September 2, 2011 by cleptogrey

[Guest LindsaySF]

Could be that the food doesn't agree with them (every dog is different, or the formula might have changed), you are feeding too much (more food, more poop), or they are scent marking (some dogs keep pooping on walks as a way of marking scent, they will squeeze out poop when nothing is left ).

[Guest Shermanator]

Thanks, everyone!

We've changed their food before, and they are still poop machines. They've been to the vet- no problems. As for food, they are free feeders; however, they are not big eaters. Echo eats more than Travel, but Echo's much more active. Travel eats like a bird. They have not gained any more weight, except for their first month with us, which the vet said is fine, since they were very sknny when they first came home.

I will try the probotics. Absolutely. Travel loves backyard treats ( poop, ew!) And we've picking up poop multiple times a day. The less poop, the harder it is for her to indulge herself.

[seeh2o]

Carl was a prolific pooper on kibble. He pooped 7 - 9 times on walks and in VOLUME! I never understood how a dog could poop more than he ate. I switched both dogs to raw in February, now his poops are firm (until we get to the last one) tiny and he only poops maybe 3 times on walks. If you're up for feeding raw, that will probably fix the problem!

[greg1229]

Once I switched my girls over to Nature's Domain Salmon and Sweet Potato grain-free, they seem to eat less which equals...yes less poop. And firmer as well. And now all the Costcos in the Phoenix area carry Nature's Domains. Some even carry the ND turkey and sweet potato

 

and it's only like $32 for a 35lb bag

[Guest Shermanator]

I'd love to try raw, but Travel is a prissy, dainty little thing, she most likely will not eat it. I've tried turkey necks, bones with meat still on them, things to clean their teeth, and Travel is having none of it. I've tried feeding her these goodies in a seperate room from Echo, and while Echo inhales her raw treats (if she could unhinge her jaws like a snake and swallw then whole, she would.) . Travel simply pushes her bowl away, and turn up her nose. She is a very picky pup!

The ND food at our Costco is expensive, $37-$38 for a 35 lb bag.

[seeh2o]

Maybe the turkey necks are too big for her? I give mine duck necks and quartered cornish hens, they are just the right size.