Hi up until now our vet has always given us a powder to sprinkle on our dogs food to worm him ( not sure what brand ), a couple of days after the treatment we would notice some worms in his poo but not many.
  Last week (thursday) our vet gave us Drontal in tablet form for the first time, the day after the treatment he was very quiet and we did notice a very big worm in his poo (looked like spaghetti). This morning his poo had lots of tiny little white specs in it which we assume were worms, is this normal as it certainly wasn't the case with the old treatment and if it is normal does it mean that the old treatment just wasn't working.

Thanks in advance
                           Steve

Hi Steve, I reckon that your vet can be trusted with the type of wormer he/she prescribes for you and it was probably doing its job at that time...Only this time perhaps your dog has picked up some worms/eggs since his last treatment - which is why we should worm regularly!  Because of course, one worming dose will not continuously protect your dog, he can still pick up/ingest worm eggs!  Those that look like spaghetti are roundworms, while the white specs you mention could well be tapeworm eggs, as the tapeworm releases these small white segments that then appear in the dog's faeces to continue its life cycle!  Your dog can easily pick up worms, through ingesting faeces (not neccesarily his own ) and ingesting fleas (secondary host to many worm species) - so I would make sure his flea treatments are up to date and that faeces is regularly removed from the garden (esp. if you get foxes!)  Drontal is good stuff - if of course your dog doesn't suffer any adverse effects from it.  I'm assuming your dog is ok now, but it certainly sounds as though the tablet is doing its job!  Maybe give the vet a ring and mention the worms that you have noticed as he/she may recommend dosing sooner next time????  I use drontal every 3 months at the moment.
Sarah :)

Thanks Sarah he is fine now but I think he was a little under the weather the day after the treatment, he gets wormed every 3 months and frontlined regulary it was just a suprise to see so many worms ( or worm eggs ) so just wanted some reassurance :)

Thanks again
                   Steve

Steve, most wormers do not kill tape worms but Dontrol does, so that is what the segments were, like rice grains, sure she will do better now she is rid of most her worm burden.

drontal is as good a wormer as their is on the market.sounds like he had tapeworm and his old wormer was one that did not effect them.personally i used to swap wormers as i was told they can build up a resistance to wormers if used for a long period but not sure how right this is.my own dogs used to get ill with lapotol so i have just stuck to drontal and have had no problems.
ps are you a keen cyclist steve (i noticed the nickname)

Thanks both rice grains is exactly what it looked like, I was just shocked how many there were. I was just thinking a bit more about it and realised this is the first time its been a 3 month gap between worming, as he's still young he was still being wormed every month so perhaps thats the difference.
Hi Cooper yes I am a very keen cyclist your the first to recognise the nickname :) unfortunately the reason I havn't been on here in a while is that i've been recouperating in hospital :)
We had a really nice spring like spell of weather just before the snow came so I took my best bike out for its first outing since the autumn, unfortunately a car pulled out in front of me when I was doing 25mph :(
So i'm nursing a broken collar bone and a hairline fracture of my skull i'm really glad I wore my helmet because I don't think i'd be here now if I hadn't, my lovely,lovely,lovely oh it really was lovely Pinarello Prince wasn't so lucky and is now riding the Tour de France in the sky.

Steve

ouch, i feel for you mate.had 1 or 2 nasty spills and near misses but been pretty lucky injury wise.hope your pinarello was insured too,i know what keeping up with latest frames costs.

Yes it was thankfully :) luckily i'm a bit of a bike nut so i've still got plenty of choice 7 road + 4 mountain bikes :) my first day back on a bike today so I must be feeling better.

Steve