Stopping the Silence on Dog Poo - 4 Key Questions Answered

Poo is an everyday bodily function but unlike every other aspect of life, it’s rarely talked about openly. Here are 4 key questions you may have been itching to ask…

Unless you’re the type who likes to discuss toilet humour at the dinner table, it’s likely that you don’t discuss your own bowel movements, let alone those of your dog.

However, when it comes to your prized pooch, we think this is a topic that should be discussed more. Poo can often signal the difference between a healthy diet and an unhealthy one and the more we talk about it, the better the outcome can be for both dog and owner.

Many owners assume stinky waste is part and parcel of owning a dog, but to use a well-known phrase, you are what you eat. If picking up Buster’s waste resembles a scene from a gory horror film you may want to look at what your pet is eating.

Our nutritionists are something of experts on the subject, receiving all sorts of enquiries about poo on a daily basis  We asked them to impart their wisdom and get to the, ahem, bottom of the problem.

What causes a dog’s stools to be loose and smelly?

Low-quality ingredients, food intolerances, inappropriate diets or overfeeding are all likely culprits.  Even if you are feeding your dog a healthy balanced diet you need to be wary of feeding table scraps or treats, which can contribute to their waste matter.

How often should a healthy dog need a poo?

An adult dog eating two meals per day should need the loo on average once or twice a day. It’s normal for a puppy to go up to four times depending on how many meals they eat a day.

What is an example of a healthy poo?

A healthy stool should be small, well-formed and easy to pick up, with no offensive odour or colour.

What should you do if you think your dog has diarrhoea?

We suggest starving the dog for 12-24 hours until everything is out of their system. After this time period, feed the dog some well-cooked rice.  When cooking rice for your dog, please note that dogs have different digestive systems to humans and will require their rice to be cooked for a lot longer to enable them to digest it easily.  For this reason, we recommend cooking white rice for 40 minutes and brown rice for 60-90 minutes before serving.

On day 2, add a lightly boiled egg and continue on this rice and egg diet until the stools are well-formed.  Alternatively, our Penlan Farm free-range egg and brown rice variety is a good alternative to home cooking.

If your dog continues to have diarrhoea, seems unwell in himself or isn’t drinking properly you should seek advice from your vet

Check out our dog poo checker chart (PDF).

Too much waste and other tummy and poo upset issues are often the result of bad diet.  For support and advice on this you can chat to our dedicated team of nutritionists on our freephone or Livechat Helpline.