How many days has it been on 1 tsp each?

About 4 days on pumpkin and 3 with coconut added.

I took her out after finding the ball and she pooped some more. It wasn't orange in color.

I feed her in the am around 9 and again between 5 and 6 at night. I use the c/p each time.

"I took her out after finding the ball and she pooped some more. It wasn't orange in color."

This probably says she's not taken out quite often enough (or at the right time) with the increase in bulk. That is, she needed to go and a little snuck out, rather than a little left in there after a potty.

Did you do the "log" (journal)?

QUOTE:
I would consider manipulating the poop time via mealtime changes (to enable me to be available for walking the dog at a more doable poop time). This will probably require a journal for a week or two to get a clear view of the pattern.

With the increase in bulk, there will almost certainly be a creeping up of the time she needs to go out.

Too often is a lot better than too infrequently, and IME, this means on a leash, with brisk walking.

Peristalsis is very connected to exercise. (One of my dogs will run back and forth outside on his own when he "almost" has to go to get things moving.)

All of this can increase in importance as the dog ages and the sphincter tone declines a bit.

I hope I'm answering what you're asking. I'm guessing she doesn't need an increase in bulk yet as much as a re-shuffle of her poop outings and the brisk walking involved.

Sounds like a lot of detail, but typing it takes longer than doing it. (I've had many middle-age and senior dogs. )

Most poodles will fetch. I'd recommend a rousing game of fetch with lots of running in the back yard. I think she needs a lot more exercise, running, not walking.

My italian greyhound does this on cold days in winter when she's trying her best to not go out at all. It never happens in summer.

That's a really good idea. One of mine needs brisk leash-walking, where we are all kind of trotting, but you are absolutely right, of course: one of mine often needs to run.

OK, you girls really are trying hard to get this 71 yr. old grandma off her duff and get the exercise she and her dog needs!

She doesn't play fetch...she plays keep away! That gives me more exercise than it gives her! You got me and my husband out of the house tonight to walk around our great little lake here in Black Mountain. However, there was wasn't any jogging going on. We will try to do this more often.

I haven't done the log. I started, but didn't follow through. We are going on vacation right after Thanksgiving and she will be staying with my daughter. I'll get serious when we get back.

No more balls since that last one yesterday.

Thanks again!

Teaching her to retrieve (fetch) is a good goal!

I will quote Bob Scott (of this board) again: "The retrieve is not a matter of throwing the item and hoping for the best."

We can teach you how to back-chain the simple fetch/retrieve. (Back-chain just means teaching each step in the exercise separately, starting with the last one. Of course, any exercise/command with more than one simple step needs to be taught in separate links, and back-chaining has other advantages that will just clutter up the thread at this point. LOL)


PS
And let me add that having taught fetch, one can actually stand in one spot (or even sit in a lawn chair) to toss the fetch item.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (11/24/2011 10:59 AM)
Edit reason: PS

She is so smart about some things that I'm sure she can learn to fetch when I learn what to teach her. We often do it in the living room, and she is doing it better. She knows "leave it" and will do that with her toy, but not always close enough for me to get it.

Playing fetch from a lawn chair sounds like just my speed!
Where should I look for the steps in the back-chain?

I also figure this is a different thread than poop balls.

 Quote: Barbara Reed

She is so smart about some things that I'm sure she can learn to fetch when I learn what to teach her. We often do it in the living room, and she is doing it better. She knows "leave it" and will do that with her toy, but not always close enough for me to get it.

Playing fetch from a lawn chair sounds like just my speed!
Where should I look for the steps in the back-chain?

I also figure this is a different thread than poop balls.

See http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=31383&page=1#350040

And you're right; we'll keep this the Poop Ball Thread.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

 Quote: Barbara Reed

I also figure this is a different thread than poop balls.

And you're right; we'll keep this the Poop Ball Thread.

Sorry, no help but oh my, those two statements are soooo funny, just giggling away here.