Dog Poo, How healthy is your Dogs?

Getting to know the 'typical' daily motions of your own dog is important to be able to tell when things don't look right. Abnormal poop could be a tell tale sign that there is an underlying problem, especially when there are differences in your dog's wellbeing and behaviour. So what should your dog's poop look like and in what cases should you be concerned?

A 'normal' stool will be dark brown in colour and will have a formed sausage type shape (where it has passed through the colon). It will be smooth, easy for your dog to pass and will maintain its shape. It should be easy for you to pick up with a poo bag. In general, the better the quality of diet the more normal looking the stool is likely to be and in less volume compared to a poorer quality diet.

Looking out for the following can give you good insight into your dog's health:

• Colour

• Consistency

• Blood present

• Frequency

• Mucous present

• Foreign bodies

Let's discuss each factor in turn.

Colour

The normal colour of a stool is formed by the presence of bilirubin. When the intestinal contents pass through at a normal rate, the colour will be light to dark brown. Persistent changes in stool colour however, should be investigated.

Green stools may be due to your dog eating a lot of grass, the food contents are passing through the gut more rapidly, or it can be caused by giardia - a parasite. A note of caution is that rodent poison will also produce green poo if the dog has consumed any and there is a cause for concern this is a true emergency.

A yellow stool could be due to a liver or pancreatic issue.

Orange stools may indicate a bile duct blockage issue.

If your dog'