# Dog Loose stools



## Archie11 (Oct 2, 2011)

I'm new to this....so sorry for silly questions.
My rescue dog has been with us for one week... i'm giving him the same food that the rescue centre gave us ie Symply puppy...he doesn't get many treats during the day just a few.. but his stools are very loose and he has bad gas throughout the day, so bad we almost hve to leave the room... It also makes it VERY difficult to pick up in my garden grass which is now in a bit of a state.
Shall i change his food completely? any advice? i'm coming to the end of the packet we were given and hve to get some more. t
thank you


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

Have you taken him to the vets?

24 hours starvation followed by a bland resting diet of boiled chicken or whitefish and rice normally sorts out runny tums - but you should always go to the vets if it continues for longer than 48 hours - or much, much sooner with a pup. How old is he?


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## Archie11 (Oct 2, 2011)

thanks. he doesn't have diarrhea just very soft stools ....so what can i do to make it firmer? which dry food is best to try? he might need a different diet..


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

First port of call is still the vets I'm afraid. If you've tried starvation and a resting diet.

Grain free dry foods are the best, and fish based ones are good for sensitive tummies, so I'd go for either Fish4Dogs, Arden Grange sensitive, James Wellbeloved fish & vegetable or Orijen six fish. There's a list of dry foods here if you want to compare any - http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/189896-dry-dog-food-index.html

Would you consider a raw diet? The very best way to feed dogs in my opinion, and just the ticket for sensitive stomachs, as you can control everything your dog eats, and avoid any triggers.

Is his worming up to date?


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## 912142 (Mar 28, 2011)

Although you are feeding him the same food it could be you are feeding too much together with the treats (he may not be used to them).

Personally I would advise as the previous post said - starve, then a small but bland diet for 24 hours and see how that goes - I would miss out the treats for a while too.

Well done for rescuing him. We love pics on this forum!


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

I'd also put him on chicken and rice for a few days (or fish and potato, some dogs don't do well with rice or chicken), then if you want to change food, introduce it slowly once his stools are back to normal. Then you'll know if it's the food causing it, or if it's just a reaction to being in his new home. Symply is an okay food, there is better for the money but it isn't a bad food at all.

And most importantly, pics of the new addition for us to coo over please.


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## Archie11 (Oct 2, 2011)

thanks for answers. When you mention chicken and rice or fish and potato.. is that cooked chicken, boiled? same for fish and potato? what fish? mash potato? white or brown rice? also can i give him some cooked carrots...his dry food seems so boring...The Symply bag is coming to an end. Do you think it would be ok to go and buy another pack and change straight away?
we've just had our first puppy class this morning and the treats were liver cakes... so will see how he reacts to that?  What other treats can i give him for the classes?
His worming is up to date. Is rawhide chew ok for them?
He's also a bit underweight.....few kilos under his normal weight.. the vet also said he thinks he's a bit older than we thought.. prob 9mths...so not sure i can starve him..he will go mad! he's already mad on food with 2 meals a day.....never seem enough.
I don't much about the raw diet....but wouldn't be able to go and buy frest meat every day...+ it seems quite expensive which unfortunately i have to take into account.

Sorry many obvious questions but i' m learning.
PS: i will try and work out how to insert a photo:thumbup:


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## Jasper's Bloke (Oct 30, 2009)

Finding or choosing a food for your dog is always a nightmare, you can spend hours upon hours researching the most suitable food only to find that at the end of the day, it just doesn't suit them. Every dog is different and while there is plenty of advice around for you, what works for one dog may not work for another.

Obviously budget is a consideration for us all but the only advice that I will give you is don't rule out high quality foods just because they appear to be more expensive. The fact is that you will actually feed physically less of a quality food and so by working it out as a daily cost, you could feed a better food AND save money at the same time.

My dog is currently on Acana (one of the top 3 dry foods you can buy imo) which is really expensive (close on £60 for 13kg) but it actually works out cheaper than feeding something like Bakers (which is one of the worst). Saying that it is early days and if it works out not to suit him then I will have to try something else.

I agree with SixStar that the raw diet is without a doubt by far the healthiest way to feed a dog, but it can indeed be expensive unless you have sufficient freezer space or a couple of friendly local butchers, if you do have them then it can be very cheap, often free if you have the right contacts.


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## hyper Springer (Jan 8, 2010)

Archie11 said:


> thanks for answers. When you mention chicken and rice or fish and potato.. is that cooked chicken, boiled? same for fish and potato? what fish? mash potato? white or brown rice? also can i give him some cooked carrots...his dry food seems so boring...The Symply bag is coming to an end. Do you think it would be ok to go and buy another pack and change straight away?
> we've just had our first puppy class this morning and the treats were liver cakes... so will see how he reacts to that?  What other treats can i give him for the classes?
> His worming is up to date. Is rawhide chew ok for them?
> He's also a bit underweight.....few kilos under his normal weight.. the vet also said he thinks he's a bit older than we thought.. prob 9mths...so not sure i can starve him..he will go mad! he's already mad on food with 2 meals a day.....never seem enough.
> ...


Rawhide made my dog loose so i dont feed em....also i think i read they can cause blockages


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## suewhite (Oct 31, 2009)

All of my rescues seem to suffer with loose stools and sometimes worseoften takes a month or more to settle down as the stress they have being in a rescue home then shipped out to there new home usually tells on there bowels.Suexx


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Archie11 said:


> thanks for answers. When you mention chicken and rice or fish and potato.. is that cooked chicken, boiled? same for fish and potato? what fish? mash potato? white or brown rice? also can i give him some cooked carrots...his dry food seems so boring...The Symply bag is coming to an end. Do you think it would be ok to go and buy another pack and change straight away?
> we've just had our first puppy class this morning and the treats were liver cakes... so will see how he reacts to that?  What other treats can i give him for the classes?
> His worming is up to date. Is rawhide chew ok for them?
> He's also a bit underweight.....few kilos under his normal weight.. the vet also said he thinks he's a bit older than we thought.. prob 9mths...so not sure i can starve him..he will go mad! he's already mad on food with 2 meals a day.....never seem enough.
> ...


Yeah, boiled chicken or white fish, mashed potato, or potato and scrambled egg. Brown rice if possible. Carrots are fine, raw and cooked, but I'd leave it till his tum is back to 100%.

Dogs can choke on raw hide so I avoid it, but I know some use it without problems. Novak almost choked so I stay away.

I like natural treats, apple chunks, carrot chunks, blueberries, small bits of cheese, small bits of hot dog etc.

Most of them are mad for food, starving wont hurt at all.

I don't feed raw, but you don't really buy fresh every day, you buy a months worth in bulk, if you use places like DAF, you can get 20 x bags of meat for about £10 and they're already in the 80/10/10 ratio, so you don't have to worry about that. It's about the cheapest way to feed a dog, if you have the freezer space.

But there's nothing wrong with good quality commercial food. Wet or dry. Maybe think about wet food if you think dry looks boring.


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## Archie11 (Oct 2, 2011)

OK help again.. I've bought some chicken (breast) and boiling it now..how long does chicken take to boil? and how much do i give my dog? cooking brown rice as well...
My OH is saying that the dog is better fed than us soon..


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

lol, my dogs have been better fed than me for a while. Erm, no idea, I'm veggie, so I just poil it till it's white right through. And give as much as I think. 

If this doesn't help within a few days I'd try egg and potato as it could be the rice causing the upset tum, a lot of dogs don't tolerate rice well.

If it does, maybe the symply didn't agree.


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## Katie1168 (May 23, 2011)

How did your pup get on with the boiled chicken. My pup had terrible tummy when we first got her. I put her on Raw. With the help from this site it's the perfect diet for her although I was pre warned it was not for all dogs.

I am on a fairly tight household budget. I did some leg work and ringing around to butchers in my local area and on my work route. I found a butcher who sells me 10kg of chicken carcasses for £3.50. A farm shop sells me 4kg pork ribs for £6.00. Then I just buy special offers from morrisons as and when and freeze till required. I find RAW cheaper in the long run. For treats I baked liver, heart and kidney. They cost me around £4. I put them in small tubs and freeze. I have enough for around 5 weeks. 

RAW feeding stools are firm small and easily picked up. 

Keep us informed on how your pup gets on


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## Archie11 (Oct 2, 2011)

thanks. His stools were firm this morning and I gave him again chicken and rice for breakfast... Maybe it was the Symply that doesn't agree with him.. I've got to out and buy some more dry food anyhow.
Re Raw diet. I'm in south london and all the local butchers seem to have disappear... only supermarkets butchers left around here..so it would be hard to get stuff on a budget... + my freezing is quite small - never enough for our stuff...and don't have the space for another one!...
I'm not sure what to do... I find the raw diet a bit scary but will do more research..like you.


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## Archie11 (Oct 2, 2011)

Me again.. I ended up being wainwrights dry turkey and rice..one 2kg packet to see if he likes it and can buy more if so.
Do you think it's possilbe to mix all type of diets.. ie dry with wet, dry one day and raw an other day or would that affect his tummy and we should stick to just one.? Isn't variety good for them?
How long do i give him the chicken and rice? he has enough for another meal but he's going round a bit mad starving today....

on a positive note, he's been with us for one week so far and seems to have settled ok.. still doesn't like to be left alone but just LOVES cuddles... He's had a tough early life but hopefully he's happy now!


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Archie11 said:


> Me again.. I ended up being wainwrights dry turkey and rice..one 2kg packet to see if he likes it and can buy more if so.
> Do you think it's possilbe to mix all type of diets.. ie dry with wet, dry one day and raw an other day or would that affect his tummy and we should stick to just one.? Isn't variety good for them?
> How long do i give him the chicken and rice? he has enough for another meal but he's going round a bit mad starving today....
> 
> on a positive note, he's been with us for one week so far and seems to have settled ok.. still doesn't like to be left alone but just LOVES cuddles... He's had a tough early life but hopefully he's happy now!


That's what I do hun.

I feed 50/50 dry and wet on a daily basis (wainwrights wet and taste of the wild dry), and they have a few raw meals a week. Which I just pick up from the butchers because I don't have to worry about getting ratios right etc.

Try some chicken wings first, hold them so he knows not to gulp, but to chew them. I feed these as treats too, rule of thumb is not to feed raw at the same time as cooked, so raw AM, kibble/wet PM.

If he's firmed up, I'd get some more chicken and rice and into the new kibble slowly with that over the next few days.


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