High fiber

[Chris Smith]

I would like to "firm up" my dogs stools.

Does fiber firm up stools or loosen them? I have found completely opposite answers on the internet:

1. "Too much fiber in the diet can interfere with the digestion of other important nutrients in the food and result in loose stools, frequent defecation, and reduced palatability of the dog food. Generally, foods low in starch content, such as wheat and oat bran and barley products, are high in fiber. Conversely, dog food ingredients high in starch, including rice and dried potatoes, and corn have less fiber"

versus

2. "Dogs are often placed on a high-fiber diet to bulk up the stool.
Several commercial brands of dog food are available in a high-fiber formula. You may also choose to supplement your dog's diet with bran or a product like Metamucil."


I am completely confused now. Basically, I think my dog needs to have firmer stools and I don't know if I should add fiber to his diet or find a lower fiber content kibble for him.

[Grace Erick]

Hi,

I was thinking it did both, helped constipation and diarreah like with using plain canned pumpkin in your dog's food.

http://www.drsfostersmith.c om/pic/article.cfm?dept_id= 0&siteid=12&acatid=284&aid=460

This is a dog link about fiber, but I found the same info about humans. It helps with both conditions. I don't know if metimucil requires that you drink more liquids if you use that form of fiber. I don't really think it's a fiber problem at all. I think your dog is just not doing well on his present food. Many people have problems with soft stools or diarreah, because their dog just doesn't do well on that food no matter how good it is.

I would only treat your dog if needing fiber were a senior issue or health related problem, but not just because his food is giving him soft stools. Also, using canned pumpkin is just to stop diarreah or constipation caused by other problems but not to really use every day because of the dog's food.

What are you feeding your dog? How long have you been feeding him this food and has he always had this problem with this food?

Bye, Grace

[Chris Smith]

I think Nalu has done very well on the food he is on, but we started training classes just a few weeks ago so he is getting substantially more treats than normal (both during class and when I am training daily at home) . The treats often cause him to have looser stools.

He has had two recent episodes of his anal glands getting full and not expressing on their own so I have had to take him into the vet to get this done. This has just occured for the first time in his life and only since we have started the classes (and all of the extra treats).

I read on the net that the anal glands may not express themselves if the dog's diet does not have enough fiber in it or if they consistently have loose stools. I guess firmer stools will cause the glands to express on their own (not to be too graphic).

So...when I give him all the extra treats, I thought I should add some fiber into his diet so that he does not continue to have the gland problem. It is really uncomfortable for him and costly for me!!

[Grace Erick]

Chris, I'm surprised that treats, even if you give him quite a few can contribute to his having loser stools, but I guess you see that as the only difference in his diet lately. So maybe you can treat it with the plain canned pumpkin since classes should not last to much longer, right????

I'm not sure how much people give their dogs per serving like a few tablespoons of the pumpkin. It depends on how big your dog is. You may find the answer to that on a diarreah topic since people would have suggested canned pumpkin as a cure as long as the diarreah is not illness related since you don't want to mask an illness by curing loose stools.

You can try different treats too. What the heck are you giving him as a treat that would possibly cause loose stools?:) If you are giving him soft treats, maybe you can break up some hard biscuits into bite size pieces for him before class. I can't see biscuits giving a dog loose stools. Maybe you can check out some healthy ones too that don't have food coloring or at least don't have nitrates or nitrites as preservatives, especially if you plan to continue giving him the treats later, though I thought trainers try to wean the dogs off treats and accept affection in return for good behavior.

Bye, Grace

[Chris Smith]

Thanks for the feedback. I have been giving him soft treats - rich types too like hot dogs, cheese, etc. which I think make his stool much softer than when he just has plain dry kibble. This is what the trainer suggests to use for training. She doesn't want us to use anything hard like a biscuit or cookie since they have to chew and that distracts from the connection of exactly when the command is done right.

I will probably try the canned pumpkin too. I started adding plain rice to his kibble and it seems to have helped. We had class last night with lots of treats so I put rice in his kibble this morning and we'll see how he does today...

[Luciann]

chris

just a suggestion, if the trainer only wants soft treats you might only use them during class but give him hard treats at home when you can allow him time to eat them and it not be that big of a dristraction for his lessons.

I know with frodo (who gets turkey weiners for dinner so he will leave mine alone) has a looser stool, but Tika who eats the same thing does not. But she also eats more of the dry dog food than Frodo does as well. I also feed them lamb and rice moist every couple of days.

i hope that the "problem" resolves it self soon for you.

[Grace Erick]

Chris,

You are too funny! No wonder he has the runs. The culprit is most likely the cheese. Your trainer should not recommend cheese unless perhaps if it is skim milk cheese which may contain less lactose. It's the lactose in the cheese that is doing him in. I know show dog owners give their dogs low moisture skim milk mozzarella at the shows to keep their dogs engery up since they are at the show all day and maybe this keeps them from needing to poop by not feeding them whole plates of their regular food. In WA, they only mostly sell low moisture skim mozzarella in blocks or in the single sticks.

I figured you needed a snack that was quick to eat which is why I suggested breaking up the biscuits into very small pieces which I still see as an option. You can also just give him the franks. They are not good for him or anyone since they contain nitrates that cause cancer, but for the purposes of training classes, the small amount will not hurt him.

Okay Chris, fess up, what else are you giving him:)? I think not giving him the cheese will help tremendously.

Bye, Grace

[Luciann]

I have to admit that i give my babies cheese about once a week.... and they too get weiners, lean turkey

[Grace Erick]

Hi Luci,

You give your dog whole milk cheese? Maybe it's not enough to cause a soft stool. Then again, all doggies stomachs are different and can tolerate different things. I know dogs can tolerate some lactose like what is in yogurt and cottage cheese. I'll give Capri a tiny amount of the skim milk mozzarella sometimes with no bad reactions.

Bye, Grace

[Jody Hayes]

I am able to give both of my dogs cheese and cottage cheese, yogart, and even milk on very small occasions w/ absolutely no problems. I think it depends on the dog. Neither of mine have any problems digesting it and there stools are still normal.

[Rebekah Hartman]

That's funny - cheese usually helps firm up my pup's stools (he's tended to have looser stools as well). He also loves yogurt, which is good for maintaining/replenishing healthy gut flora.

We recently switched to Innova EVO which I'm supplementing with homecooked proteins and veggies to reduce the calcium content (which is too high for large breed dogs that aren't finished growing). We're still transitioning, but I'm hoping this will help with our loose stool problem. He eats a lot of food because he's still growing - the Innova would cost about $1/day, but since we supplement with other proteins it's about $0.50/day with probably $0.50/day (or less) of the proteins/veggies/potatoes. Anyway, it's grain-free and seems to help with the loose stool problem for many dogs.

I've also started using plain, cooked ground beef or ground turkey for treats. He loves it and it's easy to adjust the amount he gets at meals for extra treats. It's easy for him to eat it up quickly, too, so it's perfect for training.