I have a 5 year old shih tzu, trained to use the bathroom outside, and I have noticed she has been going to the bathroom a lot lately .... she used to poop 2-3 times a day, now its become 4 - 5 times a day, plus she is peeing a lot. I recently switched her from science diet sensitive stomach to nutro ultra holistic, if that factors in at all. Should I be concerned? What could be causing this?
My guess is that you are either leaving food out all day or feeding too much. Estimate the amount she needs according to her weight, age and activity level, divide that amount in half. Put that amount down for the morning meal with some water on it. Leave it ten minutes. If she doesn't eat it in ten minutes, take it up and don't give her anything else until the evening meal. Repeat. If, after a few days she is not eating it all every time, cut back slightly on the amount until she eats it all every time. Switch to a better food. Neither Science Diet nor Nutro Ultra are very good foods. Good foods are Blue Buffalo, Wellness, Castor & Pollux, Merrick, Taste of the Wild, Canidae and Solid Gold.
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If a dog is fed twice a day at approximately the same time, she will eliminate at approximately the same time twice a day. If she has access to food all day long it is difficult for her to regulate her elimination.
Probably warrants a trip to the vet to make sure there isn't an underlying medical problem. Why was she on sensitive stomach? Was she having digestive upsets? Did you transition her from the one diet to the other slowly?
Food-wise, there are a lot opinions on here. I suggest reading the article in my source to dispel some of the myths about dog (and cat) food. It's a good read for other as well, but ultimately it's an individuals choice what they feed their pets.
You just bumped her fruit/veggie fibre intake big time .... no wonder she's pooping that much.
She should only be eating a daily total of about 1 c of food (including treats, bones, snacks and kibble/canned)
If she's being overfed, she'll poop more than she should.
My chihuahua used to be a bad dog. He would always chew on wires and go to the bathroom in the corners of my house. I bought a dog training course online and trained him myself. Now he's the best. I love him so much.
If you are feeding him to much.
Different stuff in, obviously, different stuff out.
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I would venture to suppose that if she's got more waste, now, then more of the new food is not digestible.
I cannot recommend feeding any of the commercial varieties of meat-flavored baked paste with chemicals added. Instead, why not feed your dog actual food? The dog's natural diet is raw meat on the bone. Try it. The dog will love it, the diet will help him teethe properly as a pup, satisfy his lifelong need to chew, keep his teeth clean and his feces innocuous.
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/ http://preymodelraw.com/how-to-get-start ... http://www.rawfed.com http://www.rawfeddogs.net http://www.rawfeeding.net http://www.barxx.com pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com http://www.rawlearning.com http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/groups.rawf ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stZCSUJa4 ... The basic idea is to approximate a wild diet as closely as possible; raw meat on the bone and small amounts of organ meat [liver is most important, but also kidneys, pancreas, spleen, lungs and what is called green tripe]. Amount to feed is calculated as 2-3% of the dog's ideal adult body weight. Your veterinarian can help you estimate that; then you just do the math. You don't have to be exact; all amounts are to be averaged over a week or two. Dogs [not toys or puppies] that get big, complicated meals sometimes will eat for two days and then not again for five. All perfectly normal.
Most raw feeders that I've read have started their dogs on chicken: it is readily available and inexpensive, plus it is antibiotic-and hormone-free. The fat content is easy to control by how much of the skin you remove.
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No grain, vegetable or fruit is a significant part of a grey wolf's diet. Dogs are genetically grey wolves.
Besides being unnatural, lately it is becoming more and more clear that they simply are not safe:
http://www. truthaboutpetfood.com/article ...
