If eyes are the windows to the soul…
then poo must be the window to health.

I was raised in a home of great modesty. Discussions of body functions were not encouraged. As children we did revel in a good fart joke or a robust attempt to emulate the sound of the fart with the crook of the arm out in the backyard far away from the ears of our parents. But, to talk about other body functions was just not done. We had a few words we used to reference the functions but they were hardly descriptive in any way. We usually just said the generic phrase “go to the bathroom” there were no specifics as to what we were actually doing.

I had no idea that one day I would be so willing to talk about poo. Let alone pick it up, look at it and discuss it at great lengths. It was when I got my first Goldendoodle puppy and we needed to house-train him did the “world of poo” come to the tip of my tongue. We had read books and went to classes, all the things that should be done.

I soon found that my generic terms from my childhood were not going to work out for us in training our Goldendoodle. With two people doing the training, we needed better communication. Knowing the specifics of the potty activity were needed to assure that we were not going to have puddles and piles on the floor. I had to get over the modesty in the interest of our puppy.  Soon I developed phrases I could live with and we were both now on the same page with house-training.

During this puppy period we were also taking our puppy on his regular veterinarian visits. Of course, those visits included the gathering of poo (poo is the word that I decided I could live with and say without blushing). My initial inclination to carry a baggie of poo with just two fingers and carry it as far away as possible from my body soon faded to practical handling methods.

Taking the puppy out for potty (my other word – sort of an all-encompassing word to cover both poo and pee) every few hours, watching the rear end of his body to make sure that he went, occupied a lot of time. Picking up poo to dispose of so the puppy would not eat it (yeeww) and the gathering of poo to take for inspection by the vet were all becoming just normal activities. 

I soon learned that the poo could tell me so much! After all, I was spending a lot of time having to look for it, look at it and handle it in some manner. The degree of firmness or lack of firmness, the frequency, the color, the smell, and the texture all were telling me about the health of my puppy.

So now, after raising four puppies, house-training, and vet visits… I don’t blush, I will pick up poo with confidence, I will get a flashlight and check out a night poo, I will use a strainer to screen poo for foreign objects and I will not shutter when I step in it. I will, however, continue to giggle when I hear a fart.

Here are some things about poo that I have learned:

• A puppy that has diarrhea should be a cause for concern. Loss of valuable fluids can put the puppy at great risks because they can dehydrate very quickly. It in important to not risk the health and life of a puppy who has diarrhea, you need to get the puppy to vet ASAP.
• Sometimes a puppy will have random soft poo. It isn’t a problem unless it is persistent for several days.
• Soft poo can occur if you are over feeding your puppy.
• Soft poo can occur if the puppy is holding his bowels for too long.
• If you have random hard poo, make sure that plenty of fresh water is available.
• Constipation may be due to eating grass and plants, garbage or other indigestible things.
• Constipation can be due to inactivity, change of routine or the potty location not suitable.
• A tablespoon or two 100% pumpkin can often help balance out too soft or too hard poo. If you don’t see an improvement within 2- 3 days, then there may be a root cause and the puppy should be checked out.
• Poo that has slime around it or in it is a potential sign of worms, bacteria infection or conditions affecting the large intestines.
• Poo that is bubbly is a potential sign of bacteria infection.
• Poo that has “rice” in it is a sign of worms.
• Pudding soft or rock hard poo consistently can mean that your puppy is having an issue with his food.
• The food you feed your dog will have a direct relationship to the amount of poo produced. Foods with high fillers (corn) will require more poo activity. It is basically going in one end and going out the other, whereas the body will utilize foods with less fillers, thus the amount going out will be reduced.
• If you change over foods, do it gradually and let the body take several weeks before determining if it is the right food. That period of time poo may change a few times.
• Abrupt changes in food and liquids or the addition of new foods and liquids can cause diarrhea.
• Poo that looks black and tarry, has red in it, or is grayish-white with fat in it, should be taken to the vet for immediate analysis.
• Poo that is orange but with a good consistency may mean you are feeding your dog too many carrots. (Learned this from my sisters dog who was on a diet and was getting carrots for his treats)
• Adding zucchini to your dogs diet has been known to make poo offensive to the dog thus reducing the poo eating factor.
• A dog loves cat poo because approximately 70% of the cat food is not digested. Cat food has a much higher percentage of fats. Cat poo is sort of like junk food for a dog.
• And finally, even though in my childhood we all thought fart noises were funny, they are not so funny in a dog; frequent farting is a good indication that the food you are feeding is not suitable for the dog.

Flashlight for night time poo checking.

Baggie for poo samples.

Goggles for splatter protection.

Bandana for nose and mouth protection or robbing banks.

Tongs... hmm don't really know why, they just seemed like they may be needed for something...

If you have learned some additional things about poo that you would like to share, please feel free to e-mail DoodleNation@aol.com and we will include them too!