Hi,
Has anyone eles found, that there dogs poo a lot more on "Complete" food?. My dogs have a lot of different
foods, Ped; Complete, Breeders; Complete, plus meat as well. When they had dog meal and meat, they
didn't poo so much but! with the Complete there seem to be loads. I know they don't have to have
meat as well, it just makes it not so boring for them. Or are they just over feed?

Regards
Denese

how many a day is loads?? :-)

Hi,
In your experience do bitches poo more than dogs? The Dog about two to three large a day.
Bitches about 4 each. I have a bin, with a large black bag in it, then put it in carriers first.
There just seems to be loads. Was just intrested if you all had the same.
I am going to use these complete Large bags up egh!, and change to dry biscuits with the meat ect; I had
a feeling it was the complete. I like them to have biscuites because of there teeth and gums.
They also have a lot of chews and bones.
Regards
Denese

Thats because many completes are full of 'fillers'....these bulk out the food but are not digested but pass through causing more waste.I feed raw and waste production is minimal and less smelly since most of it is digested
Archer

Do dogs need bulk in the bowel like we do? 

Well, i dont feed any of my dogs cereals, they get a small amount of veg when i remember to blend it, and they certainly dont seem lacking.
Poos are nice and firm, not tiny but not overly huge either.

Em

You will find the lower the quality of food the more they will poop.All the brands you listed above arent the best which is witnessed by lots of poops.The better the food,minus all the unwanted junk,the less poo's you will have to pick up :)

Hi Hailey,
A Good "complete food" would you say went by the price? Pedg: "Complete"
looks and sounds, O.K. and is  more expencive one, But!!
Regards
Denese

>and is  more expencive one<

Denese,more expensive than what? I dont generally go by price anyway,pedigree is probaly more expenSive because they have to pay for their advertising somehow :p

I wouldnt say pedigree looks OR sounds O.K.

Sorry forgot to ask,jhow many meals a day are your dogs on? In my experience if they are on 1 meal they should poo once,2 meals,twice :) If your dogs are pooping 4 times a day on one or two meals then either your feeding them too much or they arent utilising their food??

Hi Hailey,
At the wholesalersl the breeders complete is approx.£6.00 plus vat.
The Ped. is £17.00 plus vat. and there are those between.
I do use Beta "compete" for the pups plus a little fish, or meat or
they get the run's
Regards
Denese

Hi Denese,

How many times per day are they fed? :)

Hi Hailey,
They have a little in the morning, then there main meal a teatime,
Regards
Denese

If they are only getting 2 meals per day and are pooping 4 times per day then it seems most of this food is coming straight out the other end.
Try and get them on a food with less fillers.

Yep they do need a certain level of bulk. But this can come from things like raw meaty bones and veg. Dosent have to be grains.

Just what I thought.  Mine are still getting the shredded veg and loving it.

My dogs usually poo twice a day, firm medium sized poos and they are fed complete.  Anyhow, what's wrong with a bit of poo providing the dog is in good health and looks radiant?

BTW, I came across an interesting article, (Not wanting to start a debate on animal experimentation) in which an IAM's scientist claimed that the invasive experimentation he conducted on animals were because owners wanted pets that pooed less.  :-(

>what's wrong with a bit of poo providing the dog is in good health and looks radiant?

This is just my very novice point of view, but to me the problem wouldn't lie with how many poos I have to pick up, but with putting food into my dog's body, that not only does he not need, but he doesn't even use. Surely it has got to be healthier for a dog to be able to digest and use what he eat's, and not just drop it all out the other end?

If I have picked up anything from the very many food topics on here, it is 'feed what is best for YOUR dog', if your dog does well on complete, feed complete, if your dog doesn't do so well on it, feed something else.

Like I said JMO :)

My GSD & BC are fed raw & only do firm smallish poops The cavaliers are fed on a good quality complete with lightly cooked organic chicken & they allso have similar poops. They usually go once a day except the puppy as he is on 4 meals still

How is your pup coming along MM? How old is he now?

LOL he is growing like a weed & is now 2 inches taller than the Cavaliers !

He's 4 1/2 months old Piccies on the website on my profile

Awww he is coming on well :D He doesn't look like much of a puppy anymore ;)

Hi Moonmaiden,
I am concerned over so much waste. "poo" I have been to breeders were there dogs
only poo once a day, they are feed complete. They say, I must over feed mine, I
don't think I do. My dogs are very healthy and fit and not over wieght.
They leave food in there bowls when they have had enough. My main man would live
on Ginger and choc biscuits dipped in tea, with scratchings to follow, if he was allowed to.
They have sunday dinner alsol. I do feed them quite a bit of fish, and meat as well.
But! they will not eat raw meat.
Regards
Denese

My cavaliers don't really do raw, one will eat raw mince if the puppy is having some but not chicken wings etc at all. Roy bless him will eat anything you put in his dish as does the GSD

Huge soft poops aren't good, but normal sized ones a couple of times a day would be ok with me. The firmer the poop the better the anal glands are worked(or so I am told)apart from one abcess my dogs have never had problems with AG

>This is just my very novice point of view, but to me the problem wouldn't lie with how many poos I have to pick up, but with putting food into my dog's body, that not only does he not need, but he doesn't even use. Surely it has got to be healthier for a dog to be able to digest and use what he eat's, and not just drop it all out the other end?

Yep, I see your point and agree with you, Nat :-)  But it's a difficult one to determine, it depends on the dog, the owners interpretation about how many poos their dog should have, what experiences the owner has to compare poo output to, what condition the dog is in, how much food he gets on a daily basis and what OTHER foods he is being fed as well as his main meal/s.  If the dog was excreting and not digesting his food, it would have an impact on condition, i.e. coat, eyes, ears, pads etc.  Our dogs are the best judge to tell us which food suits them best.

But in answer to the OP, no - feeding complete foods do not mean that dogs poo more.  Tho, some complete foods may cause some dogs to poo more if they don't agree with the dog or if they are getting too much.  Sometimes, the problem can be more about what else the dog is being fed as well as the complete that causes large volumes of stools, not the complete itself.

It's the quality of complete food thats at the heart of this issue, a dog can only absorb about 58 % of cereals in a food   the rest is then waste. Meat absorption is around 98% dependent on the meat type .So those foods that contain higher meat content will produce less waste, rice in a diet is almost 99% absorption, so complete foods with meat and rice listed as its first and second ingredients will produce less waste and are more bio-available.Jo. 

the complete foods you have listed are made up in a large amount of cereals or fillers.  If you tried a decent high quality complete - and I dont necessarily mean expensive- this should reduce.  Personally I feed Arden Grange but Burns and James Wellbeloved are two other good ones.

I have found the output on Arden Grange and Autarky (both have a higher than most meat content) are not much more than when I fed RAW meat bones and veg. 

There is more Maize in the Autarky than the AG, but it agrees with my dogs well, and the Herbs help my secodn eldest who would often get a bit of indigestion on whatever food she was on , including Raw, and used to sick up bile.

My advice is reas the ingredients, go for ones with a stated percentage of meat, and named cerealsm no colourants or atrificial preservatives.  Mixed Tocopherols (Vit E) and Vit C are fine.

There are more expensive yet to my mind poorer quality foods around.

Our pup is fed on purina pro plan large breed puppy three times a day - he's an 18 weeks old Utonagan. Anyone experience of this brand? My vet advised the use of a large breed variety to keep him lean but give him enough of what he needs - he's growing very fast at the moment. I do give him extras, cooked fish & meat, most days, but he seems quite thin. Vet told me not to increase the purina at the moment as he probably won't gain weight, just grow faster so I give him the extras instead. He also gets a fair amount of doggy treats when training & absolutely loves all food of any description. He doesn't seem to have a digestive problem, regular formed poos etc. Has anyone else found this with pro plan? Can anyone suggest a better large breed puppy complete food? Advice appreciated

I find if mine just have the complete on it's own, the poo is nice and firm, but if I add tinned dog food, they poo more often and it is softer. Same if they have stuff like pigs ears or rawhide chews as a treat. However, if they have raw meat, yogurt or tinned fish of any description, it stays nice and firm.