Soft Dog Stool

Hi,
I'm wondering if someone could give me some advice. My dog always has somewhat "soft stool". I know this is somewhat of an icky topic, but I do need to find some answers. Anyway, her stool has "form" to it yet picking it up is a mess. I recently went to the vet and my dog had to have her anal sacs expressed. The vet suggested increasing the fibre in her diet with broccoli to help harden the stools and thus reducing the need for anal sac expression. I tried this but the stool consistency is the same. What can I feed my dog or give her in terms of fibre to help this matter? Her stool has always been on the softer side. I feed her dry food and nothing soft. Any suggestions?

Lets see......Could someone confirm that the use of Pumpkin (maybe a tablespoon) might help this problem. I would say for long term though you might consider changing dry foods. What are you feeding currently? It sounds like there is something in the diet that isn't agreeing with the stomach. Let us know what you decide & if it helps.

Pumpkin?

Thank you for your prompt reply!
I have heard of using pumpkin. But, is that something I can give her on a daily basis? I have changed her dog food three times. Each time I've kicked it up a notch in terms of quality food. I am now feeding her Natural Choice. With each of the dog food types, her stool has always been the same. She does snack on grass however, and I'm wondering if that's something that may be contributing to this problem. Though, come to think of it, it's been the same in the winter too when there is no grass to munch on!!

If you have switched recently I would give it another week or so & maybe you'll see some changes. Hopefully huh! I have a Great Dane & thought Chicken Soup (actual dry dog food was wonderful & then he started having messes. And it was SO difficult to clean up out of the grass into the garbage! I called his breeder & she recommended Diamond which actually is the same company. And fingers crossed.......They have been firm ever since.

Though to answer your question. I believe you can give it a few days here & there & it just might help a bit. I'm sure someone else on here will help out too! Good luck

Thanks so much for your advice. I will give the pumpkin a try. No I haven't switched her food recently. It's been several months.
Maybe someone would know if this problem is common in german shorthaired pointers?

I haven't heard of adding the pumpkin, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Pumpkin is a decent source of fiber, so it makes sense.

The dog food may be the real problem.

I double checked the Natural Choice (Nutro) website to see just exactly what the company claimed for their ingredients, as I've never heard anything good about the Nutro foods, other than, like Science Diet and Eukanuba, they cost more than the ones you find at the grocery. They advertise "all natural" which has nothing at all to do with organic. They seem to have carefully stayed away from using the claim of organic food, as that means it must be free from added chemicals, hormones, drugs, etc. All natural only means the sources are not artificially manufactured. They also use only the term "high quality" which means absolutely nothing. You need to be looking for the term "human grade." When you find that, you know that you're not feeding your dog spare parts that have little or no absorbable nutritive value. For what you're paying for the Natural Choice, you could be buying a dog food that is actually good for your dog. It's really shameful the way pet food companies make their products appear to be something they aren't.

Just remember, any time you change your dog's food, there's going to be a period of adjustment. They may eat it voraciously for a week or so, then turn up their noses for awhile (don't worry, your dog won't starve himself), or turn up their noses initially, and there may be more soft stools for awhile.

So you suggest that I try changing food again? You mentioned Science Diet and Eukanuba. Are those two "human grade" dog foods? Are there any other ones that you can suggest that are relatively reasonably priced??
The search for heathly dog food is really sad. I can't believe that the most commercial and marketable brands contain the most by-products and crap. It's really hard to believe that there are so-called scientists devising food for dogs that can potentially be detrimental to their health. My dog is still young, she's only 2 so I am really searching for the most nutritious food for her consumption. She's healthy now and I wanna keep it that way. So, if you have any suggestions for healthier food that might help the stool issue in the process, it would be much appreciated!

I wouldn't feed Science Diet or Eukanuba to a barn rat. The first place I'd suggest you look for reliable info on dog food is www.greatdanelady.com . She's truly a nutrition guru. I feed mine Innova. Their website is at www.naturapet.com . Natura has several lines of organic, human grade foods, and there is also a protocol on their website that allows you to compare different foods from different companies. There are also several threads here on the forum on dog food, mostly in the Dog Health forum. I'd really suggest going to Linda, the Great Dane Lady's site first.

You could also add a spoon full of whole flax seeds and beet pulp...that would probably help a little..and it aids digestion as well..
With that being said, I feed my dog wellness..which is a pretty good brand..and her stools aren't exactly hard..they can get on the soft side as well..personally I don't really find this to be a problem..if the dog is healthy..eating properly...I mean..do you have rock hard poop? lol