Morning all. Looking for any outside insight into this. For the past 2 weeks on a Saturday and a Monday night Jake has had an upset tummy, resulting in very runny poo's. I'm finding it strange that it's been both Saturdays and Mondays for two weeks, no other nights. The first Saturday was really bad, his bum was explosive, and he ended up being sick, he brought up 2 pieces of the kong starpod he'd eaten the week before, they were quite large. The vet wasn't concerned, he said as it was coming both ends there wasn't a blockage, and to see how he was on the Sunday. Sunday morning came, and he was back to his bouncy self, and was started on scrambled egg, and a small meal of his biscuits by tea time. Monday night he had runny poo again, we were up every hour nearly through the night. I thought I'd returned to normal too quickly as I'd left him with 2 frozen kongs on the Monday afternoon. Then I thought it could be the Fishmogers Finest we'd put in his kong, as he only gets dry food at meal times, and the wet in his kongs. This week, Saturday after 7pm and Monday were the same, runny poo's nearly every hour until 2am, and then 4am. He's not had any frozen kongs this week at all, as I thought that was the problem, but gave him a small pigs ear on Saturday, and one on Monday, but he never had these last week! The only other thing we've done both weeks is go to puppy class on a Thursday night, where he gets training treats instead of his normal meal. Am I giving him too much variety too quickly at his age, not introducing things at a gentle enough pace? Should I start giving him a little meat, and build it up before giving him it in a kong? Is 15 weeks too young for pigs ears? He was fine with tripe sticks, but they don't last very long, and he's been fine with rawhide chews, they just aren't interesting enough to leave him with while I nip out.
It won't be anything to do with the day of the week - and it'll be all to do with what he is eating (assuming he hasn't got a bug etc). . Get him back on his normal food and stop feeding him anything but that - assuming he is ok on his normal food (and try not to let him eat starpods....). Use his normal food in his kongs, too. Wait until he is stable, not being sick and not having runny poos. Then introduce one thing at a time - say give him half a pig's ear. If he gets runny poo, don't feed pig's ears....and so on.
I agree with Julie T's advice, back to plain kibble and no treats until his tummy settles down. Although the days of the week aren't relevant that he had a pig's ear the day before the last two occasions plus lots of treats at training could be. He'll soon be back to his normal self ready for a slow introduction to any new food/treats.
It may well be something you are doing at the weekends that sets him off. Someone slips him an extra treat of something. They have incredibly sensitive tummies at that age. I gave Molly a pigs ear when she was about that age and all I can say is NEVER AGAIN.
Thanks, we'll cut back to just his dry food, he loves it anyway, and is happy to do training with it in the house, hopefully he'll think it yummy enough outside too
Argh! So since I first posted on Tuesday his poop's have been normal again, until last night at 2am when he needed out, and it was soft but not diarrhea. He needed out again at 2:45 and then 4am, still soft. Didn't poop today until 6pm, and it was normal, at 7pm it's looking soft again, and just now at 7:30pm it's running out of him again (third Saturday night in a row). He hasn't had anything except his normal puppy biscuits all week, I soaked and mashed some on Thursday and popped into 2 Kong's and froze them for yesterday. Do you think it could be this? He gets Wainwrights large breed puppy three times per day, he's been on it since he was 10 weeks old, he's now 16 weeks old. He was fine until 3 Saturdays ago, it's happened twice a week since. He's not overfed, he looks really slim. I'm not sure what to think, could it be his food? He was okay for the first three weeks, and it doesn't happen everyday?
Could be his food. I had Charlie on a chicken based food for ages, and time to time he'd have neon orange runny poo...turned out he was intolerant of chicken. Swapping to a duck based food worked. I doubt that mashing and freezing his normal food would give him runny poo, but skip this if you think it's likely.... Are you sure he is not scavenging things he shouldn't have?
Thanks Julie, he's definitely not eaten anything, with the weather being to wet and windy we've been sticking to the pavements, so he's been on a lead all week for his walks. With only two of us in the house, he's not been slipped anything he shouldn't have had. We did wonder at one point if he was getting stressed out when being left at home, we were out for a bit yesterday, and I'd nipped out to the shops last Monday, and he had runny poo's that night.
I agree with Julie T that it sounds like his food. Was there any particular reason you switched him to Wainwrights? What food was he on from the breeder. Did he have any problems with that food? Could you try him on some boiled white fish and rice instead of his kibble and see whether his pop firms up. I would stay away from chicken just invade he is sensitive to it. Why would you think he was getting stressed when you were out? Did you hear him crying? Had he been scrabbling, chewing etc.? If he's not happy being left it is something you will need to work on as it is not always possible to take your dog out with you or have someone to dogsit.
He was on Purina Pro Plan when we got him but I read some reviews and it didn't seem like a good food. I've heard him barking when I've came home a few times, we are working on him being left, that's why we were leaving the frozen kongs to distract him while we try and build up his time being left.
I really doubt it is the frozen kongs - if you think it is, just buy bigger kongs and leave soaked kibble in them, that will do the same job. No way kibble plus water will upset a dog's tum if he is ok on the normal food anyway. But for sure, work on him being relaxed when you have to leave him. Very important that a dog can spend a few hours alone without getting into a state.
Did he have any poo problems on the Purina ProPlan? If not it could be something in the Wainwrights which doesn't agree with his tummy. If he keeps having the same problem I would consider going to the vet just rule out any infections/bugs.
He didn't have any problem on the Pro plan, nor the wainwrights for the first 3 weeks, in fact after a think, he was fine until he ate bits off his kong starpod. I took him to the vets about it, and he wasn't worried, said to keep an eye out for bits. Jake vomited up 2 pieces and passed a few bits too, I had called the vets out of hours after Jake had explosive diarrhea the next weekend, and he only said to see how he was in the morning. By then he was back to being his bouncy self. I know the vet said there couldn't be a blockage as he's pooing, but I'm wondering if there is irritation or something. We'll pop into the vets tomorrow.
Let us know how you get on at the vets. probably a good idea to make a note of when he's had diarrhoea as it may help the vet work out what's going on. It could be something in the Wainwrights that he's sensitive to as he was OK with the Pro Plan, or the quantity of something in it. Hope it all goes well tomorrow.
It's good to check with the vet, see what they say. You could try swapping him to food for sensitive tums - with a single protein source. Charlie had been fed on a chicken based food since he was weaned, and I kept him on the food him came home from the breeder eating. He still developed this intolerance to chicken. Swapping to a single source of protein - duck - sorted him out in no time.
We've got a paste to help his gut get back on track, he did say it may be his food, but more likely needing the good bacteria built back up. Does anyone give probiotics to their dogs on a regular basis?
Interestingly this was recommended to me after Ripple had a bad case of diahorrea, but by that time he had recovered. I would really like to know how well the probiotic works. I was also told that when their poo gets to the bright yellow stage the bacteria in their gut needs building up again - how true this is I don't know. I hope Jake recovers soon, it must be a real worry for you.
Glad to hear that the vet doesn't think it's anything serious. I would certainly go for the probiotic approach. Juno enjoys some of my yoghurt every lunchtime.
