# Perfect Poops?



## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

How often does your dog have the perfect small, hard, rabbit-pellet poops? Mia tends to cycle in and out, and I choose her next meal based on her most recent poop.

My underlying question is whether it's possible to have those perfect poops more consistently, and if so, what do I need to change to accomplish it.


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## Kofismom (Sep 14, 2010)

Kofi has been on raw for a year now. Her poo's are usually firm, but never small hard pellet shaped. I just adjust according to their texture. Sometimes they will have a portion that are runny. Still, they are more consistent than when she was on kibble, and much less. They turn white and disintegrate quickly also.
I'm not sure if our experience is the norm, but I'm pleased at how things have "come out".


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Ours all keep little tiny hard poops. The only time it changes is a couple of boneless meals in a row, then it seems to get soft. When they have a meal of organs, it gets more than just soft. Really runny. As soon as they get another bone in meal it goes right back to firm little pellets type poops.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

Kofismom said:


> Her poo's are usually firm, but never small hard pellet shaped. I just adjust according to their texture. Sometimes they will have a portion that are runny. Still, they are more consistent than when she was on kibble, and much less. They turn white and disintegrate quickly also.


Kofi - this sounds similar. Is it bad to have this instead of consistently hard poops?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

People are not consistent with their bowel movements are they?:wink: Dogs poop is going to change by what your feeding and it is not a problem unless they are constantly having runny poo or are constantly straining. If they more so have normal poo than there is nothing to be concerned about!:biggrin:


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## Kofismom (Sep 14, 2010)

SpooOwner said:


> Kofi - this sounds similar. Is it bad to have this instead of consistently hard poops?


I think that basic brown poo's that are pretty much odorless and that turn white within days are pretty common.

If i notice that they are consistently beige and grainy looking (bone poo's) for several days, then I adjust the bone content of her meals somewhat.

For Kofi and me it has been pretty much like that. I use her poo's as a guide, and just try to do what works for us. 

I guess it comes down to just knowing your dog, and doing the best we can.

I do love the odorless (for the most part, but organ poo's,yuck) poo's and that she has very little gas.
Thank you Kofi, for loving your raw meals that I give you!


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

What goes in determines what comes out. I know that big bony organy meals result in big somewhat soft poop and boneless meals will result in tiny stringy poop. When he gets a whole lamb and has a good time eating the organs there is going to be a large messy poop followed by felted poops when he eats the skin and hair.

I am not feeding uniform sized meals, they are boring. Max gets differing amounts of bone daily with a large bit about once a week and I am not looking for uniform poop. I just don't want soft poop if he hasn't had organ basically, means I am overfeeding.

I do plan the next day depending on what came out. If a meal I thought was the right size and composition is firmer or softer results in a different sort of poop I will reduce or increase meal size or add in a chicken foot.

Am getting very little cooperation from the subject animal though. He poops less than he ever did, rarely poops during a walk and it is often so small it is easily missed.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Rocky is the most sensitive of my three and he's the only one that really varies depending on what he eats. If he has just a wee bit too much organ, or almost any beef, then he will have some runny poo. Also on fish and egg days. He's always been a sensitive boy! But, he firms right back up again once he gets his chicken. I actually only notice it with him because he has such a hairy butt and I sometimes have to clean him up back there. 

Chelsy used to be my problem dog with her horrible bloody diarrhea, but since she's been on an all meat diet, she has never had an episode of colitis again. She is always consistently firm, and small. It's like a miracle after 11 years of cleaning her up and watching her suffer!! She even eats sardines now without a problem!! 

Most of the time I never notice or bother looking at the dogs poo anymore. They just go on about their business and I feed them whatever is on the menu that day.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

I must say I agree with chowder, I now don't worry about my dog's poos. The other day I watched him strain a bit then do a really crumbly one and thought "gosh too much bone" then half an hour later on our walk he did a perfectly normal firm one with no crumbly bits so thought oh well I should stop worrying so much as I know he is getting a good variety and selection of meats and bone.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

I'm going to try a little experiment. A few weeks ago, we switched to feeding once/day. One day I was too lazy to deal with a lamb leg, so I just gave it to her whole, and since then I've been feeding 1/day. I noticed after a few days that she'd gotten skinnier and her poops were more voluminous. I'm going to go back to feeding 2/day and see if her poops change.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

OK, I know no one is following this thread, BUT I feel a need for closure, so here's a follow-up. We're back to feeding 2/day, and sure enough, Mia's poops are back to pellets.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

I read it. Although I am no one.

I sure would like to see a picture of that off colored spoo of yours.


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

I'd say on average for us: 8 out of 10 poops are the perfect little pellets, 1 out of 10 are darker brown and 'gummy' (sorta like playdoh, but not mushy/soft), and the other 1 out of 10 is mostly hard poop with a tiny bit of soft poop at the end. They always go back to perfect poops the next time, unless he ate something he wasn't supposed to.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

Herzo said:


> I sure would like to see a picture of that off colored spoo of yours.


Loads of photos of my parti girl.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

SpooOwner said:


> OK, I know no one is following this thread, BUT I feel a need for closure, so here's a follow-up. We're back to feeding 2/day, and sure enough, Mia's poops are back to pellets.


Mine all eat twice a day. Some dogs just seem to do better eating twice a day and I guess yours is one of them. (See.....we are all following the thread.....we're obsessed with doggie poo!)


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

chowder said:


> Mine all eat twice a day. Some dogs just seem to do better eating twice a day and I guess yours is one of them. (See.....we are all following the thread.....we're obsessed with doggie poo!)


Sounds like it. I noticed when we switched to 1/day that she lost some weight (her energy also seemed off for the first few days, but then normalized). She got much more ribby than I like - she looked thin rather than fit. Then I saw that her poops seemed soft and bulky, no matter how much bone she got. That's when I put the pieces together and realized that by eating only 1/day, she was consuming more food than her body could handle at one time, leading to both bulky poops and weight loss. So we're going back to 2/day....


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

Yeah it is a bit sad that we are obsessed with our dog's poos, we should also look at our own you know ha ha!
I feed my greyhound twice a day, skinny bugger that he is.


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## FL Cracker (May 4, 2011)

sozzle said:


> Yeah it is a bit sad that we are obsessed with our dog's poos,.


My wife thinks I'm nuts...I'm always asking (when she let's CoCo out) if she pooped....and if she did "did you see it". I get a confused look...and the usual "I didn't have my glasses on". So I get a general idea and go hunting with the hose. She asks me if it's really that important to me...and I explained to her that it's my gauge on how my portions are for the dog. In regards to having consistent poop...nope...we get the typical pellet poop about 50- 75% of the time...then depending on what I feed...loose...not runny stool. My biggest thing is that she poops...ensuring that there is no obstruction developing. Fortunately CoCo is like clockwork...and were feeding twice a day.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Its rare for any of our dogs to have anything BUT hard, pellet poos...even after a boneless meal of rich organs and heart. Only after several days of rich, boneless foods do our dogs start to get loose stool. 

It wasn't always this way though, I think it has to do with the fact that they've been eating raw the majority of their lives now.


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

Morgan I can count on having a "perfect" poop pretty much all the time. She's got an iron stomach when it comes to boneless meals too. 

Remi & Nallah are a little more sensitive about their boneless meals and organs. I have to be careful with how much boneless they get and make sure that their bone in meals are followed by every boneless meal. They also tend to do better on things that are a little more bone heavy, turkey necks & chicken backs are great. 

We plan meals according to what comes out and if they need adjusting. 

I look forward to that, like Natalie mentioned, having dogs that have been raw fed a majority of their lives and are so accustomed to it that their bodies tolerate pretty much everything very well.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

It makes sense that dogs who have been raw fed longer process it better. My dog has been raw fed virtually her entire life, and I certainly haven't encountered a lot of the problems people discuss here. But it also seems that there is an age component (adult dogs can process more than still growing puppies), or even, as Chowder said, some dogs just do better feeding 2/day.


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