nannygoat18,

is the dog's stool consistent? Is it firm. How big is the pup? How large are the stools? Does the stool really stink? (I do have a method to my madness. lol)

Yes, Yes. 7#. small-medium. YES.

That's a given:)

Oops. I really don't have any experience with smaller dogs. I do note your kibble has a typical amount of fiber, compared to the whole spectrum of foods out there.

Fiber is one of those interesting (to me) components of diet. Stool too firm, add some fiber. Stool too soft, add some fiber. Sounds like neither situation applies in the case of your pup.

I would lean toward adding some fiber to it's meals with the hope that its stool will bulk up a little and lend itself to being in greater volume with less frequency. I'd at least suggest mentioning it to your Vet. If it works, you may consider switching to a kibble with more fiber.

To add fiber in the near term, I've use All Bran cereal. Some use canned pumpkin, carrots, etc.

PS My adult Bulldogs used to eliminate once or twice a day. My current Greyhound eliminates 3-4 times a day. As I say, I have no experience with very little dogs.

Thanks Salti, I was hoping you'd weigh in.

Unfortunately my vet is not a resource. He just said to "experiment" as the dog is healthy and happy.

All my previous dogs have eliminated twice a day so I'm stumped with this one.

I appreciate your suggestions and will incorporate them.

To be honest, my Vet is a "Water Walker," the best! But I'd never talk dog food with him.

It's a sadly neglected area of study.

For both human and animal medical practitioners.

Your food seems to be a really healthy choice but for some reason some ingredients don't appear to be as digestible for your dog so it comes out as waste. It could be that there is a need for more fiber. Canned 100% Pumpkin is a perfect option for your situation. (be careful not to pick up pumpkin mix by mistake like I did!) Mixing a teaspoon into the their food or even letting them lick it from the spoon as a treat will work wonders. Plain yogurt is another helpful supplement to get them more regular. I like to use Horizon's Organic because it has no sugars in it. Just be watchful as too much fiber can cause gas and in that case, you'd need to adjust the portion of fiber you're offering. I tend to alternate, yogurt for one meal, pumpkin for the other.

Thanks so much lukki!

I like the alternating idea and I recall that Salti suggested yogurt to aid with digestive woes in another thread.

Better stock up as they're predicting a canned pumpkin shortage this fall:(

Nannygoat,

not a yogurt use fan... Not suggesting any harm...

Oops, sorry Salti.

I had to go back and re-read. You suggested probiotics and somehow I translated that into yogurt.

I will start with the pumpkin because the fiber issue seems to be the common denominator.

I'm a fan of All Bran cereal... and I occasionally swipe a bowl for breakfast! lol

Just texted my daughter to get it--we will give some to the dog, too……………..

I've never heard of using All Bran cereal before but seeing that some foods have oatmeal.... After reading some of the threads you'd think our dogs are eating better than we are! Ha! I believe the yogurt was a suggestion by one of the vets we saw as well as a local vendor who owns a specialty dog food place here. It's a probiotic too, some dogs can't eat it though if they have problems eating dairy...the thing you need to be careful of is to get just plain, not greek and no sugar. My dog loves it.

Back in the day after my Bulldogs had their C-Section, I'd have them on antibiotics while nursing... thus I would give both mom and also the pups liquid lactobacillus acidophilus which I got from my pharmacist. I also injected the pups with Vitamin K for 10 days.

I became a believer in All Bran for a short term fiber source... the dogs aren't going to be hurt by any sugar and stuff for few days or a week. It's easy to grab a handful and add it to the food bowl. As I suggested above, IF increasing the fiber solves the stool issue, I'd look for a different kibble - one with higher fiber content.

I hope that others will weigh in with ideas for reducing the number of daily poo trips. I threw low fiber out, but I'm not positive that is the issue.

Lukki, thanks for clarifying not to use GREEK yogurt. That's a staple in our house so it'd be easy to offer a sample. But nothing's ever simple with these dogs…sigh.

Merricks does seem to have quite a bit of fiber (peas, sweet potatoes, apples, blueberries, potatoes) so I thought I should be REDUCING fiber. However, your explanation does make sense so I'll try pumpkin and/or bran. If it doesn't work, we will make pie and/or muffins,

Maybe this isn't a common issue, therefore, the lack of responses.

I think you got it right Salti, one reason is that manufacturers use meals instead of fresh meat to both help bulk up the protein levels and keep costs affordable. Fresh meat or fish have a lot of water content and it would take a lot more then they use now to provide the needed protein levels in their kibble. On the flip side, the meals are not as easily digestable thus causing more waste. The Merrick food that Nannygoat is using has some fiber but probably not be enough to help all extract all that undigestable waste.

Actually Nanny, with the higher quality foods it is an issue. That's because they use the protein meals (which is not a bad thing, they are viewed as a positive), as opposed to by product meat waste in the cheap foods. As I noted in my prior post, the meals are not as easily digestible or absorbed in their systems causing more waste. The fiber will help compact it more (sorry not trying to be gross) so they won't have to relieve themselves as much. Additionally, the farther down on the list it is, and ingredients usefulness lessens. Anything after the first 5 or 6 ingredients will only have a very marginal impact. My dog used to go 3-5 times a day. Now it's once in the morning and once in the evening like clock work. It will take a week or so to see the difference but I swear by the pumpkin. It works great and she loves to eat it.

I'm thoroughly confused about the above concerning meal versus "fresh meat," therefore I'm not continuing in this thread.

For nannygoat18, I'd love to hear how your pup makes out!!!

ok, we know what you feed but we don't know how much (sorry if i missed this). if you are feeding too much, multiple poops a day are a given. i have 2 great danes. one is raw fed, she poops once a day. my other is kibble fed and she poops 1-2 times a day.

I feed Kirby 1/3 cup twice a day. We were feeding 3x and reduced it to 2x but the output is the same. The instructions state to give 2/3-l cup daily for dogs under 10 pounds.

Have you tried the pumpkin yet? I know I confused everyone with my previous post and I apologize for that but the bottom line is that the better foods can/do cause more out put. Also, Nanny, he's a puppy and I've had puppies that pooped more but were better regulated as they got older. It's been 4 years but I believe my lab did too. Is 1/3 of a cup at each sitting enough or does he still seem hungry? If he's really active, he may require more than 1/3 of a cup.

For my little dog, 7 lbs, my vet has me add a little fortiflora by Purina probiotics and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to her food once a day. I also add a powered pumpkin supplement called firm up by diggin your dog which I order from Amazon, its great stuff. She is doing so much better now and generally poops once a day occasionally 2 times.

I sprinkle about a teaspoon of the powder into her food and stir it up rather than mix with water, either way works.
Firm up supplement

Lukki, this dog is never NOT hungry. I think he'd eat the whole bag if I let him! I will increase his food because he's really active. I know that means more output, though.

I haven't tried the pumpkin as there's seems to be a shortage. Lots of canned pie mix though.

My daughter will pick some up on her next TJ trip.

ravencajun, thanks for your suggestions. I will research them.

Well right now you can get real pumpkins every where. Very easy just to cut in half clean it out and bake it. I have done that too and froze it. The reason I really like the powder is because I was throwing a lot away. But I had started putting small size servings in snack size ziplock baggies and freezing them. Also I have found organic pumpkin baby food that works too and smaller containers. We travel a lot in the rv and the pumpkin powder is wonderful for that.

Nanny, a healthy appetite is good! Usually with kibbles that's for all life stages, the portions are increased to accommodate a puppy's higher energy. So I hope you don't mind, but I checked on the Merrick website and it suggests increasing the portion by 25% for puppies and pregnant or nursing females. It may increase the output but the pumpkin will help. I'm sure he'll grow out of it too. You should post a pic, I'd love to see your puppy!!

TJ's trip coming up soon and they have organic canned available. They have an All-Bran version, just in case….

Unadulterated pumpkin seems awfully unappealing for a baby. Good to know it's available, though.

Thanks for checking out the site lukki. I will give more and hopefully, the pumpkin will balance things out.

I have a severe PC allergy-if you give me instructions to post a pic, I'll try and if not, my very proficient daughter will do so when she comes home from work.