Quick Question -- Bathroom Habits

[Guest cloveralexis]

I have had my (first) greyhound for about a week and a half. He seems to be adjusting really well. He is super sweet and gentle. He also poops about three times every time I walk him (which is usually just 15-20 minutes at a time). I'm curious if this might be his norm, or if his gastric system will settle down once he gets used to his new food. What have you all seen with your new hounds?

[Guest sireltonsmom]

Congrats on getting a wonderful companion! Greys eat about 4 cups of food a day (give or take) so there's lots more poo than with little dogs. I don't know if your new dog came directly from the track life or if he's had fostering, but that can affect adjustment to home life food. That's all it is - adjustment. I've had my oldest Greyhound, Sir Elton, for 8 years - he's almost 14. In that time, he's gone several times on morning walks and once on afternoon walk. Or more, or less. So there's no real concern about how often - more about how 'normal' the poo is to me. Your boy is in transition to the new life, new food so yes, there may be changes as he gets used to it. You've no doubt been told to mix food, transitioning them slowly, if you change brands going forward. I give my kids a couple of tablespoons of vanilla yogurt in a small bowl before their kibble. I think it helps with their digestive system. Best of luck with your boy - celebrate the adjustments and the amazing love you will receive. There's nothing like greyhound love - it's the BEST! Ginny

[ShebasMom]

And I add a heaping regular teaspoon of canned pure pumpkin to Sheba's food twice a day for digestive purposes. She typically poops twice, once before or after the morning meal and once after the evening meal.

[Guest RMarie]

Congrats on adopting! Having just adopted our first grey in August, we went through a lot of pooping issues. We're still adjusting to his poop schedule now. To preface this statement, our boy dropped almost 10 lbs in the first month after retiring, so we were feeding him 3 cups at every meal, plus kongs (a LOT of food)...but he started out pooping 5 times/day: right after breakfast, again on our morning walk, during his afternoon walk, right after dinner, and on his nightly walk. As he's settled in and his stomach as calmed down, for the most part he's no longer pooping right after breakfast or on his nightly walk. During this time, we've also cut his meals back to 2 cups each, because he finally started putting on weight. We're still trying to achieve the elusive firm, bouncy poops (the stuff dreams are made of), but he's getting there. Some days are better than others. Make sure your dog is free of worms and parasites. After that, it really seems like time and finding the right food will help his pooping frequency. Good luck!

 

To specifically address your question about pooping multiple times during walks, I know other people on here have posted that this is normal pooping behavior. My guy has only done it on a few occasions (usually on longer walks, though). When his poops are super soft, he doesn't seem to poop multiple times during a walk, which I suspect is because it all came out at one time. When his poops are firmer, they aren't as voluminious (or so it seems...compact shapre?), so we may get an extra "squirt" (sorry for the mental image) as the walk progresses.

[Guest KPS915]

We're pretty new at this too. We've had ours for 2 months. I find sometimes, our girl will get distracted (a car will drive by or kids playing will peak her interest) and she'll stop going. Then as we keep walking she'll find another quiet spot to finish going. Generally she goes a 2-3 times a day

Edited October 18, 2012 by KPS915

[greytpups]

We have one grey who's a 2xper day pooper and one who's a 4xday pooper. Although one poops more than the other , your grey does seem to poop a lot. Is there a lot of filler in his food and when he poops 3 times, is is big poop each time or 3 small poops which would add up to one big poop. Also is it runny? He may be adjusting to new food. If this is the case, perhaps you need to transition him slower.

[Guest cloveralexis]

Thanks for the responses. I did get a bag of his usual food (from the rescue org) and mixed it with his new food (Blue Buffalo) until a couple of days ago when I ran out of the old stuff and now he's just getting the new food. It's my understanding Blue Buffalo is a high-quality food, which I hope doesn't have too much "filler."

 

I am also feeding him 6 cups a day as he is a bit underweight after coming off the track. When he puts on a few pounds and his hip bones aren't poking out so much, I will decrease to 4 cups a day. So that may be why he is pooping so much! He has only had a few really runny poops so far - most are soft and some have been more normal (and easier to clean up). Usually if he poops multiple times on one walk they'll be pretty small.

 

Otherwise he seems healthy, I'm not really worried, mostly just curious -- I gotta stock up on plastic bags and be prepared!

[Feisty49]

I adopted Annie Bella 15 months ago. It took quite a few months to find a combination of food that produced poos that were decent consistency, and now, her first-morning poo (about 6 AM) is good but the poos deteriorate a little bit in softness with ensuing ones. Even when going through soft serve poo in the beginning, she never went more than 3 times a day. Pretty much that's her usual schedule: 3 times a day and usually the same time every day unless I'm not at home.

 

Yogurt, pumpkin, pro biotics, etc., never worked to help firm up Annie B's poos. She now gets a couple of tablespoons of beet pulp in her bowl with breakfast and again with supper, as well as a couple of squirts of fish oil. The beet pulp helped a lot -- that and mixing half a cup of Iams in the green bag with the 1 cup of Nutro Venison she gets with each meal.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Feisty49

[MP_the4pack]

My first girl Brindle, who's been at the Bridge for 12 yrs now, was a pooping maching. She'd go out and make several stops before finishing. Many of my others did one poop after each meal. Then there's Da Bwat. She doesn't like to go on-leash. So when we do Dewey or GIG or any other social event where there's no fenced yard, She just won't go at all.

 

The thing to look at is....is the poo runny or firm. If it's firm...you're fine..

 

Plus there are some foods that they poo more than others. But if it's not bothering him. Don't worry.