[Ashley B]

I’m at my wits end with our new puppy. We’ve had him for 8 weeks and no matter what we try he poops frequently in his crate. We’ve tried making the crate smaller and it just makes the mess worse. He goes 5 times during the day and 5 times at night. He’s in Merrick Grain Free puppy formula. We also only feed him twice a day. Yesterday we tried having someone come and spend time with him during the day and he pooped before she got there and it was a mess when I got home 5 hours later.

[anonymous]

How much are you feeding him? Maybe too much? How old is he? Puppies do go more frequently than adult dogs.
Also he’s still a puppy, eventually he should have (on average) 2 bowel movements a day, usually an hour or 2 after meals.
I would consider Purina Pro Plan sensitive skin and stomach. Grain-free doesn’t agree with all dogs, plus it’s just a marketing gimmick. What you are feeding may be high fiber.
I would try feeding a smaller amount of food divided into 3 or 4 small meals with a splash of water added and a spoonful of something soft like chopped cooked chicken (use less kibble to allow for the protein topper).
At about 6 months I would go to 2 meals.
Ideally, if you could take him out every 2 hours to the location you want him to eliminate, he will be housebroken in no time. I know this is not always possible but take him out as frequently as possible, especially after playing and eating, brisk walks may help

[anonymous]

Hope these articles help (written by veterinarians)
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2016/07/more-nonsense-from-holistic-vets-about-commercial-therapeutic-diets/ The comments are informative too.

https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/choosing-the-right-diet-for-your-pet/

[Ashley B]

We feed 1/3 cup twice a day. He’s 6 pounds and 16 weeks old (almost 17 weeks). He’s on grain free food due to the fact that we watch my sisters dog who is allergic (explosive diarrhea on the walls allergic). He typically doesn’t go outside of his crate, its only inside. I know he’s young but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t an issue since it’s only in the crate. We take him out frequently when we are home. Its just when we leave him in the crate its a disaster. We are going to try lower fiber. The puppy formula for merrick has more fiber than our other dogs food so we are going to try her food (its all life stages)

[anonymous]

Sounds good. All dogs are different. I have a terrier that has loose stools if I feed him anything with potato (sweet or white). Some kibbles are laden with potato.
Zignature is our current favorite.
My 20 pound dog gets 1/3 cup of kibble with a topper twice a day plus a bite for a snack here and there. So, I am sure he is getting more than 2/3rds cup of food a day.
If I give him more he gains weight, despite adequate exercise.
My 10 pound dog eats almost as much as he does! She will lose weight if I give her less.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Ashley-
Is it diarrhea or loose stools? Have you had a fecal test done to rule out worms and/or parasites. Has he been dewormed?

[Susan]

Hi,
Yes CHANGE his food, poor dog 10 poos a day, are you taking him outside every 2-3 hours & teaching him the word toilet, wee wee, poo poo? but even if you are taking him outside doing 10 poos a day he can’t hold his poo’s & now his crate has become his toilet, do you have the puppy pads? put them outside his crate so he has enough time to quickly get out of his crate & poo outside the crate on the puppy pads, get a open carboard box & lay the puppy pads in the box but have the box on its side so he can just walk into the box like he does with his crate you need to re teach him his crate is for sleeping & time out, its not for pooing, its going to be hard to retrain him as you have to catch him in the act when he is pooing, does he wee outside or has he ever pooed outside when you take him out? Puppies need to be taken outside every 2-3 hours but with him pooing at night you’ll be up every 3 hours taking him outside, look at another food with less ingredients or different ingredients not a grain free kibble, like Crazy4cats said has he been wormed?? puppies should be wormed at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks of age then every 3 months in Australia, if after changing his kibble to a grain kibble & he’s still pooing 10 poos a day I’d take some of his poo to the vets & have it tested, you need 2 separate poos, separate poos done at different times…or just re worm him & change his kibble to a rice kibble & see does he poo less, it’s cheaper then seeing the vet & having his poos tested for Giardia.. do that when nothing has worked so you can tell the vet I’ve done this & this & this & he’s still pooing 10 poos a day..

Try a kibble that has rice & beet pulp in it with limited ingredients, I know you probably don’t like Hills, Purina or Royal Canine but these brands use ingredients that make a dog do firm poo’s, try the “Hills Science Diet” small & toy breed puppy formula >1 or the Hills Sensitive Stomach/Skin formula, Hills have a few puppy formula’s & they are lower in fiber 1.5% or send Hills an email & tick where it say do you want a Hills vet nutrionist to contact you & a vet nutrionist either emails you or rings you back & they will recommend what to do & what Hills formula should work for your dog & the food is money back guaranteed, I know you’ll probably look at the ingredients & have a heart attack but you’ll see, does he do just 1 or 2 poos a day if not send email back to the Hills Vet & they will tell you what to do next, then if your dog is stable doing just 1-2 poos a day after just eating the Hills food you can add the matching wet tin food to his diet aswell, (this is when walks are good, they go for their little walk around the block or to the park around the same time everyday & weee & poo & their bowel gets into a routine, they also learn the words do wee, wee & poo poo) then after he’s been stable a good 4-6months then start introducing a grain free kibble introduce very slowly over 2 weeks & see how he goes… then when he’s a adult rotate between different brands with different ingredients this strenthens their immune system so they can eat all types of ingredinets…

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