Painful poop?

[PinkDragon14]

Alright, this is definitely one of the more "weirder" things that I've asked here LOL

So Murph had another bout of diarrhea about 3 weeks ago. As usual, called the vet, prescribed antibiotics, he was better in a day or so. The vet also recommended that we start using the Flora a few days after the end of the antibiotics.

I was giving him the Flora about 2x-3x a week with one of his meals (usually dinner). However, last Saturday, I took him out in the afternoon and he had to go...well...you know. He took his normal stance and started. For some reason, when the first log was halfway out, he started yelping (like the painful yelp). He was trying to see what was coming out, but I guess the pain passed. He finished up normally and we came back inside. Sunday morning, he went out after breakfast to do the same thing. First log he yelped like crazy, but then he finished normally.

I have no idea what even happened. My first thought was maybe he didn't drink enough water which made it harder to pass or he ate a stick/woodchip/something pointy that hurt coming out. I searched through the pile on Saturday and didn't see anything that would cause any pain. As of Sunday's incident, we've stopped using the Flora. He's been fine ever since Sunday morning (running, playing, eating/drinking, going normally, etc.). I also tried to look at his "poop chute" to see if he was bleeding or anything and he wasn't (both times).

Has anyone else ever experienced something like this? He's never had a problem with the Flora before, so I'm thinking it was a stick or not enough water. He has a vet appt for next Saturday, so I'll definitely bring this up when we're there.

[Snowshoe]

It could be any of the possiblities you mention but that's also a classic sign of impacted anal glands. If the diarrhoea smelled really bad (or not) "shooting" the anal glands is also a symptom. The diarrhoea and the yelping and straining could be related, sort of opposite extremes of the same problem. It can be sporadic. Be sure to tell the Vet.

[PinkDragon14]

It could be any of the possiblities you mention but that's also a classic sign of impacted anal glands. If the diarrhoea smelled really bad (or not) "shooting" the anal glands is also a symptom. The diarrhoea and the yelping and straining could be related, sort of opposite extremes of the same problem. It can be sporadic. Be sure to tell the Vet.

It just seems weird because the diarrhea was 3 weeks before this happened. On Saturday night, it smelled like he "expressed" his glands or something like that. It was definitely something with the glands, but I don't think it got on the carpet (I hope not!). He did run back to the door and barked to go outside after that happened, so either he wasn't done going or he needed to go and release further.

It also hasn't happened since, so maybe he just had a "clog" in the glands? LOL He may need them cleaned, but I don't know. Hopefully the vet can take care of whatever is happening

[JenC]

Jack's cried when pooping, but it's usually because he's eaten too much bone and is trying to pass a concrete-like bone poop.

[PinkDragon14]

Jack's cried when pooping, but it's usually because he's eaten too much bone and is trying to pass a concrete-like bone poop.

That makes the most sense to me. This (demon) dog eats anything and everything and could've easily chipped off a piece of his toy or woodchip. I couldn't help but laugh and I felt so bad. It was the "Help me what's happening?!!?!" look and I just lost my straight face LOL

We've also been stripping wallpaper in the living room and he's been vacuuming the floor for us. Like I said earlier, he could've gotten a piece of anything and passed it.

[barry581]

Jack's cried when pooping, but it's usually because he's eaten too much bone and is trying to pass a concrete-like bone poop.

I had the same thing happen with Sophie, and she also bled a bit.

[PinkDragon14]

Well, I'm going to assume he ate something knowing him...and that little brown Hoover must've eaten something again...because here we go with diarrhea! (or as we now refer to them, the Murphy Squirts LOL) I just can't keep his face out of the grass no matter how hard I try. It doesn't help that it's fall and there are leaves everywhere. He goes after the leaves and brings them in the house. I have a small pile going on the foyer table of leaves that are brought into the house! I'm really considering a space helmet for this little bear...

[barry581]

Have you taught leave/drop it?

[PinkDragon14]

Just kidding, false alarm. I think he has some sort of wheat intolerance in treats. We bought him treats to use for his bed only and he had one too many the other day (we were training with them - oops) and he proceeded to...yep. But he didn't have any after that, so we've concluded that the treats we bought are causing a part in his "messy situation". (He's fine with one a day, but once you cross the 3 line, he gets sick. I know it isn't good to give a dog 500 treats and we aren't, but it just seems weird that it resulted in diarrhea) I went and bought him new ones yesterday with no wheat products and he LOVES them. But then of course, grandma came over and brought him a bag of treats and didn't even ask us LOL She walked in, opened the package, and started giving him the treats. I took the bag and it has wheat flour. Sure enough, later that afternoon, he had diarrhea.

I've only given him one of the new treats, but he had no issue after that. Normal poop.

(Now, this wasn't what was causing it before. He actually did eat stuff in the yard which caused his diarrhea. We're assuming he has an allergy in the treats with wheat flour. He's on grain free food without any wheat flour/products, so he could also just be not used to consuming it)

Have you taught leave/drop it?

We're working on that right now. He does well with the treats, but when it comes to leaves, that's a whole different story. He's always on the leash so I can just pull the leaf/grass chunk/etc out of his mouth right away

[arentspowell]

I've never heard of diarrhea as an allergy symptom. Allergies typically manifest themselves as with itchiness, flakiness, redness in the ears/paws, or rashes/break outs in the belly area. Loose poops, especially later in the day, is very common in puppies. Over feeding can also be a cause of diarrhea. Not saying you are overfeeding necessarily but if you're feeding his normal amount and then adding lots of treats on top of that, it could definitely be causing diarrhea especially if the treats are bigger and higher in calories.

When our dogs were puppies, I used their kibble as a treat and just subtracted it from their daily portions. I saved the better stuff when I needed something high value and even then I would adjust the dinner portion accordingly if it was an intense training day that required lots of treats.

Also, I can't remember how old your puppy is but I remember grain free wasn't appropriate for puppies because of the calcium/phosphorus levels. Not sure if this has changed but that was the general consensus a few years ago when mine were puppies.