Help me solve my dog's embarring personal condition.
June 13, 2011 4:26 PM Subscribe
My 2 year old Corgi is the picture of health. She does have an unfortunate condition. Whenever we go for a walk other than around the neighborhood she won't stop pooping. I have stopped taking her out with me, but I hate leaving her at home.
Help me & my dog go back to our long walks!
Her bowel movements are always normal when we're in the neighborhood. Every time we go to a park for a walk of a mile or more, however, she will not stop going. The first one is normal, and then they get progressively gets looser and stinkier.
She's been to the vet but was negative for parasites.
Any ideas for a cause, or how to control it?
Her bowel movements are always normal when we're in the neighborhood. Every time we go to a park for a walk of a mile or more, however, she will not stop going. The first one is normal, and then they get progressively gets looser and stinkier.
She's been to the vet but was negative for parasites.
Any ideas for a cause, or how to control it?
My dog always goes an extra time or two when we take a different route because she's excited. There doesn't seem to be any health issue, AFAIK.
posted by monkeymadness at 5:02 PM on June 13, 2011
posted by monkeymadness at 5:02 PM on June 13, 2011
Dogs like to poop, especially to mark unfamiliar territories with their scent. This is also how they communicate with other dogs, by sniffing their excreta. Please just let her enjoy her nature without being tripped up by hominid shame games.
posted by Renoroc at 5:15 PM on June 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Renoroc at 5:15 PM on June 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: She seems uncomfortable, and ends up with her butt covered in diarrhea. She's going 5 or more times in less than a mile. I'd really to figure this out.
posted by Requiax at 5:50 PM on June 13, 2011
posted by Requiax at 5:50 PM on June 13, 2011
It has something to do with nervousness/marking.
Renorac, I don't think it's shame - it's causing the dog to have messy loose bowel movements.
posted by radioamy at 5:50 PM on June 13, 2011
Renorac, I don't think it's shame - it's causing the dog to have messy loose bowel movements.
posted by radioamy at 5:50 PM on June 13, 2011
Oh and I'm not sure we can really answer the question without a picture of the dog :)
posted by radioamy at 5:51 PM on June 13, 2011
posted by radioamy at 5:51 PM on June 13, 2011
Our dog would generally start out a walks with a good poop but they would always get runnier as the walk progressed. Usually 3 (sometimes 4) "numbers" per walk. We had to cut out a lot of human food like licking the empty yoghurt tub, no more cheese and definitely NO ham or cold cuts of any kind.
We started giving her quinoa or rice with egg and that helped a lot.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:04 PM on June 13, 2011
We started giving her quinoa or rice with egg and that helped a lot.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:04 PM on June 13, 2011
Are her bowels movements and the frequency of them normal at home? If so, I'd say that your pooch's poo problem might be due a couple of things:
a)She's pooping to mark her territory in a new place.
b)The exercise has "loosened up" her bowel movements.
c)The loose poos are caused by being nervous or excited to be in a new place.
posted by gumtree at 6:08 PM on June 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
a)She's pooping to mark her territory in a new place.
b)The exercise has "loosened up" her bowel movements.
c)The loose poos are caused by being nervous or excited to be in a new place.
posted by gumtree at 6:08 PM on June 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
This may not pertain to your dog but my sister had a young Corgi who began to have loose stools as he grew. Turns out he had pancreatitis and it was managed by his taking pancreatic enzymes with his meals. Just thought I'd throw it out there.
posted by choochoo at 6:26 PM on June 13, 2011
posted by choochoo at 6:26 PM on June 13, 2011
I wonder if this could be anything remotely like runner's diarrhea. The speculative causes of it on the link don't sound like they're exclusive to someone who's running.
FWIW, canned pumpkin is supposed to be helpful with loose stool in dogs (and with constipation, too, interestingly enough). Maybe see if your vet thinks that would be a good thing to try?
posted by galadriel at 6:28 PM on June 13, 2011
FWIW, canned pumpkin is supposed to be helpful with loose stool in dogs (and with constipation, too, interestingly enough). Maybe see if your vet thinks that would be a good thing to try?
posted by galadriel at 6:28 PM on June 13, 2011
I was thinking she is nervous and marking. She make be overdoing the marking, since she is nervous. I had a terrier who pooped like crazy when she was somewhere new. I don't know if she had a special reserve or what.
posted by fifilaru at 7:37 PM on June 13, 2011
posted by fifilaru at 7:37 PM on June 13, 2011
Agree with the above posters about exercise-related bowel movements. She's probably bobbing up and down a lot of times and getting quite a workout. For humans I've heard that it's (1) the motion and (2) blood getting out of the digestive system to the other muscles that cause it. I don't know of "cures" other than to (1) get slowly adapted to the exercise so your body can handle it and (2) be more careful about what you eat before a long run. Go slower... really slow, don't let her get too hyper. See if that helps.
posted by bread-eater at 7:38 PM on June 13, 2011
posted by bread-eater at 7:38 PM on June 13, 2011
Maybe you can rule out the exercise theory by taking her on several loops through the neighborhood. My bet is that it's nervousness from being in new places.
posted by belau at 8:16 PM on June 13, 2011
posted by belau at 8:16 PM on June 13, 2011
Some dogs mark with poop instead of, or in addition to urine. As they try to poop more and more the poop is less ready to be there.
Nervousness and excitement can almost instantly trigger diarrhea.
Both of these are totally normal.
Do you have to let her poop? I work with two dogs that do this and I just don't let them go after the second time unless they're putting up a fight about it. Picking up the pace when it seems like they're wanting to go usually gets their mind off it.
posted by gally99 at 8:41 PM on June 13, 2011
Nervousness and excitement can almost instantly trigger diarrhea.
Both of these are totally normal.
Do you have to let her poop? I work with two dogs that do this and I just don't let them go after the second time unless they're putting up a fight about it. Picking up the pace when it seems like they're wanting to go usually gets their mind off it.
posted by gally99 at 8:41 PM on June 13, 2011
This is how my dog earned his nickname, Buttnugget.
I have a pinch collar that I use for walks and I give a short jerk on the leash when he starts buttnuggetting. This seems to stop the activity most of the time.
posted by Ostara at 8:58 PM on June 13, 2011
I have a pinch collar that I use for walks and I give a short jerk on the leash when he starts buttnuggetting. This seems to stop the activity most of the time.
posted by Ostara at 8:58 PM on June 13, 2011
It also can't hurt to make sure that she's not getting into any grass or other pets' food either before or during the walk. It's unlikely that she'd digest that quickly, but I know that my corgi always gets some digestive bad news when he finds the neighbor's cat food.
Seconding the request for a picture! :)
posted by delight at 12:14 AM on June 14, 2011
Seconding the request for a picture! :)
posted by delight at 12:14 AM on June 14, 2011
Seconding exercise-related pooping and, if it's hot out, maybe even heat-related pooping. When it's too hot in our apartment, my roommate's dog gets the shits.
(And to be clear, that is a picture of the dog we're requesting...not the dog's poops.)
posted by phunniemee at 2:28 AM on June 14, 2011
(And to be clear, that is a picture of the dog we're requesting...not the dog's poops.)
posted by phunniemee at 2:28 AM on June 14, 2011
One of my dogs has looser and looser poos when we go for walks---but not to an extent that's this bothersome. He maxes out at three. And as messy as it is trying to clean it up, I know he's cleaned out and wont have to go later.
He's a cattle dog beagle mix, no issues with a messy butt.
I don't know how to make it stop, but you could bring along a couple of baby wipes and, psychologically, make it part of the walk---wipe and throw away before getting back home.
posted by vitabellosi at 3:07 AM on June 14, 2011
He's a cattle dog beagle mix, no issues with a messy butt.
I don't know how to make it stop, but you could bring along a couple of baby wipes and, psychologically, make it part of the walk---wipe and throw away before getting back home.
posted by vitabellosi at 3:07 AM on June 14, 2011
Hmmm... Maybe a Corgi thing. I have one, and she poops every single time I take her for a walk, and I mean at the drop of a hat. One second we're walking briskly, the next she is pooping, right on the sidewalk. My other dog NEVER poops while walking (they both have a fenced yard at home).
posted by eas98 at 9:59 AM on June 14, 2011
posted by eas98 at 9:59 AM on June 14, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sageleaf at 4:45 PM on June 13, 2011