Loose stool only on walks?

So.... kind of an odd question???

Jackson has mainly been eating Acana kibble for over a year now. A few bags of other stuff in between but primarily Acana. I do mix wet food in- usually it's NV Instinct or Natural Balance wet food, but sometimes other brands.

His poop is normally 'perfect' when on this food... in the morning, it's a solid little dark log (LOL) and same in the evenings. If we for some reason don't go for a walk, we just stay home for the day, he does 2 of these perfect little poops. Whenever we go for a walk (typically 30 minutes-2 hours depending) *sometimes* it will be runny (not all the time). It's not, like, watery diarrhea or anything, but it's looser and softer and sometimes smellier. Can exercise make him poop like that?? It just seems odd... don't know if it's normal.

He does get some treats during the day but nothing excessive and nothing he doesn't get when he has 2 normal poops for the day... they are all 1 ingredient treats or very little ingredients, etc.

Was gonna consider switching foods but thinking back it seems this happened with most foods he's eaten. Gonna do a test, I think, tomorrow and feed him ONLY his Primal raw for the day (usually I do it for breakfast and kibble for dinner but only a few times a week) and see if it makes a difference on our walk....

In the past 2 years, he's eaten NV Instinct, Orijen, Acana, Go! Endurance and Wellness Core (only for 1 bag). Sooo... I dunno, I'm just not sure.

I have heard (not really from sources I would stake my life on, but several different places) that it is the dog's natural reaction to lots of exercise - basically ridding the body of excess waste in preparation for hunting or something. I've noticed Meg will often have one very normal stool at the beginning of a long hike, and then another looser one further on. Since it doesn't ever seem to bother her or occur in other situations, I've never worried about it.

Yea I see this with my dogs too - always figured it was a normal reaction to extra activity/excitement.

OK, thanks! You guys have assured me. BostonBanker- that would be make sense.

Someone told me it could also be the anal glands kind of emptying out and it could make the stool softer or smellier.

I always thought it was excitement, maybe a little anxiety... Juno's poop is always a little looser everywhere we go, except for at home.

Yep, that's pretty normal.

Logan's is always a little softer when we go for walks, too. Gavroche's is always the same hard little turds lol.

Yep, Quinn's the same way.

lots of exercise equals cleaned out bowels. When mine run in the woods the stool will be very loose by the end. Good for Mary, i believe it added years to her life.

Yup, all three of the dogs do the same exact thing. Chloe also seems to crap a LOT more when I walk her. Like, 3+ times in two miles. I am very thankful I don't have to clean it all up. LOL

Sam does the same thing, I always put it to excitement since he only does it on long walks and if there are other dogs around. He loves walking with other dogs and gets very excited when we do.

Thinking about it, I hope he doesn't on the SPCA walk-a-thon this weekend sometimes it's really loose and not fun to pick up- and it's not in the woods where her goes off and I can bury it. It's in a city park/waterfront. >.<

Rosco used to really have this problem as well and sometimes they will still be looser with a lot of exercise but just normal walks they stay normal. Adding probiotics really helped him.

Its normal, Ivan does this when we are at a show for the weekend. I've always assumed its because hes getting more walks per day than whats typical for him.

not just dogs, it is normal for people as well

Thanks! I'm glad it's normal, lol. I was hoping it wasn't a food issue or anything.

Peristalsis of the bowel.