I had this new dog join the pack for daycare Monday through Friday he was this sweet lab who literally loved life. Being that I literally spend every day with my pack dogs I am sure to always take notice if there is anything off with them. If they’re sluggish, having loose stool, or just not acting like there normal happy self. If I notice anything off I always be sure to tell their parents and make them aware to either keep an eye out or go to the vet.
Let’s call the lab Marley. So Marley joined the pack after being at a larger scale daycare. His first day he had some really loose poop and I chopped it up to being nervous or maybe he had eaten something. I, of course, informed his mom to have him checked for giardia, just to be sure it wasn’t going to spread to any other of my pack dogs, and I told her, unfortunately, he cant come back till we have the results. I only did that because coming from a large scale daycare he could have easily caught something.
She got him checked and he was all clear no parasites or abnormalities other than having loose stool. Awesome! So Marley was back in the pack. A few days later I picked him up per usual and about halfway through pickups it happened. That stench that comes after something god awful comes out of your dog’s butt! I was in denial, So I rolled the windows down hoping and praying it was just a nasty dog fart. I was sooooo wrong.
I pulled over at the nearest gas station to see what happened and yup Marleys butt has literally exploded, I’m not talking a little poop in the corner of the van, I am talking EXPLOSION! all over the van walls, my leashes, other dogs. It literally went from one side of the van to the other. Dogs were struggling to stay away from it and there was Marley standing right in it! BARF!!!
After a major clean up of dogs, leashes, van etc. I continue on with pickups and after that day I called his mom to discuss if the vet gave her antibiotics or anything. Or what could POSSIBLY be causing this disaster to come out his butt?
This is what his mom said… After they were evacuated from the fires (Tubbs Fire, Santa Rosa October 2018) they were shuffled around evacuation centers for about a month. They were given free dog food to feed Marley. Every bag she got was different. After they got into a rental she would go to feed him and he didn’t like the food so she would mix other food in to try and get him to eat. Every week Marley was changing foods and trying new ones and she could never find a food he liked. So I figured out the problem.
Now a part of me said ok I get the evacuation and the stress and having to change his food. What really blew my mind was the vet didn’t tell her ANYTHING they didn’t advise her on what to do or give Marley any antibiotics to help his stomach. They didn’t even tell her that switching his food around so much could be the cause of his loose stool! LIKE WHAT? REALLY?
Let’s start at the beginning. When you switch a dogs food abruptly the new protein can cause gastrointestinal problems because your dog is not used to the new enzymes and proteins in the new food, thus causing mud pies to show up in your backyard or even worse, your house. When a new protein enters your dog’s system, it cant be broken down properly and ends up bypassing your dog’s digestive system to quickly and not being absorbed by the body like it should. It basically just goes through your dog’s system like a water slide and well coming out the other end as exactly that…..water. Brown nasty water. Sorry TMI!
In order to have a successful switch, you want to buy the new bag of food when your old one is about half full. And gradually switch it: I will send you a FREE step by step guide on how to switch your dog’s food successfully just fill in the information below!
I will also tell you my little secret on how to do it if you accidentally decided to switch abruptly! Trust me you’ll want this carpet and floor saving secret.
But the bottom line here is Marley’s mom kept switching his food around and that is what was causing him to have such horrible mud butt. So I sat down with her one afternoon and explained to her that you need to keep him on one food and ONE food only. Even if he doesn’t like it, and I know he will because HE’S A LAB!!!
Even if Marley doesn’t eat it right away simply put his food down for 20min if he doesn’t eat then he doesn’t eat. Your dog will NOT starve himself ESPECIALLY if it is a lab I mean they eat EVERYTHING!!! If he doesn’t eat breakfast don’t worry he WILL eat his dinner. Dogs can fast for a day it’s not the end of the world if they don’t eat all day. As long as they’re not showing signs of being lethargic, nonsocial, and low energy level. Your dog will LIVE if they don’t eat one meal. I mean think about we as people skip meals all the time and we don’t die because of it.
Now as for Marley what we did was get him on a grain free food and that was all he could eat until his poop was better. I also told her to give him natural bones if he needed something to chew on during the day to keep his energy level under control when he’s not out on walks. It took about 2 weeks but slowly, day by day his poop got better.
Now I am not a veterinarian this was simply a case of ruling out parasites and finding a food that was best for Marley to continually be on. If your dog is showing signs of diarrhea or not eating, vomiting or not having a healthy water intake I highly recommend consulting with your vet.
I simply just wanted to get the information out there about dog food because so few people know that switching your dog’s food abruptly can cause stomach upset and nasty poop. So be sure to click on my freebie if you want to find out the step by step guide on how to properly switch your dog food!
XX
D