I know puppy poops is an odd topic, but since I have big dogs and little dogs in my house and I also run a busy pet sitting business, I see lots of them.
Of course, a normal dog poop should be firm and with shape and a normal brown color. Sometimes, that’s just not what we find in the yard, unfortunately, and for lots of different reasons.
First, I’d like to address puppies. The number one reason that the new puppy you just brought home has what I call pudding poop is stress and the second is a quick change in the food you’re feeding or too many treats. Both of those have easy solutions. If it’s stress related, give the puppy more time alone to rest away from the kids and commotion of life and perhaps add just a little yogurt to their meal to help their gut flora. When changing puppy food, do so slowly by combining the new food with the old food for a few days before taking the old food out of the mix.
I should also mention that worms can cause puppies to have diarrhea, so be sure to rule out that possibility by either giving worm meds appropriately or having their stool checked by your vet.
Another reason for puppies to have pudding poop is a little more complicated. Puppies have antibodies which protect them against all kind of stuff in the environment as long as they are nursing from their mommies. Very shortly after they are weaned, their own bodies have to pick up the slack and do the work on their own. A couple of “bugs” that are out there that can make a puppy sick with diarrhea are giardia and coccidia. Most adult dogs have immunities but are often carriers so they can pass these ailments to puppies. In addition, either can be picked up from the grass, standing water, or even from the floors or toys or bowls in our multi dog households. You may even bring your puppy home from the breeder to find that they are in the process of “shedding” the organisms through their poop. If the poop looks like it is encased in mucous or has some blood, those are indicators that they need some medicine from the vet, usually Flagyl for Giardia and Albon for Coccidia. Although not immediately life threatening, small puppies can get dehydrated and we just don’t want their bellies to hurt, so get them in for a checkup. In most cases, the vet will want to also treat your other dogs because both are highly contagious.
In a worst case scenario and if your puppy is very sick and lethargic along with diarrhea, get the vet ASAP because they just might have Parvo. Luckily, very early treatment and intervention raise the chances of survival. You will know the difference between a romping puppy with loose stools and a sick puppy.
Diarrhea in adult dogs often is the result of eating too much food, stress, too many treats, or food from our plates. I see stress diarrhea a lot with my pet sit clients because our dogs are a little confused when we leave for an extended period of time. I keep a probiotic called DogZymes on hand and have terrific success with adding a small amount to each meal to keep tummies feeling good. It is available from NaturesFarmacy.com. It is an all natural product and I have seen no ill effects, only positive results. I use it for my own dogs when we are traveling or have guests in the house.
If, however, your adult dog has diarrhea with blood or mucous, they may also be fighting off giardia or coccidia as mentioned above. My dogs tend to get a round of giardia in the early Spring when there’s a lot of rain and my backyard grass is especially wet. When I see that mucous in their stool, I immediately give them a round of Flagyl.
This may be more than you wanted to know about puppy poops, but if you are intrigued by the topic, the Internet provides all kinds of detailed information about the ailments I mentioned.