# Small firm poops ... Why good?



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Less cleanup?  

I only know that when I briefly fed Jacks Purina PPSS, he didn't have any issues with the food itself, but his poop was HUGE. Going from Nutro Ultra where you have a dog pooping 2 times a day like clockwork and small little poops, having a dog go several times a day with HUGE mounds was overwhelming.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

I think the theory is with small firm poops they are digesting the food better.

For me as long as the poop does not weight more than the dog or look like a swamp I don't care.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

My guys are both on PPP SS and they aren't producing huge mounds several times a day.

Food that is digestible, produces a small to moderate stool volume. *....* The low digestibility usually results in large volumes of poop.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> My guys are both on PPP SS and they aren't producing huge mounds several times a day.


It could have been a comparitive thing for me, Carolina Mom. As I said, we went from small compact poops with Nutro that quickly decomposed to these big mounds that sat there for a few days before we mowed them over. For the first time our backyard looked like we had a dog. :uhoh::yuck:


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

You don't pick up the dog waste before you mow?????????


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> You don't pick up the dog waste before you mow?????????


Nope. 

Our lawn is very green for some reason. :bowl:

To be honest here - we have birds and animals that nom the dog poop too. But what remains does get mulched back into the lawn.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

We clean up our dog's waste daily and also take a poop bag along whenwever out walking.

I live off the InterCoastal Waterway, we are _*very careful*_ about what runs off into the water whether it be fertilizer, dog waste, etc.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

I pick up Buddy's poop and deer poop but not the yorkie poop unless I easily see it. Basically if I can easily see the poop I clean it up.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

MikaTallulah said:


> I pick up Buddy's poop and deer poop but not the yorkie poop unless I easily see it. Basically if I can easily see the poop I clean it up.


Thanks, IMO you should, because it all goes back into the environment and could end up in the water.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> We clean up our dog's waste daily and also take a poop bag along whenwever out walking.
> 
> I live off the InterCoastal Waterway, we are _*very careful*_ about what runs off into the water whether it be fertilizer, dog waste, etc.


I pick up poop when we are off our property. Even if hiking through the woods. It seems pointless, but I'm concerned that if people let their dogs poop everywhere they go, the park people and townships or whatever will start banning dogs from those trails or public places. 

I get pretty ticked off when I see poops out there on the road while we are out walking. :no: There is somebody who trained their dog to poop and jog, and of course they aren't stopping to clean up. 

We just have woods around our house and it's our own property. And we have our own well and septic field. So we do not have the same concerns about where or how the poop breaks down into the ground. We mulch it and the nutrients go back into the soil. That's it.

@deer poop - MikaTallulah, you are a better person than me! I'm spotting the "summer poop" already from the deer who pass through our yard. It's like sludge. The deer make a bigger mess than my dogs do.  

I'm also not going around our woods and cleaning up after rabbits, squirrels, birds (owls drop disgusting bonefilled pellets everywhere), stray cats, etc. The way I look at it is nature's been pooping in these spots long before we got here. And they will be pooping long after we are gone. That poop is food for the plants that grow out there in the woods. It is also food for the animals that live in those woods. 

If you do not have a complete ecosystem working on all cylinders where you live, then you should be very careful about cleaning up.


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## olik (Apr 13, 2008)

For me as long as the poop does not weight more than the dog or look like a swamp I don't care.[/QUOTE]:--big_grin::bowrofl::bowrofl:


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I pick up my guys waste *always* when we are out walking no matter where we are-on the street,at home, at the beach or walking trails in a near by National Forest out of courtesy to other people but *mainly* to protect the environment where I live.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

Megora said:


> @deer poop - MikaTallulah, you are a better person than me! I'm spotting the "summer poop" already from the deer who pass through our yard. It's like sludge.


I do it out of necessity. Buddy enjoys deer raisinettes and the Yorkies enjoy wearing "Ode da stink.". It would be a very poopy day for me it I didn't.

I always scoop on walks and hikes even the tiny yokie whistles.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> *mainly* to protect the environment where I live.


Heehee. You've clearly never gone cross country hiking and gone through orchards where the deer have been hanging out.  

Same thing in those spots where coyotes have been (I came across scat like that a few weeks ago when we were hiking - full of rabbit fur).

We pick up poop as a courtesy to people who walk those same paths. While the poop does break down or get eaten by bugs or animals, people just don't like having to watch where they are walking while they are communing with nature. Can't blame them.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> Thanks, IMO you should, because it all goes back into the environment and could end up in the water.


If I see it I clean it up. 

The Yorkies poop is pinky sized or smaller - Seriously 

What are feeling about wildlife not cleaning up after themselves? I clean up more ground hog and deer poop a week than dog. :yuck:


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## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

Okay, I am craving small dog poop a couple times a day.......(yuck, maybe craving wasn't the right word...lol)

Anyway, Bridget is on Eukanuba, pooping large amounts 3 times a day.I was thinking maybe Fromm?

What is this Purina PPP SS that you all are talking about?


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## Wagners Mom2 (Mar 20, 2012)

mooselips said:


> Okay, I am craving small dog poop a couple times a day.......(yuck, maybe craving wasn't the right word...lol)
> 
> Anyway, Bridget is on Eukanuba, pooping large amounts 3 times a day.I was thinking maybe Fromm?
> 
> What is this Purina PPP SS that you all are talking about?


Craving.........ha ha ha ha ha!!!!! Sorry but I couldn't resist and yes, interesting choice of words!!!!!! 

Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach is what that is. Salmon based. 

My dogs poops weren't bad on the Eukanuba--and I was VERY pleased with it--with the exception of my goldens itchiness and hot spots on it. (sensitive to ingredients). 

ON the PP SSS, he is not itching as bad, already (just completely switched him over a week ago)--and with the exception of this past weekend (bug, eating something they shouldn't?, etc?) his poops have been good on it. I'm still in the trial phase, but I hope it works because they love it.


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## newport (Aug 8, 2011)

As Lola's Mama( who loves Lola'a poops!:bowl She is on about a 95% raw diet and her poop is small? compact. Because she is getting NO grain - just meat etc. and some raw vegetables ground up like Kale and carrots... she is digesting most of it. She is fed twice a day and poops about four piles. Very regular Too much information LOL!:wave:


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> She is on about a 95% raw diet and her poop is small? compact. Because she is getting NO grain - just meat etc.


Heehee.... I think you can have the same results with a kibble with grain. As of right now I feed Jacks a kibble that has wheat and rice in it, and he has compact poops only 2 times a day. 

Heck, when Jacks eats hamburger and rice, he poops less than when I feed him his kibble. And I am putting 2 cups of rice in for every 1 cup of meat.  

I just have no idea why his poops were so ridiculous with the PPPSSS. Big without being mush, I mean. It was a regular color and normal looking. Just big.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Megora said:


> Heehee. You've clearly never gone cross country hiking and gone through orchards where the deer have been hanging out.
> 
> Same thing in those spots where coyotes have been (I came across scat like that a few weeks ago when we were hiking - full of rabbit fur).
> 
> We pick up poop as a courtesy to people who walk those same paths. While the poop does break down or get eaten by bugs or animals, people just don't like having to watch where they are walking while they are communing with nature. Can't blame them.


_This thread is starting to take a different direction than intended....... _

I haven't always lived on the SE Coast due to work transfers, I've also lived in the North and several other states and have traveled cross country and out of the country.

We have Black Bear in this area, along with Deer, and various other wildlife besides Dolphins, Whales, sea turtles, sharks and a big variety of waterfowl. 



MikaTallulah said:


> If I see it I clean it up.
> 
> The Yorkies poop is pinky sized or smaller - Seriously
> 
> What are feeling about wildlife not cleaning up after themselves? I clean up more ground hog and deer poop a week than dog. :yuck:


When my husband and I were first married, we had two Yorkies and yes their waste is very small but I always cleaned up after them.

Wildlife waste is pretty much out of our control because that is their habitat or environment, IMO. If I find it in my yard, then I clean it up as best as possible, but that rarely happens here.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I guess this thread has gone off topic. 

I clean up my dog's waste wherever it happens, because it's the right thing to do. Plus, you don't know what lies in that pile of poo, dog, coyote, rat, whatever--several parasites live for years in the soil and are transmittable to humans. Knowing that pretty much guarantees I don't walk in any grass barefoot anymore. I get my dogs tested, but I still think it's the right thing to scoop the poop. I also live in the city, and our yards aren't huge. If I left poo out there to rot in the sun, my neighbors would get obnoxious odors drifting their way--definitely not the neighborly thing to do.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> We have Black Bear in this area, along with Deer, and various other wildlife besides Dolphins, Whales, sea turtles, sharks and a big variety of waterfowl.


Yep. And you have a lot of other animals besides those. And one thing they all have in common is they poop or they eat poop. Nature has a way of taking care of things.

Obviously, if you have somebody with more than 2 dogs, they have to be doing something to keep the yard (particularly small yards) clear of poop. Because it will stack up faster than it can naturally decompose. 

Not everyone is living in those conditions though. It is possible to have a naturalized yard and have fairly nice conditions (very green and very full lawns) without having to pick up poop ever. 

I can guarantee that if I had a bunch of dogs pooping in one spot in a small yard every day, the grass wouldn't be that green and it would stink to high heaven out there. :yuck: <- And that actually reminds me of our "puppy yard" that I mentioned in another thread. When we have puppies going out there many times a day to pee and poop, it does collect and stink out there if we aren't picking up the puppy poop.

I go to dog class 2 times a week, and the one place has a smaller poop area than the other. It would get pretty scary very fast if people were not responsible for cleaning up after their dogs. 




> Wildlife waste is pretty much out of our control because that is their habitat or environment,


But if you share the habitat with wildlife, you can see how nature takes care of things as long as you don't overwhelm it. Those apple orchards where the deer hang out or areas where the rabbits hang out DO tend to be worse than other places because the animals stay there for long periods and there can be a lot of them pooping in one spot. But at the same time, it does no harm to the land other than making it ICKY to walk through.

One thing I have to say about deer scat. The sludge bothers me because it doesn't decompose very fast and it's the most hideous smelling - *vomits thinking about it* - stuff out there. And of course my goldens all want to smell like that. I think that sludge is based on whatever the deer are eating. Like grass? 

When they leave the giant rabbit poop mounds in our garden, I can deal with those much better. And they decompose much faster. Like within a week they are either eaten by nature or broken down.

ETA - I do walk barefoot outside where I can. <- We have plush lawn in our garden area, but the woods between garden area and the house is all pine. Which means SHARP needles. The front lawn is different, except we have sharp stones in the driveway. >.<


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

Thanks everyone. I have learned soooo much about poop! Thanks. 

:banana::banana::roflmao::roflmao:


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