New Owner - Cross Post From Med Forum - Please Help

[Guest LeoTheGreyt]

Hello. I posted this question in the medical forum too, I hope that is okay. My fiance and I just got our first grey yesterday and we have a slight issue:

I just discovered some poop on the floor next to our dog's crate. There was not much on the floor but there was a fair amount smeared on one blanket inside the crate. I have cleaned it up with Nature's Miracle but am now doing some research to see how we can avoid this happening again. Our dog is not showing any other signs of stress (no tucked tale, no whining or barking, no attempts to urinate inside, no cowering in the corner or his crate, generally looks happy, approaches us to get petted when we he knows we're nearby), so I think the problem is his diet.

Our shelter told us to give him 3 cups of dry food (Iams Mini Chunks), 1 cup of rice, 1/2 a cup of canned food (poultry) and about a cup of water mixed in twice a day. We plan on changing his diet but are sticking with this for now to make the transition easier. This seems like a LOT of food to me, about 8 or 9 cups of food per day. Our grey is a three-year old 80 lb. male. Yesterday he pooped three times on our walks, today he has pooped four (one was not very much). I have been around dogs enough to think his poop does not look normal - it's mostly a light brown color and on the watery/thin side, enough that it leaves a smear behind on grass. One of his poops did look more like what I think of as a healthy dog poop (log shaped, a little darker in color), but the rest have all looked a little off. I noticed a few grains of undigested rice in one of his poops earlier today.

So, I am wondering how much food you give your dog (which I realize will vary with size) and how often your dog poops per day, if you don't mind sharing. Any advice on transitioning his diet is appreciated too! We think fiber is an issue and plan to start mixing some cooked sweet potatoes into his food, but I also think just the volume we are feeding him is too much.

Thanks you for your help!

[Tallgreydogmom]

Just wanted to say with a greyhound you will probably become an expert on poop. Greyhounds have very fussy intestinal tracts. Someone else will probably chime in. You might want to try a different food than what a shelter would use. Many of us use Kirkland dog food from Costco. We use the Grain Free Salmon and Sweet Potato. When we have a poop problem we use something like Taste of The Wild Brand. Our 85 pound boy gets 6 cups a day.

 

Research what greyhounds are normally fed at the track. Yogurt helps with the good bacteria in their intestine. You might see what types of vegetables and fruit he might like. I also give them a hard boiled egg most days. They like pasta in their food also. We have one female that will help herself to an apple if we leave them out. She takes it to her crate and is very happy eating the entire apple.

 

Did I mention they are big time poopers.

[Riverhound]

I do Iams dry. We free feed. They eat what they want, when they want. Poop is decent, not perfect. Doesn't work for all dogs, and isn't what I'd advise right away for your guy.

 

You got the dog yesterday. Poop happens! It'll work out. His tummy is probably a bit funky from the stress, but he wants to eat all the yummy wet food you give him. Don't worry if he misses a meal. Stick with what he got in the kennel, but maybe a little less. More walks. Don't stress. Stock up on washable bath mats for the crate until you work through this.

 

Have a drink.

[Hubcitypam]

Some will say to fast him or feed boiled chicken and rice, but if he was my 80# dog I'd go straight to 2 cups of Iams twice a day - add water if you wish.

[Guest FreeholdHound]

When I first got Harry (he was 87lbs) I was told 3 cups of kibble, & 1/2 a can of wet food twice a day. Way too much. I admit it took forever to find a kibble that worked for him (turned out no chicken, turkey, salmon, or sweet potato). Now he gets 1 1/2 cups of kibble with water in the AM and 1 cup kibble in the PM with some raw grind, tripe, or sardines mixed in. He's down to 80 lbs which is a much better weight (he raced at 76 lbs). Since you just got him simplicity is best. Some say plain pumpkin or yogurt helps settle things- neither worked here. Time and some digestive enzymes did.

 

Greyhounds on walks poop multiple times & each one gets runnier. Excitement? I have no idea. It took about a week before Harry understood the concept of going outside when we got him. He wasn't fostered and was off track only 3 weeks, so we had some accidents. He learned pretty fast - I took him out every 2-3 hrs in the beginning.

 

Breathe, and don't stress (easier said than done I know). Poop obsessing is something I gave up on. Harry's fit & healthy & I can pick it up

[Houndtime]

Sounds like a lot of food to me. I have two boys; one 72 and one 83. They eat two cups Iams plus Fresh Pet Select slice on top. They are fine weights. They do poop three times a day. Your boy is new and has a lot going on. New home, new bed, new peeps-he needs time to adjust. He will probably get worse before better. Don't change anything yet. Keep him going with what he is used to for a while. I would reduce the amount of food though.

[Feisty49]

That sounds like way too much food. I'd think no more than 4 cups of food a day is enough. My girl is 65 pounds and gets 3 cups of dry food per day split between breakfast and supper.

 

A lot of us use Iams in the green bag because anything else we tried caused diarrhea or stools too loose for comfort. Over the almost three years I've had Annie, I've tried at least half a dozen different foods and always return to Iams green bag.

 

Many Greyhounds poo a lot during the day especially, it seems, if they're walked for exercise, with each succeeding poo being less firm. It's just the way they are.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

In addition, be sure to take him outside often and regularly. He has no idea how to tell you that he needs to go out--He has never had to. So you need to anticipate his needs. I also start my dogs right off with a verbal cue that we are going out to potty--I ask "Do you need to go ooooooouuut?" They soon learn what that means and they either head for the door or turn over and go back to sleep. I also have learned to pick up on very subtle cues that they need to go out.

[Brandiandwe]

81 lb boy here. That's a lot of food. I'd start by cutting down a little and see what happens. If he's poop doesn't improve in a few days, consider changing. But for now I'd keep him on what he's used to till you can establish whether the poop is runny from stress, food or both. But too much food always has nasty results here.

 

One final thing: simplify your treats too. Just another variable which can complicate things.

[silverfish]

Hello. I posted this question in the medical forum too, I hope that is okay. My fiance and I just got our first grey yesterday and we have a slight issue:

I just discovered some poop on the floor next to our dog's crate. There was not much on the floor but there was a fair amount smeared on one blanket inside the crate. I have cleaned it up with Nature's Miracle but am now doing some research to see how we can avoid this happening again. Our dog is not showing any other signs of stress (no tucked tale, no whining or barking, no attempts to urinate inside, no cowering in the corner or his crate, generally looks happy, approaches us to get petted when we he knows we're nearby), so I think the problem is his diet.

Our shelter told us to give him 3 cups of dry food (Iams Mini Chunks), 1 cup of rice, 1/2 a cup of canned food (poultry) and about a cup of water mixed in twice a day. We plan on changing his diet but are sticking with this for now to make the transition easier. This seems like a LOT of food to me, about 8 or 9 cups of food per day. Our grey is a three-year old 80 lb. male. Yesterday he pooped three times on our walks, today he has pooped four (one was not very much). I have been around dogs enough to think his poop does not look normal - it's mostly a light brown color and on the watery/thin side, enough that it leaves a smear behind on grass. One of his poops did look more like what I think of as a healthy dog poop (log shaped, a little darker in color), but the rest have all looked a little off. I noticed a few grains of undigested rice in one of his poops earlier today.

 

This is extremely unlikely to be rice. Cooked rice is so easily digested, I have never seen it in poop, ever. If you did, the poop would be completely liquid, very light coloured, and probably bloody (it would have come through so fast). It is much more likely that the 'grains of rice' you are seeing are tapeworm segments.

 

There is a good picture of tapeworm segments in poop on this page.

 

As to food: Jeffie, who is about 66lb and underweight, gets all he will eat, which is about 180 g kibble plus three to four tablespoons of wet food mixed in, twice a day. Sid gets less, despite being bigger, because he tends to put on weight. They both get snacks between meals (Sid's are compensated for by the reduction in kibble and they are good quality, dried meat type treats for the most part).

 

Newly adopted greyhounds often have runny poop. It's partly due to stress, so you're right not to be chopping and changing foods too quickly. And also, greyhounds generally tend to produce less of the 'log' type, and be looser in consistency. So long as it's not diarrhoea, it's probably okay, though the 'log' is more desirable for lots of reasons! But do check for worms, because worms can cause loose poops too.

 

Pooping in his crate? I'd say it may possibly be due to his not being let out on his previous schedule. Greyhounds usually arrive not knowing how to ask to go out. They are never expected to ask to go out at the kennel, they are just taken out and expected to do their business, so they get used to waiting until the regularly turn-out time. Since they can be very much creatures of habit, this sometimes means they make a mess in the house at first, depending on how 'off' your schedule is to them.

 

If there's any way you can find out the turn-out times you might be able to improve things by sticking to those for a few days and gradually changing to a schedule of your own making, or simply turn him out/walk him half an hour after each meal, and again at frequent intervals, praising him when he goes in the right place. Whatever you do, do NOT scold him for pooping in his crate or you may end up with a dog who won't crate at all.

 

Hope some of that helps.

 

 

[Guest LeoTheGreyt]

 

This is extremely unlikely to be rice. Cooked rice is so easily digested, I have never seen it in poop, ever. If you did, the poop would be completely liquid, very light coloured, and probably bloody (it would have come through so fast). It is much more likely that the 'grains of rice' you are seeing are tapeworm segments.

 

There is a good picture of tapeworm segments in poop on this page.

 

As to food: Jeffie, who is about 66lb and underweight, gets all he will eat, which is about 180 g kibble plus three to four tablespoons of wet food mixed in, twice a day. Sid gets less, despite being bigger, because he tends to put on weight. They both get snacks between meals (Sid's are compensated for by the reduction in kibble and they are good quality, dried meat type treats for the most part).

 

Newly adopted greyhounds often have runny poop. It's partly due to stress, so you're right not to be chopping and changing foods too quickly. And also, greyhounds generally tend to produce less of the 'log' type, and be looser in consistency. So long as it's not diarrhoea, it's probably okay, though the 'log' is more desirable for lots of reasons! But do check for worms, because worms can cause loose poops too.

 

Pooping in his crate? I'd say it may possibly be due to his not being let out on his previous schedule. Greyhounds usually arrive not knowing how to ask to go out. They are never expected to ask to go out at the kennel, they are just taken out and expected to do their business, so they get used to waiting until the regularly turn-out time. Since they can be very much creatures of habit, this sometimes means they make a mess in the house at first, depending on how 'off' your schedule is to them.

 

If there's any way you can find out the turn-out times you might be able to improve things by sticking to those for a few days and gradually changing to a schedule of your own making, or simply turn him out/walk him half an hour after each meal, and again at frequent intervals, praising him when he goes in the right place. Whatever you do, do NOT scold him for pooping in his crate or you may end up with a dog who won't crate at all.

 

Hope some of that helps.

 

 

 

Thanks for the link to the photo. We are going to call the shelter today to see what they recommend and then probably see if we can get him in to see a vet tomorrow. Poor dog!

[silverfish]

Tapeworms are one of the least harmful of the intestinal parasites (unless you get one of the hydatid worms, but then the segments are usually too small to be noticed) so don't worry too much. The most they usually do is make their host undernourished because they take all the food for themselves.

[greytpups]

I wonder if the shelter told you to feed him twice daily and this is the "total" amount of food. How much food to feed can be trial and error and so can the type of food. I have a 60 lb. female who eats 4 cups of food per day plus treats and is definitely not overweight while my 68 lb girl eats the same amount and I have to be careful because she tends to gain weight. In other words, it depends on the dog. My 60 lb. girl eats as much as some 80 lb. males.

 

I does sound like he's getting too much food simply by the "output" and needs to be dewormed. Good luck!

[Guest LeoTheGreyt]

Ack, he just had another accident, with the same little white spots, and a LOT of vomit. We're going to go grab some tapeworm meds now, I feel so bad for my poor dog!

[krissn333]

Yep...worms can make them poop more, and vomit.

 

That's a lot of food for twice a day. I'd do 2 cups of kibble, twice a day, with water on top.

 

We feed Taste of the Wild here and my dogs eat 1.5-2 cups twice a day.

[CharlieRhea]

Ack, he just had another accident, with the same little white spots, and a LOT of vomit. We're going to go grab some tapeworm meds now, I feel so bad for my poor dog!

Bring a stool sample to the vet to check for worms. 9 cups is WAY too much food. Transition Leo next week to something like Taste of The Wild as above poster suggested. I was staff at that Greyhound group, not sure if i ever met you but get advice from the kennel mgr. Jen She may also be able to check a stool sample or certainly the vet that comes there.

Let us know what happens, it will all work out, hang in. Leo is beautiful btw :-)