doggy diarrhea

Question
My six and a half year old lab has recently come down with diarrhea.  We went
camping this past weekend and it started the second day of our trip.  As far
as I know she ate her "normal" diet, however she was off leash and could have
gotten into a lot of things.  She has to poop every two-three hours,
sometimes more frequently.  The stool is soft, not watery, and coated on the
outside with mucous and frank blood (red).  The first day her anus was pretty
raw and was bleeding a bit, however it seems to be healed now, and the
blood seems to come out with the poop but is not intermixed in the poop.  A
few drops of blood drip out after she is done going to the bathroom.  There is
no blood leakage though, it only happens right after a bowel movement.  She
is still hungry, eating and drinking normally, and excited about playing ball
and running around the yard.  I am wondering whether I should try to
withhold food for 24 hours and see if it will resolve, or if I should be
concerned about the blood and get her to the vet?

Answer
The frank blood in the stool is not a concern here, but a mucousy stool is. The blood is just from the anus and rectal area inside being irritated from the frequent passage of stool. The mucousy coating is what you see when a dog has a mal-absorption problem and isn't digesting her food properly.
If that is sudden also then yes, withholding her food for 24 hours is a good thing to do and you can start her back slowly by mixing in boiled rice with her food for a few days.

Hopefully what ever she got a hold of will pass by then and she will be back to normal.