how to firm up a pups poop

[luke4275]

I brought my pup home from the breeder on nov 05 and I remember he took a dump as soon as he got to his new home.. and I think I remember it was perfect looking.. real firm.. After that day. all downhill.. I did a changer over from the breeder;s costco food to royal canin ger shep pup.. He started to have loose stool some worse than others. then I heard there were better foods so I gradually switched to totw, then I heard grain free is not that good. so now I;m feeding blue buffalo lg breed puppy. During all this time the stool has been very bad and sometimes just like pudding., sometimes pouring out but not like total water. . Now, it is better but not great.. I have added a metamucil cookie, organic pumpkin as well as the missing link. all sources of fiber, but still not hard and what I consider normal and firm. . Some times I can pick it up easily. some other times, some will be so soft it sticks in the grass... During the bad times.. he was needing to go out every few hours and it just poured out.. Now twice or thrice a day and no urgent explosions.. What to do to get it firm like it should be..? He has no parasites or giardia.

[jetscarbie]

Lot's of GSD's have very sensitive stomachs. You have to be very careful about switching their food. Sounds like you have switched his food 3x's in the last month. My oldest shepherd....I have to switch his food very slowly. VERY. There are many threads you can search for about young pups and diarrhea on here.

If your vet has ruled out all health problems...I would pick one food and work with that for awhile. If his poops are still bad, he could be allergic to something in the food.

You didn't say how old your pup was....but explosive diarrhea can be bad. You need your vet to help you. Young pups can go downhill pretty quick.

As for what food to feed, that's the million dollar question. My answer would be......depends. Every dog is different. Every dog has different needs. Some dogs do good on TOTW, some do good on Diamond. Some dogs need the more expensive stuff, and some dogs do wonderful on raw.

The most important thing you can do now..make sure pup has no medical conditions. Get the diarrhea stopped.

Good luck

[MountainGSDs]

Libby's pumpkin. Not a mix but with 100% pumpkin on the label. Add about 2 tablespoons(heaping) per meal. Works for both loose bowels and constipation. 100% harmless and can be used all the time.

Make sure he has fresh water and if it doesn't stop in 3 or 4 days see a vet.

[Anthony8858]

I'm assuming your pup is around three months old.

My pup is just about six months. I've had a few bouts of soft stool with her too, and here's what I've learned.....

1) Each case of soft stool, turned out to be a case of giardia. I'm not suggesting that your dog has giardia, but I'd like for you to make sure you get a stool sample to rule it out. Giardia is very common, and will cause very loose stools.
Proper meds cured her...twice.

2) To help firm the stools, her vet initially suggested I mix her normal dry food with a canned food from Science Diet called "Science diet light with liver" I'm not a science diet fan, but the stuff in that can, is like cement. I mixed a tablespoon or two with her food, and the stools firmed right up.

3) I got caught up on the " grain free" thing, and put her on Taste of the Wild. She loves it, and she's doing great. HOWEVER, I'm aware that it may not be the best food for her, and will shortly make another change. What I've learned, is that being grain free is not the issue,...... corn, whey, and by products, are the items to avoid. Grain free could be too rich for some pups. Some foods have brown rice, and other grains, and are very good for your pup.

[Cheerful1]

We use the Libby's pumpkin as well. It's supposed to be good for either constipation or diarrhea.

[PaddyD]

I use Prozyme.

[WVGSD]

I have found that raw carrots add fiber and my dogs will eat them like treats. My GSD with the sensitive system and inflammatory bowel disease does best on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach kibble with a raw turkey neck in his bowl for each meal. When I tried to give him pumpkin, his stool got loose and went back to being like a pudding consistency.

I now replace my use of canned dog food with a homemade cooked "porridege" of cooked barley and meat (chicken, beef or turkey), thawed frozen green beans and raw carrots. Sometimes I also add cut up apples. I put a little bit of each ingredient in the blender with some warm water and I have better consistency stool and less of it than previously. I freeze the extra and can go about three to four weeks between batches with eight dogs eating twice daily.

Barley is high in fiber as are carrots and green beans. I tried pumpkin (plain) and did not have any success with it. Also tried sweet potatoes and also had loose stools. Different things work differently for each dog.

[qbchottu]

Olewo carrots will easily firm up stool and have other benefits as well. Pumpkin and oatmeal are good for firming up stools. I use probiotics regularly to keep stools firm.

[VegasResident]

Why not just take your dog back to original diet? I know there are alot of premium foods, but sometimes a dog does not do well on it. Why add a thousand things to your dogs food when maybe just going back to the first kind worked? If that makes him firm and his coat, eyes, ears do well, then good. Do what works and it sounds like the first one worked. I did the premium things and my dogs digestive system went to crap, then he ate gravel and it got worse with SIBO etc which we had to then treat with tylan etc.

His food is now a prescription one that people would rip on with a canned 100% rabbit and he is doing great. His coat is shiny, ears, clean, eyes bright and scratching finally stopping and he is gaining weight. We only give him one suplpement vitamin.

[VegasResident]

Originally Posted by Anthony8858

3) I got caught up on the " grain free" thing, and put her on Taste of the Wild. She loves it, and she's doing great. HOWEVER, I'm aware that it may not be the best food for her, and will shortly make another change. What I've learned, is that being grain free is not the issue,...... corn, whey, and by products, are the items to avoid. Grain free could be too rich for some pups. Some foods have brown rice, and other grains, and are very good for your pup.

I have become a fan of the "best food" is the one that works for you and works for your dog. Not one that works for someone elses. Why make a change? Yes, you can list off a bunch of things that are out there that says there are better.

My first GSD lived to 13 on regular dog food and pancakes on Sundays.