Dog poopies...

[tobylittledude]

Sorry for the poopie in the title....but I need some info....

Toby doesn't seem to quite regular these days. We go for 2 walks a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. He use to go poop regularly twice a day.... But recently, he seems to only go in the morning or in the evening. I am a bit concerned....

Besides that, Toby is eating, drinking, playing and sleeping like his normal self. I did change his food a week ago... could that be the reason??

Should this be something to consult his vet about?

Thanks in advance.

 

[J's crew]

It could be the food. Did you go from a grocery store food to a premium food?

 

[Saje]

Definitely could be the reason. My dogs went from pooping several times a day on kibble to once a day or every two days on raw!

 

[tobylittledude]

We went from Innova Evo to Go! Natural (from Petcurean).

Toby was getting bored with his Evo...and I heard its a good idea to rotate their foods every few months or so.....

 

[Tobysmom]

As long as he is acting normal it's nothing to worry about. I changed Tobys food before and it affected his pooping habits also.


BTW- I have never heard that you should switch their diet every few months before. I have always thought it was best to keep them on a good food as long as they will eat it.

 

[fillyone]

BTW- I have never heard that you should switch their diet every few months before. I have always thought it was best to keep them on a good food as long as they will eat it.

You say Toe-May-Toe I say Toe-Ma-Toe
You say feed the same food, I say feed different foods.

In other words, two schools of thought on if we should change protien sources or not.

 

[tobylittledude]

Well, I heard that from a few other dog folks. They said it's good to rotate foods every once in a while (every 3 moths, or 6 months). Just so they get a full spectrum of nutrients that they might not be getting from just one brand of food.

The other reasos I changed Toby's food was because he didn't seem to enjoy his Evo as much as before.

 

[LabBreeder]

hmmm...can't say anything about Toby, cause i haven't the slightest idea other than the food change. but i was always told IF you changed foods (for whatever reason) that the new food should be gradually introduced so as to minimalize any problems with stomach upset. i'm sure you did that anyways...never heard about rotating for protein/nutrient changes though. anyone got more info on the rotating foods position?? genuinely curious about it...

 

[dogstarsleddogs]

Glad I'm not the only one with dogs that seem to now poop less! About 4 months ago, we switched foods (Diamond to Kasco) and now the dogs just poop every other day! Its great cause it means less poop to scoop up. The only thing I wonder, is that with Diamond, the fiber was 3%, with Kasco its 4.5%, could this also be adding to the less poops?
And about switching foods, I dont recomend it. It can take a dogs body up to 3 MONTHS to be fully acustomed to the new food.

 

[dogstarsleddogs]

Since I cant find an "edit" button? I meant to say about the switching foods, i dont recomend that you switch "just to give them something new" If something is really wrong with the food, by all means switch!

 

[Bailey+Ralph]

It can take a dogs body up to 3 MONTHS to be fully acustomed to the new food.

Now that is something i didn't know!
Bailey had alot of problems with food as a pup.
He had been on Canned food for ages now and i am just weaning him back over to Dried.
I am still doing half/half at the moment and have noticed that his poop is loose and lighter in colour.
I was thinking that i might keep it at half/half for a while to see if his poop improves before going with more dried.
So does this mean that i should wait at least 3 months before i do anything else?

 

[dogstarsleddogs]

There is a lot of different things that factor into that too. What food is he on now? If its a "junkier" (pedigree, alpo, iams, im not saying these are bad, theres just better choices!) food, that could be causing the softer poop.
How long has it been since you started to give him dry?
There could also be an underlying medical problem...
Also, every dog is different. When I got Cider and Snowball it took them about 6 weeks to "switch" over. (I didnt introduce the our food slowly) When I switched the dogs to Kasco, it took everyone about the same time.
You should stick with it for atleast 1 month, and by then you should have an idea of whether its working out or not.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Both of my dogs go twice a day. Gonzo gets fed in the morning & evening, Fozzie gets fed 3 times a day. In a healthy dog, it takes 12-15 hours to digest a good quality kibble, and about 5 hours to digest raw meat. Maybe try adding more fiber to his diet with pulped veggies? How many times do you feed him daily? If you feed him once daily, going poop once a day isn't a big deal. If you feed him twice daily and he goes just once, it sounds like his new food could be digesting too slowly.

 

[ihartgonzo]

The only thing I wonder, is that with Diamond, the fiber was 3%, with Kasco its 4.5%, could this also be adding to the less poops?

Fiber is supposed to make them poop more regularly. For a dog to poop every other day, it's intestines just aren't processing the food quickly enough. In my last post, I mentioned that a good quality kibble takes 12 hours to digest, so dogs need to go at least once a day. How is the consistency of their poops, and the size?

 

[LabBreeder]

i've got a question gonzo....our pup (going on 13 wks) poops 3x/day on average (not counting up to 2/3x per night) and he's a free feeder. our girl poops 1/2x per day total and is fed a partial meal in the morning, the rest in the evening with a mid day snack in between (trying to get her to loose some weight and eat less). would you say these bm's are ok?

 

[dogstarsleddogs]

Fiber is supposed to make them poop more regularly. For a dog to poop every other day, it's intestines just aren't processing the food quickly enough. In my last post, I mentioned that a good quality kibble takes 12 hours to digest, so dogs need to go at least once a day. How is the consistency of their poops, and the size?

Poops are extremly small, hard and dark brown. (I really have to search for them!) They are fed twice a day, about 12 hours between feedings. Ranger, who always had runny/soft poops now has "normal" poops after the switch.

 

[pup-man]

It appears the switch in food was a positive move on your part. Him pooping less on his new food usualy means his body is absorbing more of the nutrients of his new food which results in less poop.

There is completely nothing to worry about.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Labbreeder, he poops 2 or 3x a night? That does seem excessive. Maybe check out the amount of fillers in his kibble (corn, wheat, soy)... dogs need to go enough to where their intestines are constantly scrubbing out waste, but not to the point where it's going right through them! I feed my 14 week-old 3 times daily, it helps a lot with keeping a schedule for him and he only goes twice daily. He also sleeps through the night, until 8-9 AM. I would go crazy if he had to get up 3 times in the night! xP

Dogstar, as long as you're happy with their health & such, that's fine.