# loose bowel movements



## Millie's mum (Feb 14, 2010)

We have had our rescue dog Millie who is a lurcher for 3 months now. When we first brought her back from the rescue centre her stools were completely normal but after a while they began to change and are now quite loose and sometimes very loose! I am not sure what to feed her to sort the problem out, she is absolutely fine in herself, I'm sure her diet is to blame. 

When we first had her we stuck to the diet that the rescue centre had been feeding her, half a tin of Butchers tinned food with two handfuls of James Well Beloved morning and evening. I stuck to this and her stools were normal but then as I added training treats, bonio biscuits and rawhide chews they started to become loose. I don't think she had any treats in the rescue centre. I then had somebody tell me that James Well Beloved is a complete food and shoudn't be mixed with the tinned food, so I tried just the complete food but the problem got worse! Somebody also memtioned that their dogs didn't do very well on James Well Beloved and suggested I try Beta complete food. I tried that an her stools got a bit better but they soon went back to being loose. I am currently feeding her on half a tin of Butchers twice a day with Pedigree Mixer with it. She is still having a bonio or two a day and a rawhide chew once or twice a day for her teeth, she loves them too.

I don't think there is anything wrong with her tummy because she is absolutely fine in herself, and her stools were normal when we first had her before she had all her treats and chews. I find it very difficult when I am out and about with her to pick up all her dog mess, it will be lovely to get her back to normal, it will be easier to pick up and dispose of! I would be most grateful for any ideas on what might be the best diet for her problem, she is our first family dog and I am a bit in the dark about all the different dog foods. She also gets terrible wind with the James Well Beloved! Any advice would be very much appreciated! Many thanks, Millie's mum


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## Guest (May 6, 2010)

My dog gets an upset tum with raw hide chews.
Cut out one thing at a time for a week or so, to see what is causing the problem.
You can replace the mixer with rice when you test that, as rice very rarely causes a problem
Chappie original tinned food would almost certainly firm things up if it is the meat.
Would you rather feed a better diet?


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## francham (Apr 27, 2010)

my puppy had exactly the same problem, I started him on vetenary hill science biscuits (cos vet recomended them) mixed with butchers puppy food and he had constant disgusting wind and runny poops but he seemed happy enough, I put it down to him being a husky (they have sensitive tummies), after a few weeks of rotten stinks (!) I changed his food and it worked. Hes now on either Iams or Purina Pro bickies with butchers puppy wet food mixed through. I did notice though when my OH started giving him loads of marrowbone treats his poop and wind went bad again, so we are now restricting them to 1 or 2 a day with small pieces of smackos and a few gravy bones in between.


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## Polimba (Nov 23, 2009)

We had a similar problem with our puppy. We changed from the breeder food gradually to Wainwrights and he was fine for a while, the he kept getting loose. We did the chicken/fish and rice thing, he'd be fine and then he'd get a dodgy tum again.

We tried Nature's Diet and he's been fabulous on that. I don't there's any reason you can't mix complete foods as long as you adjust accordingly.

It could be the treats, there is a chew from [email protected] that doesn't agree with our puppy. Maybe exclude certain treats for a week to pinpoint what might be causing the problem.


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## Tanya1989 (Dec 4, 2009)

Try a table spoon of natural yoghurt in her dinner once a day. St Helens is best as it is made of goats milk rather than cows. This helps most dogs to firm up.

http://www.sthelensfarm.co.uk/more_info.asp?current_id=80

It is likely she is having an intollerance to to a product in the food. main intollerances in complete are: Wheat, chicken, soy, corn, beef, pork.

You will have to start out using an elimination diet. It can be quite expensive until you have worked out what the problem is. The cheapest way to do it will be to change to raw feeding (which is also much better for the dog anyway). Stick to one meat and bone for 10 days, if still not firmed up, it is likely it is that meat.

You also have to cut out all treats other than the meat you are feeding. So if you are on lamb week for example. Use bits of cooked lamb for treats rather than bonios etc.


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## Millie's mum (Feb 14, 2010)

Thanks very much for your advice guys, I think I will start by cutting out certain foods one by one to see if it helps. I have a feeling it is probably the chews or bonios because she didn't have those in the rescue centre. I will definitely try the St Helen's Farm yoghurt in her dinner once a day. I will also buy some Chappie tinned food and give that a go. I have a bit of a problem with giving her a raw food diet because I don't eat meat and I will really struggle with handling the raw meat, I know it is probably better for her but I'm not sure I could cope with it. I don't think I could possibly set foot in a Butcher's shop, I can't bear the smell or sight of the raw meat! I am very confused about the best diet for dogs!


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## Guest (May 6, 2010)

Good foods include

Burns Pet Nutrition - Real Food For Pets

This doesn't suit all dogs
Natural Dog Food | Naturediet

Natures Menu Natural Dog Food & Natural Cat Food | Feeding as Nature Intended

Fish4Dogs Online Shop - Natural & Healthy Premium Food & Treats for Dogs

Natural Premium Dog Food & Cat Food From Arden Grange


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## cornflower (May 14, 2009)

Hi
My rescue lurcher seems to suffer from a similar problem and has a similar diet. His morning movement is usually firm and the lunchtime one loose and the night time one ok-ish. He has dried complete and sometimes half and half with raw mince. He has a few biscuits in his kong when I go out for more than the school run and a rawhide chew every few days. He does steal food from the surfaces if we aren't careful. He is healthy in every way so I decided not to worry too much about the state of his poo and as long as the consitency stayed consistent (if you see what I mean) I wouldn't change the diet as that may be normal for him. I was getting stressed reading all the food posts so I've stopped. I know that a large rawhide chew has a 'nasty' effect so he won't be having one of those again! Rice worked a treat after he stole and ate the best part of a box of Dorset Museli...poor lamb he wasn't right for 48 hours!! As rona said trial and error....


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## cornflower (May 14, 2009)

ps I am a veggie too and handling the mince is vile ....I use a large fork and take a deep breath and think 'it's good for him' and he loves it' over and over! Doesn't stay in the bowl long though so that's good!!


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

We had a RC that suffered terrible with the runs. We tried all sorts, adding rice was one of the best things we did. We cooked long grain rice in water then just added a small amount gradually. It also helped his muscle build. But the best thing we ever did was add some chopped fresh chives (we used to get those grow pots from Tesco's herb shelf) sprinkled on the top of every meal.

I read somewhere at the time that it was good for settling tums and firming up poop. It worked a treat. I think we did it for about 6 months, and then gradually withdrew it. His poops stayed lovely and firm after that.

What ever you do with the diet of your pet, you must always do it gradually, over weeks preferably. Only very small amounts of new food added to the old at a time. I would do this with every pet, as the risk of them getting an upset tum is just not worth it.


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## Millie's mum (Feb 14, 2010)

Thanks so much everyone for your help and advice. I decided to give Chappie a go and I started giving it to Millie on Friday along with her usual mixer. I also stopped giving her the rawhide chews and bought some Dentastix instead. Over the weekend there has been a big improvement and she is more or less back to normal now! I think it was probably the Butchers tinned food and rawhide chews that were causing the problem, although it is still only days and only time will tell if the Chappie will continue to suit her. She really loves is too which is great. I will keep her on it for a while and see what happens.

Thank you very much rona for the list you gave me of good foods for dogs, I will read up on them. I will keep you posted on how she is doing on her new food, fingers crossed it will keep her tummy more settled. I also don't think it helps that she is continuing some of her straying behaviour and is a terrible food thief, she often pinches bits and pieces of food if I turn my back for a second!


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## Guest (May 9, 2010)

Millie's mum said:


> Thanks so much everyone for your help and advice. I decided to give Chappie a go and I started giving it to Millie on Friday along with her usual mixer. I also stopped giving her the rawhide chews and bought some Dentastix instead. Over the weekend there has been a big improvement and she is more or less back to normal now! I think it was probably the Butchers tinned food and rawhide chews that were causing the problem, although it is still only days and only time will tell if the Chappie will continue to suit her. She really loves is too which is great. I will keep her on it for a while and see what happens.
> 
> Thank you very much rona for the list you gave me of good foods for dogs, I will read up on them. I will keep you posted on how she is doing on her new food, fingers crossed it will keep her tummy more settled. I also don't think it helps that she is continuing some of her straying behaviour and is a terrible food thief, she often pinches bits and pieces of food if I turn my back for a second!


That's good news, it sounds as if she can tolerate fish very well, so if you want a better food, it might be worth looking along those lines.
A lot of companies do food containing fish now :thumbup:
If she is a scavenger, you will always get the odd upset tum, as long as it settles within 3 days, there shouldn't be too much of a problem


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## girlyhouse (Apr 16, 2010)

hi , im having a very similar problem just now with our pup.if your dog is adult then i would def try chappie tins to see if things settle down for a bit. then if you want to try another food introduce it gradually. My collie was the same when we brought her back from the rehoming centre and after a lot of trial and errors chappie was the one and only food that she is great on.im still doing the trial and error thing with the pup at the moment. Good luck x


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## Guest (May 9, 2010)

girlyhouse said:


> hi , im having a very similar problem just now with our pup.if your dog is adult then i would def try chappie tins to see if things settle down for a bit. then if you want to try another food introduce it gradually. My collie was the same when we brought her back from the rehoming centre and after a lot of trial and errors chappie was the one and only food that she is great on.im still doing the trial and error thing with the pup at the moment. Good luck x


It's a bit harder with a pup isn't it?
I think us Chappie fans should all email them and get them to produce a puppy food


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## girlyhouse (Apr 16, 2010)

yes it def is rona.you have the added guilt with a pup that during all this trial and error that they arent getting the right nutrients etc at this crucial growing phase. you know i was thinking the other day how good a chappie puppy food would be:thumbup:


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## Guest (May 9, 2010)

girlyhouse said:


> yes it def is rona.you have the added guilt with a pup that during all this trial and error that they arent getting the right nutrients etc at this crucial growing phase. you know i was thinking the other day how good a chappie puppy food would be:thumbup:


What about having a chat with the vet about feeding Chappie and adding supplements


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## cornflower (May 14, 2009)

Chappie for us from now on too I think. Our last dog loved it. Mixed it with mixer and from time to time a tin of fish. I wanted to use dried but looks like it isn't going to work. Thanks for raising this issue!


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## Millie's mum (Feb 14, 2010)

I am so pleased with the Chappie food, Millie is doing really well on it and her tummy problem really seems to have settled down at the moment. I did a bit of reading up on chappie last night and I found lots of reviews from people saying that it had helped their dog which had a sensitive tummy. I will definitely be keeping Millie on it, her terrible wind has also settled down. She has also had a lot of bad doggy dandruff and I have already noticed a change in her coat condition, it seems shinier and the dry skin looks better. She's happier and so am I!


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## Tanya1989 (Dec 4, 2009)

Thats great news... A cheap and cheerful food, but has had such great reviews for sensitive dogs... we always keep a couple of tins in for emergencies


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