Dogs poop...gross, sorry

gnc0988 · August 2013

I have a 5.5 chihuahua beagle mix and his poop is always a mystery!! He is on bil-jac puppy formula but likes to eat the cats food when he can. I have been trying to put him on a feeding schedule, but he eats when he wants, and never eats a lot at one time. Just a kibble or two here and there.

Anyway, he somehow is always getting a hold of paper, hair, or something and eating it, so i monitor his poop everyday. Finding digested paper in it has become a normal thing. Ive found hair, dental floss, a piece of a pedicure toenail seperater, everything.

I havent caught him eating anything abnormal in the last week or so, and have been keeping him caged when we arent home. Yesterday and today, his poop has been the normal color....but really dry!! He drinks plenty of water, so I dont think its because he isnt getting enough fluids, and is eating consistently. His belly has been bloated, but Ive only noticed that before taking him outside...havent bothered to check when he comes back in.

He isnt straining to go, but isnt going poop as often as before, like on his daily walks. I am SO confused as to whats going on....could all the paper be catching up to him? Is it time to change his food? He is a very picky eater. Someone suggested as far as the scheduled feedings to mix his dry food with wet food, but I dont want to feed him canned food regularly because of weight gain and tarter build up.

This morning, I caught him eating the cats poop! So i guess its time for a baby gate to block him from the basement. I am just so lost on this poop situation! any tips, tricks, ideas? anything?

LuckyAngel07 · August 2013

First, you CAN put him on a feeding schedule. As a puppy, he'll need several small meals throughout the day to add up to his total recommended daily intake. It will probably take time to get him used to set feedings, and it's likely he won't eat everything you put down for him for the first several meals. Not eating won't hurt him. He'll learn that he must eat when YOU decide it's time for him to eat, and if he doesn't eat then, he doesn't get to eat at all. It's called tough love, and it's for the best. You should really stop free feeding your kitty, too, which would solve the problem of the puppy getting into the cat food.

Bil-Jac is a pretty crappy quality food. Just about anything available to buy at grocery stores/Walmart/Target are going to be more about human convenience than good nutritional quality. I highly recommend brands like Evo, Innova, Orijen, Taste of the Wild (most affordable), and Wellness. My cats eat Natural Balance (but a limited ingredient version), which is also a good one to check out for your pup. Keep in mind that even though these foods cost more per pound than the cheapies at the grocery store, you can actually feed a smaller amount because they're more nutritionally dense. Your dog won't poop as much either, because there are fewer fillers to process as waste. (ETA: Canidae is another great quality food for an affordable price.)

With a dog, especially a puppy, you need to "proof" your house. I wouldn't be giving a puppy free run of the house, but would crate when I'm not home. My Boxer didn't fully earn freedom from the crate until she was over a year old. You'll need to learn to either close doors to rooms you don't want getting raided, or that have trash cans your pup can get into if left access. Put everything away so there's nothing puppy can eat.

Blockages are incredibly dangerous. If your pup is eating things he shouldn't, it's only a matter of time before a blockage occurs. These can be partial or total. Partial blockages can still let waste past, so he may keep pooping a little bit. Total blockages, nothing is getting past, and his waste is just building up in his system, which can lead to rupture. Your best bet is to get him to a vet for an x-ray.

And keep everything inappropriate for consumption away from now on! It takes vigilance when you're home and crating when you're not, but that's the way to keep our furry little ones safe!

gnc0988 · August 2013

thanks for your response!! I thought I was getting him a decent quality food! The bil jac I am buying at the pet store, never saw it at the grocery store, but never looked either.

The cat is on a schedulen once before work and once when I get home, but thats the same time the dog can roam free and tries to sneak her food. He has a vet appointment tomorrow so I will talk with them about switching his food.

I crate him in the day, well, i depend on DH to do it before he leaves for the day....which SOMETIMES he doesnt. He really needs to get on board with me as far as the puppy rules.

Im going to have to figure out something with the litter box situation, currently its in the basement in the laundry room and the puppy can get down there when he is roaming free. Im thinking of putting a gate at the top of the stairs so he cant get down there, but that means depending on the cat to either jump over the gate, or sneak thru the cracks of the railing...something the puppy can easily do.

My concern for the gate is the cat had taken to going outside of her box for awhile when he had another cat, before we got the pippy, and she hasnt done this in awhile...but im hoping that a gate at the laundry room door wont deter her from jumping over to use her box. I

LuckyAngel07 · August 2013

gnc0988 said:

The cat is on a schedulen once before work and once when I get home, but thats the same time the dog can roam free and tries to sneak her food. He has a vet appointment tomorrow so I will talk with them about switching his food.

I crate him in the day, well, i depend on DH to do it before he leaves for the day....which SOMETIMES he doesnt. He really needs to get on board with me as far as the puppy rules.

Im going to have to figure out something with the litter box situation, currently its in the basement in the laundry room and the puppy can get down there when he is roaming free. Im thinking of putting a gate at the top of the stairs so he cant get down there, but that means depending on the cat to either jump over the gate, or sneak thru the cracks of the railing...something the puppy can easily do.

We've done 2 things to keep our dog away from the litter boxes:

1) We cut a "cat hole" in the bottom of our laundry room door. This way, we could keep the door closed and the cats could just slip through the hole to get to their box. Now that the dog is a little older (she's 2), we've taught her that the laundry room is off limits. Even with the door open, she ignores it now, or will just stand at the threshold and watch if I go in there.

2) Our second litter box is in a back bedroom. We angled a baby gate across the doorway that allows the cats to slip past it, but the dog won't even go near the gate. She has also learned by now that she's not allowed in this back bedroom.

So a little dual restricting/training will go a long way. Restrict access while training your pup heavily to learn what's allowed as well as where is allowed. Watching your pup around the cat's feeding time will be necessary too so that he can't just sneak away and get into the cat's bowls. Even when you're home, you need to keep an eye on him or tether him to you with a leash so that he can learn.

And get DH on board with the crating! The last thing he's going to want is a hefty vet bill for clearing a blockage, or worse, puppy dying from a blockage because he didn't crate him.

gnc0988 · August 2013

I just read that bones can cause dry poop. I did buy him some dental granulated rawhide bones, he hasnt finished even one but he has been chewing on one here and there...wonder if thats the culprit

Djinxs · August 2013

With bones, you usually see bits in the poop and if you're feeding them regularly with a raw diet, poops are smaller and dryer (which is actually a good thing - big wet smelly poops are not great and mostly filled with undigested dog food "filler"). Rawhide "bones" aren't actual bones, though because of their low moisture, they can cause a dryer poop if the dog is eating enough bits off the bones. On the other hand, they can also cause loose stools due to reactions to the rawhide.

(Totally off topic, but please do be careful if the rawhide bones have knots at either end. They can pose a choking risk if the dog gnaws off those ends and swallows them)

aggiebug · August 2013

Have you taken her to a vet and done a fecal? I would first recommend that.

While I do agree with a lot of what lucky says, I completely disagree on Taste of the Wild. Their foods average around 25% fat :-O that is to high for almost any dog and can cause major gi upset. I was actually on the phone with them today about fat content.

While there is no perfect food out there I do recommend starting on Science Diet, Purina One or Purina Pro Plan, or Eukanuba. They are all back by years of research, formulated by veterinary nutritionist and maintain a nutritionist on staff. While they don't work well for every dog I believe they are a safe, reliable place to start.

aggiebug · August 2013

Have you taken her to a vet and done a fecal? I would first recommend that.

While I do agree with a lot of what lucky says, especially about setting a meal regimen and crate training! They may ultimately be ok all day outside of their crate, but has so many benefits in the long run.

I completely disagree on Taste of the Wild. Their foods average around 25% fat :-O That is to high for almost any dog and can cause major gi upset. I was actually on the phone with them today about fat content.

While there is no perfect food out there I do recommend starting on Science Diet, Purina One or Purina Pro Plan, or Eukanuba. They are all back by years of research, formulated by veterinary nutritionist and maintain a nutritionist on staff. While they don't work well for every dog I believe they are a reliable place to start.

LuckyAngel07 · August 2013

aggiebug said:

Have you taken her to a vet and done a fecal? I would first recommend that. While I do agree with a lot of what lucky says, I completely disagree on Taste of the Wild. Their foods average around 25% fat :-O that is to high for almost any dog and can cause major gi upset. I was actually on the phone with them today about fat content. While there is no perfect food out there I do recommend starting on Science Diet, Purina One or Purina Pro Plan, or Eukanuba. They are all back by years of research, formulated by veterinary nutritionist and maintain a nutritionist on staff. While they don't work well for every dog I believe they are a safe, reliable place to start.

Not every high quality food out there works for every dog. Obviously some dogs don't handle the richness of certain foods well, so you wouldn't choose that food for that dog. But it does work extremely well for a lot of dogs (yes, I know many owners who feed it and have perfectly healthy and lean dogs).

Purina One/Pro Plan or Eukaneuba are cheap options full of fillers. The ingredients are there for calories, not nutritional content, and because they're cheap and the companies can make more of a profit using cheap ingredients and marking up the bags. The foods are fortified with the required vitamins and minerals to pass the "studies" done for survivability (which is where their nutritionists come in), but that's like telling a human to eat junk food all the time and just take a multivitamin. There's a big difference in quality of life eating fresh, wholesome foods versus cheap processed filler foods.

@aggiebug, we'll go around forever with this debate. I'm not interested in rebuttals and counters. I just can't let a recommendation to feed those foods sit (and yes, I used to feed my cats Purina Cat Chow and then Purina One. Did they all survive eating those foods? Yes, of course they did. But they were far from the healthiest they could have been had I known more (but I was a kid and it was up to my mom). They had to eat far more of those brands than I currently feed my cats, which is just proof that the higher quality foods I feed now are more nutrient dense without all the extra filler of Purina. Not to mention the world of difference in coat quality and energy level when feeding the better food I do now.

Djinxs · August 2013

LuckyAngel07 said:
Not every high quality food out there works for every dog. Obviously some dogs don't handle the richness of certain foods well, so you wouldn't choose that food for that dog. But it does work extremely well for a lot of dogs (yes, I know many owners who feed it and have perfectly healthy and lean dogs).

Purina One/Pro Plan or Eukaneuba are cheap options full of fillers. The ingredients are there for calories, not nutritional content, and because they're cheap and the companies can make more of a profit using cheap ingredients and marking up the bags. The foods are fortified with the required vitamins and minerals to pass the "studies" done for survivability (which is where their nutritionists come in), but that's like telling a human to eat junk food all the time and just take a multivitamin. There's a big difference in quality of life eating fresh, wholesome foods versus cheap processed filler foods.

@aggiebug, we'll go around forever with this debate. I'm not interested in rebuttals and counters. I just can't let a recommendation to feed those foods sit (and yes, I used to feed my cats Purina Cat Chow and then Purina One. Did they all survive eating those foods? Yes, of course they did. But they were far from the healthiest they could have been had I known more (but I was a kid and it was up to my mom). They had to eat far more of those brands than I currently feed my cats, which is just proof that the higher quality foods I feed now are more nutrient dense without all the extra filler of Purina. Not to mention the world of difference in coat quality and energy level when feeding the better food I do now.

The coat quality is insane. The difference I see with the pets I've had that have been fed supermarket crap vs what my pets eat now (Wellness Core for the cats and raw for the pup) is astounding. Looks, health... I would never go back to the Cat Chow or the Science Diet or any of that. I just couldn't do it when there are so many better foods out there.

I don't care how many "pet nutrition" classes someone has taken, it will take a lot more than that to convince me that a food with animal digest, BHA, mystery (i.e. not specific protein listed) meat and bone meal, etc is better than foods that list only whole ingredients like chicken, rabbit, beef, and so on.

aggiebug · August 2013

Coat quality is a false sense of security when it comes to diets. Any high fat food can make a coat soft and shiny but that doesn't mean it benefits the rest of the body.

No normal dog should be fed a diet of 28% fat. You can stay lean on that diet if you feed portion too small to be nutritionally adequate in micronutrients. Most dogs cannot feed within the guidelines on the back of the bag and maintain an appropriate weight.

There is a lot of false information available on the internet about the diets I recommended. They are actually balanced in fiber, fat, protein and carbs along with micronutrients. Corn is only bad of your dog is allergic to it.

Caz1221 · August 2013

I agree with crate training and a set meal schedule. Put the food down for a certain amount of time (say 20 or 30 minutes), and then pick up the bowl (whether it's empty, full, or in between) after that time. Don't feed again until the next set meal.

Regarding the other stuff your pup is eating, intestinal blockages can be very serious and potentially fatal, so it's important to prevent your dog from eating anything inappropriate. Crate your dog when you aren't home (or if you are home but can't supervise him closely). If your pup is able to sneak away and eat/chew on inappropriate items even when you are home, I would recommend tethering him to you (with his leash) so you can keep a close eye on him. Blocking access to areas that are not dog-proof is also a good idea.

As to what type of food to give your dog, it's a personal decision. Before I researched dog food, both of my dogs were on Science Diet (one on w/d and one on z/d formula) based on vets' recommendations. However, they were both continuing to experience the problems that the food was supposed to solve (one had colitis-type issues with periodic bouts of loose/liquid stool; the other had a suspected food allergy and/or skin condition so bad he had bald spots when he was surrendered to the rescue where we adopted him). After doing some research, I switched them both to Wellness Core. They have been on it for years now and both do very well on it. Most importantly, the afore-mentioned health issues have completely disappeared. However, every dog is different, so not every food will work for every dog. I would do your own research and see which food works best for your pup.

rshields13 · August 2013

if he nibbles all day then he is digesting food at different times which can affect feces. my dog is 9 now but had the same issue as a puppy. we gave her the suggested amount in the morning and 30 minutes to eat whatever she hadn't eaten we put away and did the same thing at dinner time. after about 2 weeks she was on a solid schedual and ate all her food at meal time. a lot of times dogs will not eat all their food if its available to them 24/7

aggiebug · August 2013

And lucky those aren't brands I recommend for cats not do I ever recommend Purina chow.

My rebuttals aren't directed at you but I can't let misinformation stand. The OP deserves the information.

Dogs poop...gross, sorry

Re: Dogs poop...gross, sorry

Choose Another Board

Search Boards