# My 4.5 month old puppy poops 5+ times a day.



## kna (May 7, 2010)

As soon as I brought him home from the breeder, he was slowly weaned on to Acana Grasslands* (grain-free lamb), so I know the reason can't be a poor-quality diet. He's always pooped a good number of times a day but I thought as he got older and more in control of his bowels, his poo count would go down. Not happening. 

Currently, his normal poo schedule is:

8am: wake up, *poop*, eat breakfast
9:30am: *poop*
3pm: eat lunch
5pm: *poop*
8pm: eat dinner, *poop*
10m: *poop*

That's the norm but some days he'll do very tiny, tiny soft poops in between those listed above. Is this normal? What can I do to get him to hold on to the bowels and not feel the need to expel them every chance he can?


----------



## The_Monstors (Oct 1, 2010)

How long has he been steady on the Acana? Some dogs have a long period of adjustment to their food. 

Also, he's 4.5 months, I'm not trying to be rude, but what do you expect? They're still going to potty often and there's not much you can do about it than just locking him away in a crate. That doesn't really do much good for you pup to just he locked up for the sake of less poop. Most dogs tend to potty when they wake, eat and before bed. Seeing that he eats 3 times, 5 times seems reasonable.


----------



## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

I think it sounds normal. Some dogs, especially puppies, will attempt to poop every time they are taken outside unless they absolutely have nothing in them.


----------



## upfromtheashes (Mar 10, 2008)

My malamute is 16 weeks old and poops 3x a day pretty regularly. My 4 year old golden poops once a day. I'm sure your mileage will vary from dog to dog.


----------



## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Frequency of bowelmovements has nothing to do with bowel control. It is a simple input/output ratio. More food in=more poop out. This can vary with the food, the individual dog's ability to digest said food and activity levels. 
Since you mentioned an occasional soft and extra poo...I would be looking at maybe you are feeding a tad bit too much for your puppy. What breed is he and what does he weigh? How much of the food are you giving? If you are going by the amounts on the bag, they are often skewed a bit high. 
Either way, his schedule seems pretty normal to me. No poos during the day when he's less active (assuming you work during the day?) None overnight when he's sleeping. So he's gotta go first thing and then you "input" food....poo. Sleep all day. Eat, poop. Evening activity, poop. Then it's nighttime again and empty before bed.


----------



## kna (May 7, 2010)

The_Monstors: I wasn't saying anything was wrong with it, per se. I was questioning if this quantity of pooping/day is normal. I only posted this question here because I searched the issue online and it seems 5+ times a day is relatively a lot. 

HerdersForMe: Unfortunately, sometimes during his play time (after he has pooped/peed recently) he'll do another little poop in the kitchen/living room. He is 85% housebroken so this leads me to believe it is more than just him going poop whenever I take him out.

Cracker: Thanks for your advice. I should note that while all of his "main" poops are fairly small, the occasion in-between poops are SO small (I'm talking little plops), I just want to raise my hands up and be like "Was that even necessary!?" He's a Westie and currently 10.5 lbs. I feed him 1/4 cup, 3x a day, which is less than what both his breeder suggested and what his litter mates are being fed. I agree that it makes sense for a puppy to just generally poop more, but because some of his poops are SO small I'm wondering if maybe something's going on internally.

(I also add a probiotic to his dinner meal)


----------



## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

If you are feeding the same amount as the breeder, but are feeding a new food (grain free) and breeder is feeding the old food...you may be looking at too high a caloric content and this can make for soft bm's. When Cracker moved from regular food to a higher quality, grain free she went from eating five or more cups a day to about three. The calorie and protein content is far higher per ounce in the better quality foods so they need to be fed less. That being said, as long as puppy is gaining appropriate amounts of weight (as opposed to gaining too fast or too slow) I would only cut back a teensy weeny bit and see if that helps with the bm's without affecting growth rate.


----------



## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

kna said:


> Unfortunately, sometimes during his play time (after he has pooped/peed recently) he'll do another little poop in the kitchen/living room. He is 85% housebroken so this leads me to believe it is more than just him going poop whenever I take him out.


pups pee or poop after periods of activity like a play session, chase, and anythign that's cardio.... So even if he's already ogne before the play session, the exercise will stimulate him to go again...


----------

