Pooping all over the house

Question
I have a nine year old Jack Russell Terrier who poops everywhere when the wind blows or the rain statrs.  I can put her outside and she'll poop, and then she managed to do another couple loads in the house.  She is spayed, she gets one cup of Nutro Natural Choice 'Lite' and a dental bone each day.  I am amazed that for such a small amount of food and small dog that she can produce this much.  We have tried to put her in a crate however, she goes nuts pawing at the door, and whinning.  I don't know what to do with her anymore and the Vets only suggest changing her food which I have done and it is not helping.  We live in British Columbia Canada, and experience alot of rain and wind during the winter. Is there a solution to this or should I just put her down?  I can't handle this anymore, as I have a five year old in the house and I don't think this is healthy.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Answer
Your dog has anxiety stress triggered by the storm noise. Thus you need to distract the dog and begin a desensitzation program. When the dog begins to show the anxiety attack, distract the dog by engaging in some other activity, play, petting, whatever it takes to get the dogs attention off the storm noises. You can buy recordings of storm noises, or make your own. You'll need to playback through a good stereo system to get the low frequency noise that the dog hears and little ipods and other hand held stuff never records or plays. You might be able to simulate some sounds with a shower hitting an empty 5 gal plastic tub bottom.

There is a clothing product for dogs that supposedly prevents them from feeling electric shock from lightning, I have not used it so can't say if it works or not, it does nothing for sound anxiety. I have also never found a dog that is sensitive to lightning itself, usually the flash or boom. I say this having been a broadcast engineer for 40+ years and ham radio operator and in both areas I have made a lot of sparks big and small and never saw a reaction unless there was bright flash or loud boom.  

As for feces volume, it represents filler + water + encapsulated gases. The more filler (undigestable fiber) the more residue. More filler means generally less neutrition for your money. In our kennel we have used Pedigree for 15 years for our dogs and the boarders unless the owner brings some other food, most often Purina One or Eukanuba. It has negligable incidents of dietary distress (diarreah) maybe 1/3000 dog days) minimal stool and no flatulance. There are breed and age specific products to consider also.

Lastly, there are calming medications your vet can prescribe but generally not to be used long term.

Regards,

Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC