Can anyone help me with my dogs poop problem? He is 9 mo. old Bullboxer and I feed him Purina Puppy Chow. He has more loose stool and Diarrhea than he does solid. He is on Heartguard and I never see any worms in his poop. Do I need to go to higher protein content dog food? Could he have some type of worm that is not visible or controlled with the Heartgard?
Rene'
Loose stool
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BullBoxerBonzai
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:44 am
- Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia USA
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Lis & Addy
- Posts: 204
- Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:27 pm
I'm not guaranteeing that this is the cause, but I think a diet change is in order.
Dogs are carnivores--not obligate carnivores like cats, but they need meat in their diet. And one thing about being a pet owner is that, if you're going to feed commercial food rather than home cooking (which is not complicated but can be time-consuming), you need to learn not to trust the advertising
but to read ingredients labels. Dog food should not have corn or other grains as its first ingredient, and the meat should be a named meat or (even better ) meat meal (chicken, lamb, beef, etc.), not by-products.
Are you feeding the Puppy Chow Complete & Balanced?
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
These are, unfortunately, really terrible foods, even though we've been encouraged for decades to think of them as good, basic dog food. Even Purina makes better foods--Purina One and Purina Pro Plan.
If at all possible, stop buying your dog's food at the grocery store, and go to a pet supply store. Start reading ingrediens labels. Some good names that you're likely to be able to find some of locally: Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Blue Buffalo, Canidae. There are other good foods out there, and if I had time right now I'd include the links to the Dog Food Project and Dog Food Analysis--I'll try to do that later.
Other people likely have other helpful comments on possible causes. Good luck!
Lis
Dogs are carnivores--not obligate carnivores like cats, but they need meat in their diet. And one thing about being a pet owner is that, if you're going to feed commercial food rather than home cooking (which is not complicated but can be time-consuming), you need to learn not to trust the advertising
but to read ingredients labels. Dog food should not have corn or other grains as its first ingredient, and the meat should be a named meat or (even better ) meat meal (chicken, lamb, beef, etc.), not by-products.Are you feeding the Puppy Chow Complete & Balanced?
Ingredients:
Or the Large Breed?Whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), barley, animal digest, calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, fish oil, salt, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, DL-Methionine, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, brewers dried yeast, manganese proteinate, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2), niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.
S-4001
Ingredients:
Or the Healthy Morsels?Whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), barley, dried beet pulp, animal digest, calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, fish oil, salt, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, DL-Methionine, manganese proteinate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.
N-4035
Ingredients:
Notice that in all three, the first ingredient is corn--that means it's the largest component by weight. In all three, the first animal product is chicken by-product meal--not chicken, but by-products which can include organs, bones, beaks, feathers... In the first two, it's the second ingredient, but in the Healthy Morsels, it's fourth!Whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, whole grain wheat, chicken by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), soybean meal, brewers rice, meat and bone meal, barley, beef, sugar, animal digest, sorbitol, fish oil, phosphoric acid, salt, tricalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, sorbic acid (a preservative), dried carrots, dried peas, calcium propionate (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2), Vitamin E supplement, choline chloride, brewers dried yeast, zinc sulfate, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, manganese proteinate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, Vitamin B-12 supplement, DL-Methionine, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.
H-4037
These are, unfortunately, really terrible foods, even though we've been encouraged for decades to think of them as good, basic dog food. Even Purina makes better foods--Purina One and Purina Pro Plan.
If at all possible, stop buying your dog's food at the grocery store, and go to a pet supply store. Start reading ingrediens labels. Some good names that you're likely to be able to find some of locally: Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Blue Buffalo, Canidae. There are other good foods out there, and if I had time right now I'd include the links to the Dog Food Project and Dog Food Analysis--I'll try to do that later.
Other people likely have other helpful comments on possible causes. Good luck!
Lis
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BullBoxerBonzai
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:44 am
- Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia USA
-
Lis & Addy
- Posts: 204
- Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:27 pm
The two links I promisted you.
The Dog Food Project:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/
Dog Food Analysis:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
Don't let yourself get overwhelmed by them, but there's helpful information there.
And one more suggestion I should have made earlier: If you do any shopping at CostCo, check out their Kirkland dog food. It really is sound basic nutrition on a budget. It's a house brand, though, so if you don't have ready access to a CostCo, you won't find it elsewhere.
Lis
The Dog Food Project:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/
Dog Food Analysis:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
Don't let yourself get overwhelmed by them, but there's helpful information there.
And one more suggestion I should have made earlier: If you do any shopping at CostCo, check out their Kirkland dog food. It really is sound basic nutrition on a budget. It's a house brand, though, so if you don't have ready access to a CostCo, you won't find it elsewhere.
Lis
We were giving Murphy Purina Dog Chow because that's what the shelter was feeding him. He had a loose stool problem as well. We're transitioning to Eukanuba now, and we're adding veggies (via babyfood, the kind with veggies and water as the only ingredients) and plain fat free yogurt for calcium. We also add brown rice or cooked oatmeal. He's not fully off of Dog Chow yet, just a few more days, but he hasn't had a loose stool since we started adding babyfood and yogurt. Sweet potatoes - either cooked and mashed or in babyfood form - everyone I've talked to swears by it as effective in preventing diarrhea.
I have just had major problems with my Bullterrier Derrick.
He had built up an intolerance to poulrty of all things.
It took me £600+ at the vets to find out he is fully fit and healthy, no blockages, no organ conditions, nothing.
So I changed his diet for the 6th and final time, off anything feather ( so no chicken, duck, turkey, no egg derivatives) and onto lamb pro pan.
He will be going onto a mixer biscuit and tripe when he is fully grown though.
I hope the change in diet helps you too.
I know what its like to not be able to pick up poo.
I used to have to wash the yard down 8 or 9 times a day, and had not picked up a solid poo in months. Then when we found it was nothing medical and all dietry we changed him and now its very rare he does a loose stool.
He willstill get loose if we are going somewhere for big walkies and he is all excited, and also if he has to go to the vets as he will get a nervous/excited belly, but for the majority, he is good and solid
He had built up an intolerance to poulrty of all things.
It took me £600+ at the vets to find out he is fully fit and healthy, no blockages, no organ conditions, nothing.
So I changed his diet for the 6th and final time, off anything feather ( so no chicken, duck, turkey, no egg derivatives) and onto lamb pro pan.
He will be going onto a mixer biscuit and tripe when he is fully grown though.
I hope the change in diet helps you too.
I know what its like to not be able to pick up poo.
I used to have to wash the yard down 8 or 9 times a day, and had not picked up a solid poo in months. Then when we found it was nothing medical and all dietry we changed him and now its very rare he does a loose stool.
He willstill get loose if we are going somewhere for big walkies and he is all excited, and also if he has to go to the vets as he will get a nervous/excited belly, but for the majority, he is good and solid
we transitioned our amstaff mix to innova the first week we had her - and needless to say it is obvious!
she has lost a bit of weight ( she still has a bit more to go) her skin and fur is gorgeous now... she has been shedding like mad the past 2 weeks and the new fur coming in is so much brighter and smoother. previously her old owners were giving her eukenuba (sp?) and table scraps. they went thru a med sized bag every 2 weeks with her. we give our kitties the innova, so it was an easy decision for us... we bought the ( 30 lbs i think) big bag and it's as if she hasn't made a dent. i give her approx 3/4 cup in the morning with a drizzle of olive oil ( i'm going to start trying some fresh chopped garlic as well soon) and at night she gets about 1/2 cup and 1/3 can of the innova canned food -
i believe it was lis & addy who wrote the info about the ingredients - go and check them out on your bag! dogs don't need the junk that most manufacturers put in the foods - i look at it like feeding your dog mcdonalds every day. - they eat more and don't et the nutrients they need, but a lot of junk that they don't...
and tho the better food is pricier, in the end they eat less, so we actually don't spend more!
**the 25 lb bag of cat food last us 3 months for 3 adult cats - the same cats will go thru a box of friskies in a day....
she has lost a bit of weight ( she still has a bit more to go) her skin and fur is gorgeous now... she has been shedding like mad the past 2 weeks and the new fur coming in is so much brighter and smoother. previously her old owners were giving her eukenuba (sp?) and table scraps. they went thru a med sized bag every 2 weeks with her. we give our kitties the innova, so it was an easy decision for us... we bought the ( 30 lbs i think) big bag and it's as if she hasn't made a dent. i give her approx 3/4 cup in the morning with a drizzle of olive oil ( i'm going to start trying some fresh chopped garlic as well soon) and at night she gets about 1/2 cup and 1/3 can of the innova canned food -
i believe it was lis & addy who wrote the info about the ingredients - go and check them out on your bag! dogs don't need the junk that most manufacturers put in the foods - i look at it like feeding your dog mcdonalds every day. - they eat more and don't et the nutrients they need, but a lot of junk that they don't...
and tho the better food is pricier, in the end they eat less, so we actually don't spend more!
**the 25 lb bag of cat food last us 3 months for 3 adult cats - the same cats will go thru a box of friskies in a day....
"DO what thou wilt, Shall be the whole of the law"
we transitioned our amstaff mix to innova the first week we had her - and needless to say it is obvious!
she has lost a bit of weight ( she still has a bit more to go) her skin and fur is gorgeous now... she has been shedding like mad the past 2 weeks and the new fur coming in is so much brighter and smoother. previously her old owners were giving her eukenuba (sp?) and table scraps. they went thru a med sized bag every 2 weeks with her. we give our kitties the innova, so it was an easy decision for us... we bought the ( 30 lbs i think) big bag and it's as if she hasn't made a dent. i give her approx 3/4 cup in the morning with a drizzle of olive oil ( i'm going to start trying some fresh chopped garlic as well soon) and at night she gets about 1/2 cup and 1/3 can of the innova canned food -
i believe it was lis & addy who wrote the info about the ingredients - go and check them out on your bag! dogs don't need the junk that most manufacturers put in the foods - i look at it like feeding your dog mcdonalds every day. - they eat more and don't et the nutrients they need, but a lot of junk that they don't...
and tho the better food is pricier, in the end they eat less, so we actually don't spend more!
**the 25 lb bag of cat food last us 3 months for 3 adult cats - the same cats will go thru a box of friskies in a day....
she has lost a bit of weight ( she still has a bit more to go) her skin and fur is gorgeous now... she has been shedding like mad the past 2 weeks and the new fur coming in is so much brighter and smoother. previously her old owners were giving her eukenuba (sp?) and table scraps. they went thru a med sized bag every 2 weeks with her. we give our kitties the innova, so it was an easy decision for us... we bought the ( 30 lbs i think) big bag and it's as if she hasn't made a dent. i give her approx 3/4 cup in the morning with a drizzle of olive oil ( i'm going to start trying some fresh chopped garlic as well soon) and at night she gets about 1/2 cup and 1/3 can of the innova canned food -
i believe it was lis & addy who wrote the info about the ingredients - go and check them out on your bag! dogs don't need the junk that most manufacturers put in the foods - i look at it like feeding your dog mcdonalds every day. - they eat more and don't et the nutrients they need, but a lot of junk that they don't...
and tho the better food is pricier, in the end they eat less, so we actually don't spend more!
**the 25 lb bag of cat food last us 3 months for 3 adult cats - the same cats will go thru a box of friskies in a day....
"DO what thou wilt, Shall be the whole of the law"
Depending on his/her size add PLAIN SUGAR FREE YOGURT to his diet.
I have a 20 lb dog Shelby who gets 1 Tablespoon a day and a 3 lb dog Bella who geta a teaspoon a day. They both act like it is their dessert and rush through Dinner so they can have their YOGURT.
I read on another website and also asked my Vet and he said it helps harden the stool and aids in digestion. Plus if your dog is ever on antibiotics it helps their system because Yogurt is a Probiotic which puts the good microbs into your dogs system.
I have a 20 lb dog Shelby who gets 1 Tablespoon a day and a 3 lb dog Bella who geta a teaspoon a day. They both act like it is their dessert and rush through Dinner so they can have their YOGURT.
I read on another website and also asked my Vet and he said it helps harden the stool and aids in digestion. Plus if your dog is ever on antibiotics it helps their system because Yogurt is a Probiotic which puts the good microbs into your dogs system.
Kim
