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Toby is a 2 year old 6 lb bichonXmaltese rescue. He was having a few accidents early on so we decided to walk him and Lucy the 10 year old Bichon more frequently.
Walks are big at 6:30 (breakfast), 1 block at noon, 1 block with the kids after school-3:00, 1 block about 5 (after he has played hard with the girls and Lucy) then supper and big walk at 8 p.m and then let out the front door at bedtime around 11. Almost every time Toby poops. Sometimes on the big walks he poops twice only a few paces apart.
We have found Toby really needs to pee and poop after a good exercise session even if he got a good walk before the session.
Are we training him to pee and poop too frequently?
Lucy would go from 6:30 to 3 and then bedtime outing before we got her little playmate and she probably would get back into that schedule but the whole point of getting a new dog was to jazz up Lucy a bit and keep her going longer and living longer. They get along really well.
We have 2 small dogs also (chihuahuas)..and we have about the same schedule as yours.. I was told that small dogs (yours being 6 lbs is small) do have much smaller bladders and need to pee much more often.. One of my dogs actually whines every single night around 2 or 3 am and we have to take him outside to pee, and that is even after we have let him out around 11 pm... So, yes, I would say that a short walk every few hours is normal
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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I have no experience with small dogs but I wonder if Toby's food is part of the pooping problem. Artie used to poop about three times per day -- and keep in mind that I walked him about five times per day AND he got let out in the yard numerous times, as well.
But since I switched him to grain-free food, it's rare that he poops more than once per day.
I'd be surprised if Toby's conditioned to poop by going for a walk, if he doesn't naturally *have* to poop.
Thanks Dawn. He has had nothing but grain free, even limited ingredients food since we got him. he is eating something Dick van patten lamb stuff now. Not cheap and bought only at specialty store-not even petsmart.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
Thanks Dawn. He has had nothing but grain free, even limited ingredients food since we got him. he is eating something Dick van patten lamb stuff now. Not cheap and bought only at specialty store-not even petsmart.
Interesting! It looks like Toby's just a poop machine! Kinda like Artie being Artie Fartie sometimes.
I'm confused about the theory about less poop on premium foods for both dogs and cats. We haven't seen that here in our house. If a premium food promotes more activity, wouldn't that account for more poop?
I would love to get both dogs down to 1 a.m. poop and 1 p.m. poop but Toby I think associates every opportunity outside as the time to poop. I grew weary of finding his surprises in the house so that is why we are walking so often.
Perhaps it has to do with the walk...our beagle/bluetick has always pooped on walks. Even when she has already pooped that day, she will poop within the first block, then if the walk is longer than 10 minutes or so, she'll poop again, and sometimes a third time. Obviously the second and third are VERY runny and completely nasty. My wife and I have fun with it...one of us claims the "first and third" poops, knowing the first will be normal but we'll have to carry it the longest, and the third usually will not happen...and the other is stuck with the "second" poop...usually guaranteed but also completely nasty!
She never ever poops runny like that when she is just in the yard, so it clearly is something to do with getting her blood flowing on longer walks, or marking the territory, but its clear that she doesn't NEED to poop when she does...ie the poop is not ready, as it comes out in a very wrong form!
Perhaps your dog just poops when it walks, for whatever reason, like ours. If not walked, she'll usually have two "normal" poops each day.
I'm confused about the theory about less poop on premium foods for both dogs and cats. We haven't seen that here in our house. If a premium food promotes more activity, wouldn't that account for more poop?
Not all premium food produces more activity. For us, we buy premium food that has good quality ingredients and less filler. Filler is what usually results in more poop. But guess what else produces more poop? Eating too much. If you're feeding your dogs the recommended amounts on the dog food packaging, you're probably feeding them too much. Dog food companies have the suggested feedings bigger so they can sell more dog food. Your dogs aren't getting fat eating the large feedings because you're walking them more. If you cut back on the amount of food they get, they'll poop less. They won't lose weight if you cut back on the amount of walks too. .
Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
I would love to get both dogs down to 1 a.m. poop and 1 p.m. poop but Toby I think associates every opportunity outside as the time to poop. I grew weary of finding his surprises in the house so that is why we are walking so often.
My dogs poop shortly after feedings. We let them outside to pee, bring them in and feed them, then take them outside to poop. You can train them to poop after feedings by taking them outside 15 to 30 minutes after feedings and staying out there until they poop. Lavish them with lots of praise and attention when they poop after feedings. We trained our dogs to poop on command. It's amazing what you can train dogs to do.
I recommend this. Cut back on the serving size. Stop the walks (for now). And start taking them into the yard to poop after feedings. Pick a command word----such as "go poopie" or whatever word you like. We used "pass" because we were potty training kids at the same time. Stand out in the yard with the dog and say your command word over and over until the dog poops. Then give a small treat and lots of praise. You'll be teaching your dog to poop on command AND to poop in the yard, not on walks. After your dogs have learned how to poop after meals, in the yard, on command, resume walks---but less walks per day. Give it a try for a couple of weeks. It's worth a shot. Based on my experience, it will work.
Even though you shared that you feed high quality food, you didn't indicate if you give lots of treats throughout the day. That can also increase poop.
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