Feeding Schedule Help!

[Ljgragg]

Hey everyone! I have a beautiful Parti Yorkie girl named Maggie that is 8 months old! We have had her since she was 15 weeks and she is a great addition to our family! We have had some food issues since we got her...she came to us from the breeder on Purina Pro Plan...we wanted to change her to a better quality food so we tried Solid Gold Mighty Mini...it caused constipation and blood in her stool...so we then tried Natural Balance Potato Duck Puppy, but she is now pooping 3-4 times a day. Her current feeding schedule is wake up around 6, eat and go pee and poop. She stays in a crate and gets let out at lunch time to pee by my husband or parents and then goes back in crate untiI I get home at 3:30. I take her out then and she poops and pees. She is fed at 4:30-5:00 and most of the time goes poop again and will sometimes poop again around 6:30-7....my question is “is this normal?” I feel like we spend most of our nights out walking and trying to poop because we have found that if she does not go at least three times a day to poop, she will poop in the middle of the night in her crate and eat it😩!!! She currently should be eating 3/4 per day based on her weight (6.6lbs) according to her food feeding guidelines. I am wondering about changing her to Nature’s Variety LID salmon...anyone have experience with this food? It is 515 calories per cup...way more calories than she is eating right now...it says to feed her 1/2 cup on bag...should I feed that much? I really would love to get her down to pooping only twice a day, not sure if that is possible? I have a small child and some nights I feel like I am neglecting her because the dog takes up a lot of time trying to get her to poop! I cannot stand the thought of her eating her poop! I am also currently giving her chunks of pineapple to try to stop the poop eating! She only eats poop if she does it in her cage...she has no interest in it when we are outside. Thanks for all your help! Suggestions are welcome!

[Rachael1983]

Your feeding schedule and daily routine seem fine to me .
A. Food selection, try a grain free kibble to see if it helps reduce the amount of poop per day. You’re feeding a quality food but there can be an allergy or sensitivities.
B. Frequency : dogs are creatures of habit and routine . Bc you walk a while a encourage poop every time you’re out, this is why she does it .
C. Poop eating : try adding some MSG to the food if the pineapple isn’t working . This may help with that . Encourage her not to eat it .
D. Crate size make sure her crate isn’t too big as she may be pooping in it bc it’s too big . She’s eating poop to hide it. She’s 6 pounds so the small 18inch crate would be best .

My suggestions come from my experiences with Emma . I feed NutriSource Grain free chicken and pea formula . Poops are twice a day . I crate train and take her outside . Works best for our household to save floors and to make sure my house doesn’t smell like “dog”.
I think you’re experiencing the ebb and flow of figuring out what’s best for you guys and that is normal . All of your issues can be resolved.

[Ljgragg]

Thank you so much for your reply! I am thinking that you are absolutely correct...I am encouraging her to poop more because we have had a bad experience with her pooping in her crate at night and eating it! Her current food NB duck and potato is grain free...her poop is huge and she goes 3-4 times a day, mostly 3 large times a day. I am not sure how she poops so large and frequent! Maybe the food is not agreeing with her? It seems like she poops out everything she takes in? We are using an 18 inch crate...I definitely think she is trying to hide the poop in her cage by eating it. She has only ate it 3 times, but we are completely grossed out! This is our first puppy, so we are new to all of this! Again, thank you for taking the time to reply!

[Wylie's Mom]

I would do 2 things immediately:

-- change to a higher protein, grain free food
-- buy Solid Gold SEP (Stop Eating Poop), it works AMAZINGLY

[Lovetodream88]

Does she tell you at night if she has to go potty like cry or bark or anything? If she only eats the poo in her crate I think it is to hide it from you. You definitely could try a different food but I would make sure that the one you choose has vet nutritionists on staff, does feeding trails and good quality control like Wellness and Royal Canin.

[Ljgragg]

No, she does not whine or anything to let us know that she needs to go potty at night. She currently sleeps in our bedroom in her crate. We have tried a higher protein grain free food (Solid Gold Mighty Mini) and it caused blood in her stool...so the vet said it may be too rich for her and caused the constipation. I also forgot to mention that we have had a constant struggle since bringing her home with anal glands leaking. She has had them expressed every few weeks since we brought her home. She will begin leaking and then we have to take her in...she is currently eating one green bean cut up for more fiber per meal. I have not noticed a difference though in her glands since adding the green beans. We tried pumpkin per vet recommendations, but she threw it the two times we tried it. Thank you guys for your recommendations! I will try to Stop Eating Poop! This site is wonderful!

[lilgidget]

I feed Gidget Royal Canin for Yorkies. She poops twice a day and I've had no digestive issues etc with her eating the RC. She's been on RC since she was 2 months and had her 2nd birthday in January. She stays at a trim 5lbs. No table food or scraps. For treats I give her thawed green peas or green beans. Both work fine for her. Just depends on what I have in the freezer.

[Ljgragg]

Originally Posted by Rachael1983

Your feeding schedule and daily routine seem fine to me .
A. Food selection, try a grain free kibble to see if it helps reduce the amount of poop per day. You’re feeding a quality food but there can be an allergy or sensitivities.
B. Frequency : dogs are creatures of habit and routine . Bc you walk a while a encourage poop every time you’re out, this is why she does it .
C. Poop eating : try adding some MSG to the food if the pineapple isn’t working . This may help with that . Encourage her not to eat it .
D. Crate size make sure her crate isn’t too big as she may be pooping in it bc it’s too big . She’s eating poop to hide it. She’s 6 pounds so the small 18inch crate would be best .

My suggestions come from my experiences with Emma . I feed NutriSource Grain free chicken and pea formula . Poops are twice a day . I crate train and take her outside . Works best for our household to save floors and to make sure my house doesn’t smell like “dog”.
I think you’re experiencing the ebb and flow of figuring out what’s best for you guys and that is normal . All of your issues can be resolved.

How much of the NutriSource Gain free do you feed Emma at one time? The food looks like a great option!

[canana]

Your schedule sounds great - very similar to what I did with mine when they were puppies.

Not sure if this would help, but have you tried soaking the kibble in water for 5-10 minutes before feeding? It might help for her to digest the food better, so there's less poop? I believe if dogs have a lot of poop, it has to do with their digestion. I always soak the kibble (and dump out the extra water) before feeding them.

I know your frustration of wanting to switch different kibble brands too, but at the same time, knowing if you switch too often, it makes their tummy upset. If you decide to switch though, I found my two have nice poop with either Fromm grain free kibble or Acana Small Breed kibble. My two usually has 2 (sometimes 3) poops a day.

Has the vet commented on the anal gland leaking issue? If their digestion is good, they should have nice looking poops and no leaking issue. I've read it's not good to have to express the glands often.

Oh and, are her poops nice looking? Like.. playdough-like consistency and can be picked off the ground without leaving any residue? Or are they light colored and soft and leaves a mess behind? If soft, I would try the 100% pumpkin again. Give only very little.. a small teaspoon a day.

[Ljgragg]

Her poop is playdough consistency and large.

Anal glands: Yes, the vet said to get more fiber into her diet by using pumpkin or green beans. But her glands have leaked since doing the green beans. The vet has said that some dogs just have gland issues... It just seems so odd that she is so young and has already started with these issues. The first time they leaked she was only 20 weeks old. I am thinking that all of these issues are directly related to digestion...Maybe I just have not found the right food for her yet? I have already purchased the Nature's Variety limited ingredient grain free salmon dog food, but have not switched her over yet..I was hoping that someone might have experience with this food. Our vet said to stay under 30% protein because it seemed too rich for her and cause her to bleed. I am not sure what to think at this point. I appreciate all of your suggestions!

[KatysMom]

Hi Ljgragg,

My senior yorkie, recently passed, had some anal glad issues late in life.

I'm familiar with terms like "full" and cautions that the glands might become infected or impacted ... even ruptured. I'm not familiar with the concept of glands that leak.

Hoping you or others might help me understand that condition better.

Thank you.--KatysMom

[Ljgragg]

Her glands just leak...I did not know what it was the first time it happened. She was sitting on my lap and I smelled something awful and looked in my lap and I had little liquid horrible smelling drops of fluid on my lap. I took her to the vet immediately and her glands we full and they expressed them and said that is what had leaked out on me. They said some dogs leak fluid if they are full when they are relaxed? I have no idea? The same exact scenario has happened four more times since then. Seems like it happens monthly?

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Ljgragg

No, she does not whine or anything to let us know that she needs to go potty at night. She currently sleeps in our bedroom in her crate. We have tried a higher protein grain free food (Solid Gold Mighty Mini) and it caused blood in her stool...so the vet said it may be too rich for her and caused the constipation. I also forgot to mention that we have had a constant struggle since bringing her home with anal glands leaking. She has had them expressed every few weeks since we brought her home. She will begin leaking and then we have to take her in...she is currently eating one green bean cut up for more fiber per meal. I have not noticed a difference though in her glands since adding the green beans. We tried pumpkin per vet recommendations, but she threw it the two times we tried it. Thank you guys for your recommendations! I will try to Stop Eating Poop! This site is wonderful!

My Penny had that issue and we were told to use metamucle but it didn't work out so we started using a probiotic and it has seemed to cleared the issue up. We use the fortaflora by Purina the vet sells it but you can get it on Chewy or amazon. It is a powder you can put on their food or I make a cream cheese peanut butter mix and put it in that. I would give Wellness a try and see how it goes. They are a great company and so many dogs do wonderful on it.

[Ljgragg]

Thank you! I will definitely ask my vet about the Fortaflora! I am willing to try anything!

[canana]

Originally Posted by Ljgragg

Her glands just leak...I did not know what it was the first time it happened. She was sitting on my lap and I smelled something awful and looked in my lap and I had little liquid horrible smelling drops of fluid on my lap. I took her to the vet immediately and her glands we full and they expressed them and said that is what had leaked out on me. They said some dogs leak fluid if they are full when they are relaxed? I have no idea? The same exact scenario has happened four more times since then. Seems like it happens monthly?

Now that you describe it, it sounds familiar with my past dog! I recall that distinctive foul smell. And the stuff that came out looked kind of goopy. I'm sorry I don't have a definitive solution for you though...

Originally Posted by Ljgragg

Thank you! I will definitely ask my vet about the Fortaflora! I am willing to try anything!

I second trying out Fortiflora! I keep a box that I bought from my vet on hand for whenever my two have tummy upsets. A box of 30 sachets for me costed around $40.

But, just thinking out loud, if she has nice playdough-like consistency poop, it sounds like her digestion is okay? Have you considered feeding freeze-dried meal patties? I know that those give smaller and more condensed poops because they absorb more of it. But...it's significantly pricier than regular kibble.