What Your doggie's poop is telling you
Since our four legged family members can’t talk human, we spend a lot of time trying to figure out whether they are happy and healthy. A great way to measure a dog’s digestive health is by keeping an eye on their stools - from consistency to colour, there really is proof in the poop.
As an owner, you’re probably more familiar with your pooches doody than you care to think about and are likely to be well attuned to any changes or variations.
We’ve outlined what the perfect poop looks like using the four c's below.
Since our four legged family members can’t talk human, we spend a lot of time trying to figure out whether they are happy and healthy. A great way to measure a dog’s digestive health is by keeping an eye on their stools - from consistency to colour, there really is proof in the poop.
As an owner, you’re probably more familiar with your pooches doody than you care to think about and are likely to be well attuned to any changes or variations.
We’ve outlined what the perfect poop looks like using the four c's below.
A healthy poop should be chocolate-brown in colour. During normal digestion, the gallbladder releases bile to aid in the breakdown of food. Bilirubin is a pigment in bile that affects the colour.
There may be some minor deviations in colour due to diet, hydration, or dyes in his or her food, but you shouldn’t see a substantial amount of changes.
The ideal doggie doody is the consistency of Play-Doh - holding its form without melting and easily squishable, One really soft or really hard poop isn’t a cause for concern, especially if your dog isn't showing any signs of feeling poorly.
There’s only one way to get to see the inside of your pooches poop and that means dissecting it.
If you've got the stomach and determination to investigate, the inside of a doody shouldn’t look any different to the rest of it.
Your dog's poop should not have a coating or a film over it. There shouldn’t be any sort of trail left behind after you've scooped.
Colour
Consistency
Contents
Coating
If the poop isn't looking quite so perfect, we've outlined what this could be indicating about your pooches health. It's important to remember that one dodgy doody doesn't necessarily mean your dog is poorly, especially if they are otherwise behaving normally. If you're consistently seeing a less than desirable outcome then it may be time to take a trip to the vets.
the doody colour chart
Bright red streaks may indicate bleeding low in the GI tract
Bright red streaks may indicate bleeding low in the GI tract
Bright red streaks may indicate bleeding low in the GI tract
Green colour could indicate that your dog is eating a lot of grass due to GI upset
Yellow colour could indicate problems with the liver, gallbladder or pancreas
Black or maroon colour may indicate bleeding in the stomach or small intestine
White spots may indicate that your pooch has worms
the doody consistency scale
need some help with scooping your doggie poop?