Puppy not cleaning herself after toilet - poop matted into coat

Betsy18

Hi

I need some advice on my 5 mth old shih tzu! We have had to take her to the Dog Groomers 3 times now since we got her at 8.5 wks. she does not clean herself after she poops and it gets stuck into her coat around her bottom and eventually ends up stuck to her bed/floor/us!:(

I had her to the Dog Groomers yesterday again, it was an awful mess, i cleaned as much as i could but it was matted into her and she kept crying when i went near it! the groomer has had to shave her coat around her bottom each time now to keep it clean. she cannot understand why she isnt cleaning herself after she goes for a poop. anyone else here had this problem or can give me some advice on what to do, i would really appreciate it as it isnt a very nice experience!

Thanks!

mymo

I have 2 long haired dogs so know what you're talking about.
First off is it soft or firm when she goes?
If its soft thats your problem, it gets caught in the hair. Your best bet is to change the food, what are you feeding her?

I would advise a pair of rubber gloves and some dog shampoo, wash the area every couple of days(daily if needed), wet it well first and it will soften any bits and make it easy to tease out. I know its a pain but it has to be done, its very uncomfortable for the dog, never mind the mess.

Eibhin

I think you should maybe look at changing her diet.

Her stools should be solid and not stick to anything.

What food is she on at the moment?

Also you will probably just have to brush her every day around there till you solve the problem.

Good luck!

Betsy18

Hi,

Thanks for your responses, she is being feed science plan puppy food, her stools were very soft at first but have hardened a little bit now. she does still have the odd day were they can be very soft tho.

she poops alot, there is mornings that she may have gone 3 times during the night and she went 3 times during a walk yesterday! is this natural?

I put her on science plan as my vet advised me that it would be best for her.

I bought a dry shampoo and rubbed that on her yesterday and wetted around the area and managed to get alot of it out of her hair but she did not like it and sulked with me for a while after! my dog groomer is brilliant but i don't want to have continue going to her with this problem every few weeks!

toadfly

You might need to try her on a different food, can take a while to get one that suits her. All dogs are different so the vet saying it would be good for her isnt exactly correct as it must not agree with her.

I have two dogs, have tried science plan, royal canin and now on burns. Burns seems to work best so far but suits one of them better so might have to try the second dog on a different food and keep the other dog on burns.

I think I am going to try Arden Grange next. Hate changing the food for but just do it gradually over a week/10 days so it doesnt upset her stomach more. Buy a small bag until you are sure it suits.

ETA: RC do breed specific foods but maybe the Shih Tzu one wont be suitable until she is over 18 months.

suziwalsh

I agree with the others I would try a different food for her, maybe Burns as it usually firms up the poo. Also get the groomer to shave her bum area a little so there is no long hair around for it to get stuck to. How much are you feeding her a day.....it does sound like she is pooing too much for her age.

andreac

Just to say, just because a vet recommends a food doesnt necessarily mean it will suit your dog.

Vets always recommend Hills as they get commission for selling it:rolleyes:.

Ive not heard of dogs cleaning themselves after they go to the toilet though so maybe just as its a long coated breed it will need a lot more looking after.

mymo

I tried science plan, a small bag when I couldn't get Royal canin. I mixed it with the remainder of the rc to make it last until I could get more, and total disaster!
Both dogs had awful stinky poo's, very soft and lots of it. Mentioned it to vet and he said its muck. Would never try it again. I feed Royal canin, Burns is also good, arden grange is good but nuts are bigger and my Lhasa (similar size to your dog) had trouble eating them. There's lots of other good foods to.
My two get medium breed food for the medium dog and mini food for the lhasa(was going to try the shih tzu one but its bit dearer and pretty much the same). They do nice firm poops and not many of them(2 most days, shortly after each meal). A good food should sort her out, but you may have to try a couple before you find one that suits. Change gradually over a week or 10 days, and give a month or more to assess how its going.

RC do a mini junior for dogs under 10 months.

Betsy18

suziwalsh wrote: »

I agree with the others I would try a different food for her, maybe Burns as it usually firms up the poo. Also get the groomer to shave her bum area a little so there is no long hair around for it to get stuck to. How much are you feeding her a day.....it does sound like she is pooing too much for her age.

Yes, i think i'm going to have to change her food! i bought a 20kg bag of the science plan 3 wks ago!!! it dosent matter though, i'd rather get her onto the food that suits her best!

She only gets feed twice a day, i usually feed her around 7.30-8 am and then around 5pm. she does poop alot tho and is still pooping at night too even though we let her out alot before bedtime to go to the toilet!

thanks for your advice!:)

Betsy18

mymo wrote: »

I tried science plan, a small bag when I couldn't get Royal canin. I mixed it with the remainder of the rc to make it last until I could get more, and total disaster!
Both dogs had awful stinky poo's, very soft and lots of it. Mentioned it to vet and he said its muck. Would never try it again. I feed Royal canin, Burns is also good, arden grange is good but nuts are bigger and my Lhasa (similar size to your dog) had trouble eating them. There's lots of other good foods to.
My two get medium breed food for the medium dog and mini food for the lhasa(was going to try the shih tzu one but its bit dearer and pretty much the same). They do nice firm poops and not many of them(2 most days, shortly after each meal). A good food should sort her out, but you may have to try a couple before you find one that suits. Change gradually over a week or 10 days, and give a month or more to assess how its going.

RC do a mini junior for dogs under 10 months.

Hi

Thanks for your advice! that's funny because her poos really stink! i had her on pedigree chum but changed her back to science plan as she was getting constipated on the pedigree and i'd heard how bad it is for dogs so we put her back onto the science plan about a month ago. but wile she was on the pedigree her poops were hard and did not stink as much.Also the food she is on at the minute is for medium sized puppys would this make a difference to how she is pooping? there was no small breed bags left so we took the medium breed instead. i'm not sure if this would make a difference.

thanks again for the advice, i think i'm going to try her on the Royal Canin and see how she does on it!:)

mymo

The breed (or size) specific are designed for a certain type of dog.
Size specific (small)usually has smaller kibble and higher energy, etc, all the stuff a small dog needs. The larger size would have larger kibble and be better suited to the requirements of a larger dog.
With the breed specific ones eg, the shih tzu one from RC, they have small kibble and its designed for the needs of the shih tzu, to keep the hair in good order and supposed to better for their teeth as they do get quite bad(might be worth starting brushing them if you haven't already).
There are many good brands of food, generally it should have a named meat(chicken, lamb, beef etc) and not to much crap.
There are comparison sites for food, but I looked up the ingredients on there and on the bag of food I had here, and they were quite different so I ignore those sites.

dancingqueen

I have my Yorkie on Royal Canin and her poos are firm and normal. I too have to shave her bum/keep it neat because she used to have the odd fight with herself if something got stuck!

Royal Canin do Mini Junior for small breed puppies up to 10 months and you then switch to your breed specific (if there is one) or Mini Adult.

My mother switched her Bichon onto Royal Canin just after she got her also and has noticed a changeable difference in her coat and poo after changing her.

Any vet I've been in sells Hills.. I don't see the appeal. I met the Royal Canin nutritionalist at the Pet Expo in the RDS and well from researching foods myself, I know my dog is happy and has all she needs from that food.

Then again, your dog might not be suited to RC either.
Best of luck getting her on the right food OP

toadfly

Just beware with RC - their protein levels are crazy high. Might be ok for your pup but when she gets older it might be a problem. My two are much better now on Burns, not as wound up/hyper.

pokertalk

your groomer should be cutting the rectal area with a number 10 blade to avoid this kind of thing the rectal area should be kept tight and neat anroun the rectum maybe you should buy a clippers so that you can keep the area tight dont do it with a scissors as its too dangerous

Cherry Blossom

OP you could try Burns mini-bites, it's suitable for puppies and small dogs so if it agreed with her you wouldn't have to go through the whole thing again as you wouldn't have to change to a different adult food. The Hills would still be a bit high in Protein and I get the same stinky poos on the Hill's Puppy Lamb and Rice(for all breeds) with my Westie. They could be a bit more solid but not too bad. I'm going to keep her on the Hill's now as she's getting spayed shortly and she was scratching and chewing herself on Royal Canin and I wouldn't want her doing that when she has stitches. I'll be thinking about putting her on an adult food afterwards though, she'll be 6 months but small breeds will have a lot of their growing done by that stage anyway and high protein puppy food doesn't seem to be doing her a lot of favours. Going to try RC breed specific one first and see how that goes even though she didn't do well on RC mini Junior but that has 12% more protien that the Westie specific one and the ingredients are a bit different.

Cherry Blossom

TillyGirl wrote: »

Just beware with RC - their protein levels are crazy high. Might be ok for your pup but when she gets older it might be a problem. My two are much better now on Burns, not as wound up/hyper.

Royal Canin Shih tzu is 24% protein which isn't too bad.

toadfly

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Royal Canin Shih tzu is 24% protein which isn't too bad.

Ya I know but the adult or adult light have over 30%, just so the OP wont get this if she is trying RC.

dancingqueen

TillyGirl wrote: »

Ya I know but the adult or adult light have over 30%, just so the OP wont get this if she is trying RC.

The Shih tzu Junior is 28 and the Shih tzu adult is 24.
It is different for each breed, tailored to the needs of the specific dog.

Betsy18

Hi Guys,

Thanks so much for all the advice, i've learnt alot from it all!

I have kept an eye on her stools the last few days and they have got more solid than what they were. I'm going to keep her on science plan for another week or two and if i see no improvement in the matting situation i will definately change her food.

We have got her backside hair all shaved now and it is cleaner around there so hopefully she will be able to keep it matt free!

Again, i appreciate all the advice! thanks again!:D