Dog pooping a lot, and often. Feeding high quality food not in large amounts?

Question

I have a 6 month old Papilon who poops a lot and often. More times than not I either come home to a lot of poop everywhere or wake up to a lot of poop everywhere. I feed him Wellness brand wet and dry. I give him about 2 ounces of wet in the morning with about 1/3 cup of dry. This is both according to the label on the package. He eats the wet almost right away but I don't see he eat the dry in the morning and he just nibbles on the dry throughout the day and never finishes the entire 1/3 cup. I let him nibble on that 1/3 cup of dry throughout the day because I have to leave him around 8am and can't get back till after 5. I also have no one to come check in on him. Rarely I have someone to babysit all day. At night I don't give him any more wet, just healthy treats like boiled chicken and Zuke's natural treats. I don't know if leaving the dry down all day makes him poop a lot and often but since I am gone all day I'm afraid he would be starving. As soon as I wake up I take him outside and then take him out again before I leave for work but more times than not he pooped before I even got up- which is around 7/7:30. He doesn't poop within a short time of eating like most web sites say he would do. I take him out as soon as I get home (either he has already pooped on the floor or poops when I take him out) and then I take him out frequently till I go to bed. Yesterday he pooped when I got home and then again 20 minutes later. I couldn't get him to poop before bed, but then I woke up to poop on the floor. The vet told me he is a good weight and the food I buy I was told is top notch. Any advice would be great.

Answer 1

there may be something in the food he's allergic to- just because the food is of good quality, according to the vet, doesn't mean it might not upset his stomach.

or, he might not understand how to hold it, or that he should be holding it. by 6 months he should be able to start holding his bowels.



have you tried crate training the dog?

also, stop feeding the wet food, and only feed the amount it says on the package. for a while, don't give him any extra treats- see how that goes. wet food and extra treats can often cause extra bowel movements, and when you are training, just take the kibble out of his daily ration and use that. try it for a while, i bet it will help.

Answer 2

Take the amounts listed on bags with a grain of salt. (I actually don't even read them) It's a good starting point but watch your dog, feed your dog to a healthy weight. Little thin- feed more, little fat- feed less. And since he's young he will change as he grows. If he growth spurts he might need a bit more. I was not happy with Blue Buffalo when I tried it. It may not be the food for your dog, try some other foods.

Answer 3

My dog hurt her back and she started to have the same problems of going too much and sometimes even in the middle of the night. This is what I learned. Your dog is healthy, but that schedule is inconvenient. Dogs only need two meal per day. If you suspect allergies, you can buy him non grain food, always better for them. He won't starve all day if he doesn't eat more, so don't worry, don't leave his dry food for snacking. Balance his two meals, mostly dry food with a bit of wet food, to make his stool easy to pass. Try to feed him as soon as you get home, so he'll have his dinner early enough to have time to activate his vowel before bed. After dinner, you may give him a treat, but remember two things: the amount of food he eats will affect the amount of vowel movements, and also eating later will keep his digestive system working throughout the night, and he can gift you with an extra vowel movement in the middle of the night.

I hope this may help. Good luck to you and your pup.

Answer 4

One: No wet food.

Two: Stop the daily treats. Treats are treats. Only once in awhile.

Three: Kennel train him.

Four: The food may be too rich. Wellness is very good but not all dogs can handle the fiber.

Five: Consider changing to a different food but do it slowly.

Six: Don't free feed. Leaving the bowl down encourages grazing.