Dog food and toilet habits...

[sparklins]

I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice before I have to go and spend £££ at the vets. I have rehomed a dog early last year. He was a very anxious dog when he first came to us.
He is on the same dry dog food as my other dog of the same breed, James Wellbeloved, its quite expensive and what our vet recommends.
However despite initially thinking it was an adjustment period and just keeping an eye on him his poos keep making me wonder if I need to make changes. He will have regular solid poos, but if we go on a walk he will have a regular poo, then during the 1hr walk have another small runny one, then another tiny bit which is basically just some watery liquid.
This only seems to happen on walks not in the garden.
He definitely has a more sensitive disposition than my other dog as we've experienced when they managed to steal and share some raw chicken breasts once and she was perfectly fine and he had an upset stomach for the day.

He is otherwise perfectly happy and comfortable but it's concerning me.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Any other dog food brands worth trying before I take him to the vet to look into it?

Yeah - this is normal, ime.

I call it an 'exercise poo'. Exercise often stimulates bowels (humans and dogs!) and so after an hour or so of walking, many dogs do a runny bit of something extra.

If that's the only time he does it and other poos are normal, I'd not worry myself.

Sorry, it's runny because the stimulation means it's being fast tracked through the intestines. Less time in the gut means less time for the body to absorb the water content, and so higher water content in the result.

Right, that's enough talking about poo for me for one day

If I give my dog cooked chicken, he loses all control of his bowels, so give him that at your own risk!

This is also perfectly normal in my experience. Ours will always have normal healthy poos, but if he's out exercising for a while he will do a few runny ones

Thanks for replying everyone, hope I didn't spoil your lunches 😂
I have noticed sometimes when he starts playing with our other dog in the garden and jumps/runs a lot with her he will suddenly stop for an emergency poo 😅so I guess that makes sense.

I was looking to change my dogs food as apparently it's the the greatest dog food although recommended by my vet! I found all about dog food website and facebook page, it's gives you detailed information absolutely pretty much all dog foods, and some really knowledgeable people on there too, hope this may help.

As everyone has said it's very normal, don't worry! I call it adrenaline poo

My own dog does it but I'm also a dog walker and I'd say 80% of the dogs I take out are prone to adrenaline poos 🙈

Holy moly, are you me? 6 months in (and 3 vet trips about it) I've just decided to change to Wainwrights (purely to try something hypoallergenic 🙄)

Sometimes a 30 minute walk can lead to three poops (which I feel is excessive- but if it's normal ish that's ok 😂)

@OldSpeclkledHen - just to flag that Wainwrights isn't really hypoallergenic. It's 'just' they pick meats that are a bit less popular so the dog is less likely to have eaten them previously - in the hope they are not allergic to them either.

That's not reason in itself why you shouldn't try it to see if it will help.

Just, if it doesn't help and you want to be totally sure it's not the food, you need to find a genuinely 'anallergenic' food - that's the magic phrase that meeans the food is almost 100% sure not to trigger an allergy.

@HairyQueenofSnots omg it's such a minefield 🙈 thank you! I'll try him a couple of weeks and see 🤞🤞

I thought after 20 years of horse ownership, that the dog would be simples 😂😂 ... How wrong was I 😂

As others have said, it is probably just how he is and not too much to worry about. However, for digestive system pumpkin is amazing and worth a try. You could also look at supporting him with the anxiety - chamomile and valerian root works great for my dog. I get special calming biscuits & pumpkin treats from these guys and the dogs love them https://happydogbakery.co.uk

My non-anxious DD1 has been like this all his life (he’s now 14). Normal poos in the garden, increasingly watery ones on a walk. I’ve always just assumed it’s the excitement + exercise. Makes walking him in a town/city tedious, so I avoid that 😂😂. DD2 (rescue, around 1 year old) is the complete opposite: she holds everything in on a walk and then has to dash to the garden immediately we get back for urgent poos and wees 🙄.
I wouldn’t worry if I were you, and I certainly wouldn’t shell out at the vet’s.