Hello, my 5 mon old pup has had loose stool on a semi regular basis. Sometimes its normal but when its loose and sometimes she does it inside, its mucousy if that makes sense, gooey almost...Her previous owners said she needed one more set of worming so we did panacur. Last dose was today. She is forever grabbing things and eating them on walks, sticks and grass mostly, before I can stop her. She has vomited a few times too, either bile or her full dinner, so maybe eats too fast or been too long since a last feed. She has pooped in her crate but hard to tell consistency when its smeared allover

How long has she had the loose stool? How often has she vomited? And when she vomits is it food or bile? Was a fecal done to determine if she had worms or did the breeders just assume she was wormy? Others will have different opinions but in all honesty if I had a dog that had recurrent diarrhea for more than a couple of days I would have a vet eval done as well as a fecal for worms, and possibly a fecal culture to see if she might have a gi infection. The vomiting with diarrhea is concerning to me and makes me suspect something more than worms may be going on. And I'd absolutely want a vet to look at her. I absolutely, positively, would NOT ever let her pick up and eat random stuff off the ground, that is a great way to ensure she does have a gi issue, remember anything she swallows has to go through the entire gi system before it makes it out, so bacteria, viruses, indigestable items than can perforate or cause intestinal blockage, etc are all concerns I'd be worried about if my dog was picking stuff up off the ground. And its not a matter of if she will pick up something that will cause her harm, its a matter of when if she's allowed to continue.
She is a five month old, and pups just like babies explore with their mouths, another possibility is that if her tummy is really bothering her she may be eating anything she thinks is edible in an effort to soothe it, this is sometimes one of the reasons dogs eat grass. What type of food are you feeding her?

When you take her for walks until she understands she can't eat random stuff off the ground I would make every effort to scan the ground ahead of her, with my own dogs this is probably one of the earliest things I teach; you can't eat anything unless I say its ok, and never, ever anything you "find" ever.

I would consider giving your pup some yogurt with active cultures for a bit, her gi flora is probably off from the diarrhea and this will help get it back on track, probiotics can be also be given but I find yogurt is the easiest, quickest, and cheapest.

Additionally, I also don't allow my dogs to drink out of any puddles or water sources with two exceptions, a puddle on the sidewalk immediately after a fresh rain, and I look at the puddle to ensure it is clean, and my town has a spring water source, and I know the town tests the water regularly. Sorry for the long reply.

Edited by Jodi Moen (10/12/2013 02:58 AM)
Edit reason: add

Oh and forgot to say that if everything checks out physically, stress can be a huge cause of loose stool and vomiting.

In a puppy eating junk can contribute to loose stools--but for most dogs that's one or two bad BMs and then we are on the mend. Constant intermittent loose stools=parasites (worms, coccidia or Giardia) OR the diet doesn't agree with the dog, like too much food, too rich a food, too big a meal, this sort of thing.
If the poops are icky for a week or so post Panacur I'd consider some Flagyl or Albon.

thanks, she is on raw, maybe I am feeding too much coz shes a tad pudgy. She had her first puppy checkup at the vet, he said it sounds like coccidia. She will have loose stool then a good stool. When she vomits it was usually her meal but sometimes its bile, but then I just remembered Im only feeding 2x and puppies need 3x isn't that correct?? Its been 7 yrs since ive had a puppy, maybe she needs 3x? I am trying to get ahold of her vet record but previous owners have not got back to me. They said she had all her puppy shots so hopefully that's honest. Yes I will definitely go get some yogurt to add!

I will work on her not picking up stuff, it freaks me out coz there have been poisonings in the past in the area. I definitely do not want her eating things unless I say ok. I cant really help her drinking gross water unless I keep her out of the ocean and I desperately want a water dog this time around so want her to want to go in there..

Jodi we did not get her from a breeder, her previous owners did. They got in over their heads with a mal pup and were selling her on craigslist. She has only been with us a month. I have been trying to get ahold of old owners for vet records and breeders papers but no response yet. I have no idea what her lineage is or if she has health tests on parents and all that good stuff. We were actually looking at malinois rescues for an adult dog when she popped up locally. I know craigslist is not the best place to get a dog but I've never seen a malinois pop up locally ever that was good with cats and dogs and I scour cl and petfinder all the time even when im not looking to get a dog.

In my experience it does little damage to let a dog eat what it finds around EXCEPT FOR ANTIFREEZE and they will in fact learn to be selective in their choices, learn for themselves. She will learn not to drink seawater. An earthworm can be taught food aversion.

If your vet thinks a treatment for coccidia is in order based on clinical signs I'd strongly consider that.

Hi Cat, nice to meet you, well in this case craigslist was absolutely the best place for you to be looking for a dog
Hopefully you'll get her records.

Hopefully the poisonings are a thing of the past, we had someone putting out bad stuff in my area a few years back, then we had some weird algea thing in ponds that killed a few dogs so I'm super over protective. It sounds like your pup ( what is her name?) is lucky to have found you.

Thx Jodi, the worst is when they target off-leash areas where dogs are supposed to feel safe to roam freely. We feel pretty lucky to have found her, seemed like fate, though I will say the dream of owning a malinois and the reality are vastly different, nothing could've prepared me and I consider myself a fairly dog savvy person She is settling in much better now though then the first week, thank goodness. My whole routine and schedule revolve around her now, I feel like I just had a kid lol