My dog is pooping way too many times a day

I had to have mine put to sleep today. 😢😢😢

Hi everyone, I have two dogs: a 4-year-old male Yorkie and a 9-month-old female Chinese Crested, both of whom have been neutered. I used to feed them a grain-free dry food with 100% animal-based protein and a mix of fruit and veg—specifically Edgard & Cooper puppy (chicken or turkey). When I had them neutered, the vet told me that their food was too rich for their kidneys and that I should switch. Now I’m using Royal Canin Mini Adult, following the recommended amounts and feeding them twice a day. Since the switch, they’ve had soft, latte-coloured stools and really smelly gas... Should I go back to the grain-free food? Is it actually dangerous for their kidneys? I’d also like to keep them nice and fit and make sure they don't go over the ideal breed weights—about 6.6 lbs for the Yorkie and a maximum of 11 lbs for the Chinese Crested. Thanks for any advice!

I think it's normal.

We’ve just adopted a little Brittany Spaniel who was abandoned (found him right outside our house)... he’s about 10 years old? He was quite thin when we found him. We’ve had him microchipped, vaccinated, and wormed. We’re feeding him supermarket senior dry food (is this a good idea?), following the recommended portions for his weight over two meals, plus a few tiny bites of bread and margarine and a biscuit. He scoffs his food, but we’ve noticed he’s pooing a lot on his walks and in the garden (he gets an hour's walk every day, on top of time in the garden). He has put on a little bit of weight, but it doesn't feel like enough to us. Is there an issue, or not? He’s quite old and calm, but very "active" on walks and full of beans. And he’s still good on his legs! What should we do? Nothing, or...? Thanks.

I’d agree with what’s already been said: try switching to a grain-free dry food. Orijen would be the best choice, but there are other good options if Orijen is a bit too pricey, such as Nutrivet, Purizon, or Carnilove. Every food has its pros and cons, but these are much better than budget supermarket brands. Also, be careful to stick to the recommended feeding amounts. How much is 'two big bowls' in grams? That sounds like a lot for a Jack Russell. There’s a good chance their stools will improve by changing the food, but if not, you should take them to the vet.

I wasn’t familiar with this brand. After checking the ingredients, there’s no two ways about it: it's absolute rubbish. Sorry, but there’s really no other word for this dry food. Grains as the first ingredient, animal and vegetable by-products, and appallingly low protein and fat levels (23% and 10% respectively). After calculating the carbohydrate content, I’m getting 47%! Which is frankly massive. Whether there’s a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the diet and the frequency of stools, I don’t know, but it’s certainly a reasonable assumption. I think you need to start by changing their diet—at the very least to a better quality dry food, or ideally, to a raw diet like BARF or raw feeding. If you want to stick with dry food, then I’d recommend Orijen. For the transition, and given their current diet, I’d suggest letting your dog fast for a full day. Then, the following day, move them onto the new dry food. Alternatively, you could do a gradual transition over 2 or 3 weeks, mixing the old and new food.

I agree with @Enicia – with my little girl, we looked into several possibilities: a virus, pancreatitis, and finally it turned out to be a sensitive digestive system. Since I switched her to the gastrointestinal dry food from the vet plus Antepsin twice a day, everything has gone back to normal. She’s now doing two stools a day and the consistency is just right – neither too soft nor too hard.