I could really do with a  bit of advice if anyone else has experienced this problem with a sheltie or any other long haired breed.

Isla my 7 month old sheltie has a rather sensitive tum (they all seem to, shelties) and it doesn't take much for her to do rather runny poos.  Somehow whenever this happens the poo gets stuck to her "pantaloons" and then quickly seems to dry.  I am finding it very difficult to remove the stuff.  It happened again this morning and so I popped her in the bath and had a go at her smelly end.  But she is sooo wriggly, trying to get out all the time, that the task as usual was far from successful.  It is easier with someone to hold her while I do the washing but not always anyone around.

I wish there was a magic spray that one could spray on the offending area!! Because her coat is now so thick it is really difficult to get to the "nasties" with her wriggling so much.  Consequently I did my best this morning but she is still smelly.  I also noticed bits of poo around the house which must have dropped off her backside, lovely!

Sorry this is such a gross post but am eager to know if anyone has solved this prob with shelties?  I know that you can trim around the "botty" area but not if you show I believe?

Thanks for reading this!

Snowflake

The borzois very occasionally have upset tums and I find I only have two options with messy knickers - a full bath or leave it to dry and brush it out, which one is used depends on how bad the mess is. I'd guess the answer in your case is to try and sort out her tummy problems rather than looking at it from a grooming point of view. If she has upset tums often I'd be looking to change her diet as she's obviously not getting the best out of it.

Well I thought I had sorted it, she has Hills Science puppy kibble (which she has rather gone off) mixed with a tiny bit of dog meat.  All had gone well for a while but she may have got her nose into the other dogs's food naughty girl.  I do thoroughly agree that diet is the real answer.  Last night we went to ringcraft and I think she gets over excited which seems to make her poo a bit runny. 

I am confused with the array of dog food - I do feel I need to sort out a sensitive diet that she actually likes .....

Snowflake

I don't know if it would work for Shelties but for my (long coated) dogs I use wet wipes to clean off, then rub down with a towel and then put baby powder on (which does two things - soaks up the remaining moisture and makes them smell nice!)

It's not perfect but it works well enough for me

> a sensitive diet that she actually likes .....

We find that raw feeding firms up the poos and now rarely see any runniness. I grew up with Shelties and can sympathise with your washing problems! Also we used to have OES and believe me, you do not want diarrhoea with an OES!

For a complete food, I used to find Burns was fairly harmless, but as I say, now much prefer to feed raw. Tripe is good for firming poos and letting her eat chicken wings, bone and all, should help.

Hi , when my hairies  get upset tums  i sprinkle  baby talc on the offending area , let it dry and then  comb it out.

As silver says  .  baby wipes are always handy to have around .

One of my chows gets 'runny trousers' sometimes, usually a day after getting over excited about something.  I just use the hose outside, as long as I don't get any water on the skin he doesn't much notice.  If you get a fairly high pressure it just blasts the stuff off. 

If your girl is a fidgit just put her lead on and tie her up, then put your arm under her belly up against the back legs and hold her steady and hose her trousers down.  She will probably fight more in the bath because she is expecting the ' full works'. HTH :)

Thanks so much for those helpful suggestions!  Regarding feeding raw it is something I haven't done before with my dogs.  I have two others, a JR and a Westie who can eat what they like with no dire outcome!!  So as mysheltie does have a delicate digestion do you think raw tripe would help?  Would I mix it with something?  Could anyone help me with a suitable sample diet using raw and where do I get it- at a pet store?  I did mix Butcher's Tripe (canned) in with her kibble - only a small amount - but much as she loved it it did make her poos runny, not diarrhoea just runny.

Thanks folks

Snowflake

Have you tried a small amount of freeflow tripe in with the kibble?

As its just tripe with nothing else it may suit her better and hopefully not upset her system too much.

have you tried adding  natures harvest ??

I do think diet must be a problem for her to get the runs so often.
I have beardies with heavy coats if they get the runs I have a bowl fill it with water and soapy shampoo and stand astride (if she wriggles use a slip lead and stand on it) , popping the back legs into the bowl then wash it out change the water and rinse, towel down, dry off a little with the dryer then get two hair bands  make two pony tails either  side of the bum until her tummy is back to normal!

Roni~

Sorry for only just getting back to you. As regards raw feeding, it's probably best to read round the subject a bit which will help you decide about Isla's food. This site's quite helpful:

[url=][/url]http://www.krisannriorawfeeding.com/pashasfooddiary.htm

If you do decide to go raw, you can get tripe from any pet shop with a freezer, and the chicken wings are fine from Tesco, Sainsbury etc. See how you go and if all is well you can vary the diet with other raw meats and bones.

Good luck!

I have 3 Shelties, I don't have a runny poo issue , just nice firm edible ones, yuck.

One thing that may help is asking a groomer to trim in a 'poo channel', this was suggested to me by a CDer and it is helpful, the main thing is to sort is the upset tummy business. My 3 are all on Arden Grange Lamb and Rice with tins of tuna, salmon, pilchards and sardines and cooked veggies added for a variety (not all at the same time) in the morning they have goats milk and weetabix. If ever I get a 'soft' one I just plonk whichever girl it may be in the bath and use the shower head and sponge to clean up then towel dry and hairdryer them dry followed by a brush. Good place to trim nails too as they can't get away :)

I would suggest if you don't want to go completely raw, buying different types of meat and balancing a diet yourself you try her on Naturediet. You can get it from pets at home and its completely natural.  Milo is fed this all of the time and Shady has it to firm her up if she gets a bit loose.

Thanks all for your advice.  I feel like all of you that diet is the key.  At the moment I have been to the vets and bought some tins of the Hills ID (chicken and rice) and have mashed a bit of that in with her puppy kibble.  The poos are okay at the moment.  I am also picking up the other two dogs' bowls as soon as as they have finished so she can't get at their left overs.

However I will have to decide what food (s) to go for permanently as she is now getting older.  The trouble is with shelties I don't think one is supposed to chop and change so I suppose I will have to make a change gradually.  The trouble is she seems to have gone off any kind of dry food.  Even the ID which I have mashed into the kibble she has perfected a procedure of eating it (licking it off) and leaving the kibble.  I feel she should still have the puppy kibble at 7 months as she is still growing no doubt.

Oh dear I am still confused ..... but she is doing ok at the moment it seems ..... (certainly has a lot of energy LOL)

Snowflake