[Sharon J]

I have an almost 3 month old Siberian Husky. About 3 wks ago I started feeding her Blue Wilderness Natural Evolutionary Diet for puppies. She is constantly pooping, as in 5-6 times daily and 2 times during sleep hours. She has also been eating her feces. I keep water available at all times and leave food in her bowl so she eats when she’s hungry. She isn’t over eating since she eats small portions, maybe a little over 1/2 cup, when she eats. I know she has separation anxiety from a forum I read since she urinates outside of the door of the room I am in. Not sure if that has anything to do with the poop issue but can someone please help me? Oh, she is current on all her shots.

[theBCnut]

First of all, get a crate and use it. It really helps with housetraining and it REALLY helps with mild separation anxiety.

Next, was she eating her poop before you changed her food? Some dogs find certain foods to be irresistable after they pass through. I have one of those. For a dog like this switching foods is definitely the thing to do. I look for foods with no animal digest, no natural flavors, no citric acid, or any other hidden sources of MSG that I can find. Some dogs just learn from their mom that eating the evidence keeps their area clean, or whatever they think, but it is just a lifelong habit that they have and the only thing you can do is be VERY quick to pick up. For some dogs, adding digestive enzymes to all the dogs in the household food works. It supposedly makes the poop taste bad, but it definitely does not work for all dogs.

Good luck on dealing with this nasty habit.

The frequency of pooping has to do with how often she is eating, so if you feed her regular meals instead of free feeding, she will poop less. Also as she gets older, her ability to hold it will mature and her intestines will slow some. Food can have an impact on this too since higher fiber foods are bulkier, however I don’t think it should be an issue with what you are currently feeding, but you’ll know if you change foods and immediately see an improvement.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Sharon J- Congrats on your new pup! I bet she is beautiful. First of all, I agree with the BCnut on getting a crate. It will help out so much with house training her. Most dogs will not go potty in them. I have bought all of mine off of Craig’s list at about a third of the price of a new one. All have been in good shape too.
It’s not unusal for a puppy to have to go potty a lot at first. Also, not totally unusual for them to eat stools when they are pups. Yuck! But, I would take in a stool sample to your vet to rule out any type of worms or parasites because they can also cause pups to have loose stools and eat them.
Also feeding three regular meals and taking away water in the evening may also help with the excessive pooping and peeing.
Have fun with your new bundle of joy!

[Xiu-Xiu]

My boy is 6 months has the same issue, he only eats his own poo. I normally pick it up before he gets too it, but he would sniff around trying to find it and I always tell him “leave it! lets go get your treat”  he knows that his treats is tastier than his poo. Now he’s learning to leave it (sometime) without the command.

[Kathleen C]

OK, this is not a puppy I have that’s eating his poop. I’ve been on before about other things with Jack, the 4 yr old Boston Terrier I’m trying to get to lose weight. He eats his poop I believe because he is hungry. I feed him 1/4 cup twice a day (1/2 cup) and things like Milk Bones and carrots and green beans as desert. He started eating his poop a couple of months ago and I run out and pick up what he does then and what he did the time before. However, today he quickly grabbed what he’d just done, knowing I’d pick it up right away. That’s a first time for this activity. BC, you say above maybe it’s a good idea to change the food. This poop eating started when he was first on the Wellness Core Reduced Fat and now I’m feeding him the Wellness Core Small Dog regular food so it’s been when he was eating Wellness. Could there be something in that which is the cause? What other low fat food out there would be good for him to lose weight? I’m getting pretty upset about this and he also hasn’t lost any weight with either Core foods.

[InkedMarie]

Dogs eat poop for so many reasons, you may never know. The best way to curb this behavior is to pick up the poop. That may mean taking him out on leash. That may mean using a small kennel for pottying.

Dogs don’t need dessert. If you must feed a snack, Milkbones are not a good choice. Look for high quality low calorie foods. I don’t use many treats but I do have some SoJo’s that are low cal.

[Kathleen C]

Dogs may not need a dessert (my fingers forgot the extra s), but they enjoy them just as much as we do. Green beans have very few calories so I don’t worry about giving those. You’re right about the Milk Bones though. A treat with 3 or 4 calories each or for several would be a good idea if I could find one. Any suggestions?

[theBCnut]

I give small pieces of meat for treats or bedtime snacks. Protein stays with them longer than carbs, so I think that helps with hunger more. For a different food, maybe look at Annamaet Lean, I think that’s what theirs is called.

[Kathleen C]

Pieces of chicken maybe? I always have roasted chicken around. I get it already cooked at the super market deli. They say it’s just a roasted chicken the way I’d do my own.

[Kathleen C]

InkedMarie, you say Solo’s? Is that a brand?

[theBCnut]

SoJo, with a Jay.

Chicken is good, low fat. I use turkey and have made meatballs too.

[Kathleen C]

A few single bites or mixed in his kibble at regular dinner time? I used to feed my other dogs a mix of kibble with a few bites of canned, but started Jack with just kibble since that was what he was used to. I don’t want to add too much since I’m trying to get him to lose
1 1/2 pounds. Sojo. Found anywhere?

[theBCnut]

I would use them as single bites in your situation. You can find more about SoJo’s on chewy dot com. You might be able to find it locally, if you live somewhere where there are a few different pet boutiques. Nobody anywhere near me sells SoJo’s.

[Kathleen C]

OK. Just as snacks and incentives to do better in his obedience class too. He’s very stubborn. I’ll check Amazon and PetsMart for SoJo’s. Also Olson’s Grain might have something like that too. Thank you all. I’m not sure about changing him to Annamaet, but if it’s not chicken or turkey it might be a good idea. Get him onto something different. I’m going to check that tomorrow when I sign on again.

[Kathleen C]

Well, I couldn’t resist checking the Annamaet tonight and it’s chicken meal first igred. and going by the Adviser’s way of figuring the carbs, there were 43% carbs. Sigh. That’s high if it’s true with 30% protein and 9% fat.

[InkedMarie]

Pet Smart probably doesn’t sell SoJo’s, no offense to them but their quality of food items isn’t very high. A specialty pet store or they can be ordered online.

Annamaet grainfree is 41% carbs I think.

Farmina grainfree is 28% carbs.

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by InkedMarie.
• This reply was modified 10 years ago by InkedMarie.

[theBCnut]

Yes, it has higher carbs. Any time you drop the fat%, the carbs go up, but carbs have less than 1/2 the calories of fat, so that makes sense as a weight loss food. Chicken, on the other hand, is a different matter. I can’t keep track of everyone’s food reactions. Does your dog have an issue with chicken? I didn’t get that idea from other posts. You may just have to go with less of a food that he can eat and give up on diet foods.

[Kathleen C]

I think getting Sojo’s online is probably my best bet since I live in a small rural town and we have nothing! I’ll check Amazon. Also, Jack doesn’t have a problem with chicken that I know of. He just can’t lose weight on it. I do remove some of the 1/4 cup when I feed him and I add water to the kibble like someone suggested. Do you think even with higher carbs but with lower fat the Annamaet might do the trick? Or I may just go back to the Core Reduced Fat since it has lower carbs and only 13% fat, though the bag says 10-12%. The 9% really isn’t that much lower.

[Kathleen C]

The Adviser’s method of figuring at 43% for the Annamaet isn’t that much off then.

[Kathleen C]

The Farmina looks like low carbs, but it’s high fat.

[theBCnut]

Well, I believe it is best for dogs to be fed a variety of foods, different proteins, different carbs, so I would switch foods just for that reason alone. I wouldn’t expect the lack of weight loss to be because of chicken versus some other protein source, but it could have to do with the amount of carbs or fat.

The DFA method takes out the water that is still in the kibble, so you can better compare kibbles. Some have more moisture than others. The DFA method also assumes a certain level of ash.

For my dogs, I prefer to go high protein, moderate fat, and low carb and just adjust the amount I feed, but I don’t have dogs that would drive me crazy with begging and acting pitiful either, if I don’t feed them a certain amount of food.

[Kathleen C]

I didn’t really think the chicken was keeping him from losing weight. You must feed your dogs enough food to make them feel full. Jack only gets 1/4 c twice a day (and that’s only 4 tablespoons) so to not give him any more would of course leave him hungry. Humans snack throughout the day because 3 meals a day doesn’t always fill us up, so why shouldn’t dogs have the same need. The only difference between the Core Reduced Fat and the Small Breed is 3% more fat and 10% fewer carbs. Should that make a difference in anything? I’ve been taking some of the small breed food away each time and giving it to him later. The only plus in the small breed food is it’s smaller and therefore looks like more, though I doubt Jack or any dog can tell that, that’s just for my personal awareness.

[theBCnut]

Some dogs never feel full, so I just don’t apply that kind of logic. And in my personal life, I can tell you that eating throughout the day rarely actually has anything to do with feeling full or not, so again, I don’t think of it that way. I once had a 24 lb beagle that got loose while I was at work. He ate a 25 lb box of dog biscuits. He ate as much as he could hold, more actually, then vomitted all over the place, then ate more, then vomitted all over the place, etc. When I got home, there was less than 4 lbs left, so he ate more than 21 lbs and a cardboard box. You will never convince me he was hungry. So how do you know when a dog is hungry, if they will eat even when they aren’t?

Small breed food is more food if you aren’t weighing portions, because the pieces fit closer together so the cup holds more food, less air.

Unless you are feeding according to calorie count, then any amount more fat is more calories, however some dogs seem to always want more food if the fat level is too low. So that may be another consideration for your dog. If you have to feed a certain amount of food, you may want to start watching calorie count on the foods you are interested in trying, and look for one that has the fewest calories per cup.

[InkedMarie]

I really think you’re making your dog out to be a human. They don’t need dessert, they don’t even need snacks. I’ve almost always had three dogs and I throw away more treats because they’ve gone stale than I use. I’ve never been in the habit of using a lot of treats.

I’ve never had anyone say you must feed dogs enough to be full. How the heck would you know if they’re full? A lot of dogs will eat everything you put in front of them. This is one cause for overweight dogs. The same for humans. I’m overweight but it’s not from eating til I’m full. You should be satiated, not full. How do you know a dog is hungry? Seriously, people say that and I don’t get it. They can’t talk, you don’t know, it’s an assumption.

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