Puppy diet firming up stools

[spartanrunnergirl]

Hi all looking for a bit of advice if you’ve had this experience. Got a fabulous little golden retriever puppy, really good progress with toilet training goes in the crate at night always tells me when he needs to go out for the loo. Heading into week 3 with him now (14 wks old) and his poo has never been solid, always been really loose. Think Mr whipping at the very best and sometimes very runny. We’ve been to the Vet and given Royal canine Gastro puppy food and a probiotic for a few days - no difference observed, I’ve put him back to the puppy feed he was on with his breeder which apparently seemed to work well (Arden grange). Next worming due end of January.

he’s getting me up twice in the night still because of the loose stools I think - when it has been slightly firmer he’s managed to go for six / seven hours so I’d like to nail this for his benefit of course but also for my sleep!

We had the same with a Labrador puppy, up in the night me whippy poos and just seemed never ending. Poor pup ended up with colitis and a trip to the vet.

we used to have an independent pet shop near us - and I was in there buying more different dog food and was chatting away and the woman said to me it’s the chicken! Try some food that contains no meat. At this point I would have done anything and tried anything.

so I purchased a bag of burns fish and rice dog food and some of their wet trays and the rest was history.

it took a while to settle down and we used to keep some probiotic paste in the fridge from pets at home just incase he picked something up in the park.

he spent 12 years as a vegetarian golden Labrador and honestly the best dog.

Raw food and Bone! You’ll have form poo and less of it (much less!)

I’d be giving chicken wings to eat/play with at this stage, or a puppy food with minced bone. I fed all three of mine raw and they thrive, understand that people get nervous about it- but dogs are built for eating raw meat.

Whatever you do do not feed cooked bones.

I'd suggest cutting out chicken, beef and grains.

I raw feed now because my dog had allergies that just seemed to be getting worse on even the best quality kibble. Many of the online groups make raw seem really complicated but it isn't.

Same here with Labrador puppy. He came to me on Royal Canin, staff at local farm shop suggested he was sensitive to chicken. Swapped to a salmon and rice variety (Skinners Field and Trial now) and he's been fine since.

I was going to say....looser stools arent that unusual for a puppy. BUT the could have a real problem
First....at his age food allergies arent very common but its possible. Cutting out chicken ( most comm9n protein in dog food) you could try a fish and poato diet?

Second....there are things that can cause soft faeces. One of them being Giardia, seen a lot in puppies. Treatment is a 5 day course of panacur ( if you dont want to send a stool sample off) ( label actually says 3) you can buy this over the coun5er ( saves on vets fees)

Third...try and give a probiotic for longer ( powders available) also pumpkin is good and high in fibre

.....putting my hard hat on.....i wouldnt go with raw.....but that my personal opinion....

I had a thread earlier about my pup who was constantly pooping, I think the record was 14 times in one day( I keep a poop chart!) . I have swapped to raw and the difference was instantaneous! 3 poops a day and proper poop! I was nervous about doing raw correctly so use Bella and Duke. He loves it too!

Stop any wet food until they have improved. Just kibble

How much are you feeding him? Runny poo is really common when they’re over-fed.

I had same with my dog. Feed him cold pressed Forthglade
Dry Dog Food, Cold Pressed (Hypoallergenic and Grain Free) Salmon & Vegetables or Duck & Vegetables.
Also Forthglade wet trays Just Duck/Lamb/Beef.
I'm not an advert for Forthglade but we found it through trial and error, and I like that it's UK made, high meat and good value xx

Thanks all it’s such a minefield! I’m feeding him approx 300 gram kibble over 3 meals plus a portion of the canin puppy ( finished yesterday) I’m sticking with the dry kibble and have got some panacur as he needs worming next week anyway. His poo also has some blood in it and whilst that’s not uncommon in puppies recently homed I did some research and he could have giradia so will keep other things sane and do the panacur.

he is a bright little thing and very well in himself.

Will take to vet next week too.

interested in raw food and will look in to that.
Any good website/info sources gratefully received.

Blood in it? Is the vet aware of this?

If your puppy has blood in his poo, he needs to see a vet tomorrow.

Agreed. It’s a bit of a weird detail to drop in so casually

Ask the vet about the blood in poo, just to check?

For future ref I always order raw from these guys and it’s great quality, speedy delivery and much cheaper than the prepackaged branded stuff.

https://www.theyloveit.co.uk

Agree with others re raw it’s brilliant in firming up poo. I feed a mix raw am and high quality kibble pm. If I run out of raw or we are away the difference in stool is significant . The raw is dry so draws water into the bowel making the stool softer.

it may be there is something else like giardia also underlying ( it may be worth a stool sample to check).

The vet is aware ref the blood from a previous visit, it cleared up (the blood) not the sloppiness. But reappeared last night. Sorry for not being clear about that. will be going to the vet tomorrow.

And why did the vet say the first time this poor pup was getting blood in poops?

They said it was not unusual after being adopted moving home etc and it would settle down. Often caused by stress of leaving breeder.

I wouldn’t be very impressed with a vet who didn’t investigate blood in the poo of such a young puppy.

Me neither

and as has been shown in this case, the puppy continues to have blood in stools despite the vet’s casual dismissal of it. Poor pup 🐶

Just to update vet thinks ref the blood he has Giradia and he is having panacur. Tbf when we visited the previous time the blood had stopped by the time of the appt so she thought as mentioned previously a result of stress change of home etc. which apparently is quite common. Anyway hoping he will be on the mend and the treatment will help firm up stools once it’s through him. He remains full of beans and had a thorough check up.

@spartanrunnergirl its such a worry when they are little! Sounds like you have it in hand, all the best!