Hi,
I have a GS pup who is 7 Months old. I have read all of the other posts, but, my pups symptoms are different.

He has soft pudding stools to diarrhea. I have had this problem since I got him. If I can limit his water the better the stools. He does not vomit. He is growing, eating, and acting normal except for the stools.

I have him on TOW kibble, changed from Foster and Smith months ago. Mixed in cooked rice with canned/kibble mix. No permanent change in stools. I have taken him to the vet and had his blood and stools tested. Everything is fine.

I have found a really good vet. I will call him tomorrow and seek his advice. I am thinking that since Gardia is so hard to test for, it may be the issue. He has also found some cat crap to eat around my property. I have gotten rid of these outdoor litter boxes by mixing in dirt with the sandy soil and put cayenne pepper on them to discourage the behavior. I got that nipped in the bud, I hope.

I talked to the vet about the problem (before I found the cat crap problem) and he told me the dog has an issue with water and to limit the pups water and he should grow out of it. This pup is smart. He will dig holes to catch water, drink from the sprinklers, find a toilet lid up, etc, so limiting his water is a challenge.

He seems to love water. He loves swimming in the lake, the Ocean, fighting the sprinklers, etc. If he hasn't had a drink for a while after working him, he comes in and lays down with the bowl between his legs and drinks like a slob. Water everywhere, always. Whenever he is bored, he seems to go take a drink.

I don't understand why he doesn't just pee a lot if he drinks a lot instead of having a loose stool. Comments....

Is this something some puppies go through and grow out of given normal circumstances? Maybe stay with rice, use pumpkin?

Regards,
Ken

Hi Ken,
My expertise is limited (aka non-existant)but two thoughts came to mind when I read your post. Does he swim in the ocean daily? Salt water seems to go through a lot of dogs (mine included). And could you possibly be overfeeding him?

I'd have more suggestions if you could post a picture. Thats a big lie; but who doesn't love puppy pictures?

Ask the vet about a 5 day course of Panacur. I've seen that clear up quite a few unexplained cased of loose stool.

He doesn't go in the ocean daily, but once a week in the lake at least. He isn't overfed. I see the loose stools always after swimming in the lake, where I think he takes in a lot of water. I have reduced his water availability at home in the bowl. He seems to have started to relax his water drinking lately, as the bowl still has some in at the end of the day and I only fill it halfway now. He is a much more secure pup now at 7 months and seems to be outgrowing this with exceptions being when he is really excited. In the beginning he would go through 4 bowls of water a day until the vet told me to limit him.

I have read Eds stuff and have the DVD and haven't seen logs yet, although I do not see every stool. Since I have two dogs, I do not know who's is who's and I am disabled, so the dogs use a dog door and come and go outside as they wish. It is a fenced in 1/2 acre for them.

Two days ago I took him to a friends house for some dog socialization and he acted like a puppy still and every time he was really excited and didn't know what to do, he would hit the water bowl. Just seems like a comfort thing for him, and I was wondering if anyone had this kind of experience. I will call the vet again and ask about the Panacur. I was wondering if he will out grow this. The vet seems to think so. I just can't understand why he doesn't pee it out instead of the other.

I agree with Betty, discuss using Panacur with your vet. It is 1 gram per 10 lbs of body weight. We worm our dogs with it and do it once a day for three days and then again in two weeks once a day for three days. Panacur's active ingredient is fenbendazole and has been shown to be effective against worms and parasites, including giardia.

http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/pbs/zoonoses/gik9fel/giardia.html
"Fenbendazole (e.g., Panacur® or Drontal-Plus® now appears to be the drug of choice. Used in dogs and cats at 50 mg/kg for 3 (-5) days, fenbendazole has been shown to be completely effective in eliminating experimental Giardia infections, and with only mild vomiting/diarrhea as potential side effects. "

Again, I would talk to your vet before using anything on your dog and if they think panacur is appropriate, you can find it online or your vet can give it to you.

I have also treated giardia successfully with Flagyl (Metronidazole), and at the least your vet can prescribe this, but if it is worms or something else, Panacur will cover it all.

Don't forget about probiotics either. My dogs get an additional sprinkling of probiotics or yogurt (Plain, fat free) at each meal. This will help build up the good bacteria in his gut and defend against the bad stuff, which may take care of the diarrhea altogether. However, if he does have a worm or parasite infestation, your vet will probably find it necessary to give metronidazole or Panacur.

Edited by Keith Kaplan (07/19/2011 11:56 AM)
Edit reason: additional info.

Thanks. I have ruled out parasites with a stool sample, but Giardia is hard to test for, I have read in Ed's articles. I have Metronidazole here, but do not know the dosing for that. I am waiting for a call back from the vet. I have used yogurt in his food occasionally but not everyday.

I finally found a really good vet, Father and son team. What a difference from some of the hack job money grabbers I have visited before I found this one. I am sure we will get to the bottom of this.

It may just be too much water as he has told me before. The pup has started to calm down with the water intake issue at home. He is starting to mature at 7 months, and I can really tell the difference. Ed's DVDs are a blessing in helping you to understand what to expect. This board also.

The vet may want me to wait some more. If he wants a stool sample, I will take him down to the vet to get a sample from the dog, as I have read in Ed's articles on this, to make sure he does not have Giardia.

I mainly was hoping to find someone else that had a water loving pup like mine that has been through this, that could offer me their experience.

Regards,
Ken

I have a dog that will guzzle a large bowl of water at a time and has no stool issues, he does pee a ton . Dogs need water to live, just like us, and I have had dogs that love water and have never had this issue. There are however other issues with too much water consumption at one time, such as bloat.

Maybe others have had this problem with too much water consumption and diarrhea, but I have not.

You did mention he likes to swim in lakes and oceans. Like Sheila said, salt water will give them the "squirts" and lake and ocean water contain giardia and other parasites. I have one dog that swims in our salt water pool and drinks it, but does not have issues, mainly becuase there are no parasites, and he gets fresh water as well. Our vet said as long as that is not his only source of water it is fine. Since your dog has had this for awhile, I think the vet will agree treatment with metro or Panacur is called for, but wait for them to tell you to go ahead and the dosing on metro. Is he having bowel movements more frequently? I caught Giardia from one of my dogs a long time ago and I can tell you it was not pleasant. They treated me with Flagyl as well, but I can tell you frequency was issue for me and my dog.

Thanks all. The vet told me 500mg of metro 2x a day for a week. Hope that takes care of that. I didn't know you could catch it from your dog! Good thing I am not one of those puppy kissers.

Regards,
Ken

Good to hear. I think it was more that I wasn't careful to wash my hands thoroughly after cleaning up after her and petting her. Lesson learned...Giardia sheds their eggs in the stool and if that gets on the dog then just petting the dog could transfer it to your mouth, so be careful to wash up thoroughly after cleaning up and playing with him.

Edited by Keith Kaplan (07/19/2011 05:30 PM)
Edit reason: additional info.

I'm pretty sure my pup gave me Giardia. I was sick for a few weeks. It was easy for our vet to test for. Is that what your puppy has?