I have a beautiful 18 week old puppy that I am currently feeding Wellness puppy food to. I like his coat, and he his gaining weight nicely. My question is on his poop. When I take him out to relieve himself, he'll poop once. It's not a lot and is moist but firm so to speak. He'll then poop again before we come back inside, this time it's a little more loose. He'll then poop for a third time like if he's bored. This time it's like soft ice cream (Not to disgust those of you reading this.) Should I change his puppy food? Has anyone had this type of problem before? Is it something I should even address? Any suggestions?
should I switch his food?
- Thread starter akatrk
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Tulsa-Dan
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This sounds fairly normal for a puppy. They do go a LOT when they are young. It goes in, but it seems twice as much comes out :D
The first poop of the day would be the most firm. It has been in her longer and her intestines have had time to absorb the water content of the waste before it is eliminated. Subsequent poops during the day will of course be more moist and "looser."
One other thing I should mention is that very loose, "soft serve ice cream" type stools can be an indication that the dog is being overfed. It is especially easy to overfeed a puppy because we want them so to be big little dogs and give them all kinds of snacks and treats, etc., which are calories and bulk and, well, food. It has to be processed and the waste eliminated as well as regular food. So be careful in that if you treat a lot, cut back on the regular kibble. And, if you are feeding large breed puppy food, you might consider just a regular breed puppy food rather than large breed. Large breed foods can be too rich for some dogs. It was for mine. In fact, at 8 months, I took Maggie off of puppy food completely and put her on adult food. She had the same loose stool problem seemed like forever, until I switched her to Innova adult and now she has fewer and all firm stools. And the ENERGY never stops !!
Good luck.
The first poop of the day would be the most firm. It has been in her longer and her intestines have had time to absorb the water content of the waste before it is eliminated. Subsequent poops during the day will of course be more moist and "looser."
One other thing I should mention is that very loose, "soft serve ice cream" type stools can be an indication that the dog is being overfed. It is especially easy to overfeed a puppy because we want them so to be big little dogs and give them all kinds of snacks and treats, etc., which are calories and bulk and, well, food. It has to be processed and the waste eliminated as well as regular food. So be careful in that if you treat a lot, cut back on the regular kibble. And, if you are feeding large breed puppy food, you might consider just a regular breed puppy food rather than large breed. Large breed foods can be too rich for some dogs. It was for mine. In fact, at 8 months, I took Maggie off of puppy food completely and put her on adult food. She had the same loose stool problem seemed like forever, until I switched her to Innova adult and now she has fewer and all firm stools. And the ENERGY never stops !!
Good luck.
Ah yes, the 3 pooper...
Very typical for Angus. If he is out long enough, he poops three times (when we go trail running there is no telling how many poops there could be!) And they are exactly as you describe first firm and progressively less so, and for the very reason wise Dan stated.
I also feed Wellness and it does not have a large breed puppy formula, only a all incompassing puppy formula. I have had wonderful (WONDERFUL) success with Wellness and Angus has never looked better. He is two and seems fine with the three poop phenomenon. My vet said that it was normal for dogs to have different types of stool (for lack of a better phrase) that not every stool is the same...now if you had vast swings from firm to diarrhea, now that is different.
Hope that makes you feel better. I am happy to see a new puppy on good food
Good Luck!
Leezah
Very typical for Angus. If he is out long enough, he poops three times (when we go trail running there is no telling how many poops there could be!) And they are exactly as you describe first firm and progressively less so, and for the very reason wise Dan stated.
I also feed Wellness and it does not have a large breed puppy formula, only a all incompassing puppy formula. I have had wonderful (WONDERFUL) success with Wellness and Angus has never looked better. He is two and seems fine with the three poop phenomenon. My vet said that it was normal for dogs to have different types of stool (for lack of a better phrase) that not every stool is the same...now if you had vast swings from firm to diarrhea, now that is different.
Hope that makes you feel better. I am happy to see a new puppy on good food
Good Luck!
Leezah
Thanks guys. I was getting a little worried for a minute. Tulsa-Dan (former Bklyn-Dan, "Bklyn in the house!", I give my puppy a cup and a half of wellness puppy food. Just recently I started serving his food with chicken broth. He just loves it. I was feeding him 3x a day but he would just leave his second or third meal in the bowl. I thought about just 2x a day but is this too soon?
To LPRATT, I hope your hanging tough with the snow down there. Which flavor of Wellness are you using and had you tried any other puppy foods before the Wellness?
To LPRATT, I hope your hanging tough with the snow down there. Which flavor of Wellness are you using and had you tried any other puppy foods before the Wellness?
Tulsa-Dan
Your Friendly Moderator
Puppies go through several stages of picky eating. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just keep putting meals down at the proper times, and if she doesn't eat, take it up after 20 minutes and don't feed again until the next meal time. She'll eat shen she gets hungry enough. And then they get through the picky stage and eat like HORSES !!
Wellness is a very good, high quality food. You shouldn't have any problems feeding her this excellent food. Many here have and do use it and report good results, especially for loose stools and allergies. I would feed what is recommended on the package and then vary it depending on your dog's appetite and activity level.
Good luck.
Wellness is a very good, high quality food. You shouldn't have any problems feeding her this excellent food. Many here have and do use it and report good results, especially for loose stools and allergies. I would feed what is recommended on the package and then vary it depending on your dog's appetite and activity level.
Good luck.
Yeah, the snow has been great....Angus has been having a blast!
I would continue to feed 3x a day until your puppy is about 6 mos. or so. After that, 2x a day is usually fine. Angus was not a voracious eater when he was a puppy and now he is well, a pig!
I tried quite a few foods out there, Science Diet,Eukanuba, Nutro, because Angus had such a difficult time with his colitis, so finding a food that didn't give him diarrhea, horrible gas and make him throw up was a challenge. I was so happy to find Wellness, and it was between Innova, Solid Gold and Wellness, the deciding factor was that both Innova and Solid Gold can be a bit rich and Angus definately didn't need that.
Angus hated the Lamb and Rice and doesn't need the Fish and Sweet Potato, so it is Chicken Super5Mix dry mixed with 2 heaping tablespoons of Canned Senior Wellness. The extra fiber and reduced protein in the Senior Wellness seems to keep Angus' stool at optimum firmness.
I am very happy with it, and would recommend it to anyone!
Leezah
I would continue to feed 3x a day until your puppy is about 6 mos. or so. After that, 2x a day is usually fine. Angus was not a voracious eater when he was a puppy and now he is well, a pig!
I tried quite a few foods out there, Science Diet,Eukanuba, Nutro, because Angus had such a difficult time with his colitis, so finding a food that didn't give him diarrhea, horrible gas and make him throw up was a challenge. I was so happy to find Wellness, and it was between Innova, Solid Gold and Wellness, the deciding factor was that both Innova and Solid Gold can be a bit rich and Angus definately didn't need that.
Angus hated the Lamb and Rice and doesn't need the Fish and Sweet Potato, so it is Chicken Super5Mix dry mixed with 2 heaping tablespoons of Canned Senior Wellness. The extra fiber and reduced protein in the Senior Wellness seems to keep Angus' stool at optimum firmness.
I am very happy with it, and would recommend it to anyone!
Leezah
I feed Wellness (they didn't have puppy formula when my
pups were babies, so they got the adult kind) and I
have found the poop production to be a bit daunting
(and I have more than one breeder friend who gave
it up because with multiple dogs it was just way too
much poop to scoop).
One of my friends, in fact, served as a tester last summer
when they were testing a new reduced poop formulation.
She said it worked great and she was quite enthusiastic,
and then something changed and the dogs went back to
the old amount of poop, and just couldn't hack it
any more. 2-3 extra bowel movements a day x 7-8 dogs
is a LOT!
I can manage with two dogs, but I really wish Old Mother
Hubbard would figure this poop stuff out
pups were babies, so they got the adult kind) and I
have found the poop production to be a bit daunting
(and I have more than one breeder friend who gave
it up because with multiple dogs it was just way too
much poop to scoop).
One of my friends, in fact, served as a tester last summer
when they were testing a new reduced poop formulation.
She said it worked great and she was quite enthusiastic,
and then something changed and the dogs went back to
the old amount of poop, and just couldn't hack it
any more. 2-3 extra bowel movements a day x 7-8 dogs
is a LOT!
I can manage with two dogs, but I really wish Old Mother
Hubbard would figure this poop stuff out
Hey Kessa. I had asked the store owner of where I buy my puppy food from about the 3x a period poop. He had recommended a product that helps firm the poop that dogs lay. I had thought of trying it until I received some answers from this post. I forgot the name of this product but I was told it worked great. My question to you is have you ever heard of such a thing, and if so, have you ever tried it? I do like Wellness, and would like to continue into the adult stage of foods offered. But if it has the same effect as the puppy food I might consider another adult food. What do you think?
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akatrk -
My 13 month old gets Wellness too, both Ocean Fish and Chicken
(he likes variety ), and when he was younger I had the same problem with stools getting increasingly softer. I started cutting his Wellness canned with Solid Gold Hundchen Flokken kibble, almost immediately his stools firmed back up, and he likes the cut canned as much as the canned alone. I also add chicken broth, tuna juice, or tuna / salmon to the mix for added Omega 3,6, and 9, I also add 2 tspns of plain fat free yogurt for gas, which also helps firm his stools.
My 13 month old gets Wellness too, both Ocean Fish and Chicken
(he likes variety
), and when he was younger I had the same problem with stools getting increasingly softer. I started cutting his Wellness canned with Solid Gold Hundchen Flokken kibble, almost immediately his stools firmed back up, and he likes the cut canned as much as the canned alone. I also add chicken broth, tuna juice, or tuna / salmon to the mix for added Omega 3,6, and 9, I also add 2 tspns of plain fat free yogurt for gas, which also helps firm his stools.- Status