I have question about puppy pooh.

Our 4 month old Malinois has had this since we picked her up over a week ago. It comes out first perfect and at the end it like pudding, really soft wet pudding. We had her into the vet within the first 24 hours of getting her and the stool sample tested normal.

We mixed her old food with the new and she had this even with the old. I was hoping it was just the old food. Now she is completely on an EVO diet.

Tomorrow I am going to check with the vet and see what he says. I just wanted to throw it out there to get some additional input, hope everything is ok.

This happens to my dog, who has typical, firm raw diet poop. The "finale" is always much softer. I don't know why this happens but since he's healthy and the majority of stool is firm, I haven't worried too much about it.

I'll be interested to hear what your vet says.

Sarah, our vet said to give it another week. Diet change over, trips in the car and create training my be stress factors causing the softness.

I'll keep you posted.

For reference sake as it might be a benefit.....

I'm feeding kibble for the time being. My GSD pup is 5.5 months old. Raw is the way to go but unemployment and stress are factors why I'm waiting for the switch. My breeder rec'd Nutro and she did really good on that, stool was firm, almost always. After I have worked her a little bit, she'll have to go again, and that stool is exactly like what you described, firm in the beginning then gradually soft. This only happens after she has exercised or played. I switched to Wellness (gradually, over a 2 week period) and the stool was always like what you described regardless of activity. She gets yogurt, eggs, salmon oil, Vitamin E, Peanut Butter to supplement but her digestive system just didn't respond as well to Wellness food. I switched her back to Nutro and the stool is nice and firm again, and much less stink.

It's good you are concerned as I think most people here analyze pooh and want to make sure these loved ones are 100% OK. If you've only had the dog a week, it may still be adjusting to everything. If it's 100% soft all the time, that would cause alarm bells for me and I'd be at the vet getting a stool sample. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply Tommy. Sorry to hear about your unemployment... I know what you are going through. I have been in and out of work since '03 thanks to a merger and 9/11 my career is a disaster. I wish you the best of luck getting you feet back on the ground.

Our breeder also recommended Nutro and was feeding her Marksmen when we picked her up.

If it does not clear up in a few more days I will give Nutro a try. Here I am thinking EVO would be the best way to go but that may not be the case after all. Looking at the treats I have been giving them I noticed that one of the Chicken Jerky products needed to be in fridge after opening. This may also be the cause because our Shepherd who has a very sound stomach is showing signs of real soft stool now. I hope that was the problem and a bug!


Poop I believe can say a lot about the dogs health.

 Quote:

Poop I believe can say a lot about the dogs health.

Gives new meaning to the term "Little Shit"

No seriously, you are correct, it does say a lot about their health. It can be a first indication of many things.
But if you know what to look for, you can almost guess what is going on. Example: the other night I gave some beef liver to my two and It must have been too much for the one, and he had as soft stool. But if you are feeding a good kibble but have changed it recently, I would be suspect of just the changing of brands. That for sure can give you soft stools if the change was either not agreeing with the dog or too quick a change.
Also, you mentioned the stress factor, and that too can be a huge factor. I would do exactly what you are doing and give it a couple more days to see if it resolves itself. My guess is it will.

To the O.P.,

Did you ease into the all-new food with a couple of small meals?

Also, is there a chance of overfeeding now, on the new food?

In a healthy dog, here are the persistent soft-poop problem triggers we read/hear most often by far: Too much food per meal or just too much food on a new diet; too much fat too soon (on raw) or too much organ meat too soon (raw).

I'd try a half-size meal just to see -- to have a new line of inquiry.

But also, with this persisting over two foods, I'd be asking about a fecal re-do.

Re-reading, I see that I might be confused. Is it liquid or pudding or formed-but-soft at the end?

 Quote: Rick Massimi

Our breeder also recommended Nutro and was feeding her Marksmen when we picked her up.

If it does not clear up in a few more days I will give Nutro a try. Here I am thinking EVO would be the best way to go but that may not be the case after all.

EVO is a much better food than Nutro, IMO. I will hypothesize that the reason a dog may have a firmer stool on Nutro is because of the grain factor. Dogs digest grains (carbs) much more slowly that meat (protein). A firm poop on Nutro doesn't mean it's better nutritionally than EVO (or another grain-free kibble)

If you switched from a kibble with grain to EVO, you need to keep in mind that you will feed less EVO, because it is nutritionally denser.

Do what Connie suggests and try a couple of days of 1/2 portions to see if that firms the stool up. You can also add a tablespoon per day of plain yogurt to add some beneficial bacteria to your pup's gut...

 Quote: sarah morris

This happens to my dog, who has typical, firm raw diet poop. The "finale" is always much softer. I don't know why this happens but since he's healthy and the majority of stool is firm, I haven't worried too much about it.

I'll be interested to hear what your vet says.

Sarah, an update to the poop issues. She is doing better now, it has turned into a trial and error event. For both her and me... see I have Celiac Disease which means I am allergic gluten (wheat, barley, rye and malt) and 85% if not more all have some form of gluten which will make me sick! UHG! Anyway we have tried s few different foods, EVO Red Meat, EVO Chicken, and now FROMM Surf and Turf. Over the next couple of days we are going to Wellness and see how that does because there is a slightly higher protein value.

It seemed as though there is something in EVO that was giving her issues. Whether it is because she's a puppy and it is too rich for her or something outright is not agreeing with her. Never the less FROMM is doing well with her. And the poops all day long are consistent and I hope this helps.