[pt83]

I have a 2 month old puppy and he's been having soft stools since his arrival to our house on friday morning. It is formed well but when i picked it up, it is on the soft side. I thought this may be the adapting to the new environment issue. On saturday evening around 5 pm, he pooped a nice firm stool, so its good. Around 9-10 pm at night, he pooped a soft stool again. The next day (Sunday), he pooped after his breakfast, and it was nice and firm again. He didn't poop at all throughout the day, and pooped a lot after dinner and it was really soft and mushy. I woke up this morning only to find that he poop again beside his crate. Soft side but still has a form. I took him out and he just peed. I put him inside his crate and close the door so I can clean up his mess from last night, and he suddenly poop a really really soft stool.. formed at the beginning and very mushy towards the end.
I've been giving him same food since day 1, I wonder what could have caused this?
Second issues, I noticed he licked his genitals quite a lot, he licks after he peed.. he licks during playing and exercise.. and he licks while he's about to rest/sleep. I know that dogs lick their private part as part of their grooming ritual, but is this normal that he licks that often?
Last question.. about crating dogs. I read that puppy shouldn't be crated for more than 3 hours, what do you guys do when you're sleeping? Do you put them in the crate? as we're sleeping about 6-7 hours..
Right now i make a small barricaded area in my bedroom, but then he make his crate to be the toilet (except this morning he peed and poop beside the crate) :doh:

TIA

 

[Oaklys Dad]

At this point I wouldn't worry too much about the stool as he is in a new environment and the stress of being in new surroundings could cause him some troubles. If it was very loose stool you would need to worry about dehydration.

The licking is very normal. They do because they can. :

 

[SunGold]

The licking is very normal. They do because they can. :

LOL, very true!

 

[pt83]

Thank you for the response, that's a relief, I was worried for a bit there.
He pooped again and it firms up. So i guess I'd just keep an eye for it.

I was concerned about licking issues and some said that dogs who lick their private part too much could be sign of UTI, but I never had a male dog before so I dont know how much is too much.. if its normal, then i'm relieved. (I really should stop worrying too much)

Thanks again!!

 

[Willow52]

I agree with what everyone has said about the licking. His stools...I would just watch. Hank ended up with a stomach bug the first week we had him. Sometimes the stress of moving to their new home allows the bacteria to overwhelm their sensitive system.

About the 3 hours in the crate, I believe what the book is saying is, at his age during his waking hours (day), he should not be left in his crate longer than 3 hours without being let out to potty. He can go a lot longer at night. Some sleep through the night earlier than others so a trip out during the night might be necessary.

 

[pt83]

Now red spots on genital and groin...

I agree with what everyone has said about the licking. His stools...I would just watch. Hank ended up with a stomach bug the first week we had him. Sometimes the stress of moving to their new home allows the bacteria to overwhelm their sensitive system.

About the 3 hours in the crate, I believe what the book is saying is, at his age during his waking hours (day), he should not be left in his crate longer than 3 hours without being let out to potty. He can go a lot longer at night. Some sleep through the night earlier than others so a trip out during the night might be necessary.

Thanks for the advice, I'm definitely will watch the stool progression hoping to get a steady nice firm stool soon.
Does the stress of moving to the new home shows in their behaviour? Derryl didn't quite finish his first few meals but now he ate them all and even licking the bowl afterwards.

This is not related to the licking as the behaviour doesn't change (not more or less frequent), but I was playing with him this evening, and I found 2 red spots around his genital (one on his penis and one nearby in the groin area). The spots look like mosquite bite spots in human that has been scratched to the point the skin chaffed. I know these spots wasn't there yesterday, when he arrived to our home, he actually had dried up scab in the groin area that i thought it was from something scrapping there but this morning the scab is gone and the skin looks healed. Then this evening there are these spots.. I did some search on the forum and found out about puppies pimple.. is this just puppy pimple or something that is more serious?

I took a pic of him along with the spot pic

He doesn't act out of the ordinary though, still licking at that area but not more or less before the spots appeared.

TIA

 

[Willow52]

Looks likes some sort of bite to me. Has he been treated for fleas?

 

[pt83]

No he hasn't, perhaps it's a good time to do that now. According to his vaccination book, his second shot is due on the 26th Oct - 9th Nov. I'm still waiting for his stools to firm up before giving him any shots.

Thanks

 

[pt83]

There are more "pimples" appearing today, they are pus-filled just like human pimples, so I called my vet just to be sure. He said it is normal in puppies, maybe just got dirty from urine splashing into the area while he was urinating and they will go away on their own. Any opinion on this?

As I said in my previous thread, this puppy would pee in his crate at night (and he already peed and pooped before bed) and happily lays on it. I read articles from leerburg website that this may have resulted from the breeder that didn't keep him in a clean environment. I followed suggestions on the website and I began to see improvements. I usually cleaned the dog using damp towel, but now I bought antibacterial baby wipes and clean his groin with it everytime he peed. I hope that would prevent "pimples outbreak" down there.