Nursing mother dog

Question
I have a small 34lbs Samoyed/Golden Retriever cross that had 6 pups June 27, since then she has had diareha. I have mixed rice in with her 3 meals a day (she is eating tripple to what she was) and still its the same.  She is active and well and feeding the pups great. I take her out morning and evening for about half an hour or so.  Should I be concerned? she is 4 years old and never had the runs in her life.  She is on  Horrizon puppy food made in Saskatchewan, mixed with the food I make for her from the recipes from "Dog food Secrets"
Thank you
Carol

Answer
Hi Carol,

In my experience, dogs have a difficult time getting diarrhea to stop.  It has to do with changes in the bacterial flora in the colon and once changed they just cant get it back to normal on their own.  

So, I recommend a visit to the vet.  A veterinarian will probably check a fecal sample for parasites first to see if that is the cause (which is possible in a nursing mother).  The veterinarian will then perform a physical exam to see if there are any other abnormalities and then treat the symptoms or recommend further diagnostics if he/she feels that there may be another issue causing the diarrhea.

Personally, I've tried a lot of natural or over the counter methods in my own pets like yogurt and Kaopectate (Never, never, never use Pepto Bismol or Immodium in a pet without a veterinarian's recommendation) and have never gotten them to work for me :-)  So even for my own pets, if they have diarrhea for more than a day, I bring them in, run a fecal, do a physical exam and medicate to resolve it.

Good Luck