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Poop

3K views 30 replies 16 participants last post by  aesthetic 
#1 ·
I have a poop problem. It's getting larger and smellier and it makes me throw up. I need a solution here because they are only going to get bigger and smellier!

I've never been able to empty the cat litter tray (one of the reasons I didn't want a cat again) and I was hoping poop scooping would be painless but when five collect in the backyard I can't get through them without almost barfing. HELP.

Should I throw sand on it first or something? That's not going to help with dog walks. Is there something I can use on myself?
 
#4 ·
How is the consistency and everything? Alot of it can be due to diet.

Maverick gets alot of treats (human food) here and there, mostly fruits. And some days it can be pretty smelly. If he's just had his kibble and his own treats, then his poops aren't too bad, but again it is poop...
 
#6 ·
I think it's normal poop, but I have a really weak stomach. I've never been able to tolerate any strong smell and I'm sure the visual isn't helping either. It's a medium orange/brown colour, fairly wet but no diarrhea or anything. Not fun to pick up right away so I try to let it dry but constant rain is making that hard.

She eats Royal Canin maxipuppy and gets mini naturals treats for training and bribery.
 
#11 ·
I don't think the poop should be 'wet' really. Maybe a light sheen on it, but not 'wet'.
It ought to hold together and be an easy pick up in one hand. If it's not, and your puppy is over,say, 4 months old, you may want to swap over to a less 'filler filled' food. Something that her body uses up and makes a small hard stool. I honestly don't think my dogs' poop stinks at all... but they make harder, small poops. I hate it when I have a boarder who's on TOTW or Blue Buffalo- they make floppy wetter poops. And smell bad.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Change to a better quality food!

Get her on a better quality food. The food you are feeding :Royal Canin maxipuppy really has not got great ingredients. Here are the first few ingredients of the food you are feeding : Chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, corn, wheat gluten, chicken fat, corn gluten meal, dried beet pulp,etc.

This is a grain based food...and it has very little meat.:frown2: This may be what is causing the smell and the amount of poop. 5 poops a day is quite allot of poop!! The food is also very low in calories at only 346 calories per cup...so you need to feed more...and thus produce more poop.

You live in Alberta where one of the best foods on the market is made...Orijen /Acana is what you should be feeding. You will save yourself money spent at the vets. All that corn, wheat,etc. is going to set up your pup in the future for ear infections, and skin problems.

I board dogs for a living. I can tell what a dog is eating by their poop. Healthy dogs eating a meat based died...usually poop once or twice a day, and the poop is firm and barely has a smell.

Change to a better quality food and you will see improvements.
 
#17 ·
:( really? I assumed it was good because that's what our breeder told me to feed her. I think it's even in the contract. Its the brand my vet sells as well! I never read the ingredients but I assumed I was avoiding all those nasty fillers. Husband bought a giant bag too... months and months worth!

The five poops was because of her UTI she's normally 2-3 times per day she's back to that now.

Get her on a better quality food. The food you are feeding :Royal Canin maxipuppy really has not got great ingredients. Here are the first few ingredients of the food you are feeding : Chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, corn, wheat gluten, chicken fat, corn gluten meal, dried beet pulp,etc.

This is a grain based food...and it has very little meat.:frown2: This may be what is causing the smell and the amount of poop. 5 poops a day is quite allot of poop!! The food is also very low in calories at only 346 calories per cup...so you need to feed more...and thus produce more poop.

You live in Alberta where one of the best foods on the market is made...Orijen /Acana is what you should be feeding. You will save yourself money spent at the vets. All that corn, wheat,etc. is going to set up your pup in the future for ear infections, and skin problems.

I board dogs for a living. I can tell what a dog is eating by their poop. Healthy dogs eating a meat based died...usually poop once or twice a day, and the poop is firm and barely has a smell.

Change to a better quality food and you will see improvements.
 
#18 ·
RC does have lots of fillers. There are plusses to their GR Food, but to me, they are outweighed by the bulk of junk in the food and I have actually used it for a couple months- they were giving 3 months worth away if you were entered in the breed at EUkanuba and had a breeding program, and I signed up for it- which was a hugely costly thing for the company I imagine, I got 3 huge bags a month for 3 months for nothing not even shipping....but we went back to our normal food before the last months shipment came because the poops were huge and the dogs coats were not as nice as I like. I gave the last 3 away.
 
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#19 · (Edited)
I think all dogs are different and you need to find a food that suits your dog. I agree the poop should be firm and not that smelly. I will say my dog is on the RC food too. She came home on it but I did intend to switch her as I don't think it's the 'best' food. However she happened to do very well on it - great poops (!), no other sign of digestive discomfort and coat is also good. Therefore I left her on it as I didn't want to fix what was not broken. I have moved her to the adult version and I will see what happens with that. Are you sure you dog is not scavaging something when outside which could be giving you that 'end' result? Maybe eliminate the treats to see if that improves things? I know there was one treat I gave Sona which did not agree with her. How much RC are you feeding? I know when Sona was small if she got a little too much food/treats it could overload her system as well. Good luck with finding a solution!

Edited to add... The AKC have a good page on assessing poop quality (!) - warning contains pictures :)
http://www.akc.org/learn/dog-health/doggie-diarrhea/
 
#21 ·
OK I started her on Acana and tried to transition to it but she's not eating all her food, not even the tinned gastro stuff from the vet. I left the neighbour with a cup of it for lunch and hubby gave her a 50/50 mix of new and old for dinner.

Umm poop explosion. Literally. I'm pretty much thinking I have to do boiled rice now. It's just awful.

She hasn't beaten the UTI yet either but she's been off the antibiotics for a week while the vet does a new test. She apparently has antibiotic resistant E. Coli.

How many days does it take to transition to new food and how long until they adjust? Her best poops were on the tinned but she's not eating it now.
 
#23 ·
I usually do a transition to a new food over 10-14 days. In dogs with sensitive stomachs, over 4 weeks. She should be over the UTI by now, unless the bacteria was resistant to that antibiotic too. If thats the case, I'm not sure I would make moves with food until I was sure the UTI was gone, and it wasn't the UTI contributing to her diarrhea. Otherwise, its a lot of moving parts at once. If she's been on antibiotics for a while, that can upset GI flora and lead to diarrhea on its own. You could also try a probiotic, I like purina's fortiflora.
 
#24 ·
She was on the antibiotics for two weeks. Off for a week now. The vet took a bladder sample on Friday. She wants to see if the bacteria is in the bladder or the vaginal canal. She says the antibiotics to treat this bacterium are not meant for puppies. She's talked to the microbiologist.

People here said I should switch the food so I did. She's still having some of each. But she's not finishing her meals whatever I give her.
 
#27 ·
Also, puppies that are not funny vaccinated are not supposed to be walked in public places where other dogs go. They should be kept at home.

Sometimes, if there is poop on the ground that has bacteria and it isn't cleaned right away, the dog may get infected right away. So it is best to clean immediately.
 
#29 ·
I still personally wouldn't change her diet until she had been cleared of all infections by the vet and off antibiotics. If her diarrhea gets worse, it makes it much harder to know if its because of the food, because you didn't transition her over slow enough, because her antibiotics aren't working, or whether she has a new infection.

I don't take my puppies on public walks until a couple of weeks after they have received their final vaccinations, even if its just in the neighborhood. Parvovirus is ubiquitous in the environment (meaning its pretty much everywhere), and lots of dogs shed it, even when they aren't having diarrhea. Not everyone vaccinates their dogs. It's not something you would want her to get.

If you go to Chewy.com, they have lots of pooper scoopers, all for 10-20 dollars, except 1. They are lightweight and easy to carry. Free shipping on orders over 50 and flat rate under. Fast delivery.

https://www.chewy.com/s?query=pooper+scooper&nav-submit-button=

As an aside, if the poop smell really bothers you that much, I'm a fan of just breathing through your mouth and thinking about something else, or plugging your nose while you scoop with the other hand. Nothing is going to make your puppy's poop smell like roses unfortunately. You could always spray perfume or febreeze in a handkerchief.

Best of luck
 
#31 ·
I was reading something today and the topic of conversation was breed-based food by Royal Canin. Someone said that the food smells horrible and someone else commented that RC fed dogs have poos that smell HORRIBLE (they used caps too).

Anyway, I read that and thought of this thread. I know you're transitioned her off RC but I'm interested to know how her poops are after she's fully on the Acana. It could just be that she's having an issue with the RC food and that's why her poops are wet and smell extra bad.
 
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