Dog has constant loose poo

Slave2Magic

Slave2Magic

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 October 2006
Messages
979
Location
West Yorkshire
Visit site
I have 2 jack russell terriers. Dog and a bitch. Brother and sister. The bitch is fine but the dog has loose stools all the time. They have exactly the same food (Wainwrights trays) He is fine in himself but surely this is a problem in his gut somewhere? Any thoughts please?
 
Starve the dog for 24 hours then start back on just scrambled eggs and some boiled potato. If dog stays solid then start gradually adding little bits of the food. If dog stays solid reduce eggs and potato until dog is back on just Wainwrights.

If dog goes loose again when you re-introduce the food then try starving again and follow the same process. If the dog goes loose again then change the food and a trip to the vets is a good idea (they will advise the starve/bland food/re-introduce anyway before looking at him). Try something a bit blander like a chicken and rice or salmon and potato dried food version. Some dogs just can't handle rich foods.
 
Totally correct. starve your dog one day a week. the same day and then he will learn to expect it and his body will go into detox mode. He will remain healthy, not get fat and live long. Dogs in the wild don't eat every day and it doesn't bother them because they are fit. Dogs can turn almost anything into protein their guts are extremely efficient He still needs the same amount of exercise just no food. every hunting trip doesn't have to be successful.
 
How much food do you give him per meal? Giving them too much can cause loose poo I'd also cut out any treats whatsoever


A rule of thumb (raw feeding not sure if it applies to everything but as its wet trays?) is 2-3% of their target body weight a day. So say he's 5kg that between 100 and 150gms per day. Even if you use that as a rough guide to gauge whether he is having too much?
 
Dave the dog said:
…….. . starve your dog one day a week. the same day and then he will learn to expect it and his body will go into detox mode. He will remain healthy, not get fat and live long. Dogs in the wild don't eat every day and it doesn't bother them because they are fit. Dogs can turn almost anything into protein their guts are extremely efficient He still needs the same amount of exercise just no food. every hunting trip doesn't have to be successful.
Click to expand...

Correct. I've only ever fed my dogs six days a week, and they're better for it.

Alec.
 
Gonna buck this starve the dog one day a week thing. It's not normal for domesticated dogs to starve one day a week and is pointless. Dogs, like horses, thrive on routine, at least for food. There'd be a mutiny here if I didn't open the fridge at 6 o'clock! Zak sits and whines if I come home and don't feed him. Why would I starve my dogs? They're extremely active and lean: they need their food.

If the dog is producing slop, add kaolin to his bowl. Maybe give the grain free wainwright trays a go or go for something natural and unprocessed-Nature's Diet, maybe. He might do better on a fish based diet. I hear Wainwright's Fishmongers is good.
 
Last edited:
It all depends what you mean by loose poo. Using the Bristol stool chart type 1 is like small pebbles, type 2 like s bunch of grapes, type 3 a corn on the cob, type 4 a smooth sausage, type 5 Mr whippy ice cream, type 6 porridge and type 7 is gravy/water.
1 & 2 would be considered constipated, 3,4,5 are "normal" and 6 & 7 diarrhoea.
If just on the Mr whippy side then you could try adding tinned pumpkin to the diet as the fibre helps regulate the bowel, pre biotic a are also useful
 
It's abit strange really. He can have normal sausage poos in the garden and runs when we go out. Sometimes the garden ones are runny too. They have been on Wainwrights for ages but I think I'll give the Fishmongers a try as it's for sensitive dogs.
 
My older boy is on Wainwright trays and does type 3, I suppose. He does have raw occasionally, mostly bony chicken. He's a very sensitive thing, pukes tripe straight up so can't be on pure raw. When he's not on form, he gets the grain free trays and I have Fishmongers as a back up with kaolin from the chemist.
 
Can often indicate his gut bacteria aren't working well to break down his food for absorption through the gut wall. Your vet will supply a good probiotic paste in a syringe, a few ml a day for four or five days should sort it. Or you can buy a less effective over the counter version but I would go for the better one before he begins to lose weight or get dehydrated
 
JillA said:
…….. . Your vet will supply a good probiotic paste in a syringe, a few ml a day for four or five days should sort it. ……..
Click to expand...

Failing that, and if you keep horses or sheep, and your dog attempts to eat the effluent, don't stop him. Ruminants and horses provide the best probiotics available. Cheap too!:)

Alec.
 
I don't starve mine one day a week. I only starve them if they have diarrhoea that has lasted more than a day or two. Mine are fine on their food but they eat so much rubbish on their walks (rotten jellyfish?!?) that occasionally they get upset tummies.

The starve/bland food/ then reintroduce is the best way to get them over the diarrhoea and it will be what your vets will advise you to do before they try anything else.

.. and I find they are much better after a good munch on the horse poo too!
 
Oh dear, I can't believe there are people who advocate starving the dog one day a week - how silly, and unnecessary.

Dogs have evolved somewhat since they were wild animals who had to gorge feed while the food was available, and therefore benefited from starving themselves once a week. Nowadays dogs are fed a good quality consistent diet so starving is totally unnecessary and outdated.

I would do as others have said OP - starve, bland food, re-introduce and if he still doesn't get on with it then change to something else

ETA - I would also agree with whoever said get him tested - possible guardia?
 
abb123 said:
Starve the dog for 24 hours then start back on just scrambled eggs and some boiled potato. If dog stays solid then start gradually adding little bits of the food. If dog stays solid reduce eggs and potato until dog is back on just Wainwrights.

If dog goes loose again when you re-introduce the food then try starving again and follow the same process. If the dog goes loose again then change the food and a trip to the vets is a good idea (they will advise the starve/bland food/re-introduce anyway before looking at him). Try something a bit blander like a chicken and rice or salmon and potato dried food version. Some dogs just can't handle rich foods.
Click to expand...

Starving is no longer recommended for diarrhoea ( by up to date vets anyway) a bland diet ie chicken and rice fed little and often is best.
Tests should be carried out to check for things like campylobactor, ecoli etc
 
Mine had loose poos forever until I realised he's gluten intolerant, so now he's on Skinner's hypoallergenic. I tried raw which really did a great job of producing some decent solid poo, but it just wasn't practical - I used minces but there was blood all over my fridge and it smelled, so I had to draw a line. Now when he goes a little sloppy on the kibble, I give him raw for a couple of days (those individual country hunter meals) which seems to sort out his gut bacteria and he'll be fine for a month or so on the kibble.

I liked feeding raw, it's just a shame it was impractical for us.
 
well here goes. I'm on collie no 4 he's 10 looks like 5. all of them starved 1 day a week unless the weather is bitter. toast and marmite for breakfast 2 or 3 days a week, evening meal random time of different foods, sometimes dried sometimes raw sometimes cooked sometimes family leftovers often get garlic added. 1st 2 died at 14, 3rd at 16 old age i guess. Never ever taken to the vet for disease or disorders only flea infestation in 40 years of owning dogs was last year, never given dietary supplement or conditioning. Dogs have been constant companions they have gone where i have gone. They have all been alert, obedient, fine, happy, healthy, sociable animals no weird hangups no frenzied attacks, no problems, well maybe the odd cold. Same regime as Granfather used for his gun dogs. Tell me I've been doing it wrong. I have nothing against vets they are fine people, but I would rather someone else kept them in business.
As a caveat to the above for smaller breeds my jack for instance he just gets reduced rations on Starvation day I am not a complete monster.
 
Last edited:
But you have given no good reason to starve the dog. I can chuck ideas around about insulin resistance, but it's pointless if you aren't coming up with a decent reason as to why you do it. They're not wild animals, they're domesticated dogs. Your dogs probably won't suffer from not being fed for one day, but what is the point? My lot are far too active to have nothing in the engine for a whole day.

Consider an athlete: do you think they should not eat for a day? My lot 'perform' daily, galloping round, swimming a lot. Why would I deny them the energy giving food? And how come the jack gets food but the bigger dog doesn't? Where's the logic?

PS: toast? Again, not going to harm, but a bit pointless, tbh.
 
Last edited:
abb123 said:
Starve the dog for 24 hours then start back on just scrambled eggs and some boiled potato. If dog stays solid then start gradually adding little bits of the food. If dog stays solid reduce eggs and potato until dog is back on just Wainwrights.

If dog goes loose again when you re-introduce the food then try starving again and follow the same process. If the dog goes loose again then change the food and a trip to the vets is a good idea (they will advise the starve/bland food/re-introduce anyway before looking at him). Try something a bit blander like a chicken and rice or salmon and potato dried food version. Some dogs just can't handle rich foods.
Click to expand...

starving is only recommended when it is thought the dog has a stomach bug (same sort of thing as humans get) and have sickness and or diahorrea, Op it sounds like you dog may have a sensitivity to something in his diet or maybe a parasite.
How long has it been like this for?
 
JillA said:
Can often indicate his gut bacteria aren't working well to break down his food for absorption through the gut wall. Your vet will supply a good probiotic paste in a syringe, a few ml a day for four or five days should sort it. Or you can buy a less effective over the counter version but I would go for the better one before he begins to lose weight or get dehydrated
Click to expand...

live yoghurt and horse poo (as long as horse not on drugs or recently wormed) are cheaper more efficient and natural ways to re colonise the gut
 
Dave the dog said:
well here goes. I'm on collie no 4 he's 10 looks like 5. all of them starved 1 day a week unless the weather is bitter. toast and marmite for breakfast 2 or 3 days a week, evening meal random time of different foods, sometimes dried sometimes raw sometimes cooked sometimes family leftovers often get garlic added. 1st 2 died at 14, 3rd at 16 old age i guess. Never ever taken to the vet for disease or disorders only flea infestation in 40 years of owning dogs was last year, never given dietary supplement or conditioning. Dogs have been constant companions they have gone where i have gone. They have all been alert, obedient, fine, happy, healthy, sociable animals no weird hangups no frenzied attacks, no problems, well maybe the odd cold. Same regime as Granfather used for his gun dogs. Tell me I've been doing it wrong. I have nothing against vets they are fine people, but I would rather someone else kept them in business.
As a caveat to the above for smaller breeds my jack for instance he just gets reduced rations on Starvation day I am not a complete monster.
Click to expand...

I lost my first dog at 16, my second at 15 (crap hips), my third at 17 (despite being run over twice) my fourth at 8 (would have been lost before 6 without vet intervention, she blew her cruciate crashing into a tree and that blew again hence PTS), my dogs have been vaccinated and had vet intervention when needed, they had never been starved unless there was a medical reason. mine have all been happy, sociable, well adjusted very active and very healthy too.
garlic is known to be toxic to dogs, the whole starving them is outdated and has no relevance to wild dogs unless you also allow them to gorge on the days you feed them, some wild dogs go weeks without food without any lasting ill effects but you don't advocate that?
I just don't see the link my dogs are not wild nor are yours so I don't understand the one day starving-our ancestors used to go days/weeks at a time with no food or warmth but I would not thank you if I had to live like that now
 
twiggy2 said:
starving is only recommended when it is thought the dog has a stomach bug (same sort of thing as humans get) and have sickness and or diahorrea, Op it sounds like you dog may have a sensitivity to something in his diet or maybe a parasite.
How long has it been like this for?
Click to expand...

actually, at a nutrition seminar I attended recently, I learned that starving is no longer the preferred thing.
 
Years ago I acquired a rescue dog who turned out to have distemper. Vets were to say the least unhelpful, and then I found a book by a lady called Juliette de Bairarcly Levy (sp?) who propounded that no animal can cope with fighting disease as well as digesting food. Withholding food for the duration was her remedy, just plenty of water, with added honey if it was felt the dog did need more nutrition. The dog recovered under this regime, and for years I followed her maintenance recommendations of one day/week fasting (but with adequate fluids). That dog eventually died of lymphoma some 12 years later.
She also recommended raw food BTW.
 
PucciNPoni said:
actually, at a nutrition seminar I attended recently, I learned that starving is no longer the preferred thing.
Click to expand...

Possibly semantics, but the word 'Fasting', in the opinion of many, benefits both dogs and man, and 'Starvation', neither. Clearly dogs which are in any way 'unwell' need all the help that they can get, but gut upsets in dogs, such is the resilience of their digestive system, are generally the result of unsuitable diet rather than disease. Further, I'd suggest, dogs which are generally unwell will display a general lethargy, whilst dogs with loose stools again 'generally' show no outward signs of ill health. That's always been my experience.

Alec.
 
Starving a dog is the only recourse if it is persistently vomiting. Sticking food down Brig when he's having one of his pukey days obviously leads to more puking because he has something to puke up. Other than that, I see no reason to stop feeding a dog.

I noted with interest that the last time one of mine had a GA, the vet told me to feed him his normal food as opposed to chicken/fish. Makes sense.

Alec, what's your reason for not feeding one day?
 
PucciNPoni said:
actually, at a nutrition seminar I attended recently, I learned that starving is no longer the preferred thing.
Click to expand...

can I ask who held the seminar as all the vets I work with including lots of locums currently all still recommend withholding food for 12 -24hrs for a dog that is otherwise bright healthy and alert if they had an upset stomach without a temperature, the advice is only relevant if the upset stomach was for less than 48hrs with no yellow or black poo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top