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Are dogs supposed to poop regularly?

vshenoy

Well-known member
Hi All!

As Meenah is my first dog ever and I'm not sure what is normal and what isn't, I was just wondering if some dog poop on a regular schedule and others just don't.

Meenah doesn't seem to poop on a regular schedule at all. I feed her twice a day, same food, same time each day. She eats all of it most of the time. She usually poops first thing in the AM. But after that, its a crapshoot (pardon the pun). She will poop maybe once or twice more in the day, but the time of day varies wildly. It does not seem to correlate with how much she has eaten or how much activity she has gotten.

I know that the common thought on this is that dogs poop like 20 minutes after eating. She has been to the vet recently and she is healthy. She is now 6.5 months old and spayed. She is more or less housebroken - in the past two months she has had one peeing accident in the house and I think that was because she was frightened by a toy my daughter was playing with. And yes I have the Shirley Kalstone book and have read it twice through.

Does the quality of food affect how regularly they poop? Are some dogs just inconsistent with when they poop?

I would love to understand this so I can avoid her pooping during our exercise walks. She's been doing this more and more lately, even if she's just pooped in the backyard. She'll just all of a sudden squat and poop midwalk right on the pavement.

Thanks!
 
Only as puppies do they generally need to go right after they eat. As they get older, they don't. Some dogs only have a single poop a day. Others have more. If the dog eats a lot in one day that isn't going to be 'processed' til the next day or half day. They are not that different from us -- we all vary too! They just digest a bit faster.

You cannot prevent a dog from going while on a walk -- the exercise actually stimulates the dog to go. It is a normal part of dog ownership to simply carry bags and scoop the poop. Some dogs will always go while on a walk -- three of my four do. It is better to expect it then to try and prevent it. :lol: There's simply no way you can stop a dog from going when it's gotta go.
 
Karlin's response is exactly what I would have said. Your little Meenah is just like my Chocolate - I never know when she is going to poop! But Geordie and India poop like clockwork, and they are synchronized too! ;)
 
My older dogs poop twice a day, right after each meal like clockwork.

My 9 MO puppy is still fairly irregular. He definitely needs to go in the morning, but sometimes not first thing, sometimes right after he eats. And then he will usually go again after dinner with my other two. But sometimes he'll surprise me with a mid-afternoon poo or right before we go to bed.

So, in a nutshell, you never know!
 
I feed my dogs once in the morning after their morning walk (and poop) so they are never in the situation any longer where they go after a meal -- they have already gone just before the meal. Usually most won't go again til the suppertime or bedtime walk, but Jaspar will go almost every walk. But it always varies. Jaspar and Lily almost always go twice in the course of a walk, as well. It isn;t really anything an owner can control! :cool:
 
You mean they are not little robots?? :jump:

OK then, I guess they aren't too different from us humans. Some are quite regular and some aren't and some are somewhat regular. I am starting the switchover from Purina One for Puppies (F+ according to the dog food grading sites) to Kirkland for Puppies (A+) this week, gradually phasing out one and phasing in the other. I am hoping that the switch to a high quality food will make things better or more predictable.

This whole dog thing has been such a learning experience for me! :rolleyes:
 
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