My 12 month old lab has had...

Question
My 12 month old lab has had soft stoof for quite a while. The vet tested
his stool, it came back fine. A trainer told me to try giving him some
plain yogurt with his food. I've been doing that for about 2 weeks. His
stool is hard in the morning but when he goes in the afternoon it is soft
still. Should I be worried? Any suggestions?


Answer
Hi there!  It's funny you mention this, as my parents have a yellow lab that had soft stools when he was younger.  As long as your dog is acting normal, eating and drinking and playful, I would not be concerned.
Have you changed foods at all recently or give him any treats in the afternoon?  Sometimes food changes or certain treats have a tendancy to cause a bit of a stomach upset.
I would recommend a chicken and rice diet for four days.  Nothing else!  Boil the chicken with no spices and mix it with the rice.  Feed this in place of his food. Eliminate all treats from his diet.  On the fifth day of the chicken and rice diet, slowly incorporate a bit of his regular food.  During each feeding add a little more of his normal food until by the 7th day, he'll be completely on his regular diet.  The chicken is extremely bland and easy for his system to digest and the rice acts as a hardening agent toward stool.  This should give his belly a break, and slowly incorporating his regular food will be easy on his digestive system.  This worked with my parent's dog and alot of other dogs with this problem.  I hope that you find it as helpful.
Please keep me posted as to how he does and give that little labby boy some kisses for me!
Hilary