my dog poops a ton!

[DeesBalls]

this might be a stupid topic, but im just aksing out there to see-

I have a puppy, she is about 20 weeks old (guessing not sure excact) and she is a rottweiller - now i konw these dogs get big and will poop more than my yorkie ect... my concern is this-

I will let her out in the morning, she will go poop about 3-5 times, and then comes in the house and will do it almost instantly after doing it outside minuets earlier, ive tried to leave her out longer, and she still will, ive done the spanking and all that, crate training and that.

Im wondering if its something medical? i am scheduling to get her fixed here soon, so i was going to talk to the vet too.

It might be because of my scheduling as well, its not consistant at all, so maybe that is it?

I dont know, i know she is a puppy, and a large dog breed, so i know what comes with them, more poop and alot more of it, but none of my other dogs have went this much, even our Rott growing up,

thanks for any advice or concerns-

i am free fedding her (she comes and eats as she pleases) and i feed her Beniful.

[Minkness]

Dang it...I had a super long post for you then hit the back button instead if the enter button x.x

Sorry if this post isn't as nice...

1.Beniful is bad. Any food with lots if grains or byproduct will cause excessive waste, obesity, poor coat, poor health, ect. I feed the grain free Nurish by Rachel Ray and it's great for a good price and available at my walmart.

2. Free feeding is bad. More food means more waste as well, so you have too much bad food in your puppy's diet. Other than that, it can also lead to other behavioral issues. Beat way to feed a puppy is 2-3 meals a day and with an activity such as a slow bowl or a kong feeder that they have to push around to get the food. This helps with choking and bloat. Also, make sure that you feed the proper amount per day. This info is on the back of the package and goes by a weight scale.

3. Consistency is key. With a puppy, you want to get them out for a real walk 2-3 times a day. This isn't just for exersize, but for mental stimulus as well as digestive health. Try to keep the time as close to the same every day.

4. Crate training is an amazing way to help potty train your puppy. Be prepared to change the sizes however. The puppy should only have enough space to stand, turn, and lay down. They will not go where they sleep, but if the crate is bigger than the space they need to sleep, they will use it. For the first few months of crate training, the puppy should be in the crate whenever it is not otherwise occupied. So, if she's not walking, eating, or being played with, she should be in the crate. Time outside should also be limited. This trains her body, not just her mind, into the rhythm of when it's ok to go and when it isn't. Full crate training should be done for a minimum of 2 years to instill other positive behavioral habbits, but can be more relaxed after just a few months.

5. Now, I'm not against correcting a bad behavior with a physical touch, however, such corrections aren't needed and can be worse for the puppy. Corrections should be INSTANT and for a behavioral problem, not a physical one. So, biting, barking, pulling on the leash are good times to make a physical correction. But going on the floor isn't. It's either too late, or, you are trying to correct something the dog has no real control over. Not to mention it usually ends up with the dog just sneaking away to do it's business where you can't see it.

I have years of dog experience and am more than happy to help you and answer questions as best as I can. And yes, kn a budget. Not everything has to come as an expensive fix. The most important expense outside of vet care, should be the food you feed it. That's my opinion anyway. Also, stay away from things like rawhides and those rubbery chewbones meant for consumption like dentastix or whatever. While they do digest, they can leave a gummy film behind in the stomach and intestinal tract that may take years to cause complications. Working in a vet clinic for a while taught me ALOT about proper diet and habits. Beat chew product right now in my opinion are the Kong toys and the deer antlers. Soak them in some chicken broth and you got a very happy puppy chewing on the appropriate thing. =)

Sorry if I said some stuff you all ready know, just giving a 'fairly'basic over view of things that can add to digestive issues and such. And again, if you have questions I'm more than happy to answer them and chat with you. =)

[Pareeeee]

Beneful and free-feeding are your main problems. Beneful is one of the most unhealthy dog foods out there. See this article Is Purina's Beneful Dog Food Killing Dogs? (www.dogingtonpost.com/is-purinas-beneful-dog-food-killing-dogs/)

It also has 696 complaints and a one star rating on Consumer Affairs. (www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/beneful.html)

Any dog food that lists grains - and especially corn - in the first few ingredients is very unhealthy. Meats (not meat byproducts) should be the first things in the list. Corn is indigestible by dogs, hence all the pooping.

Here's a list of dog foods that should always be avoided: Bad Dog Food List (http://www.dogfoodscoop.com/bad-dog-food-list.html)
This website has some great dog food reviews and rankings, I suggest you browse through, it will help you a lot.

And how to choose a good one:
Top Dog Foods - Tips on How to Identify and Choose (http://www.dogfoodscoop.com/topdogfoods.html)

Hope I helped!

[fishingfool]

I agree about the food dogs need meat, protein, calcium and other vitamins much like we do i also agree with the crate training altho i do not agree with the its in the crate inless its eatting pooping or being played with i find that makes a hyperactive dog just when you can't keep an eye on your pup or when your not home and when you come home a quick walk arpund the block for some leash training and a unloading of built up poop should fix any problems you have

[Luthien]

Agreed with all of the above. I feed my dog a healthier diet with protein in it, it might be more expensive but it's better for them.

Feed once-twice a day, my boy gets sick if I give him 4 cups of food at once so he gets 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups at night. He poops once a day and that's with kidney problems

[DeesBalls]

Dang it...I had a super long post for you then hit the back button instead if the enter button x.x

Sorry if this post isn't as nice...

1.Beniful is bad. Any food with lots if grains or byproduct will cause excessive waste, obesity, poor coat, poor health, ect. I feed the grain free Nurish by Rachel Ray and it's great for a good price and available at my walmart.

2. Free feeding is bad. More food means more waste as well, so you have too much bad food in your puppy's diet. Other than that, it can also lead to other behavioral issues. Beat way to feed a puppy is 2-3 meals a day and with an activity such as a slow bowl or a kong feeder that they have to push around to get the food. This helps with choking and bloat. Also, make sure that you feed the proper amount per day. This info is on the back of the package and goes by a weight scale.

3. Consistency is key. With a puppy, you want to get them out for a real walk 2-3 times a day. This isn't just for exersize, but for mental stimulus as well as digestive health. Try to keep the time as close to the same every day.

4. Crate training is an amazing way to help potty train your puppy. Be prepared to change the sizes however. The puppy should only have enough space to stand, turn, and lay down. They will not go where they sleep, but if the crate is bigger than the space they need to sleep, they will use it. For the first few months of crate training, the puppy should be in the crate whenever it is not otherwise occupied. So, if she's not walking, eating, or being played with, she should be in the crate. Time outside should also be limited. This trains her body, not just her mind, into the rhythm of when it's ok to go and when it isn't. Full crate training should be done for a minimum of 2 years to instill other positive behavioral habbits, but can be more relaxed after just a few months.

5. Now, I'm not against correcting a bad behavior with a physical touch, however, such corrections aren't needed and can be worse for the puppy. Corrections should be INSTANT and for a behavioral problem, not a physical one. So, biting, barking, pulling on the leash are good times to make a physical correction. But going on the floor isn't. It's either too late, or, you are trying to correct something the dog has no real control over. Not to mention it usually ends up with the dog just sneaking away to do it's business where you can't see it.

I have years of dog experience and am more than happy to help you and answer questions as best as I can. And yes, kn a budget. Not everything has to come as an expensive fix. The most important expense outside of vet care, should be the food you feed it. That's my opinion anyway. Also, stay away from things like rawhides and those rubbery chewbones meant for consumption like dentastix or whatever. While they do digest, they can leave a gummy film behind in the stomach and intestinal tract that may take years to cause complications. Working in a vet clinic for a while taught me ALOT about proper diet and habits. Beat chew product right now in my opinion are the Kong toys and the deer antlers. Soak them in some chicken broth and you got a very happy puppy chewing on the appropriate thing. =)

Sorry if I said some stuff you all ready know, just giving a 'fairly'basic over view of things that can add to digestive issues and such. And again, if you have questions I'm more than happy to answer them and chat with you. =)

isnt nice? this post was excellent! I dont take things too personal or attacks on this site, Thank you for your time and effort you put into your post! i will swith her dog food immediatly, i will go and check out the food you suggested.

With all of our other dogs this has never been a problem, but i guess with my parents having a normal 6 am to 3 pm job, the dogs were in a better routine, than my bartending job where i work different hours everyday.

So I will take everything in to concideration and see how it goes, thanks so much everyone!!!

[Pareeeee]

Be careful not to do the switch suddenly. I would gradually add the new food and take out the old over the span of a week or two. Sudden food switches can cause vomiting and diarrhea in dogs.

[NewHerp293]

All the helpful reptile owners are also helpful pet owners in general :p animal lovers make the best people

[fishingfool]

Be careful not to do the switch suddenly. I would gradually add the new food and take out the old over the span of a week or two. Sudden food switches can cause vomiting and diarrhea in dogs.

Agreed 100%

[Little Wise Owl]

Pretty much Beneful and Free Feeding are your issues. And pretty much everything Minkness said

Other foods I can recommend are (high quality ingredients, don't source from China):
Fromm Large Breed Puppy
Acana Large Breed Puppy
Farmina (This is a new amazing food from Italy, really high quality)
Dr. Tim's
Annamaet

I personally avoid these ingredients like the plague (things like corn aren't even on my radar to avoid):
Meat and Bone meal
BHA/BHT
Sugar
Dyes/Colours
Pea/Potato Protein
Menadione (Synthetic Vitamin K)

Also remember, do what works best for your dog. A brand that another dog doesn't do well on, your dog might do great on and vice versa.

[Cmwells90]

Wow I just opened this thread to see what could be going on, and here I am learning all this stuff about dogs! haha, you guys are amazing! It never ceses to amaze me at the knowledge this forum has! Good teamwork!

[Minkness]

Many great suggestions here!

Also, when I stated earlier about the dog being in the crate unless it's being walked, fed, or played with, I basically meant to avoid unsupervised time, not to just keep it in the crate for 20 hours a day lol. But say that she comes out and goes for a 15-30 minute walk, then you feed her, then play with her for 2-3 hours and you do this 2-3 times a day, that will tire a puppy out usually. Once fully potty trained (in about 2-3 months of this schedule) then she can be allowed out without as much supervision because her body will be used to the routine and the new diet

Also, as someone else mentioned, mix the old food and new food. Start out at 50/50 for 2-3 days, then 75/25 for another 2-3 days, then you should be able to go 100% new food without any issues. Also, adding some canned pumpkin or even plain yogurt (not the greet stuff) can help ease inital tummy upsets when changing a diet. A little bit goes a long way though, so like.. 1 spoon full is enough.

Good luck and keep us updated on your pups progress. =)

[fishingfool]

Be careful not to do the switch suddenly. I would gradually add the new food and take out the old over the span of a week or two. Sudden food switches can cause vomiting and diarrhea in dogs.

Agreed 100%

[Kuamata]

All the above, spot on. I've heard some really awful things on both dogs and cats when it comes to Purina as a whole. My cats were the only animals on Purina pet foods and were experiencing some symptoms, like frequent vomitting(while some dogs were reported with seizures and even death, and Beneful is one of the worst of their line), so I switched them off to Wellness Complete Health... and eventually that became a problem, so I switched them to Acana brand.

Now, my dogs were on Nutrish by Rachel Ray, and it was pretty good... but had some fillers and the dye wasn't so agreeable with my dogs, so they're now on Merrick's adult formula. They also make a puppy formula, if you're interested. They're rated 5/5 stars and don't really have any fillers.... Howeverrrr... I believe Acana is the absolute best you can get for your dogs and cats, but owning two large dogs, I can't afford Acana for them. It's about $60 or more per large bag and they'll go through that in one or two weeks... They already cost me about $100 a month, and, surprisingly, are my most expensive animals when it comes to upkeep. Many think my parrots would be the worst, but my 3 dogs(Doberman Pinscher, Pitbull, and Papillon) are more expensive, each month, than my 8 parrots(3 macaws, 2 cockatoos, 1 amazon, 1 budgie, 1 cockatiel).

[Kuamata]

Pretty much Beneful and Free Feeding are your issues. And pretty much everything Minkness said

Other foods I can recommend are (high quality ingredients, don't source from China):
Fromm Large Breed Puppy
Acana Large Breed Puppy
Farmina (This is a new amazing food from Italy, really high quality)
Dr. Tim's
Annamaet

I personally avoid these ingredients like the plague (things like corn aren't even on my radar to avoid):
Meat and Bone meal
BHA/BHT
Sugar
Dyes/Colours
Pea/Potato Protein
Menadione (Synthetic Vitamin K)

Also remember, do what works best for your dog. A brand that another dog doesn't do well on, your dog might do great on and vice versa.

All of these are amazing brands if you can afford them. Farmina and Acana really struck my interest when I was searching, it's just really expensive when you have big dogs. I literally went through all 5 star listings on the dog food advisor to see if, one, there was a cheap 5 star that would be good for my dogs. Merrick's was a wonderful match and only $4 more than Rachel Ray's. Two, to see if they also produced cat food, because I also wanted them to have the benefit of high quality. Dr Tim's, Farmina, Fromm's, Acana, Orijen(same producer as Acana), and a few others made my list. Then I sorted through reviews and Acana was ultimately my top pick. My cats don't eat nearly as much as my dogs and a $50 bag lasts 5 - 6 weeks with them.

[NewHerp293]

I did a bunch of research on food when i just bought my little husky puppy and eventually decided on Natural Choice: wholesome essentials made by Nutro. It was a better quality then the generics but not quite the price of something like Blue Buffalo.

[NewHerp293]

This was a very helpful site though. Lists all the pros and cons of pretty much any food: Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor (http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/)

[Little Wise Owl]

All of these are amazing brands if you can afford them. Farmina and Acana really struck my interest when I was searching, it's just really expensive when you have big dogs. I literally went through all 5 star listings on the dog food advisor to see if, one, there was a cheap 5 star that would be good for my dogs. Merrick's was a wonderful match and only $4 more than Rachel Ray's. Two, to see if they also produced cat food, because I also wanted them to have the benefit of high quality. Dr Tim's, Farmina, Fromm's, Acana, Orijen(same producer as Acana), and a few others made my list. Then I sorted through reviews and Acana was ultimately my top pick. My cats don't eat nearly as much as my dogs and a $50 bag lasts 5 - 6 weeks with them.

It's hard for me to recommend affordable brands to someone in another country so I just throw out the "best" according to me haha

Fromm Classics and Fromm Gold are apparently quite affordable in the US. The Classics line doesn't carry a large breed puppy food though.

[Little Wise Owl]

This was a very helpful site though. Lists all the pros and cons of pretty much any food: Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor (http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/)

This is a helpful place for finding ingredient lists but I would take their star ratings with a grain of salt. There are many foods on there that don't get the ratings they deserve and they demonize certain ingredients for silly reasons. I use it to get basic ingredient list and nothing more.

[SSSSnakes]

Feed a natural, grain free food, as grains are fillers. Feed according to the feeding chart on the bag. Switch over by adding 25% new food to the old food for 3 days, then add 50%/ 50% for 3 days, 75% new food to 25% old food for 3 days and finally 100% new food. To much food and fillers = poop in yard.

[Little Wise Owl]

Many grain free foods have just as much "filler" if not more than grain inclusive. They're still high carb/starch due to potatoes, peas and beans. Feed a food that works best for your individual dog. Even if it includes grain.

[Kuamata]

I did a bunch of research on food when i just bought my little husky puppy and eventually decided on Natural Choice: wholesome essentials made by Nutro. It was a better quality then the generics but not quite the price of something like Blue Buffalo.

Blue Buffalo was bought out and the formula was changed. Originally the only problem with it was that the high protein content wasn't suitable for all dogs. It caused kidney stones in small dogs or relatively inactive dogs that lazed around all day. The high protein was really more agreeable with larger dogs or really active dogs.

Now that the formula has been changed there have been a lot of reports of seizures and a few cases of death.

It's really a shame, because people don't know this unless they go looking for it, or are already having problems with their dog on that brand. Because they have such a good reputation as a high quality brand, a lot of people don't question it until a health concern pops up in their dog, and that's really unfortunate. Just another case of greedy people cutting corners for more profit... and we pay the price.

[Little Wise Owl]

People focus so much on ingredients and don't question quality. Blue Buffalo has some really sketchy quality which is why I don't trust them or many other companies.

[SSSSnakes]

If you want no fillers, go with a good Limited Ingredient, natural, grain free food. Although there is no such thing as the perfect food, as each dogs needs are different.