Our Lab is 13 and for some months has been having problems with her stools.  She used to always dive off the trail into the bushes and tall grasses to do her "hurry ups" and "finishes".  Lately she seems unable to control herself and the poops start before she makes it to the side of the trail, continue as she walks and sometimes happen in the house before she even gets outside.  If we go outside with her first thing in the morning and insist that she "finish" before coming back in she will, but if we don't she is likely to have a little accident in the house.  Her stools appear normal, if a little dry.  I have put this down to old age and have mentionned it to the Vet who had no comment or concern.

The OH has it in his head she needs cooked rice added to her diet to help her out with this.  He thinks her stool is a little dry and hard and perhaps hurting her.  I will ask the VEt but what do you think?  And, if you add cooked rice - how much for a 55 lb Lab and do you put the 1tsp. of butter and salt per one cup of uncooked rice in with as you do when cooking it for yourself?  I am assuming the rice should just be added to the food she already gets as a supplement, is that right?  And what kind of rice do you use?  WE usually only eat brown rice.  I remember years and years ago I cooked rice for two wire haired terriers I was doggy sitting but don't remember how much, what kind or anything.

Any ideas and suggestions besides the rice appreciated too.

Not really sure that rice would make any difference, but it shouldn't do any harm either. :) Just cook it as you normally would and do NOT add anything, no salt or butter, just water. I often cook rice for my dogs if they have had an UPSET stomach as it tends to be binding, so again it might not work for your problem. If her poos are hard try adding extra water instead -I know with one of mine you can always tell its his poo as he has a lot less water added to his food than the other dogs, and he is always very dry.

Hmmm, if rice is binding I wonder if it might NOT be the thing to use.  Her stools are not loose at all.  And I do recall that the aged terriers were getting rice because they had digestive problems. 

Yes the brown rice may help (minus the butter and salt ;) )

Have you got her on a senior diet ?

Lucy
xx

What food are you feeding?
Boiled pumpkin often works for constipation or diareah. You could try the rice,but make sure it's cooked to death,almost to mush,this way seems to work better for tummy problems.White rice is really empty calories but works much better for tummy problems.Brown rice is far more nutritious but doesnt seem to work as well for tums.As someone else mentioned,adding some warm water(not hot) to her food will help.

Could she perhaps be having a little fecal incontinence? Just a far out idea for you to consider.Did her vet mention this?

if you add cooked rice - how much for a 55 lb Lab

2-3 heaped tbs.Minus the butter and salt.

I am assuming the rice should just be added to the food she already gets as a supplement, is that right?

Yes.

Her tummy is not upset and I think fecal incontinence is more likely to be her problem, at her age.  The Vet didn't say much about it and did not seem concerned.  Not even when one of the accidents was in their waiting room.   I think I'll call back and ask again though.  And in the meantime add some water to her food.  And maybe she can have a bit of rice just to keep the OH happy.

My freinds dobe was like this the last 18 months of ehr life. she would stand up and drop a blob, but as it was quite dry it was easy to just use a tissue and flush down the loo.  She dropped one on my shoe once and looked most surprised. 

They were like sheep droppings, and she would also drop them as she walked along the road totally oblivious.

Her owners were very thankful that she idd dry ones like this as if she had been loose it may well have effected everyones quality of life and hygene.

If she isn't in discomfort or constipated then I woudl avoid doing anything to change the consistency of her poo.

That's just what it's like, Brainless.  May all be moot as in the middle of the night she became quite distressed and we are sure she's done something to her back again.  She is showing many of the same symptoms as last summer when invertebral disk disease and spinal spondylosis was diagnosed.  We have had her on pain meds ever since then and she is better for having a dose this morning but it's off to the Vet this morning as soon as they open in half an hour.  Belatedly I suppose, but now I wonder if pain has been causing her to hold on as long as she could in the poop department.

Here I go again, talking back to myself.  Back from the Vet where Jet got an injection of Dexamethasone on top of the tablets she already got this morning.  The injection should act more quickly.

Vet agrees that rice will not help much and suggested metamucil to see if softer stools will help.  He also says the fecal incontinence is common in older dogs and is often neurological, ie. they just can no longer feel when they need to go.  But he says the back pain idea is valid too so we are going to increase the Dex tabs to every other day instead of every third day.  That's after every day for a week at first.

My freinds girl just wasn't aware she was doing it, unless it was a full pooing session.

She's been on Eukanuba Adult Maintenance all her life.  Except for one short period where I followed the Vet and pet food store's advice that she was getting elderly (at age 7 they started saying this and I held off till she was 9) and I tried a senior food.  She lost weight badly and I put her back on the Eukanuba at the breeders suggestion.  I think I will call the breeder tomorrow too, and see what she says.

Just in case it helps someone else here is what we have determined.  Have decided that once every third day on the Dextabs to help Jet's back pain is not enough.  Think now that the pain gradually built up and made her reluctant to move her bowels so she held on as long as she could.  That made the stools harder and dryer and caused her to void as an accident because she held on too long.  After another back pain episode, with daily Dextabs for a week and tapering off to every second day, instead of every third, we notice a huge difference.  Stools are no longer dry and hard looking and she is able to control her "finishes" much better, diving off the path as usual.  As a side note, our Vet did say Metamucil would be OK to help soften stools up but she is so much better now we did not even try it.  He didn't think rice would help, or hurt.  Boy, pain is a serious thing and so hard to diagnose in our pets.

Surprising discovery which may help others.  Even though Jet is much better she still seemed to only know at the last minute that a void was imminent.  Mentionned this to the Vet at her regular checkup recently and he suggested trying her on loperamide hydrocloride, which is an anti-diarrheal, brand name Immodium (or drug store generic) for humans.  Apparently this causes no harm if the person or dog does not have diarrhea, which Jet did not, and acts to bulk up the stool a bit, giving the aged dog a chance to "feel" the oncoming stool a bit earlier.  Well, does that ever work.  No more accidents, she seems to be able to hang on better, and has lots of time to find suitable bushes to dive into.  The Vet also mentionned another drug, it started with an "A" and I'm sorry, I don't remember what it was.  The lady who runs the boarding kennel we use said one client also had the same good solution with this problem.  Of course you shouldn't just go and do this on your own but if anyone has this same problem with their dog I suggest you ask your Vet about it.