Morning! Hope everyone had a good day yesterday. Can i just ask, what should puppy poo look like? Izzy has a poo every 3 or 4 hours, and its quite soft, is this normal? Sometimes its quite runny. She is on Iams puppy food and has 4 small ,eals a day as per instructions.
Re: An indelicate question Puppy tummies are quite delicate I think, we had added problems with Elsie as she turned out to be gluten intolerant, Betty Chihuahua was quite soft pooed on a couple of occasions usually when we gave her too much food. I am never keen on Iams I have never had a dog do well on it, think it may be too rich for them.
Re: An indelicate question The answer you will probably get will be "kickable". Rolo had an upset tum when he came to us and it made his poop runny. I did nothing about this for far too long. As each week passed I put it down to something else until the vet did stool analysis and it came back as campylabacter. He has been on antibiotics and it is now much firmer. You will get to know your pup and their "habits". My only advice is if your concerned talk to the vet. Saying that for all the rubbish they eat they do have sensitive tummys and it does make them runny so it could just be a blip.
Re: An indelicate question "Kickable" is a good description of what it should be like - if you touched it with your shoe, it would roll away and not stick to your foot. Willow has a fairly sensitive tummy and when we first had her, she was quite soft for a while. I did a two-pronged attack of worming her and giving her a couple of days on rice and chicken and she firmed up. She still goes soft if she has something new to eat, though. I'd try the rice and chicken to see if that helps. Just cut a chicken breast into chunks and boil it up with some rice, let it cool down but leave it sloppy and wet. Feed her that for a day or two instead of her regular food and see what happens. If it doesn't firm her up, it's probably worth a trip to the vet to make sure she hasn't got a bug that needs medicating.
Re: An indelicate question A pinch of pro-fibre on each meal firms up the poos nicely http://www.amazon.co.uk/Protexin-Pro-Fibre-Dogs-500-g/dp/B00BEXP5MA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419584055&sr=8-1&keywords=pro+fibre Rawhide often makes their poos rather squishy so I would go easy on that too, if you give it.
Re: An indelicate question if we are being indelicate..........As a garden poo picker I LOVE a good hard frost
Re: An indelicate question [quote author=Mollly link=topic=9240.msg132594#msg132594 date=1419585082] if we are being indelicate..........As a garden poo picker I LOVE a good hard frost [/quote] To continue lowering the tone, we have to be careful when they go in the snow, because if you don't pick it up quickly enough, it melts down a little way and then sets like concrete so you have to use a pick to get it out
Re: An indelicate question Try it when it's frozen onto concrete.... Now THAT is difficult. We used to have to douse the kennels in hot water before we could pick anything up!! Anyway, back on topic - yes as others have said the poo should be kickable; if you kick it away it should roll quite easily and if you picked it up it should leave little or no mark if it was on concrete. There are many reasons why your pups poo is loose; probably the most common (and easiest to check for!) is overfeeding. Many of us here have discovered that you don't need to feed the whole amount recommended by the manufacturer on the packet, or even close to it! My Penny has about half the recommended amount every day and does fine. You can try cutting each meal down slightly, cut down to three meals, to see if this helps improve the situation. Also take a look at what treats you are feeding; some are well known to cause loose poo (pedigree markies and gravy bones in particular), and also remember that any treats and chews given need to be taken out of your pups daily food allowance as this will contribute to over feeding.
Re: An indelicate question Thanks for all the advice, ill take it all onboard. If im to change from Iams, can anyone recommend anything else?
Re: An indelicate question Food is a real minefield, and everyone will have a different opinion on which the best one is. It's all down to what suits your dog the best. Personally I use Arden Grange, it's wheat free and they use high grade ingredients so it's good quality. Penny does really well on it and I have no complaints.
Re: An indelicate question Here is a great resource to help you get your head round all the ingredients and which are the iffy ones. http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory We feed Skinner's salmon and rice - excellent food, good price and no iffy ingredients. (£26 for 15Kg on Amazon) http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0296/skinners-field-and-trial-salmon-and-rice
Re: An indelicate question Food is a very confusing topic. I'd like to feed all raw, but I don't have the storage necessary for it, so I feed as much as feasible alongside the best kibble I can get here, which is Hill's Science Plan. I don't think it's the best food, but it's about what you can get and what you can afford, too. I'm considering switching to Burns when we go over to adult food; I found out recently that I can have it delivered to a place about an hour's drive from here, so it's doable. BUT, I'll have to get a lot in one go to make it worthwhile and what happens then if they don't get on with it? I've heard before about Iams being rich, but I'm sure they would change their recipe if their food was too rich for all dogs, so I wouldn't just change it on principal; try reducing the amount you're feeding first, then try the chicken and rice and see if that firms things up, see the vet if you're concerned about a bug and then make your decision about whether you need to switch kibble or not.
Re: An indelicate question Ok, im getting some chicken tomorrow so ill give that a go. We are at the vets next friday for her 2nd vacination so ill mention it to the vet then. Thanks x
Re: An indelicate question [quote author=Boogie link=topic=9240.msg132649#msg132649 date=1419614589] Here is a great resource to help you get your head round all the ingredients and which are the iffy ones. http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory We feed Skinner's salmon and rice - excellent food, good price and no iffy ingredients. (£26 for 15Kg on Amazon) http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0296/skinners-field-and-trial-salmon-and-rice [/quote] Field a trail also known as working dog food is VAT exempt which is why its worth hunting down.
Re: An indelicate question Bella is eating royal canin maxi junior - I bought a big bag from the breeder. Her poos are ok, a few sloppy ones but I think that's when she eats mud etc From the garden!! They do smell tho ... :
Re: An indelicate question [quote author=CDM link=topic=9240.msg132740#msg132740 date=1419684106] Bella is eating royal canin maxi junior - I bought a big bag from the breeder. Her poos are ok, a few sloppy ones but I think that's when she eats mud etc From the garden!! They do smell tho ... : [/quote] Gypsy is on the same (Guide Dogs get Royal Canin or Eukenuba (sp?) for all their dogs. At a very special rate I think. It's bloomin' expensive for what it is! And Skinners has better ingredients at half the price! .
Re: An indelicate question That's good to know - just called skinners Boogie?? She's got about 4 weeks left.
Re: An indelicate question Ive given Izzy some chicken today, so we will see how it goes. I dont want to change food uneccessarily, so hopefully it will help. Ive cut down on her kibble aswell. Now, how do i stop her biting! My hands are in bits!
Re: An indelicate question [quote author=Wendy68 link=topic=9240.msg132831#msg132831 date=1419713444] Now, how do i stop her biting! My hands are in bits! [/quote] When Willow was going through this stage, I would squeak if she bit too hard, stand up with straight legs, crossed arms and no eye contact for about 30 seconds, then start playing again. Repeat regularly. She got the idea pretty quickly to the point I could give her a warning "gentle" when she started getting too rough. When she went completely loopy, though, which was generally when she was over-tired, I'd just pop her in her crate, saying "calm down, now" in a gentle voice and leave her there until she was chilled out. She'd generally just go to sleep. It doesn't last, but it's not a fun stage in their development!
Re: An indelicate question [quote author=Wendy68 link=topic=9240.msg132831#msg132831 date=1419713444] Now, how do i stop her biting! My hands are in bits! [/quote] Here is the best advice - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/your-labrador-puppy-biting/
