Last time we discussed what your dog’s poop should look and smell like (try this conversation out at your next cocktail party… NOT).

There some poop characteristics you should not see and today I’ll explain what each of them may be telling you about your dog’s diet.

How can something so un-cute come out of a puppy?

Mucus on the Stool

If you find your dog’s poop is covered in mucus there could be a few different causes:

1. You are feeding him something that does not agree with his stomach. If your dog’s digestive system is incapable or having difficulty digesting some foods it will use mucus to assist. You’ll find this particularly with dairy products that contain milk sugar (lactose). Cheese is a common cause of mucus in the poop of dogs
2. Bacterial overflow: if your dog has too much bacteria in its digestive tract, the stool could be covered in mucus. This condition is more likely on a low quality diet. Switch to a healtheir diet, like I teach in Dog Food SECRETS
3. If it is chronic and avoiding cheese and changing to a better diet makes no difference there could be an underlying condition which your vet should take a look at.

Stool Too Firm

When your dog’s poop is too firm it can cause constipation, irritation of the sphincter and possible bleeding. The longer it takes for stool to pass through your dog’s digestive system then the less water it will contain. The less water it contains then the firmer it will be. Again, there can be a number of reasons for stool being too firm:

1. If you dog is eating too much dry complex carbohydrate, it could be absorbing too much of the water from its body during digestion and leaving your dog dehydrated and its poop hard. If you give your dog brown rice for example, try over cooking it so it is mushy (contains a lot of water).
2. Is your dog drinking enough water? Some owners keep their dog’s inside and probably don’t walk them enough. Your dog will adjust by drinking less water because it knows it may not get another opportunity to relieve herself for quite  while. If your dog has plenty of opportunity but still doesn’t drink, try creating a salt-less chicken stock and mixing it with water to add some flavor to your dog’s drinking bowl.
3. Similarly, if your dog doesn’t get the opportunity to poop because you aren’t walking enough then the same problem manifests because the stool stays in the bowel too long.

Stool Too Soft

If your dog’s stool is gravy in consistency (I’m telling you, next time the Queen visits, open with this topic) then it could indicate a few things:

1. There could be a viral or bacteria infection and that’s why if it persists for more than a few days you should visit your vet
2. A sudden change in diet… believe it not changing from a poor diet to a super healthy diet can cause diarrhea and that’s why the Dog Food SECRETS Gold Pack includes a Canine Diet Changeover Guide which shows you how to do it without any of these problems.
3. An intolerance to foods like cheese or wheat can have the same effect. Many commercial foods are filled with grains and then dyed brown to look like they are made from meat (true). Wheat, corn, soy and rice are all much cheaper than meat and are added liberally to your dog’s food. Wheat especially can cause irritation and diarrhea.

Bleeding

If your dog’s stool contains blood, then it could be the result of an irritation in the bowel or higher up in the digestive tract mixing with the stool OR an irritation of the sphincter which is coating the outside of the stool as it exits your dog.

In either case this could be a serious condition and you should visit your vet for further investigation.

It Stinks!

The lower the quality of food you feed your dog the worse the odor you’ll get from her poop, her body and her breath. Unlike cats, dogs are not carnivores and should be eating a mix of high quality protein, fibrous carbohydrates and starchy carbohydrates.

In fact, your adult dog’s diet should be made up of these ratios

• 40% high quality protein (many dog food manufacturers use vegetable protein, which is no good… don’t be fooled)
• 25% fibrous carbohydrates (fruits and vegetable, mostly vegetables)
• 25% starchy carbohydrates (brown rice, oats, quinoa)
• 10% fats which they’ll usually get from the meat

Commercial dog food is required by law to only have a guaranteed minimum of 9% protein… only 9%! And there is no rules about where it comes from, so you may be feeding your dog food which is only 9% VEGETABLE protein.

Switch to a healthy diet and you’ll notice the stench disappear

Too Much Poop?

When you feed your dog nutrient rich food, you’ll notice his poop is much smaller than when on a commercial diet because once his body has assimilated all the available nutrition, there will be very little waste.

However, a dog eating commercial food will have much more waste because manufacturers pack their food with ‘fillers’ which are cheap substances with little or no nutrient value but provide volume so your dog has the full feeling and appears satisfied.

One of the biggest changes I noticed when I first began feeding one of my dogs with home prepared food is he was not hungry all the time. I fed him approximately the same volume in the evening but he would not really be hungry again until late afternoon the next day. In fact, if I gave him food earlier he would bury it… whereas on the commercial diet he would be starving by late morning and I would have to feed him.

Ok, I hope you found this poopy talk stimulating as I did!

Speak again soon,
Andy