keeping a dog regular

Question
I have an (almost) 4 year old Bichon I rescued about 2 years ago. In all the time I've owned her, she's never been "regular".

I can take her outside 5 times a day and she will not poop. It's hard enough to get her to pee... but I'll stand out there for almost an hour and I won't get her to poop. She comes inside, not five minutes later she wants to go out to poop.

I take her to poop, she doesn't poop... I go to the grocery store and leave her in her kennel (big enough for her to stand up and lay down in, small enough that NORMAL dogs wouldn't want to poop in it) I come home and there's poop all over.

Then she'll get a bout of diarrhea from holding it too long and that will last for a few days. I take samples of poop into the vet and they say there's nothing wrong with it. no bacteria out of the norm, no worms, no reason she should have diarrhea.

So they tell me to give her half of an immodium. Do that and she doesn't poop for 2, 3 days.

In the 2 years I've owned her, I think she had 2 full weeks where she was regular.

is there something I can do to keep her regular? Cause not pooping and then having diarrhea from holding it too long, can't be comfortable for her.

Answer
It sounds as if this dog is having training issues more than anything else. You don't mention what she eats or what treats or other things she gets.

She has crate training and housebreaking mixed up, that's for sure.

First of all, taking her out five times a day only confuses her. She thinks you are out for a walk is all. The best time to take a dog out for house training is RIGHT after they eat in the morning and right after they eat at night, if they get a night meal.

Right after they eat sends a signal to their brain to start moving food for the batch they just ate. So you take her out on a leash, have her walk around until she goes, then give her a piece of her dog food and then bring her back in. Praise her well and a lot.

If she doesn't go while you are out there, don't give her the treat.

Try again in the evening when it's time for bed.

As far as the crate goes, you might have to eliminate that right now so that she doesn't think that is where she is supposed to defecate, because that is WHERE she thinks she IS supposed to go. Could be that before you rescued her that is what happened to her and she was left in it a lot.

But for now, get her a play pen for dogs, and leave her with some water only in it when you go. No papers. Just a rug and water. When you come home- praise her well if she didn't use it as a toilet and give her a small treat.

If she DID use it, just ignore it, put her leash on her and take her outside for a few minutes. It might help if you put some of the stool outside for her to sniff.

You have to do this consistently to break her of this. The crate has to go for now. I would avoid the immodium also. That is like a bandaide on a gushing wound.

Her food might have something to do with this also, so let me know what she eats. Get her on a high quality food that is highly digestible like Science Diet and her stool will be much smaller because there is less waste. It helps any dog keep regular. The more fiber the larger the stool but she could be on the Small Bites Adult right now. She would love it and it works well for treats too.

Get her on that and follow these simple steps and it could help a lot.

I know this is tough but you must persist. She and you will be happy once she gets it.
Please let me know how it goes with her.
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Moving can be stressful for any pet. You should get her on a balanced food that actually has some research and years of trial feedings that is made by Veterinarians. That is why I suggested the Science Diet. We have fed it and recommended it here for over 30 yrs. The proof is in the feeding. Science Diet is fixed formulated which means it is made the same way time after time, batch after batch. No other food on the market has this fixed formulation any more.

As a result this food has the most optimal nutrition per feeding then any food on the market. Her health and her stool are related, as is her sense of well being.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Dog food is fad food. It isn't trial fed, which means they have no idea how well it really maintains the health of a dog. On top of that, it is simply formulated to meet the AffCO standards. You can do the same thing with oil, old shoes and some other ingredients.

Fad foods come and go but Hills Science Diet was the very first wellness food for pets and it has been around for over 50 yrs.

It's worth a try. Try the three bag challenge and see how she does on it.

http://www.feedingisbelieving.com/believe/3BagChallengeForm.jsp

By the way, if it won't take follow-ups it's because I am maxed out. Sorry about that!