Toby has been with us for 3 days now. He's got some pretty runny poop. He is pretty sleepy. Yesterday he got a deworming round (preventative). Thursday he got distemper vax. Wednesday, he left the litter and came home to us. He's had a busy few days. Could this be causing his mushy poop? He's been sleeping a lot these last three days. 2-3-4 hours at a time. He doesn't have accidents in his play pen or crate. I tried to give him cooked rice with some of the rice water (starchy water) with his soaked food. He wasn't impressed and I had to hand feed him. He was done and left 1/4 of it. The afternoons and evenings he's a sleepy, lazy (said enduringly) pup. This morning and early afternoon he had some pep and bounce and we enjoyed hide-and-seek in our yard, chewing plastic bottles, and yard work. He does enjoy tasting the various weeds and leaves and mowed grass chunks he can find. Licks the dirt. Could this contribute to his runny poop? It's not full on diarrhea, I don't think. It begins in shape and then turns to a pudding consistency by the end. ((Sorry for the icky details)) He has not vomited, does not feel feverish. I have NOT switched his puppy food. It's the same from the breeder. His vet check on Thursday showed him in excellent health. Though noted he slept through the majority of the visit. They took a fecal sample and it was negative across the board for worms and such. Thanks for the help.
its most likely the amount of food given at a time. try lowering the amount per feeding and do it 3-4x/day instead
Young pups sleep a lot. Give four small meals a day until 14 weeks then three meals - mushy poo is usually due to meals that are too large. I would limit his grass and leaf eating as much as possible too.
I gave Toby a little bit of rice and starchy water to help with the process and cut his meals down to smaller portions. His poop already looks better today. It's such a relief. Thank you for your help.
Indy had runny/mushy poo's for the first 3 weeks we had her. Our breeder + vet assured us it's normal and largely down to the stress of being in a new location with new people and without her mother, brothers and sisters. As Toby settles in and grows accustomed to his new family and surroundings, they'll harden up. Indy's are pretty solid most of the time now.
Pippa was very similar to Toby. We have had her at home for nearly two weeks now, which makes her around 10 weeks old. She had some rice one morning but wasn't impressed. We had to mix it with her normal dry food to lure her in. She's better with food now but can still be a little fussy at times. She sleeps a lot during the day but it is getting less week by week. She also tries to eat absolutely everthing in the garden so that keeps us on our toes. Her mood swings are quite comical and she can seem quite 'miffy' with us sometimes too. I guess the transition period and getting used to their new homes can take quite a while and maybe this is partly related to Toby's toilet issues? I'm sure it will pass and there will be other things to keep you awake at night. ;-) Lovely pup by the way.
Thank for the input. It's gone from taking shape to mushy to taking shape. No rhyme or reason that I can tell as I've made such little changes. He acts totally normal - curious, playful, active, sleepy, hungry, wants to train, etc. I would worry more if there was other symptoms (anger, lethargic, vomiting, etc) but since there's not......I'll just keep helping Toby as I can. I'm glad to hear that it's still possibly just a new home/family syndrome happening.
It's quite normal for a few weeks. It does take time for them to settle in. If it carries on after this I would look at the food and decide whether or not to change it as it could be that. My girl had a very sensitive tummy when she was little and we ended up going grain free as found she has wheat allergies and it stopped her runny poos.
