# Poop



## john_wi

Title says it all.
How many times should I expect my growing puppy to poop in a day?
On average my guy is going about 4-5 times per day? Is this normal or too much.
This is part of the reason that I want to switch him from his current food. He seems to produce a lot of waste.
With that said, he seems to enjoy his food and looks very healthy in the weight department.


----------



## Vlicked

I cannot remember what was "normal" for us. The first thought I had is whether or not you free-feed, or if you have set meal times. The latter is the best and will provide him with a pooping schedule! When our guy was a pup, we fed him three times a day, so he pooped at least that much and then once in the middle of the night (when he was really young and we had to take him out in the middle of the night). And, I think the quality of the food might have an affect on the amount of waste (I could be wrong). We had tried the EVO food with our guy, which is a more concentrated food, and he had much less waste even though he was eating just about the same amount.


----------



## john_wi

He gets fed 1 cup 3x/day.
But since he sleeps all through the night now, I feel that the 5x to do his business is at least 1 time too many.


----------



## treetops1974

John, I hear your pain about the poop. How old is your V? 

When we first got our V his #2 sked was all over the place given the more frequent feeding sked. As he settled down into a 2 cup twice a day routine his #2's followed suit. 

Our V is 6 months now and although his poop sked is routine (for the most part anyway - the weekends seem to put a kink in the plans as we're more active) ... the consistency of his stool and quantity varies too - we changed his food from what the breeder was using, mixed in wet or water during teething, exercise him a lot, use various treats for training and mix in raw foods. We've been tinkering to get the right diet and consistency of stool - a work in progress.


----------



## englishvizsla

I'm so glad someone has brought this topic up! My pup, Ferdie, is now almost 5 months old so we are still feeding him 3 times a day at present. He does seem to produce quite a lot of waste - I would say he goes 4 to 5 times a day - and there is quite often varied consistency of stools throughout the day. 

I'm currently feeding him what the breeder fed him which is Arden Grange dry food mixed with a small amount of meat to make it more tempting for him. I'm in the UK so not sure if this food is available in the US but it is supposed to be hypo-allergenic with no wheat etc. and recommended for sensitive stomachs. He also occasionally gets lambs liver and chicken as a treat. He always wolfs his food down and his weight is fine for his age and in every other respect he is a lively normal pup. Some times his stools are fine but occasionally I look down at what he's produced (usually when we're on a walk in the local park) and wonder how on earth I'm going to get that into the poop bag!! 

Also, and I really don't mean to sound gross here, but he is very flatulent at times and the smells he produces can only be described as eye wateringly bad! Even he occasionally looks round as if to say "what on earth is that?"! Does anyone else have the same problem with their pups? Is this something that might improve with time? Or is it likely to be linked with his food? I do give him hide bones sometimes and I have read that these can cause diarrhoea, again has anyone else found the same thing?

Any help would be most appreciated!


----------



## john_wi

My V is coming up on 14 weeks old.
His elimination schedule is all over the place, but his feeding times remain very consistent.
I usually get home from work at about 3.30 pm, and some days he will poop right away when I get home. Sometimes he wont go until two hours after I am home (which would be after his dinner). Just seems weird because he eats lunch at noon, and sometimes he will go as much as 3 times before bed at 10 pm. Does anyone know when it is recommended to switch to feeding 2x/day?
What are the feeding intervals when you do switch to 2 cups 2 x?


----------



## englishvizsla

I'm currently feeding Ferdie 3 times a day (approx 8am, 12.30pm and 5.30pm), but i intend to drop down to twice a day as soon as he is six months old - this is both on the advice of the breeder and the vet. When I do I'll probably give him his morning feed at about the same time as now and his second feed at around 5pm. 

He generally gets a walk just before each meal so by the time he eats he is always hungry and the bowl is empty within seconds!


----------



## bolanga84

englishvizsla[/color] I think your Vizsla and mine have the same (smelly) problem!! Lol... My pup is about 4 months and as i read your comment I started to laugh because I say the same thing to myself as I pick up his stool...
Anyways this seems to be normal for Vizslas, or at least there is 2 of us... by the way how much do you feed Ferdie[/color]. I feed Keni 1 cup 3X a day and i dont know if i should increase that... he weights about 25 lb....

_Thanks_[/color]


----------



## englishvizsla

Glad it's not just Ferdie!!

We mentioned his problem when we took him to the vets for his worming treatment and they suggested taking him of the tinned dog meat we used to mix in with his biscuits and just give him the dry food with some warm water to make a gravy. The reasoning behind this was that much of the tinned dog meat on the market is basically just rubbish and has very little nutritional value to the dog, so the body basically passes it through as quickly as possible to get rid of it. We've been doing this for about six weeks now and Ferdie seems much better. His stools are generally much better consistency (easier to pick up!!) and he is far less flatulent (for which we're all very grateful!!).

I did feel a bit guilty at first as I thought he would get bored of eating just the dry food, but he still wolfs his food down and always has a clean bowl. I occasionally mix other things in as a treat such as cooked lambs liver or chicken and sometimes just some plain boiled potatoes or pasta and he loves all of those too. As to the amount we feed him, he currently gets about 400-450g of dried food split between two meals a day. This is slightly more than the feeding guide on the bag of food, but he's such an active dog that this seems to be about right for him. He's now seven months old and weighs about 55lb but he's still very lean.


----------



## Lisa

My pup is now five and a half months old and about 45 pounds. I went through all the same stuff with Catan. Runny poops and lots of gas. I went through several different kinds of food with him. All high quality no grain products. The vet was adamant that I find a food that would result in a solid poop. Finally found it with 'Now Puppy Formula'. This food doesn't rate as high as some of the others we tried but we have a solid poop and very little gas. Yahoo!


----------



## scooby

I am amazed to read about the number of Viszla owners who's dogs have problem poo's. When we first got Scooby he was fed 3 times a day but would have 8 poo's (3 in the morning 2 after dinner and 3 in the evening) none of them were ever solid but they used to ger runnier with each one. My vet advise me to change his food for one with a higher protein content, the difference is unbelievable the number of poo's have reduced and they are always firm, he is now on Royal Canin and would recommend it to anyone. He is 6 mths and weighs 21kg (46lbs)


----------



## Blaze

My boy sis fine on Royal Canin puppy as well - he was on it til 12 months. I switched to the Chicken Soup brand thereafter - switching brands because the better pet shop in town , best service etc. did not carry Royal Canin. But both brands are great. I thiink it's important not to cheap out on foods and go with dry.


----------

