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Hi

2 weeks ago i adopted a 3 yr old male shih tzu. During the day i go to work and leave him in a gated bedroom. He's been pooping/peeing there while i'm out even though he's housetrained and has ALSO been doing his thing outside.

At first i thought it was out of anxiety at being in a new environment left alone b/c he freaks out when i leave. Now i'm noticing that even when i'm around he's still pooping quite a lot (3-4 times a day)...like this weekend he did his thing out on walks (not inside).

Then, this morning i put down wee pads (b/c i couldn't stand the cleanup anymore)...he sniffed and then pooped, even though he had pooped on his 8 am walk only 2 hours before. I am sure i'll find more poop when i get home at 6pm and he'll probably poop yet again on his 7 pm walk.

He's eating Natural Choice Vennison and Rice for sensitive stomachs...his main treats are dried chicken and the Kong treat. Any ideas? I don't know what he ate prior to being w/us but how long does it take to get used to a new food? Is his system still just flushing out after 2 wks? help!!! Thanks!!!!

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mr.coffee

Dunno....for what it's worth, Harley usually poops three times a day. He eats Sojos Grain Free with my own raw meat added. Sometimes he poops twice, sometimes four times. How much poop is too much? Couldn't say.

I swear, this has to be the only place I've ever seen so much talk about poop, and it been considered acceptable or even normal! :zzz:

-m

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mr.coffee

No, I'm actually the stay-at-home dad. Long story, won't go into it here...

He usually poops once in the morning, as soon as we get out of bed, once at night, between dinner and bedtime, and sometimes after lunch. Occasionally he'll poop after breakfast too. I take him out pretty regularly, and he's gotten really good about waiting if I'm not home, he knows when I'm gone I'll take him out right away when I return. I realize that's not an ideal situation for many, with single owners or families where both parents work.

-m

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Carolina Girl

My Ozzy usually poops about 4 times a day. Sometimes less, but for the most part 4. When I get up, I take them out and they pee. I come in feed them, take them right back out and they pee and poop. My son takes them out before he heads out for school and they pee. When I get home at 3:00, I take them out and they pee and poop. I feed them around 5::00 and take them out for a pee and poop. I then take them out at about 7:00 for a pee. They go out before bed around 10:00 and pee. At 10:00 they usually poop but not always. Somewhere in there I'll through in a snack.

I think all dogs are different though. My neighbor's dog only poops once a day.

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Your ozzy sounds like mine :happybday: I had no idea dogs could go this much ;( How long have you had ozzy?

I was hoping this was just a getting used to new food/environment phase since we adopted ours 2 wks ago... if it's permanent than i guess i'll have to resolve myself to picking up poop in my house every day :):yay:

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Venison is a very rich food- just like lamb is too. I would suggest you change formulas. Go with a single meat for now and grains should be so far down ( if that) on the list of ingredients as grains is known for high bowel as its like a fiber in a person.

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No "frequent poopers" here. The dogs go out when I get up in the morning and they pee right away. They have breakfast (half Canidae Grain Free/half raw for the Tzu, all Canidae for Jack), then go out to pee and poo. They are crated during the day while we are gone - that's from about 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m - then go out for a pee when I get home. Then, they have dinner (same as breakfast), go out again, and pee and poo. One more pee break before bedtime at 9 p.m., when it's back to the crates.

They get an occasional treat on weekends/holidays, but that doesn't seem to make them go more.

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Hum, well, personally I think food is an indicator of poo...what goes in must come out, but with some food, it just comes more frequently. When I had Josie on Natural Balance, she pooed 3-4 times a day. She is now on a high protein, grain free food and she eats twice a day and poos once in the morning. Maddy also eats twice a day and he poos in the morning and "sometimes" before bed, but usually not. I would say 5 out of 7 days he only poos the one time in the morning too.

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CrazyTzuLady

Mine eat Canidae all life stages and poo 2x a day.

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I feed my girl Halo. AM with a little watermelon and PM with a little yogurt. She is finicky and won't each the dry stuff plain. And she only poos once a day -- usually in the AM.

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Carolina Girl

Mike, my neighbors feed their dogs CRAP from the grocery store! Do you believe that? I feed mine fairly decent food and I'm out a million times a day, and they feed their dog $9.99 food from Food Lion and don't go out 1/3rd as much as I do. I do have kids, so like all good parents-I make the kids take them out! Tough life......

ec2009-I've had my Ozzy for a little over three months now. I really feel like he's just getting used to us. He really is getting settled finally, and getting used to hugs and loving and loud noises......I really think he may have been in an abusive home before us. When we first brought him home, when we would turn on movies with the surround sound he would go to the corner and hide and pee and poop there. He for sure had issues. Daisy had her own set of issues as well. She came from a senior relative who had to move into a nursing home. I think she was allowed to pee and poop in the house. I just don't think that my great-aunt realized it. So.......I understand your frustration. It really does get better though. Hang in there!

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mr.coffee

Ozzy's Mom - oh, go figure, huh??? Heh. Oh well...I'm not about to go and put Harley on Ol' Roy or something just to see if he'll poop less. LOL. You're so right about the kids though, I don't trust Devon well enough to take Harley downstairs unsupervised, but he's certainly old enough to go down afterward and pick up! :D

-m

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Thanks everyone!

I'm torn between thinking he's just pooping too much....and the fact that he only poops this much when we're not home, so we have a little anxiety issue here too. For example, we're home w/him every night from 6:30pm and on. He does his thing outside at that time and has no issues rest of the night. However, last Sat. night we took him out at 6:30 as usual during which he did his thing. Then went out at 8pm for a few hours. We come home and there's a mess in his room. During the week, he does his thing at 8 am but when i come home at lunch at 1 pm there's already another mess. ...and since i leave at 9:30 am, it's happening in the 3 hours i'm gone. Sounds like separation anxiety, right? Thoughts??

As for changing the food, less grain/fiber makes sense...can you guys suggest a specific brand and type of food? I'm a new dog owner so have no idea....

THANKS! :)

Ok....re: my last post...i am seriously confused now... I looked at the ingredients for Nutro lamb/rice which is what i've been using and it looks like there's much more protein than fiber, so i don't understand what the problem is:

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude protein (min.) 21%, crude fat (min.) 12%, crude fiber (max.) 5%, moisture (max.) 10%, linoleic acid (min.) 3.5%, vitamin E (min.) 150 IU/kg., 0.30% Sodium

can anyone explain to me? thanks!!!

OK...i think i understand now... i should put him on a totally grain free food. Any suggestions? Is Canidae grain free the way to go?

thanks!

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CrazyTzuLady

I think there are some on here that use the Canidae grain free. I tried it but my dogs weren't thrilled with it. It is a good food give it a try.

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tinypinkkissess

My Lola is fed a raw diet. She poops one time a day. Her poop is small, firm, and doesn't omit an odor. That is just one of the bonuses of a raw diet. When I fed a dry kibble diet, Lola would poop 2 to 3 times a day on average. And the poop wasn't small or odor less, though it was firm.

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shihtzumomof2

Hum, well, personally I think food is an indicator of poo...what goes in must come out, but with some food, it just comes more frequently. When I had Josie on Natural Balance, she pooed 3-4 times a day. She is now on a high protein, grain free food and she eats twice a day and poos once in the morning. Maddy also eats twice a day and he poos in the morning and "sometimes" before bed, but usually not. I would say 5 out of 7 days he only poos the one time in the morning too.

I'm glad to see your response here. Believe it or not, I was going to ask about this very thing. Kylie goes poo at least 4 times a day. I know I had read somewhere on there that changing to a different food would cut down the poo issue. I wanted to know what to change her to, so that I could cut down the amount of times she goes. She is also eating Natural Balance. Thanks!

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