# Loose stools in 7 months old golden- long



## 58loosy (Apr 18, 2010)

Seems like she should take him off of c.n. I used it when Lucy was a pup and she had off and on pudding stools, I would give her rice for a day and then add rice to her kibble, I thought she was getting into things that I didn't see her get to in the yard, when it was time to go to adult food I put her on wellness simple solution, lamb and rice well she has never had a soft stool since even while changing over. Plus I give her fruits and veg. yogurt etc. no problem, now I'm thinking she might not have a sensitve stomach. Good luck and hope your mom finds an answer.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

fostermom said:


> My mom is sort of obsessed with Luke's stools. She says that they are loose most of the time. Of course, even though this has been an issue since she adopted him from me, she is blaming the food. He is on CA Nat lamb and rice (*just switched from chicken and rice*). *She had been feeding him homemade peanut butter biscuits, but says she has taken him off from them. She gives him some sort of blueberry biscuit that she says he likes.*
> 
> Their water has tested positive for radon, so he's never been given their water to drink. Either my dad fills up water jugs at the office or they give him distilled water that they purchase.
> 
> ...


OK... I bolded the concern areas and I'll try to keep this quick.

- California Lamb and Rice should be a good food for him, but she shouldn't have switched him cold turkey. She should have weaned him slowly so as to prevent digestive upset. 

- Homemade biscuits may be causing stomach upset or soft stools, although blueberries are good for dogs. She could stop all of those until his stomach settles down. They don't really need treats. 

- Digestive enhancer - I'm honestly not sure of those that you can get over the counter. It might be safer to discuss his collitis (if that's what he has) with the vet and get a prescription. 

- Dry coat, could be related to the sudden food change. Only thing else I can point out is the fur on his tail could be a 'stud tail', or basically oils collecting and clogging at the base. 
- Dry coat is also triggered by health issues, so I definitely would be concerned if the dog is not acting right, not eating, etc. 
- I wasn't sure if I should mention this, but the quick answer is that the dog blew his soft puppy coat and his coarser outer coat is growing in/becoming more noticable. 

- Does the dog still have worms?  If the vet isn't too great, I'd probably encourage her to switch vets before she switches foods again. And have another fecal/blood test done. 

*** Something else to consider... sometimes when you lose one dog suddenly, you can find yourself wrapping the next dog in bubble wrap and trying to protect them, even to their detriment. That's why I'm thinking your mom needs to talk this over with a good vet. 

Mushy poop can also be caused by stress and a million other things that can go away on their own. Unless the dog has diarrhea or has bloody poop, I wouldn't be too concerned if my dog sometimes has mushy poop. It's when it persists and the dog also is showing other symptoms of not feeling right that I'd start to stress. 

*** This actually reminds me that my dog is due for a fecal test....


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Thanks for the ideas. I will try to talk to her again about it. She acts like she is listening to me, but then a few days or a week later, I find out that she's gone ahead and done whatever she wants to do. It can make me crazy. Maybe I'll go talk to my dad and try to talk some sense into him. He can get her to listen sometimes.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

That sounds frustrating for everyone involved! I'm just going to point out that blueberries really gave Ranger the runs the few times I added them to his kong. We're talking less than a teaspoon and he got the runs BAD. 

I'd also say maybe the rice in the food is the trigger. My brother's dog had the runs/loose poops for MONTHS when he was between 3 - 7 months old. We finally realized it was the rice after noticing his poops were soft on the bland diet of chicken and rice, but never chicken and potato. He was swapped onto Orijen 6 fish from Acana and his poops firmed up within the day. Since you said she switched from chicken and rice to lamb and rice, maybe it's the grains causing the loose poop not the meat ingredient. I'd maybe try a potato based food and see if that helps.

I'm not suprised the coat is dry if he's got loose poop. If the food isn't agreeing with him, he's not getting the needed nutrients for a shiny coat. I think the coat might be a symptom of the food not agreeing with him, just like the loose poops. As a side note, Ranger switched to grain food (acana light and fit) and HIS coat started getting brittle and dry (same with his skin). Turns out he can't handle rice or oats in his kibble either. 

In the meantime, I'd say cut out all treats so you only have a few variables to deal with. See if you can convince your mom to change his food and maybe keep a food journal for the dog - sometimes you forget that you've given your dog a "treat" and then can't think of why the dog has the runs the next day. Keep him on the new (rice-free) food for at least 3 weeks and see if there's any change. His poop should start firming up within a few days and the coat should get nicer in a few weeks, IF it's the rice in the food. If his poops are still runny, at least you know it's the food since you cut out all the other variables.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

She is switching him (again) to herring and sweet potato, so that will remove the rice from his diet. She can't cut out all treats because he is a 7 month old, headstrong pup right now who needs reinforcement for good behavior. Trust me, he really does. LOL. But she will not be feeding him the homemade peanut butter ones. I have suggested that she use boiled chicken breast as training treats, but I don't think she's to the point of wanting to try that (she is stubborn, I tell you!).

I did talk to my dad (I work for him) and he said he will push her to take him in for another vet visit when they get back from the lake. That's the other thing, the lake water is something that he likes to drink. It's warm and we haven't had much rain here, so I am wondering if it could be giardia again.


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

If your mom really wants to get to the bottom of the loose stool issue, have her use his kibble as treats so he's only eating the one food. Many dogs are allergic to chicken, so I wouldn't have her use that as training treats. His own food should work fine for training rewards. At some point, you may want to look at what she's defining as loose stool.....it may not be from anyone else's perspective. Good luck with trying to make a compliant mommy~


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Could it be the California Natural dog food? I know it is a good food but some people here ont he forum have had problems with their dogs having loose stools on it. It was just alittle too rich for their dogs. Would she consider changing to another brand of dog food and doing it slowly. I dont know what kind of dog food as I use ProPlan and some people dont like it but my dogs are all doing great on it.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

BeauShel said:


> Could it be the California Natural dog food? I know it is a good food but some people here ont he forum have had problems with their dogs having loose stools on it. It was just alittle too rich for their dogs. Would she consider changing to another brand of dog food and doing it slowly. I dont know what kind of dog food as I use ProPlan and some people dont like it but my dogs are all doing great on it.


It could be, but we have no way of knowing because in three months he has been on three different flavors of it. He's been on homemade treats, store bought treats, he won't take his pills with cheese so he gets peanut butter for that. Plus she shares her pretzels every afternoon and a graham cracker every morning. I think there's just too many variables to blame it on the food yet. If she will just keep him on the same food for at least 2 months, maybe we would have a better idea. She just gets impatient and gives up before anything has time to work.

I won't even go into his training right now. LOL


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## Mary K (Jul 19, 2010)

*My Remedy*

We had almost the same problem with our pup. Untill we found that putting 1 or 2 tablespoons of oat bran on his food cleared it up. Pumpkin can work too, but our dogs like the bran ( make sure you get oat and we get the organic kind) and it's easy. Worth a try. Also Science diet RD
can help turn it around too for a food. I won't feed science diet forever, but it does have it's uses.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Thanks. She has him on canned pumpkin right now. I like the bran idea, though ideally I would like to figure out what is going on and how to make it stop.


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

As you and everyone else has said, if she can just stick with one food for better than a month some of this might go away. We have used CA Natural Herring/Sweet Potatoe for a long time with good results. She could very well be causing the loose poop problem just from the food switches alone. The poor dog really does not have a chance to get use to the new food before she switches it again. Plus if she is impatient and switches too quickly, she is just keeping the vicious circle going. Molly has a good point - use his food as treats. If you can eliminate almost everything it will help you find out what is not working. Good luck! I don't envy you at all. Also - what exactly is her idea of loose poop? Have you seen it so you can agree it is loose? Could be this is normal for him. Maybe she is expecting nice hard separate round little turds balls and his are nicely shaped, but all one piece and maybe slightly softer than what she thinks they should be. I am laughing as I type this description. HA! Ah poop is in the eye of the beholder.


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