# Indelicate question



## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

How often does your hav poop?

Ceylon eats Orijin puppy formula kibble, and free-feeds. I know a lot of people on this forum would say not to free-feed, but he is skinny to begin with even though he gets lots of other treats for training and when I comb or bathe him - lower-'quality' dog treats for training, and higher quality (meat or cheese) for combing and bathing or nail clipping, since he really only tolerates those activities at best. Also, I didn't want him to become really focused on food, which is part of why I free-feed him...

So, he doesn't eat much kibble, and he poops usually only once a day. Is this normal? He is really skinny under all of his fur. He gets plenty of treats on any given day, especially since lately I've been trying to comb him out daily, which ends up meaning about half of a cheese stick or so a night. But he still only has about 1 BM a day, and he is SO skinny under all of his fur... I can feel his backbone, ribs, etc. I mean, he's not scary skinny, but I feel like he could definitely eat more than he does... and I read a post here recently about a pup that poops 2/3 times a day so that got me to wondering...


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

McGee usually goes two to three times a day - most often two. He gets fed morning first thing and again at 5 pm. We do NOT have to worry about him being skinny!!! He would eat all day long if we gave it to him!

I wouldn't worry about just one poop a day, though. It is probably just what is normal for him. How much kibble do you think he eats in one day? We give McGee close to 1/3 cup twice a day but Abby being older gets 1/4 cup twice a day.


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Brody isn't quite as a prolific pooper as he used to be. He used to go 6 times or more in a day. Now he goes anywhere from 2-4. He'll be 6 months next week and I feed him Orijen puppy. He still is eating 3 times a day usually (1/4 cup each meal) and the meal he wolfs down is the mid-day meal which I thought is the one they usually give up, but that's when he is hungriest. He'd on his own I think usually skip the morning meal, but if I don't get him to eat something in the first couple of hours he's up he gets pukey with the yellow bile (which really stains the carpet!). Occasionally he doesn't eat the evening meal.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

heatherk said:


> How often does your hav poop?
> 
> Ceylon eats Orijin puppy formula kibble, and free-feeds. I know a lot of people on this forum would say not to free-feed, but he is skinny to begin with even though he gets lots of other treats for training and when I comb or bathe him - lower-'quality' dog treats for training, and higher quality (meat or cheese) for combing and bathing or nail clipping, since he really only tolerates those activities at best. Also, I didn't want him to become really focused on food, which is part of why I free-feed him...
> 
> So, he doesn't eat much kibble, and he poops usually only once a day. Is this normal? He is really skinny under all of his fur. He gets plenty of treats on any given day, especially since lately I've been trying to comb him out daily, which ends up meaning about half of a cheese stick or so a night. But he still only has about 1 BM a day, and he is SO skinny under all of his fur... I can feel his backbone, ribs, etc. I mean, he's not scary skinny, but I feel like he could definitely eat more than he does... and I read a post here recently about a pup that poops 2/3 times a day so that got me to wondering...


 The sisters go 2 to 3 times a day. Zoey is also really skinny. I offer cooked skinless chicken along with the dry food. I add a little water to a pan and simmer the chicken. Then cut it up and put the chicken and broth into ice cube trays they get one at each meal it helps them eat all the dry. I was told Zoey could gain at least a pound or two. I'm not going to worry because I think she is just eating what she wants.
Some higher quality dog food means less poop maybe yours is one of those. Also exercise will help I would say to ask your vet though just encase he has worms.


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## SOPHIES-MOM (Oct 4, 2010)

If you are free feeding and he's not much of an eater, he's probably not eating that much. I wish Sophie only pooped once a day. She's more like 4. But if he seems energetic and happy, I wouldn't worry.


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Puppies poop a lot and mostly it depends on their food. Rosie is finally down to the once a day that I consider normal for an adult dog. The first few months, I had forgotten how much they pooped but by a year old it was down to 2 or 3 timss and now once a day. However if I were to give her a low-quality kibble, she would poop most of it out and get very little nutrition.


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## MoirasNiceLady (Jul 11, 2011)

OMG, Momo is a pooping machine! I'm serious, if pooping was a doggy olympic sport, she'd win gold daily. 4 times/day minimum, and never right after she eats (to make things difficult).


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

Tillie typically goes 2-3 times a day


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## Tessa's Mommy (May 20, 2011)

I think Tessa's could compete in the pooping Olympics too and give Momo a good run for the gold. She goes at least 4 to 5 times a day and never after she eats. I still can't figure out her bowel routine. Just keep hoping she'll become regular. She is also very skinny. The vet said she could feel all her ribs and to feed her more. She is on Orijin Puppy and Adult (mixture), but she prefers Cooper's diet food of course. She is also very fond of the cat's kibble. But she is very happy and energetic so I'm not worrying (too much) about it.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

misstray said:


> Brody isn't quite as a prolific pooper as he used to be. He used to go 6 times or more in a day. Now he goes anywhere from 2-4. He'll be 6 months next week and I feed him Orijen puppy. He still is eating 3 times a day usually (1/4 cup each meal) and the meal he wolfs down is the mid-day meal which I thought is the one they usually give up, but that's when he is hungriest. He'd on his own I think usually skip the morning meal, but if I don't get him to eat something in the first couple of hours he's up he gets pukey with the yellow bile (which really stains the carpet!). Occasionally he doesn't eat the evening meal.





SOPHIES-MOM said:


> If you are free feeding and he's not much of an eater, he's probably not eating that much. I wish Sophie only pooped once a day. She's more like 4. But if he seems energetic and happy, I wouldn't worry.


I think your're right, I think Cey just doesn't eat much. I think it takes him a couple of days to go through about 1/2 cup of kibble, though as I said he gets plenty of treats in addition to that... I measured out his kibble this morning so as to see how long exactly it takes him to eat 1/2 cup and I will update when it's gone...

How big is Brody? Cey is almost 8 1/2 months old, and the last time I weighed him he weighed just over 10 lbs...


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

Also, Ceylon is perfectly happy and energetic, which is why I am not too worried... and I give him food-grade dichotomous earth in his kibble once a week or so, so I am pretty sure he doesn't have worms or parasites...


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Brody is 8.8 pounds. I'd be jumping for joy if he only pooped once a day. As it is I swear he waits til I'm either eating or just about to eat to go dump one on the indoor potty! Yuck.


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

i have been free feeding since he was a puppy with the exception when he was sick for a few months but he has pooped twice a day like clockwork since we got him as a baby.


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Augie is really regular too, twice a day, nearly always at the same time, once in awhile a third time.

Finn doesn't poop - EVER! He has a poop fairy that brings them in and deposits them on his potty tray - always when we are out of the room. :biggrin1: We have not seen him go poop once since he came to live here. This fairy visits about four times daily, at least! It is the weirdest thing - I guess he thinks this is very private business!


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Jack is a pooping machine! Dexter maybe 2-3 days.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

Henry goes on average 2x a day.
I love it. It makes me happy. And he usually gives a good one.
(okay now you know how I really feel).


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

OK, this is not a very scientific estimation about how much Ceylon eats, since the first day when I measured out 1/2 cup of kibble (Orijin Puppy) yesterday morning, I found out that when I came home, he found and demolished a dog treat bag that was partially full, and then today, he went to doggie daycare, so I have no idea how much kibble he ate there (though I suspect it wasn't much - he just isn't very food oriented, except for treats, and if there is ANYTHING exciting around him, like dogs or people, he simply won't eat his kibble). But still, after measuring out half a cup of kibble yesterday morning, there is still about a quarter of the initial 1/2 cup left tonight, and he is done for the day, passed out after playing all day with puppies at doggie day care lol.

Again, I am not really *worried* - he is a good size for his age, and although he is skinny, he is not scary skinny. But, this started out about a question about how much your dog poops since Cey only seems to poop once a day at the most - but throughout the post, I realized that Cey's pooping is related to how much he eats, and he has never, since I got him, eaten very much, even though he free-feeds very high-quality kibble. I mean, he likes treats, but I break those up or cut them up very small to limit the total amount of treats that he gets, even though I treat him often. And other than treats, he is just not very food-oriented. Which was *actually *my intent by free-feeding him - I _wanted _a dog that wouldn't eat everything on sight, but rather, would eat his own food reasonably as he needed, and be thankful but not obsessive about the treats that he gets. But given the small amount of treats that he eats (and despite his getting into the little treat bag yesterday - he still doesn't eat much normally, and his kibble intake has not seemed smaller than normal generally, after giving him half a cup of kibble yesterday morning), and after hearing what other havs eat, I am a bit, well, not sure what to think...

I will start a truly scientific recording of what he actually eats tomorrow morning, including treats. But I think it will be pretty close to 1/4 or less of a cup of high-quality kibble a day, plus a few treats including up to about half a cheese stick at night for combing. Does that sound crazy for an 8-month old, 10-lb pup???


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

i'd like to add that in the winter time django poops 1x a day for the most part due to lack of walks......too cold outside


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

motherslittlehelper said:


> Augie is really regular too, twice a day, nearly always at the same time, once in awhile a third time.
> 
> Finn doesn't poop - EVER! He has a poop fairy that brings them in and deposits them on his potty tray - always when we are out of the room. :biggrin1: We have not seen him go poop once since he came to live here. This fairy visits about four times daily, at least! It is the weirdest thing - I guess he thinks this is very private business!


Kodi is pretty reliable about twice a day too. If we're trialing, sometimes there's an extra one on the trial grounds.

HE started this "privacy" thing too! He will poop in our sight in the morning, because he really has no choice... we take him out on a flexi, and tell him to go. But later in the day, he's more likely to disappear around the corner of the house, or even behind a tree and go. If he HAS to use the litter box in bad weather or at night, he always waits until everyone is out of the room.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

heatherk said:


> I will start a truly scientific recording of what he actually eats tomorrow morning, including treats. But I think it will be pretty close to 1/4 or less of a cup of high-quality kibble a day, plus a few treats including up to about half a cheese stick at night for combing. Does that sound crazy for an 8-month old, 10-lb pup???


I think it is what it is. You are clearly offering him as much food as he wants, and it's a good quality food. He might eat more if you didn't free feed him. because he'd be hungrier when his meal came. I'd also check the calories in a cheese stick. My guess is that for a little guy, it has more calories than you think. But the bottom line is that he's not undersized, and as long as he's not unhealthily skinny, the saying "a lean horse for a long race" holds as true for dogs as it is for people. (and horses)


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

krandall said:


> Kodi is pretty reliable about twice a day too. If we're trialing, sometimes there's an extra one on the trial grounds.
> 
> HE started this "privacy" thing too! He will poop in our sight in the morning, because he really has no choice... we take him out on a flexi, and tell him to go. But later in the day, he's more likely to disappear around the corner of the house, or even behind a tree and go. If he HAS to use the litter box in bad weather or at night, he always waits until everyone is out of the room.


They are strange little creatures! Yesterday, I was about ready to place both of mine in foster care! Just too much dealing with poop yesterday! After Augie went potty, he whipped around so fast and scooped up his poo and ate it, before I could even react. He hasn't done that in quite awhile - guess he had been deprived for just too long. UGH! In the grooming tool thread, I wrote about trying out my new laundry tub. There was a reason for trying out the new tub, bright and early, yesterday morning. Finn had pooped on his potty tray and then shredded it and tossed it around like confetti! He must have pooped 6 or 7 times yesterday. I was ready to buy a cork! OK, you guys know I really wouldn't do that to my baby! :evil: But it was fun to visualize for a bit.

Heather, it sounds to me like that may just be 'normal' for Cey. I would think that the treats, even though small, and the half a cheese stick, might be providing more calories and satisfy his hunger more than you realize. Kind of like going to Costco and sampling the goodies that the demo people have for the customers. After a couple little samples, even when I am hungry, I am good to go for a good long while.

Before Finn came, Augie ate very little; once in awhile, he didn't eat at all on some days. I used to worry about it, but he wasn't acting sick so figured he would eat when he was hungry. He seems to eat more now, but is doing a lot more running with Finn too. I was surprised that he had even lost about 2/3 of a pound since last winter when I had him weighed yesterday. If Augie has any food left on his plate and I haven't picked it up, Finn will make a beeline for it and eat like he hasn't been given any food for a week. They are all different.


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## Becky Chittenden (Feb 4, 2009)

My dogs eat twice a day and poop twice a day. I do not free feed but feed in the morning and early afternoon and if, rarely, there is any food left, pick it up. Mine are great eaters at home, but on the road, I have to bring frozen BilJac as they wouldn't eat anything else. Still, they have the same regularity


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

motherslittlehelper said:


> Heather, it sounds to me like that may just be 'normal' for Cey. I would think that the treats, even though small, and the half a cheese stick, might be providing more calories and satisfy his hunger more than you realize. Kind of like going to Costco and sampling the goodies that the demo people have for the customers. After a couple little samples, even when I am hungry, I am good to go for a good long while.
> 
> Before Finn came, Augie ate very little; once in awhile, he didn't eat at all on some days. I used to worry about it, but he wasn't acting sick so figured he would eat when he was hungry. He seems to eat more now, but is doing a lot more running with Finn too. I was surprised that he had even lost about 2/3 of a pound since last winter when I had him weighed yesterday. If Augie has any food left on his plate and I haven't picked it up, Finn will make a beeline for it and eat like he hasn't been given any food for a week. They are all different.


I suspect that you're right Linda, and that it is just normal for Cey. Three mornings ago I measured out half a cup of kibble into his bowl. Also throughout those three days he got approx. 1/2 ounce of VitaSnacks treats in all (two full sticks), and then just under an ounce of steak earlier tonight during his combing. He has 2 tablespoons of kibble left in his bowl, and although the steak will probably affect his eating tomorrow, he was done eating for the day and only ate it well because it was steak lol!


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## Fluffball (Jul 21, 2011)

Uli also just goes once a day but then again she never has breakfast, for whatever reason she just eats at dinner. Of course she gets treats throughout the day. 
The one thing i did notice is that with orijen she had very frequent diahrrea. It was just sooo bad one time that i decided to change food and "voila" the diahrrea stopped and her poop is more consistent and keeps it shape when i pick it up. Also she was more prone to stop eating the food, dunno maybe it was too much for her tummy so maybe you could try another brand. Orijen is a fantastic brand however the high protein content may not sit well with your furbaby


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