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Poo!

© Pat Williams

POO!

No, I didn't forget the "H" and yes, you read it correctly.

Okay, it's not the most pleasant subject to talk about but one I think every pet owner needs to address.

Like every living creature in the world, our dogs relieve themselves everyday and because you deal with this everyday it is very important not just to clean up but to observe as well. Our pets' stools tell us a story long before other signs of poor health reveal themselves to us.

Your pets stools should be a deep brown color, compact in size and firm. Remember the saying, "You are what you eat?" Well, the saying holds true for your pets too.

If you could feed your dog pure nutrition his stools would be extremely small if not nonexistent. But, that isn't possible so the size and color of the stool tells us how much nutrition your dog is absorbing from his food. Large, light colored stools tell us that the food you are giving him is low in nutritional value and should be changed.

It is actually cheaper to feed your pet a better quality food. Even though the better quality foods are more expensive your pet needs less in terms of quantity because he is receiving more nutrition. In the long-run you will be buying less food and your pets health will improve greatly meaning less in food costs and veterinary bills.

When you do change foods it must be done slowly over the course of several days starting with a mix of half old and half new, increasing the new until the change over is complete. By changing food slowly you avoid stomach upset and once the change is complete you will see a marked change in the size and color of his stools. Feeding your pet the best quality food possible also makes clean up faster and easier.

Because your pet can't tell you when he isn't feeling well loose stools or diarrhea are a sure sign that something is wrong and needs to be addressed immediately, especially in puppies and older dogs.

To help clear up this problem you can feed him a mixture of equal parts plain cooked rice and cooked, drained ground beef or add cottage cheese to his food.

However, this does not solve the problem. A visit to the vet will tell you what caused the problem in the first place so that it can be avoided in the future and should be handled as soon as possible.