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r/dogs•
WellComported

[help] my puppy double poops, and they're very different

Help!

This might be hard to explain. I have a 5 month old lab puppy. He does this thing where when he goes out to poop, he splits it up into two separate poops. So on a walk, he will poop a small amount, and then about 30 seconds later, he poops again, a small amount. So I'm calling that a split up poop, a two for one. Its not two separate poops in my opinion. It's a weird little habit but that's not inherently worrisome, I don't think.

The worrisome part is the texture. The first poop is absolutely fine, perhaps an iota on the dry side. The second poop is always much much softer, sometimes a little too soft. If you consult this website and look at the poop scale at the top, his first poop is somewhere between a 2 and 3, and the second poop is usually a 4 or 5.

He nearly always double poops, but not always. If you took the average of his double poops, it would be a perfectly unobjectionable texture. But I'm kinda worried about the second poop, and I'm not sure if it's a vet-worthy question or I'm overly paranoid. Anyone have any insight? Thanks!

Edit: I forgot to mention, I have twice added rice and pumpkin to his meals in an effort to fix the second poop. It seemed to have helped both times; he either did one single poop or his second poop was of acceptable texture. But when I stopped the rice and pumpkin, it sorta went back to the same situation. Again, it varies whether the second poop is just soft or too soft. Is the benefit of adding rice indicating that he just needs rice in his food or is it indicating there's a health problem?

Posted May 16, 2018, 11:48 AM UTC · edited

2038
CleardonkeyBella: German Shepherd•

I, personally, don't see a problem. My dog double poops when we go for a long walk or she is playing, always the first being 'normal' and the second being a bit, and sometimes a lot softer. The way I understand it is that exercise and movement stimulates the digestive track, and the second poop is just coming out a bit earlier in the process than the first.

Plus, how does he look whole picture? Is his second poop the only indication of a food problem? Or does he have a will coat? Or flaky skin?

22
WellComportedOP•

He has no other problems that I can see. That's kinda how I explain the second poop to myself too: it hasn't been as processed as the first poop. I just have no idea if it's a problem

2
Trololol666•

I wouldn't worry too much. My dog usually makes one larger "log" which is good consistency and easy to pick up, followed by some lighter colored "sundae"-consistency. The last part just hasn't been in the digestive tract as long and therefore isn't as formed but shouldn't be worrisome if the rest looks normal. I would only worry if all his poop is soft and/or big amounts.

12
reallymostlyharmless•

It would appear that you have stumbled into a mostly puppy specific problem.

Near the end of the colon is where the additional water is extracted from poop. Anything "too far in" will still be soft and squishy. As your puppy is comparatively smaller, he'll be able to store a comparatively smaller amount of poop near the end.

If your puppy were to have more poop breaks, the consistency might be more uniform. This should be easy to test: Mornings would be the most extreme double poop time, whereas during a day with more breaks you'd find a more even distribution of squishiness.

Tl;dr: More poop breaks. Your puppy is holding it in too long, desiccating the first poop and blocking the second poop from the desiccation stage.

6
WellComportedOP•

That's interesting! I can definitely do more poop breaks

4
ResponsibleChipmunk•

Any suggestions for dogs who get walked a lot (honestly every 2-4 hours from 6am-12 midnight)? My dog does this too. But since my husband and I work different hours and she comes to work with me, she gets walked every 4 hours at minimum from 6am-midnight and usually more often.

She'll poop two poops a day, one of which is usually a double poop.

She's got food and environmental allergies. She has a super strict diet of one type of dry food and one type of wet food, and gets cytopoint monthly.

3
reallymostlyharmless•

Sorry this is a bit late, but yes of course. I do actually have a suggestion.

Ignore it?

I mean, the second one is a bit more of a pain to scoop up - admitted - but other than that it won't actually hurt your dog. It's just holding it in for a bit, then getting rid of it all. You know in advance that a double will come. You can bring two bags. All is well.

Cuddle your dog and enjoy life :)

1
Shnicksy•

My blue heeler who is now 12 has done this his whole life when we go for hikes. Sometimes want dry and 3 real sloppers.

5
von_woofflynn and murphy•

Both of my dogs have always done this on walks.

I wish they would reverse the order so the icky soft stuff happens at home.

1
Shnicksy•

Haha totally. Sometimes you just have to take a swipe at it, get what you can and make a run for it lol

2
triglyEcho the lab•

Happens all the time with my dog. When we first brought her home at a year old, every morning when we let her out, she consistently had two poops. Echo Two Poops, we called her. (We had her tested for giardia for unrelated reasons at one point and it came back negative, she's never had worms or anything else.) Now a year later it happens sometimes now and again. I think it's nothing to be concerned about.

3
tigervegan4610•

Last time I mentioned this I got major downvotes but here goes.

My dog was doing the same thing and our vet diagnosed it as long intestine diarrhea- sort of a dog IBD. She recommended a switch to a lower protein food, as sometimes the high protein ones can be too rich for a dog. We also did a course of prednisone since this had been going on for years and i always thought it was normal “he just exercises a lot” poops. It’s better now.

I would just mention it to your vet. They might say it’s no big deal or might want to try to address it.

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GigaTigerHungarian Puli | Vet•

Maybe his food isn't agreeing with him. Might not be a full blown issue, but one of my dogs has a similar thing. I've changed to a single protein food and she improved but she's otherwise clinically well. I also add fibre and pre and probiotics to her diet, so that might be worth pursuing if you don't want to swap foods.

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WellComportedOP•

Thanks! Do you have a fiber recommendation? Is it better to use food or supplements?

1
Trololol666•

you can always try to add canned pumpkin or purreed carrot or sweet potato. I always have a tube of probiotics at home (check amazon for cheaper prices than the vet), in case my dog ate something from the street, so I'll give it at the first sign of soft poop or diarrhea and it usually gets better in 24h.

1
WellComportedOP•

Do you think that having to add stuff to his diet indicates I should change his dog food?

1
Trololol666•

I wouldn't change it unless your dog has clearly problems with it, like very soft stools over a long amount of time and/or bloating/farting and tummy noise, dull fur, lethargy etc. It also depends on your dog's activities how his poops form, a more active dog will usually poop more and softer.

If you want you can try a new food but be sure that you mix it in slowly (over the course of 7-10 days). But be prepared that your dog might have to adjust to the new food first so the poops might be softer in the beginning. Maybe look for a food that's easy to digest, my dog does well on her lamb and rice kibble but it was definitely a lot of work to find a food she had no issues with.

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GigaTigerHungarian Puli | Vet•

What are you feeding at the moment? If you're already on a high tier, premium to super premium quality, I'd say you're unlikely to get much change by changing brand.

1
GigaTigerHungarian Puli | Vet•

I use supplements because I know that it won't add too much bulk or calories and she'll get the same amount every time. I use protein pro fibre and I also use [Pooch and Mutt bionic biotic] (https://www.poochandmutt.store/products/bionic-biotic). You probably don't need both, but at least try the pro fibre. It mixes easily with the food and they don't mind. I've recently moved from freeze dried raw to kibble and she still eats it no problems with her meals.

1
jammerzee•

I wouldn’t worry too much. I often see a difference in consistency between poop that had been in the colon longer versus ‘fresher’ poop.

What do you feed your dog?

I was astonished when we temporarily fed our dog a cheaper supermarket kibble at the copious volumes of poop he produced. Bags and bags of fluffy tan/ orange poop. He’s back on Hills Science diet and his poop is a much healthier dense dark brown, 3 times a day.

(Oh the joys of dog ownership. Ah well it’s better than dealing with nappies I guess!)

2
WellComportedOP•

Orijen for puppies

3
StrawberryBlondeHaze•

I feed Orijen and my dogs do this too.

1
WellComportedOP•

Have you considered switching because of this?

1
StrawberryBlondeHaze•

No, I considered switching b/c their farts are NOXIOUS.

All kidding aside, I’m not worried about it. Everything about their health has improved and they have more energy.

I did some hardcore research before switching. I stuck w/ the old formula and use the Tundra one. I buy it from AlliVet.

3
TeutonicTwit•

Haha! My yellow lab only poops on small bushes. No clue why, he just does. My black lab likes to poop in water. When we go to the lake to swim, Oliver is over pooping on a bush while Molly has squatted in the edge of the water to poop. They both do multiple poops.

2
VolkodavyFloyd: 2y1m Junkyard Dog•

My dog has always done this. The vet said it was strange but that he wasn’t concerned. Fecal tests came up clear.

2
Bloemingeck•

It's not unheard of for my dog to shit six times at the beach out of sheer excitement. They get runnier as the walk progresses.

Exercise and excitement makes them want to poo, so when you take your pup their insides speed up and what you're getting is the fully processed poop (1) with stuff that's exiting their system too fast (2).

I personally would switch food to try and see if that might slow down poop 2. The fact that it improved after pumpkin suggests that this might be a thing to try to stop this. Though it doesn't seem a massive problem if the pup is otherwise healthy so it's up to you.

2
Urchin422•

My dog’s street name is 2$hit$ he’s 11 and has always double pooped & he’s perfectly healthy, never had a vet appointment that wasn’t for vaccines

2
ResponsibleChipmunk•

Commenting so I can check back.

My dog does the exact same thing. We always assumed it was a combination of her luxating patella, so she can't squat for long, and her serious food and environmental allergies which result in either itching or diarrhea at least once a week.

1
adaneko•

Do you feed your puppy anything besides his kibble? This was happening with our 4 month old pup, so I added some pumpkin fiber to her diet and it seemed to help some. She was still getting some soft stool sometimes though, and we realized it could be caused from the extra bit of yogurt we were giving her as a treat. We have eliminated that this week to see if it helps and so far so good.

1
WellComportedOP•

He gets an "oral hygiene chew" from C.E.T. once a day and during puppy class, he gets Old Mother Hubbard treats

1
annabel0613•

Maybe one is the anal sacs emptying? Very liquid and really nasty smelling? It might be.

Mostly they grow out of it. My black lab, however aged into it. She started licking herself obsessively so took her to the vet. Sacs were very full and had to be emptied more than once. She’s on a special high fiber food and no more irritation. Still has to be checked every couple of months.

1
sankarastone•

My dog does that. He's done that since he was a puppy. He's 8 now. I keep him on a low ingredient diet to help.

1
abacabbx•

My pup does the same thing. She's already really really weird about pooping in general, as she seems to try and hold it in as long as humanly... dogily possible like a little goofball.

However, she has the double poop. The consistency seems to be similar to what you describe, maybe not to the same extent but still. As others have mentioned, things like eating and exercise can stimulate the digestive track and get things moving.

This happens especially a lot when I take her outside for some fetch or a good walk.

1