Soft stools in new puppy

[xTinkerbell]

Sorry it’s rather tmi but I’m a first time puppy owner and a little worried.

We’ve had our 9 week old puppy a week ago. There was basically no advice from feeding from the breeder aside from the brand who basically put out a jug for 11 pups and just fed more if they seemed hungry. We had to play a bit of a guessing game and I feel awful but I think for the first 3/4 days we may have been underfeeding. In the garden she kept trying to eat stones, grass, dirt everything. Wednesday I thought she swallowed a stone, called vet who said to keep an eye and see if it passed which it did. We also upped her food and the obsessive eating in the garden has stopped since then.

However, now these last 2 days her stools have been soft. Not diarrhoea but soft. Could this simply be her body getting used to the increase in food? Not sure if increasing food would do that or not...

I know that no one can tell me for sure but she’s otherwise in good form. Sleeps fine, doesn’t seem sore or uncomfortable, active, eats and drinks fine. We do have a nutrition consultation with the Vetinary nurse on Monday and if it’s not improved I’ll bring it up then but I thought I would seek out some advice in the meantime just to see if it could simply be the food or not...

Please go easy on me. I’m a worried new puppy owner who was called stupid and torn apart for asking this on another forum 🙈

 

[Cinnamontoast]

What food is she on? In lizards, they’ll eat stones if they’re lacking calcium. In puppies, they’re generally just total pitas and put everything in their mouths like babies. I had to watch mine like a hawk for this, slugs were also very tasty.

Check out her current food on this link: https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory and maybe change what you’re giving-slightly way so as not to upset her tummy.

A change of water may have made things worse, you’re meant to ask the breeder for a few litres, although few people do.

You might want to consider feeding raw food, there are lots of Facebook groups to help. I know it sounds scary, but if my lot have runny poo, I just up the bone content and add natural yoghurt.

Have you taken her for a vet check yet? If the runny poo continues, take a sample to the vet and ask them to check for giardia.

Keep asking questions, no question is stupid when you don’t know the answer.

 

[xTinkerbell]

She's on Step up to Naturals. Yeah I thought it was a bit like babies with the putting everything in their mouths. She was just so obsessive about it which had me worried but since we've fed her more it seems to be more the usual exploring things like a baby so I'm the same way with watching like a hawk. She had a lick at a slug the other day.

Thank you for that link. That actually seems to suggest a little more than what we're giving but it isn't too far off.

She had a vet check on Monday but we weren't having this problem then. If it continues over the weekend I'll call the vet and get in to see them.

Thanks for your help

 

[CorvusCorax]

Might just be extra food she's not used to. Heat and exertion could do it too.
Mine are almost 6 and almost 8 and would have soft poos in all three of those scenarios.
The garden grazing might just be typical puppy silliness.
What breed is she?

 

[Equi]

How many times a day is she being fed? What type of dog?

 

[AmyMay]

Doesn't look to be a great food
Plenty of fillers which will give them soft stools.

What breed and how many times a day are you feeding?

 

[xTinkerbell]

She’s a labradoodle. Breeder said she was fed three times a day but after reading a lot online I saw that up to 12 weeks should be 4 times a day so I divided it up into 4 meals today.

Ah really? I didn’t know that about the food though I have been reading about brands to look at switching her. This is the food she was on when we got her. I just feel a bit clueless with her being my first pup.

 

[Equi]

Its a midline food. If you can afford better food, do it, but its probably not the reason shes got loose stools. The general rule is 4 times a day but you have to go by the dog. More food means more need to poo and sometimes i think that makes it less digested thus runnier. But its only been two days, shes maybe just getting used to the change as is her digestive system.

 

[JennBags]

Generally if they've got soft stools it's because they're being fed too much. My puppy keeps trying to eat stones, wood, everything, that's what puppies do, it's not necessarily indicative of being hungry or needing something else in their diet. Read the guidelines on the packaging and weigh every meal to make sure you're feeding the right amount. Get a really good quality puppy food such as Canagan, Simply, Barking Heads, Arden Grange etc. And don't let them in the garden unsupervised or they are going to eat things they shouldn't.

 

[Clodagh]

As she is a cross of breeds that were bred to carry things, she will always want something in her mouth. If she is picking up stones and things you need to be able to get them off her without her being possesive so I would make sure you have plenty of toys for her around that she can carry and you can distract and replace the unwanted item. Not your question I know, but just a thought.

 

[xTinkerbell]

Thanks Clodagh, she has loads of toys which is maybe why she's so good in the house but murder in the garden. I've left some toys out there now and that's definitely made a difference. So I appreciate the advice

JennBags, I suppose that's my worry. The back of the bag has a huge range based on expected adult size. I can't remember offhand but it's around 200g of a difference e.g. 300-500g (though that's not the correct figures). She's never in the garden unsupervised and I take everything off she gets a grip on. The night with the stone it was dark, our outside light had blown, I knew she had it and was struggling to get it off her because I couldn't see. I had myself in a right state over it but every other time I've managed to get things from her and now she's not going for things as much.

We probably will look at changing her food, we had just thought it was better to continue with what she was used to while she settled rather than making another big change. We got a free bag of Optistart, Pro Purina from our vets because we took out a puppy package that included in which is in my cupboard atm. I'll have a look into that but I'm happy to just buy another bag of a different brand if I think it'd be better.

Anyway, stools do seem firmer today. Still maybe a little soft but I'll keep an eye on her.

 

[TheresaW]

Luna’s were very soft when we first got her. She was on pedigree, which is what she was on at the breeders. We soon changed her off that onto Wainwrights grain free, and then at around 6 months, we switched to Millie’s Wolfheart and she’s been fine ever since.

Everything goes in her mouth when she’s in the garden, or we are out and about. I have to be really on the ball with her. She went through a period of eating slugs abs snails, so have to make sure she’s up to date with worming.

 

[splashgirl45]

just be careful if you are going to change her food because that could make her worse., the best thing to do is add a little of the new food to each meal but make sure you also give her a little bit less of the original food. we also need pictures of the new girl please....

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Avoid anything by Purina, check that link I posted.

 

[SusieT]

Dont feed a puppy with already loose stools raw food.
Dont change its diet again.
Get it checked by a vet to ensure no underlying problems - it probably needs time and a stable diet to settle and possibly some pro biotics.
You can worry about changing its food when tummy improves- bearing in mind if its eating everything and anything in the garden any of those could have caused a tummy upset.
ps- a vet who advised someone on the phone to wait and see without examinng pup ref eating stones would not be my top choice for going to long term..

 

[kimberleigh]

If you can afford a change of food I would do that - what she is on isnt brilliant to be honest and as the saying goes, you get out what you put in 🙈

If a food contains a lot of fillers (like oats/rice/barley) and the first ingredient isnt fresh meat then it can definitely be improved upon.

I have a few dogs, including what I bought as a cockapoo but she is very tall so perhaps a standard poodle was used, and she does have a sensitive tum. Her skin flares up if she gets into anything with grain (such as horse food!) She is 50/50 raw fed along with Akela dry kibble. I've fed countless different brands over the years and Akela is by far superior to anything else. It isnt cheap at around 40 quid for 10kg but you only need to feed a very small amount in comparison to cheaper brands.

Edited to add, I dont think changing their food does any harm whatsoever and every time a new pup arrives it goes straight onto the diet I feed cold turkey if you'll excuse the pun, without any gradual change over at all. Never have a single issue with upset tums which only serves to reassure me that what I feed is always preferable digestive wise to what they've been on previously! My pups tend to go for 2 small, solid poops per day and the adults are the same but only go once

 

[Blazingsaddles]

Did the breeder worm the pups & if so, what with?

 

[oldie48]

If you do decide to change the food, do have a look at Millie's Wolfheart. I am very impressed with it and it's not stupidly expensive. I changed our BT onto it as I couldn't find anything that he'd eat reliably and he now eats, poo is fine and weight is spot on. My daughter's Viz has also gone onto it and although she had been feeding a very expensive brand, her dog didn't eat up and was a bit poor looking with large loose stools, on MW he's a different dog and looks great. I don't have any connections with MW but I would recommend it to anyone with a dog.

 

[Clodagh]

If you do decide to change the food, do have a look at Millie's Wolfheart. I am very impressed with it and it's not stupidly expensive. I changed our BT onto it as I couldn't find anything that he'd eat reliably and he now eats, poo is fine and weight is spot on. My daughter's Viz has also gone onto it and although she had been feeding a very expensive brand, her dog didn't eat up and was a bit poor looking with large loose stools, on MW he's a different dog and looks great. I don't have any connections with MW but I would recommend it to anyone with a dog.

Thistle has a lot to answer for! Mine are all on it too, I really rate it.
Agree with BS too about the worming, but your vet will advise (OP).

 

[TheresaW]

Thistle has a lot to answer for! Mine are all on it too, I really rate it.

Agree as well.

 

[xTinkerbell]

She seems to be fine now but we are still going to look at changing her food. That was always the plan anyway, we just aren't quite sure what to yet.

Splashgirl, thank you we will change her food slowly, adding a bit at a time. I'll post a few pictures of her for you tomorrow!

cinnamontoast, wow...I have just looked at that food on the link and will definitely be avoiding. Like I said, we'd gotten the bag free from vets with our package and I'd stuck it in the cupboard for the moment. Hadn't looked at anything beyond the price and obviously wouldn't have given her it without researching first but I don't need to do that now.

pups were wormed with advocate.

I will have a look at Millie's.

Thank you for all your help, my anxiety means I worry about 100x more than any other new puppy owner so it's good to have some people to advise without having a go which is what happened when I asked elsewhere.

 

[twiggy2]

Advocate does not cover tapeworm

 

[xTinkerbell]

Hmm I’ll give my vet a call. He did look at her record and just mentioned when she would need wormed and flea treated next but I’ll check.

I do think she’s okay though

 

[Pearlsasinger]

?????

What has that got to do with OP's question, which is over 2 yrs old?

 

[Clodagh]

?????

What has that got to do with OP's question, which is over 2 yrs old?

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