Red Setter constantly defecating

mcwhirter

My Red setter seems to poo for the town, it is amazing the amount that comes out this dog.
On a walk yesterday other than running at top speed for majority of the time he was trying for a poo, not much was coming out however. Haven't changed his diet so is this normal for the breed or is there something up??

andreac

What food is he on? Thats ually the cause of it, and i can almost guarantee its the food thats causing the amount of poo.

mcwhirter

andreac wrote: »

What food is he on? Thats ually the cause of it, and i can almost guarantee its the food thats causing the amount of poo.

The dry food is called Dr Jaynes. It is advertised as for sporting dogs. Generally mix it with scraps every other day.
I have recently noted that red setters are allergic to gluten,I did not know about this. So thats bread out the question then?
The poo is generally firm when in the garden but yesterday on a very long walk he was trying to poo when he wasn't racing about alonng the track and in and out the river:)

trio

How many times a day do you feed him?

We feed ours once and he poos twice - once first thing the morning and once on his evening walk.

Have you thought about feeding him some oily fish, like sardines? It might help with er.....lubrication.

However, it could be impacted anal sacs.

andreac

mcwhirter wrote: »

The dry food is called Dr Jaynes. It is advertised as for sporting dogs. Generally mix it with scraps every other day.
I have recently noted that red setters are allergic to gluten,I did not know about this. So thats bread out the question then?
The poo is generally firm when in the garden but yesterday on a very long walk he was trying to poo when he wasn't racing about alonng the track and in and out the river:)

Theres your problem then... Dr Jaynes is a very low, poor quality food with very cheap ingredients and just runs through them. Its not a good quality food at all im afraid.

I really would try and get a good quality feed for your dog, esp as hes a good pedigree dog and it will help his overall condition and health.

A better quality food will encourage less waste as more of the food is absorbed and they get more from it.

Shanao

In Irish setters gluten sensitive enteropathy is seen between 4 and 7 months of age as a failure to gain weight accompanied by chronic diarrhea. They can overcome it with age but otherwise should be on a rice based diet. I would cut out the scraps altogether for about eight weeks to see if there is a difference. I cant find any information on Dr Jaynes at all so cant comment on the quality of the food, but have a look at the ingredients. If there's any cereals in there, especially corn or maize, then forget about it.

mcwhirter

What brands of food would you recommend? Some cost 3 times what I am paying for Dr jaynes.
I'm concerned about cost but obviously aware of false economy etc

andreac

How much would your monthly budget be for dog food?

The thing about a more expensive one is that you need to feed a lot less of it due to better ingredients so it tends to last longer.
Even go to something like Red Mills Leader, or the likes of Whites too which ive heard is pretty good.

But Dr. Jaynes is mainly a cereal based food with not much meat content at all and isnt really good for your dog.

Shanao

Haven't used Whites myself but seems an okay food. The only one in the range that would suit your guy is the light/sensitive one. Its the only one that doesn't have barley or sugar beet in it. its 41euro a bag.
Although they claim to be a gluten free dog food producer, I'd question this as they still use barley in most of their foods- due to crosscontamination of being grown and often processed with wheat, barley can still contain quite a lot of gluten.

borderlinemeath

I used whites for a while, when my setter was younger, but her stools were fairly loose. I changed her onto red mills and there's no problem, she does about 2 poos a day, usually morning and evening.

What I find with my setter is, when she's nervous or excited her stools get looser, and I've spoken to the vet about it and she thinks it's her nerves getting to her and effecting her stomach.
Excited = telling her it's time to go for walkies!

mcwhirter

borderlinemeath wrote: »

I used whites for a while, when my setter was younger, but her stools were fairly loose. I changed her onto red mills and there's no problem, she does about 2 poos a day, usually morning and evening.

What I find with my setter is, when she's nervous or excited her stools get looser, and I've spoken to the vet about it and she thinks it's her nerves getting to her and effecting her stomach.
Excited = telling her it's time to go for walkies!

Agree, when walking on lead or in garden, stools are firm but when on an off lead walk, it's a different matter. I'm going to try the whites light/sensitive. It has a picture of a red setter on it too!!

tk123

mcwhirter wrote: »

It has a picture of a red setter on it too!!

Our friends have w setter too and he poos all the time so please report back on how you get on!

jap gt

i had my setter on raw food, and she was in great condition, but i found it hard to keep the raw meat during the heat due to flies so i started feeding burns chicken and brown rice and she is in great condition on it, but she will be back to the raw when the flies die down a bit

mcwhirter

mcwhirter wrote: »

Agree, when walking on lead or in garden, stools are firm but when on an off lead walk, it's a different matter. I'm going to try the whites light/sensitive. It has a picture of a red setter on it too!!

I have finally got hold of the whites light sensitive food, for the last few weeks my red setter has been enjoying the dry food more than before and also not defecating as much as before which is a good sign.

Seems successful at the moment

x Purple Pawprints x

I have to admit I've never actually heard of that food. If it's one of the supermarket type ones, that's probably the problem. I know you haven't changed his diet but they could have changed one slight ingredient and this is the way it could be affecting his digestive system.

mcwhirter

Jane_LS_88 wrote: »

I have to admit I've never actually heard of that food. If it's one of the supermarket type ones, that's probably the problem. I know you haven't changed his diet but they could have changed one slight ingredient and this is the way it could be affecting his digestive system.

www.whites-premium.ie

Try the link above, it can only be bought online as far as I know. I originally used Dr Jaynes which is wheat based and is bad for red setters in particular. The whites brand is gluten free and is mainly salmon and rice.

kylith

I've been using White's for a while and I find it great. One of mine's stomach can be a bit dodgy, but she's doing great on it.