What goes in must come out. Dogs are voracious an indiscriminate eaters thus edible and non-edible things would be ingested. If given a chance, a well fed dog would raid trash cans and feast on tissues papers, plastics baby diapers (yucky!) and on anything that we humans find disgusting. As these things are not digested, they will come out on the other end of the dog. The kind of excrements the dog has would tell the owner what is going on inside the pet’s body. Why do you think vets would always ask about the color and the kind of feces the dog passes whenever you take the pet for its regular checkup? No pun intended but if the eyes are the windows of the soul, the feces are the mirrors that will give you a clue on what kind of health condition the dog has.

Although it is kind of disgusting to talk about the excrements of the dog, an owner has to be very observant and has to have a fair amount of knowledge on what health conditions the consistency and the various colors of the feces indicates. Like any other dog owner, you too would not want to pay close attention to the smelly things that goes out of the dog’s behind. Feces are simply disgusting but believe me learning about the potential medical problem that the poop indicates can save you a lot on vet bills and most importan

So here’s what you need to know about the poop of your pet. When the dog eats, the food and the inedible things ingested will pass through the digestive tract. The water and the nutrients will be absorbed. Anything that was not digested and absorbed will be excreted in the form of feces. The feces therefore will be the important diagnostic clues to the overall health of the dog. Normally, a dog should pass small amount of well formed firm and moist poop. Poop color should be in the shades of brown. Substantial amount of poop, a soft consistency and unusual color are indications that all is not well with the health of the pet. A very dark or an almost black stool signifies that there is bleeding in the dog’s upper intestinal tract. Cement or grey colored feces can be due to an obstruction in the bile duct. A dog owner may also notice that the pet is passing white stool.

Dogs have the propensity to ingest non edible objects. The feces can contain the plastics, papers or cloths that the dog has ingested. Small and white grain-like spots on the feces are indication of parasite infestation. The white color of the poop can be due to the bones and the bone marrow that the dog had been ingesting. Dogs have sharp teeth and very strong jaws. These animals have the capability to virtually grind the bones. Ingested bones will result to white stools.

Stool that is white in color can be due to the dog’s diet. More and more dog owners are embracing the BARF diet. BARF is for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. To promote the health of pets proponents of the BARF diet believe that pets should be provided with the same diet that their ancestors had in the wild. This raw meat based diet would result to significantly reduced amount of stool. Dogs on BARF diet will pass white stools as well. This is due to the fact that the nutrients in this type of diet will be readily absorbed by the dog so that what would be left to be excreted are ash and fiber that gives the stool a chalky white consistency.