a poop question
 

Hi

We have had our puppy a week now and he poops like 20 times in a 24 hour period. is this right? (very small amounts) the poop is like tooth paste so really hard to clean up and we are using loads of pads. He is on Royal Canin for mini puppies. I have not changed his food. He is currently free fed. Im about to start removing the food at night time.

Any suggestion would be great, we are losing our wills!!! this is our first dog.

Little puppies poop alot but I dont remember mine pooping that much

Well it could be a couple different things. Has he been to the vet? Just to make sure he doesnt have any paracites?

Peanut was on RC before and he pooped a lot on that. Hard to say whats going on with your little one. How old is he and how much does he eat a day?

i would remove the food at night; free feeding might lead to eating problems in the future; it's better to place the food everytime u want to feed him. but of course if u are working then i guess it makes sense. good luck

Hi

He has been to the vets and he has been wormed, that was last friday. He had a hypo attack on saturday so I was told to continue free feeding. I have decided to remove the food at night to see if this helps at all. Im home all day but like I said I have been told to free feed, I want to start a feeding routine but worried about another attack.

Im quiet stressed about it at the moment, I didnt think owning a puppy would be easy but Im too worried to let him out of his pen for long. He uses the paper pads perfectly in his pen but out in the room I dont trust him, he has peed on the carpet right next to the pad!!!. I have an 8 month old baby so pooing everywhere is not an option. At the moment he is only coming out about 30 minutes a day.

He is 12 weeks old.

totally understand how difficult it can be; after my dog ended up in the hospital i had to switch her diet; i feed her 4 small meals daily; i switched to the honest kitchen human grade food; and i add probiotic and digestive enzymes for her tummy; she's doing great. maybe he's allergic to something in the food; what are the first ingredients in the current food; make sure it doesnt have anything that says "meal, corn, byproduct..." those are harmfull for the dog. good luck

What do you mean "coming out about 30 mins a day"??

He is in a large play pen, 3x4 foot.

I get him out for a play in the morning for about 15 minutes and at the end of the day for about 15 minutes, the time could be more but never less.

He just seems to poop all the time and currently if he was out of the pen all day I would never get anything done.

He gets loads of fuss in the play pen, he gets that nearly all day and the playpen is in our living room so he always has company.

We have to go back to the vets next week for his second shot so if it doesnt get better then I will talk to them. I wouldnt mind if the poop was firm, at least it would clean up far easier!!! I have cream carpets so the current poop would defo stain.

When I first got my little guy he was 1.1 lbs and had 2 types of parasites and he too had a hypo attack because he was so sick. The vet put him on Flagal for over a month (at first a larger dose and then he took him off it slowly) also I fed him round the clock every 2-3 hours for weeks. He ate Innova and Wellness soft food and he always had access to dry food. He never ate on his own I always had to hand feed him each meal. He too had soft poop and pooped constantly. Now that he is 6 months and a whooping 2.6lbs he is doing great. No more soft poop and he goes only a few times a day. I still feed him soft food three times a day plus he has hard food out all the time. I'm afraid if you take away food at night he could have another hypo attack. I know it is hard but when their small it takes time to get them on track but be patient and it will all work out. Maybe bring another stool sample it took a few samples before they found the second parasite. Hope your furbaby is feeling better real soon. Hang in there :)

IMO a puppy should not LIVE in a playpen and to me it sounds like your puppy is in there most if not all of the day, thats not right.. Would you leave your child in a play pen all day?? I highly doubt it.. so why would you do that to your puppy?? Puppies are puppies they poop and pee anywhere if they are not watched, Thats the thing to having a puppy you have to WATCH them. If you dont have time then maybe you should rethink having a puppy.. Puppies need a lot of attention/love and a lot training..

i used to think that way ; until my dog chewed up the carpet, the dinning room table and chairs and ended up with hemoraging gastritis; it ruined her stomach; so the vet told me that i am doing her more harm than good by leaving her loose in the house; she was actually damaging herself. after 2 years and 2 expensive episodes with hospital stay; i learned to leave her in her pen when i am not at home; now i cant keep her away from it; it's like her own castle; she loves it; she has her bed, pee pad and water bowl. i understand that it might seem cruel to leave them in the pen; however as long as it's not a kennel or a tight cage, it's actually safer for them, as they dont' know what's good for them when left alone. good luck

Well I understand where YOU are coming from but IMO if you are home and able to watch your puppy they shouldnt be locked up esp for that long.. I mean come on.. I crated Peanut when he was a pup and I left for work. From 8-12 he was in his crate (with a bed toys blanket pee pad water and food) I came home on my lunch and he was out till 1 then he was in the until 3 when I got home.. Thats how I potty trained him.. On the weekends when I was home he was out of his crate... I think you have to take responsibilty when you have a puppy.. you cant just stick them in playpen.

When I brought my girlie home at 12 weeks, she really pooped alot too. They just don't always hit the pad at that age, it's like they can't tell for sure where their butt is or something. Hers was soft too. I gave her plain canned punkin, as advised. It helped some, but then she would get it, so we went back to the vet, no worms or parasites, he put her on Bene-Bac Gel, once a week for digestion/bowel and she is great. 9 mos now and no problems. Zhoie gets nothing but her Royal Canin puppy 33 with natural canned chicken sprinkled in it, no treats, snacks...and she is wonderful. Be careful of changing foods, when I tried it originally with these little sensitive ones, it gave her the big "D"...bad. Good Luck and believe in time, it will all work out, be patient and persevere.;)

oh of course; 100% agree
if i am home then she won't be in the pen; it's only when i am at work .
she sleeps next to me at night sometimes; adn then she's out for few hrs before i leave to work; then i come back at noon to feed her lunch and she's out for an hr; then i she's out for the rest of the day after 5pm when i come back and out all weekend. somtimes when i am home and she's sleepy i find her sleeping there; she goes there by herself; how funny is that :)

I dont want to keep him in there all the time! Its just with his poops being VERY soft and him going nearly all the time there is no way I can watch him. If I can get his poops sorted out into firmer ones like I keep reading about and less often then he would be out all the time. Surely you understand that.

I came here for advice not to be strung up. :(

I have wanted a dog for 5 years, I have done loads of research into the breed.

As soon as his problem is sorted in will be out all the time, I cant wait to start taking him out for walks. still have 2 and a bit weeks to wait for that though.

i am sorry, i really didnt mean to offend you; of course i understand;
i have a suspition that it has somethign to do with the food; did you ask the vet maybe you can switch to something better. what are the ingredients in the current food; maybe we can figure out if this is what's causing it. good luck

:thumbup:

If you're going to get a puppy, you really need to know it's just like having another baby. I think most parents would agree that keeping your young baby in it's crib all day except for 30 minutes would be a bit... cruel, would you? When Jackson was a puppy, I was waking up in the middle of the night when he had to go out. During the day, he would get 30 minutes in the crate, 30 minutes out, 30 minutes in, etc... I was also home for 3 weeks when I first got him and not in school/working so I had all the time in the world to be with him. If you're home all day, I don't see a reason why you can't give him more play-time. Puppies play hard and sleep hard. 15 minutes of hard play will pass him out for a good while. 30 minutes a day is not enough time, imo. Dogs are very social creatures who cannot live their life in a pen. Potty training IS very difficult and takes a ton of patience and consistency, especially w/ Yorkies being known as one of the most difficult breeds to house break. I am/was extremely diligent in Jacskon's training and he WILL still have the occasional accident. He's 99% potty trained strictly outdoors. I never messed around with the pads. Yorkies are known to take up to a year to potty train, or more, some never fully potty train, so I assume you don't want the pup living in a pen until he's 1 year old.

As for your original question about the poop, I don't ever remember Jackson pooping THAT much as a pup but they do poop more as puppies than adults. Jackson is 1 year old and generally poops 2-3x a day. As a puppy, it maybe was 5-6x, if that. I would look into maybe changing foods but do it very slowly so he doesn't get an upset stomach.

Also, I wanted to say, I hope you don't think we're coming down hard on you or anything. I know sometimes as a new poster, it may seem like that, but there's *so* much to learn on this site and we just try to help. I learned a TON from this website that I would have never known had I never asked. Sometimes I felt like maybe people were being way too harsh but most here know and want what is best for all the Yorkies out there. :D

I agree he is in the playpen too much

That sounds really abnormal for him to poop 20 times a day. I think the vet should know about that asap. 30 minutes out of his pen a day is really sad :( He could be stressed and causing him to have loose stools not to mention he's in a new home. Please talk to your vet.

I wondered if it was because he was free feeding????

I do wish you would understand where I coming from with the play pen, if he didnt keep pooping like that then he wouldnt be in there! as I said its more then 30 minutes!

I spoke to the vet and he wants to see if it settles down by the time we go back next week. its not runny like diarrhea, just very soft and speads everywhere when I try and clean it. He is fine in himself.

I am not trying to be mean or nasty to you, I am just telling you how I feel about it. You came on here for advice and I am giving it to you. His poop shouldnt be soft. Its apparent SOMETHING is going on.. maybe his food, maybe stress I dont know.. I cant help you with that you have to take the steps to get it figured out. Take him to the vet.

You need to moniter how much he is eating a day. Puppies need to be free fed. I dont think you should take up his food.. Maybe put however much the back of the food says in his bowl and see how he does. I dont understand the whole playpen thing I am sorry. Maybe if it was in a manner where you were trying to train him, and if he was able to get out most of the day. but that doesnt seem like the case, it sounds like you dont want him to poop all over your carpet and you cant watch him so you stick him in a cage all day, thats what it sounds like to me..

Try giving him some boiled chicken and rice, that might help.

When mine were very young there poop was very soft too. I have a baby kitten and its poop is very soft I think that is common for a young pup

Hi

I asked for advice on his poop and you are giving me your opinion on a method I am using to train him.

The pup has been bought up in a play pen and is VERY used to it. he is not in the yapping and fretting all day.

Even you think 20 times a day seems too much, surely you see why I am reluctant to let him have free range?? I have a crawling baby, I cannot afford to miss a poop.

He has been to the vets, check out my last post.

Come on 20 times a day he poops?? Really? U Pick up 20 pieces of poo a day?
I think at the most when Peanut was on RC he was pooping 5 times a day..

If you're doing everything your vet said and your pup doesn't seem stressed than keep doing what you're doing. Good luck.

Depending on where you live sometimes the water can be less than desireable for drinking. Maybe you could try bottled spring water until you figure out what is causing the soft stool.:)

I really don't think it's because he's free feeding. I've always free fed all of mine - from puppy to adult. I've never had a pup go that frequently. Since you've taken him to the vet, I'm stumped. Maybe the vet needs to do more in-depth testing? I hope someone more knowlegable will see this & can help you. Please keep us updated, I'd like to know what's going on.

don't put too much food in the bowl; maybe put a small amount at a time; also to make sure it's not the food; try boiled chicken and rice for few days; that will settle his stomach and make the poop harder and he will poop less; a sign of too much poop can mean that the food has lots of fillers, not great quality food. i think the vet will know best.

Of course 20 times a day is too much. This was your original question and I believe it has been answered; yet, if you provide more information in your post(s) it seems reasonable to expect that people will respond to that as well. Please don't be offended, I don't think anyone means to be harsh.

I was thinking about your situation, and wondering this.....even once the frequency problem is solved, won't you still have a puppy who is not potty-trained? This will likely continue for months and months; it's just a fact with this breed of dog.

Of course you don't want your baby to get into the poopy mess. Therefore, you are going to need to separate your small dog and child for many moons to come, not only for the toilet training issue but also for the physical safety of the dog. I think we are all wondering how you will accomplish this short of keeping the puppy confined for the next......year...or two...etc?

I adopted a rescue Yorkie at 5 months of age when I had a 4 year old child; it was a challenge, and I was a full-time mom. So, I've been there.....
and I agree that a baby Yorkie is much like having a second baby. Just hoping you don't have one too many.

Best wishes.......