Poo - how much is too much?!

[Karen]

I know everyone loves a poo discussion

Cassie does around 5 poos a day. Large and formed. They are usually at around 5am, 7am, 9 am, mid afternoon and 10pm. This seems a lot to me - especially the three early morning.

I am wondering if I should change her food. Is the poo volume contributing to restlessness, excitability etc? She is on Millie’s Wolfheart duck and veg which is 50:50 meat:carb. Less carb maybe?
Anyone found any benefits of raw or cooked vs kibble?
It may all be normal for a pup though.

 

[Jacqui-S]

I think puppies do poop more than older dogs. I think as long as they are formed they are fine.
Sometimes a lot of poo can indicate overfeeding but a better gauge is the sheet/blanket/duvet appearance (Im sure you are familiar with this?)
The Millies Wolfheart is a pretty sound dog food. My feeling about raw is that total raw is really complicated and needs a lot of research and can be hard to get the right balance. Recreational raw is more fun

 

[Sophiedoodle]

Anyone found any benefits of raw

I wouldn't feed raw as a puppy, unless it was a specific company with puppy raw. It's very difficult to ensure puppies get the right amounts of nutrition when feeding them raw. I know of someone who changed their dog from kibble to raw when they were about 10 weeks old... low and behold, the dog developed joint issues when they were just under a year old and this was more than likely due to not getting the right nutrition unfortunately!

 

[Selina27]

She is on Millie’s Wolfheart

I've arrived at Cassie's food which she is now on over the years so I won't go all through the path that lead to our current regime!

Our current regime being predominantly raw from Cotswold Raw Cotswold RAW | Nutritious Raw Dog Food | Order Online with Millies Wolfheart Countryside or Turkey and veg as a back up for running out or if we are away, or if someone else is feeding her.

Without a shadow of a doubt she does far more poo if she just has MW for a few days, quite a lot more, which has surprised me given that MW is generally top rated.

As opposed to hardly any just on raw, often only one small one in 24 hours. I sometimes have to think to myself has she been today?

As you will see if you look on their site it all comes in pre packed tubs with balanced nutrition, but it still is quite a commitment.

I am 100% convinced that CR is the best thing for her - she keeps the weight off without any fuss, is quite content between meals (give or take being a LAb!), she rarely has wind even if she has eaten something disgusting. And she looks amazing, with a sleek shiny coat - it's only the grey on her muzzle which gives her age away.
My local pet shop and dog training school have a qualified canine nutritionist who is very helpful. I personally wouldn't hesitate to start another dog or puppy on raw.

 

[Karen]

Sometimes a lot of poo can indicate overfeeding but a better gauge is the sheet/blanket/duvet appearance (Im sure you are familiar with this?)

I think has a blanket - she looks good to me. Video attached of her playing with my croc.

I wouldn't feed raw as a puppy, unless it was a specific company with puppy raw.

agree - if I did go with raw it would have to be a pre-made version - I would worry about not getting it right.

Our current regime being predominantly raw from Cotswold Raw Cotswold RAW | Nutritious Raw Dog Food | Order Online with Millies Wolfheart Countryside or Turkey and veg as a back up for running out or if we are away, or if someone else is feeding her.

Thanks! Good to know! I am open to raw pre-made but I currently use 80% of her kibble as training treats so would prefer kibble unless raw proved to be so much better. I think I might call Millie’s and ask their advice as a first step.

 

[Anne123]

Odin had a lot of poos when he was little. He was on kibble which he had from the breeder. He also drank a lot, about 1,5 liters a day. He was clearly hungry so he filles his tummy with water. He was very skinny according to the vet. And pooed everytime we let him out. We had to change kibble to gastro intestinal from royal canin. He did very well and the poos became less, until he was 4 moth on this gastro kibble. He had then again a lot of poo and it was 't well formed. We changed him again to the kibble he was on from the breeder. And again he had at first good poos and then not formed poo. We have him on proplan now the sensitive skin with salmon on which all our dogs have been and are. The poos are firm, 2 times a day and he is not hungry/drinking a lot. In 2 weeks time he will be 1 year old...

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

That is a lot of poo! Thanks @Jacqui-S for the ‘puppies poo more’ explanation - it’s been so long since I had a puppy that I honestly didn’t remember picking up so much poo.

Diet does make a massive difference. I fed raw for my first two Rottie boys as pups, long before any pre-made raw was available. Easiest poos in the world but it was a huge effort to prepare. Prepare the food that is, not the poo.

What Carbón has taught me about diet is that there’s a much wider range of diets that dogs can thrive with than I thought possible. Because of his medical conditions, he essentially had to go vegetarian a couple years ago. It took a while to get right (blood, urine and poo tests as we fiddled with what to feed him) but now it’s easy.

However HUGE poos compared to feeding raw or even just any diet with animal protein. Not sure why I’m rambling on, but maybe just that yeah - if you change the diet, the poos will change too.

 

[Selina27]

What Carbón has taught me about diet is that there’s a much wider range of diets that dogs can thrive with than I thought possible.

Yes, I guess that's true! Maybe because they evolved as scavengers?

However HUGE poos compared to feeding raw or even just any diet with animal protein.

I think the thing is that they just don't need carbohyrdrates and any stuff they don't need just gets poo'ed out or makes them fat. The preprepared raw that Cass (my Cass!) is on is 80% protein so there is very little in her diet to get excreted in poo.
I take my hat off to anyone who does raw from scratch, I know I couldn't make that commitment.

 

[edzbird]

I think the thing is that they just don't need carbohyrdrates and any stuff they don't need just gets poo'ed out or makes them fat.

Meg does humungous poos and stays skinny. She poos once or twice a day. Some days they are nice a solid, other days they are sloppy (today). There is no rhyme nor reason to the change in consitency, her diet doesn't change and we are very careful with titbits - she's had none for a couple of days, but usually only raw veg as I'm prepping our dinner, and still the sloop.

Coco, on the other hand, does little and often - maybe 4 times a day. He goes first thing, then again on a walk or shortly after, then a couple more later on. He's a poo machine. He puts weight on easily.

They are both on Skinners Duck & Rice, Meg's being topped with Wainwright's wet food, Coco's topped with cheap, Co-op tinned food.

Meg has a sensitive tum and can't eat chicken or beef. Thet both get a splash of Kefir and also some pumpkin powder - but not daily, maybe every 2 or 3 days.

Sorry for the ramble, I just like a good poo thread!

 

[Karen]

Thanks all - that’s very interesting. So in summary:
More carbs may equal more poo (eg, raw vs kibble)
BUT
All dogs are different and two dogs on the same food can have a very different ‘Poo profile’.
AND
Dogs can thrive on all sorts of food including veggie.
In typical fashion, the day after I posted the 5 poos a day question, Cassie decided that 2 poos a day were more than enough!

 

[edzbird]

In typical fashion, the day after I posted the 5 poos a day question, Cassie decided that 2 poos a day were more than enough!

That's so Dog