Since adding dietary fiber to humans daily regimen is such a good thing, does the same apply to dogs? If so, any suggestions on the best way to go about it.

One of my dogs has difficulties going and it appears he does not have enough fiber in his diet.

Dave, what do you feed your dogs?

Hi Dave,

I have this problem with my female. What do you feed the dog?

My dog eats kibble. I have started to add water to her kibble and 2 large spoonfuls of plain pumpkin to her food. It has helped a little. Salmon oil with Vitamin E has made all the other dogs go more often.

i agree with looking at how much water he's getting. in my experience, if i have a constipated animal, i'll give sub-q fluids before a laxative, and usually, that fixes the problem up.

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

in my experience, if i have a constipated animal, i'll give sub-q fluids before a laxative, and usually, that fixes the problem up.

How are you doing this? Sub-q is under the skin.

yup, that's how i do it.

....i just realized that i maybe made it sound like i give sub-q fluids rather than, say, water, which is not the case at all.

i was just trying to illustrate the importance of hydration in regular bowel movements, in that if one of my animals has an issue, it can usually be fixed w/extra fluids, rather than chemicals/laxatives.

(i have an older cat w/CRF among other things who gets constipated on occasion, and sometimes the rabbits have their guts slow down a bit, in which case, i turn to fluids before other fixes which i don't really like)

so for ongoing management, ensuring his dog is getting enough water, especially if it's on a kibble diet, will probably be helpful. if i made it sound like i thought he should start giving sub-q regularly (ETA: or at all), my apologies....just was trying to say that in my experience, dehydration and constipation go hand-in-hand. my understanding is most laxatives (not toniclax-type, but laxative laxatives) work by drawing fluid into the bowel/intestine and that's at least part of what makes laxatives help get things moving again.

Yeah you're right about that. My female who is constipated all the time, definitely does not drink enough water. That's why I started adding some to her kibble. When that didn't help much, I started giving her the pumpkin. It has helped a little but I think I might try baiting her water; although I can't find salt-free broth (just low-salt) so that will not be a long-term option for me.

When I can afford it, she will be switching to canned dog food and hopefully raw at some point (can't afford that at all right now though).

There is water available too him 24/7. It gets changed at least twice a day. I might try always using cold, filtered water. They both seem to like that better anyway. After its been refrigerated, the chlorine disapates and they are much more receptive to it.

They both eat Life Plus dog food, I buy it at the Whole Foods grocery store which is a chain that specializes in organic food.

The food is very high quality.

When my doctor advised me to add daily fiber to my diet, he said stay away from laxatives as the body builds immunity to them.

The fiber supplement helps to ease bowel movements which is what my dog has problems with.

Is there any research concerning fiber in a dog's diet?

I think the comments here were meant to imply to try more water first (especially if the dog is on kibble/dry food). If your dog is like mine, he does not simply drink enough water on his own, even if it is fresh and always available.

One thing I just remembered - When I had my cat, he used to have a kitty water fountain that my dog liked to use too. I bought it because he had kidney failure, to encourage him to drink. He loved it and so did the dog. After the cat passed, I put his water fountain away. But I think I will bring it back out again now.

Here is the one I had for my cat, that my dog also used:
http://www.hagen.com/usa/cats/addinfo/catit_fountain.html

Here is the one for dogs:
http://www.hagen.com/dogitdrinkingfountain/eng/features/index.html

Anyway, if you try getting your dog to drink more water and it does'nt help, then, I would try adding fiber to his diet. Canned plain pumpkin (not pie mix) or plain psyllium/metamucil would help. But try hydration first.

 Quote: Angela Burrell

I think the comments here were meant to imply to try more water first (especially if the dog is on kibble/dry food). If your dog is like mine, he does not simply drink enough water on his own, even if it is fresh and always available.

yup. also, since fiber can draw water into the intestine, ensuring appropriate water consumption is probably a good idea if you're going to add more fiber to his diet.