Soft stools

[MipMipMip]

I'm hoping someone might have an idea here.
Every few months MipHound's stools go very soft. Not liquid but probably a 2 on the chart. No other problems with it - eats well, no sign if stomach ache.

Each time I watch for as few days and decide it is x food, which I then exclude from his diet and he is fine. Until a few months later. He doesn't steal (very strange!) So I don't think it's something he's picked up. He is regularly wormed (goes soft for 24 hours after but I honestly don't think that's involved.)

He has Harrington's grain free (farty otherwise) and soft food for interest. He gets oats on his soft food - which does usually firm him up - and a small amount of ham/chicken/sausage for treats. He alksdoi has dentastix and sometimes other treats such as rawhide. It sounds like a lot but I promise his weight is fine and everything is adjusted to suit! I don't want to change to raw food diet but would be grateful for any other suggestions.

Apologies for the typos - too many too correct so I'll just trust you can read it OK!

My dog had terrible tummy after rawhide and as she's a chunky lab, the vet said it's one of the worst things she could be eating. Also mums dog has terrible poos after being wormed and flead

OK, I'll try cutting rawhide out. I will not be popular! Thank you.

I don't think it's the worming treatment as it isn't based around worming. Seems to be random.

Um any suggestions for non rawhide chews? Has a VERY strong jaw so goes through things fast. Dentastix are lucky if they last 20 seconds and those are the big ones.

Do you feed in a Kong? I'm also interested in non-rawhide chew options for a similar reason.

I saw some horror stories of dogs getting tongues stuck in Kongs so I avoid them. I know that they were freak occurrences but I am unreasonably nervy about therm!

Op, try YuDigest. My lab has 2 of these a day and it's improved her massively.

She also gets raw hide chews - 1 a day from the 'Good Boy' chicken twists and they seem to be fine, albeit don't last very long! When I want to keep her busy for a while in the evening, I'll give her a roast bone (one of the pets at home ones). Works for us...

In fact, I'm not sure how much of a raw hide chew the chicken twists really are - they appear to be much softer and certainly disappear faster! Bit expensive though (Tesco sell them, and I think Morrison's).

For non-rawhide chews there are: bully/pizzle sticks, fish twists (or fish rolls), Himalayan chews, antlers, paddywhack, raw bones (don't feed cooked bones as they can splinter), pigs/cows/goats ears and many other things which I can't think of off the top of my head. We've a strong & fast chewer & most of the above get a minimum of 10 minutes peace out of ddog (30 mins on a bully stick earlier), most a lot longer.

Check out allaboutdogfood.com from memory Harrington's is filled with a lot of cheap fillers. Something with less fillers and more nutritional ingredients might be better. That site will give you cost comparisons amongst many other things.

Thanks for all these ideas, I will check them out.

MipHound says "Woof".

Sorry Mip but Dentastix are full with of crap and calories. How often does he get them? If it’s a daily ‘treat’ thing then consider giving him a big raw carrot or if you really want to keep giving a Dentastix, the very small version of it is an alternative, less calories, and he’ll still feel like he’s had his ‘treat’. If it’s a rare treat because you want to help his dental health, then a raw marrowbone, once a month, is much better. After moving to more natural diets, though still not exclusively raw, my dogs can’t stomach anything like Dentastix ‘treats’ anymore. My DDs still want them to have their own Advent Calendar so we’re going to have to make the ‘bones’ ourselves this year!

Look up how rawhide is made - you'll never want it near your dog again. There are also far more hazards from giving rawhide than a Kong. Also Kong's come in a variety of different shapes now - my dogs favourite kong is the cross shaped one (it also bounces like an unpredictable bouncy ball when thrown - which mine love). You squash the treats along shallow grooves around the outside.