Poop Question

Winchey · Post by **Winchey** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:48 pm

Well I have a 1 year old dog who has normal poop, but when he is out for a run or hunting he has diarea. Just little squirts from what I think is excitement. He eats good food, but has been on a lot of different foods as he gets tired of the same food and I get free nutro, royal canin, canadae food and get grocery store prices on nutura, pro series and a bunch of others. Doesen't seem to matter what he is on, he has normal poop when I take him outside to go but when he is out for a run he will poop every 10-20 minutes or so. Any thoughts? The only thing I can think of is the food changes but it still happens if he is on the same food for a couple months.

big steve46 · Post by **big steve46** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:55 pm

My young Setter has a bit of the same thing, but I freefeed. He gets fed in a weather protected area every three days. Therefore, he may have some stuff in his gut, and with activity he may get the urge more.

Therefore, you might restrict any feed for several hours before working him.

mcbosco · Post by **mcbosco** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:21 pm

Winchey wrote:Well I have a 1 year old dog who has normal poop, but when he is out for a run or hunting he has diarea. Just little squirts from what I think is excitement. He eats good food, but has been on a lot of different foods as he gets tired of the same food and I get free nutro, royal canin, canadae food and get grocery store prices on nutura, pro series and a bunch of others. Doesen't seem to matter what he is on, he has normal poop when I take him outside to go but when he is out for a run he will poop every 10-20 minutes or so. Any thoughts? The only thing I can think of is the food changes but it still happens if he is on the same food for a couple months.

Google "exertional diarrhea" or "diarrhea in sled dogs" there is some interesting info on this. A bunch of research was done on sled dogs and the theory was bacteria or parasites but neither was found. It has to be stress related.

Most dogs will evacuate just into exercise and then they are fine. It is usually a little wetter because the stool is coming out prematurely but not much. Some dogs though have persistent squirts though.

Ms. Cornell put her GSP on Pro Pac recently and that seemed to help quite a bit. I am sure she will chime in.

Winchey · Post by **Winchey** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:36 pm

I looked at the ingredients of pro-pac and it is no better than anything else I have fed, I don't really see much of a change from different foods. I agree with stress/excitement, it is not like he would rather be squirting then running. I will look into the literature you pointed me towards and will definately mention it to my vet next time we are there.

Post by **ezzy333** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:49 pm

I agree with stress/excitement,

Think that is it. You can control the amount to some extent with diet and when you feed but it is a nervous reaction on the dogs part probably caused by excitement. We hunted with a Setter that was fed a raw diet and he was terrible. Got him over on a dry diet and he improved but the reaction was still there, just think his bowels were in a little better shape.

Ezzy

buckshot0074 · Post by **buckshot0074** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 5:57 pm

I have noticed the same thing with my now 10 month old Setter

BigShooter · Post by **BigShooter** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 6:35 pm

OP,
What guidelines do you follow with restricting food before exertion?

Winchey · Post by **Winchey** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 6:56 pm

don't know what OP means but if you are reffering to me: if i plan on hunting him in the morning I generally feed 8-12 hours before. Random runs I don't really think about it but I generally try not to run him on a full stomach do to concerns about bloat and the like. It is better when he has not eaten in 12 hours or whatever but he still does it. It is never enough to ruin a hunt or anything it is just abnormal and aside from the first big one 5 minutes in that most dogs take there is very little that comes out, ever.

mcbosco · Post by **mcbosco** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 6:59 pm

Winchey wrote:I looked at the ingredients of pro-pac and it is no better than anything else I have fed, I don't really see much of a change from different foods. I agree with stress/excitement, it is not like he would rather be squirting then running. I will look into the literature you pointed me towards and will definately mention it to my vet next time we are there.

I am sure she will chime in on her GSP. Some marathon runners have huge problems with this. I remember some of the horses that came from the track were manure manufacturing plants. Always wet and always going. Those guys even got beet pulp and it didn't help.

Jen where are you?

OP just curious how much does he eat?

Winchey · Post by **Winchey** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:16 pm

He is about 45lbs and he is skin and bones, runs generally an hour a day, and some romping throughout a typical day. Hunting and when the days get longer and I have time to do some real work he gets the "bleep" run out of him. He gets 3 cups a day, 2 in the evening and 1 around noon of something around 30/20. If he happened not to get run or anything he would typically have 2 regular good solid dumps.

mcbosco · Post by **mcbosco** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:30 pm

Winchey wrote:He is about 45lbs and he is skin and bones, runs generally an hour a day, and some romping throughout a typical day. Hunting and when the days get longer and I have time to do some real work he gets the "bleep" run out of him. He gets 3 cups a day, 2 in the evening and 1 around noon of something around 30/20. If he happened not to get run or anything he would typically have 2 regular good solid dumps.

I have a friend who races huskies. I just sent her a Facebook message. I am sure she has dealt with this before.

Winchey · Post by **Winchey** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:41 pm

Thanks bosco, you seem to be more concerned than I am, appreciate the help.

jlp8cornell · Post by **jlp8cornell** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:23 pm

I am sure she will chime in on her GSP. Some marathon runners have huge problems with this. I remember some of the horses that came from the track were manure manufacturing plants. Always wet and always going. Those guys even got beet pulp and it didn't help.

Jen where are you?

OP just curious how much does he eat?

So, as McBosco was saying, my GSP had the same issues. I had him on Orijen and he would poop 3-6 times every run. He had diarrhea and a lot of straining. At home in the dog yard, no issues- only when exercising. (Not a feeding time/amount issue as he eats early AM and PM- well before and after runs.)

I switched him to ProPac to see if it helped with the excitement/exercise diarrhea and we have no more issues. It also helped put weight on him as he was darn skinny.

BigShooter · Post by **BigShooter** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:47 pm

OP = original poster

BigShooter · Post by **BigShooter** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:57 pm

A full meal requires a canine approximately 23 hours for complete digestion. Goggle up "canine cecal slap". Theoretically residual fecal matter causes cecal slap which in turn can cause diarrhea as well as other symptoms. Some dogs are more prone to this condition than others.

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:52 pm

My dogs are all the same way. I think it has more to do with anticipation of the hunt and excitement than anything. I don't consider it a problem and have just never worried about it.

On a side note, I don't think it is a good idea to be swithching the food as you say you do, but that is JMO.

Charlie

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