Sam is a 13 month Deerhound who for the last 4 months has had very loose poo and has lost weight..although he still weighs in at 38kg's. He currently fed on James Wellbeloved hypo-allergenic dried food for adult dogs........numerous visits to the vets, poo tests and a couple of changes of food later and still no change. He is fit and healthy and generaly full of energy but clearing up after him is very messy and extreme1y smelly!! Can anyone help?

ps I have only just found the site so sorry but no photos yet.

Remember similar problems when my dog was younger (2 now) 1st thing I would eliminate but only gradually (never make a change to diet suddenly) is kibble with wheat, soy & corn. If your pup would eat chicken backs raw it would probably fix him up in no time. Canned pumpkin is helpful to cure either diarrhea or constipation.
The ideal solution is a raw diet. I just have found my singleton because of a number of issues (ill family member etc. got off raw & didn't want to go back) My dog's breeder has always told me too much kibble even in a pup causes diarrhea. Make sure the dog is not drinking water from a creek or stream. Water in creeks & streams may be contaminated with Giardia (Don't let dog drink from creek or stream) if there is any doubt about cause of diarrhea. My dog only has recurrent diarrhea when we visit leash free park where there is a creek hard to keep her out of.
www.vetinfo.com/dgiardia.html
Giardia is a protozoan parasite that lives in the intestine
of affected animals. It is unclear whether there are several species of this parasite or whether there is one species that affect several different animals, including people. These small parasites are very easy to miss on a fecal exam and may not be present in the stool of animals infected with the organism. Repeated fecal exams are sometimes necessary to identify this parasite. Not all animals in which infection can be demonstrated have clinical signs. This leads some people to believe that the parasite may not cause disease . Most vets think that there may just be other factors, like the animal's immune response to the parasite that cause some animals to develop disease and not others. Clinical signs of giardia include weight loss, inability to gain weight appropriately during growth, diarrhea, vomiting, lack of appetite
and greasy appearing stools. Them most commonly used medication for giardia infection is metronidazole (Flagyl). The organisms come from the environment and live in moist to wet areas. They are susceptible to quatenary ammonium disinfectants, Lysol and dilute chlorine bleach. Keeping the dog's environment dry helps a lot.

This disease may be contagious
to people from infected dogs so good sanitary practices, like washing your hands after handling an infected puppy, are very important. If a family member develops similar clinical signs, a physician should be consulted. Good Luck Hope to see pictures of your Deerie.

You can clean and purify his system with plain old rice. Pull him off his dog food and give him white or brown rice. (You can do this all at once) White rice seems to help the best. You should start noticing a difference overnight. Within a couple of days to a week you can introduce either cooked meat or a natural kibble that does not consist of corn, wheat or heavy fats/proteins. If it was me I would start him back on natural food (meat). While you are doing the rice thing have bones available for him to chew on. Dogs stared out as scavengers and real bones were a big part of their diet. It will give him something to work on while his bowls are settling down. NO PIG SKIN< PIG EARS< LEATHER BONES< JERKEY< Manufactured Dog Bones ONLY NATURAL TREATS< PEFERABLY COOKED. We would often get dogs in to our rescue that had this problem and needed a chance to rest. If the dog does not take to the rice at first, cook it with a little chicken broth. This is a problem that affects allot of deep gutted dogs. If meat is an added cost you can substitute with cooked eggs mixed in with the rice for extra protein.

The rice will also allow your vet to have a level playing ground to work on and reduce the poop smell issue.

Another thing to consider is what might have happened emotionally to him 4 months ago, sometimes dogs will have loose bowls just because of nerves and or security issues.

Did you change from large breed puppy for to an adult dog food? Sometimes this will have the same affect; a big thing to watch is protein content in the food. The other issue is finding out where the base for the food is being manufactured. I would avoid anything that is not being manufactured in your local area, all ingredients. If you cannot get it locally I would consider using a natural food diet. The other thing to watch is some kibble manufactures change how their food is being processed and you need to find out if your dog food supplier has done this. In the states the following dog foods has done this;
Science Diet
Eukanuba
Diamond
Purina
Iams


We have switched over to our adult dogs on Nutro Natural Choice high energy (yellow bag with greyhound on the front)www.nutroproducts.com/ncdry-he.shtml

and

Eagle for large breed puppy (for my wife’s Borzoi Tatiana)(mauve stripped bag) www.waggintails.com/store...d+Puppy+Formula

When did you change from JWB Large breed puppy food? We use Arden Grange Large breed puppy kibble...plus tastie juices...and that has to be used up to 18 months.
Is his poo all loose or is some of it solid to start?

Su

If it was me i would get him off the dry food and on to something bland,
like chicken and rice, fish and rice,some use mash and rice, but i dont think its got any neutrents (sp) better if its home cooked,
add some natural yoghet - or if you can get hold of some slippery elm bark that works better,
to help put a coating on the gut and brings things back in to balance,
you can get the slippery elm at most health food shops,
keep him on this for a few weeks and see how he go's, if he clears up - then try and introduce normal food back, if not i would go back to the vets for more tests.

I think there has been some good advice.
Chook made a great suggestion while the pup is acutely unwell. I have used brown & white rice with chicken, sardines, ground beef or veal when dogs or cats unwell. Sorry forgot about the rice earlier. I have not tried slippery elm have heard of it before & think I will get some.
There have been some dog treats recalled in the last year or two eg. tw. enterprises bullie sticks were possibly contaminated with salmonella. Check your treats and maybe don't give any except pure food treats. One more thought, some dogs are lactose intolerant, it doesn't hurt to try eliminating all possible irritants (dairy, wheat, corn, soy, treats) and reintroduce gradually when puppy is better.
Good Luck!

The slippery elm is good stuff to keep in the dog kit, i always make sure i have some in,
its not only for dogs we can use it as well,

some info on what it can be used for.

www.purplesage.org.uk/pro...slipperyelm.htm

A very good recipe for a loose stomach is boiled potatoes/ boiled carrots and hard boiled eggs. Boil 2/3 potatoes (with the peel) 1/3 carrots (in a separate pot). After boiling peel the potatoes and mash them with the carrots. On roughly two pounds you add 4 hard boiled eggs (minced).
Do not feed raw carrots, dogs cannot digest them. And potatoes are much better then rice as the rice takes out to much liquid dogs system.
Here the vet. – surgeries are able to do a quick test on Giardia spp. My personal advice would be then to use for example Panacur (Fenbendazole) not Metronidazole as the drug can have nasty side effects. Panacur is here the only registered product to cure a Giardia infection, and has no side effects.
Good luck!

P.S.: Florence Nagle, Sulhamstead Irish Wolfhounds used to say “starve them tall”, of course many years ago. But we often wonder if the modern puppy-food is not absolutely wrong.
We never feed puppy or junior, but that is of course only our idea of bringing them up.

Su, good question its solid to start then loose does that tell you something?

Its very reasuring to be able to be able to get advice from people with experience of Deerhounds thanks for all of the help....now to put some of it to practice!! I will keep you informed on progress...fingers crossed.

It was something that I read...I think on another forum.....Quite a discussion on poo varities!!!

It is that where a dog eats too much food,or it is too rich, the poos start solid but end up mushy,etc. So perhaps actually less food or less rich food, is suggested. have you perhaps been feeding more than usual to compensate for his weight loss?

Another thought for those dogs who are not able to get outside often enough, is that when a dog first poos, the poo has been inside long enough for the fluid to have been absorbed but as this passes out, the following poo has had less time inside for the fluid to be absorbed and so gets progressively looser!

I use Bio-yogourt for settling the tums...mine all love a large dollop every day, given the chance.

There are probably as many ways to feed dogs as there are owners but if the diet was fine a few months ago, what may have changed?

Su

Thanks for all of the advice it’s amazing how popular a thread on dogs bowel problems can be! As promised a progress update. The test for Giardia was positive and has now been treated and hopefully cured, Sam had a couple of days on good old plain rice which has helped and we are gradually introducing him onto James Wellbeloved Hypoallergenic natural dog food....although I understand that they have just been bought by Pedigree so I will have to watch out for the inevitable cost saving recipe change! Anyway Same bowels are definitely making progress and he is a lot happier and healthier and appears, although its difficult to tell yet to be putting on a pound or two, fingers crossed.

Thanks agian...now onto his habit of picking up rubblish in the park he thinks he is Uncle Bulgaria...if I remember my wombles....however thats for another day.

Loki also does a good womble impersonation although in his case I think it's more Orinoco.

hi peter I have used james wellbelove turkey and rice hypoallergenic food for my dogs I have used it for years always with fresh cooked turkey and other cooked meat as treats, found a very similar dry food called Wainrights, its also hypoallergenic and comes in kibble and larger size bites I get it at Pets At Home it is slightly cheaper than wee beloved my girls have never had a problem when i changed over although we are useing wellbeloved at the moment as it has been on offer

Rice has helped my dogs (and myself too actually) in such situations. If the purpose of the rice meals is to help loose stool, I have made good experiencew with boiling the rice in cola. Forget the taste, it works. But dont let it boil ower.

Looks like you've cracked it Peter S, but its a bit surprising that your vet didn't come up with this possibility, but then maybe its not.