# Poop Color



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Ah, yes, poop is something you will become very familiar with when feeding raw. Poop tells you everything you need to know about their diet and how it is working for them.

If they are too hard, dry and crumbly that = too much bone. I call these "fossil poops." Now, since you are just starting out, stool that is a little too hard is MUCH easier to deal with than cannon butt!!! 

You will develop your own "eye" for what is too dry/hard. If I see my dogs struggling to get the poop out, and then it comes out hard and fossil-like, I usually ease up on the bone. 

You want firm, but not bone-hard. 

When I first started raw with Millie and Henry, they got two bone-in meals daily. This was great at first, but then their poops got too hard and dry, so I replaced one of those daily meals with a boneless meal. This is why, eventually, over time, you aim for a ratio of 80/10/10 (meat/bone/organ). This ratio, for most dogs, will equal nice, firm stool. Basically, once your dog is fully adjusted, you will feed MOSTLY meat, SOME bone and SOME organ.

You will notice that raw fed dogs' stool will turn white and dusty within a matter of days.


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

If the poop is light yellowish color, it means the food is a little too rich in fat.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

This happened both times I fed Swizzle pig neck. It sounds like fossile poops. It did not look like it had a lot of fat on it but his stool was lighter so it must have. I guess I should add some all meat food. I have been feeding chicken wings, turkey necks and pork necks mainly. I have not noticed this with the wings and turkey necks but I guess I should be feeding a hunk of meat no bone with these too. If I feed him pork neck and it needs meat added should the meat be pork also or is it ok to mix it up? 

I am assuming cannon butt is watery stools - I have not had that yet (thank goodness). If that happens what would it indicate? Would the dog be allergic?

Thank you for the responses. I don't want to mess up. Swizzle loves his raw. He quivers he gets so happy.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Runny poo in early stages of Raw means they did not get enough bone. Or too rich of a protein too soon. No worries though, feed a bone in meal and they bounce right back. This is why it is so important to to do the stages, like you are doing.

Our two small breeds have a bit softer and brown poo than my poodles. It id difficult to get enough bone in a small breed which is why we have opted to cut into our bones to get them the amount needed.

Your dogs poops sound very normal  I cant just imagine your dogs joy. Its a great thing! 

Isn't it funny that talking about a raw fed dogs poop is so interesting! :aetsch:


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

schnauzerpoodle said:


> If the poop is light yellowish color, it means the food is a little too rich in fat.


Really? I have not found that to be the case...

With my dogs, firm, dry, light yellowish color *always* is the result of feeding lots of chicken (even when I used to remove skin and fat). Usually stool will be soft if too much fat is the case...and that was not the case for the OP.

Darker stool is the result of feeding rick dark meats, like heart, venison, beef, organs...


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

CT Girl said:


> I am assuming cannon butt is watery stools - I have not had that yet (thank goodness). If that happens what would it indicate? Would the dog be allergic?


Cannon butt indicates not enough bone. 

Allergies would be evident with itching, but allergies to raw proteins is RARE.



CT Girl said:


> I have been feeding chicken wings, turkey necks and pork necks mainly. I have not noticed this with the wings and turkey necks but I guess I should be feeding a hunk of meat no bone with these too. If I feed him pork neck and it needs meat added should the meat be pork also or is it ok to mix it up?


CHicken wings, turkey necks and pork necks is a LOT of bone, so you will definitely want to add in some boneless, slowly. Adjust to stool quality. Also, chicken wings really aren't appropriate for standard poodles, and have almost no meat on them, so I would feed something like a chicken quarter, which is safer (larger) and has more meat. Turkey necks have little meat on them as well. I've never feed pork necks, so I don't know what they even look like! Ha. Right now, you are feeding mostly bone and some meat, the opposite if what you want. Now, you are just introducing so it is okay, but you don't want to feed so much bone for long.

Rather than adding some boneless meal to an already large bone-in meal, it might work better to just throw in a boneless meal in place of a bone-in meal. You don't want to feed too much bone. There is a fine line and I personally feed the smallest amount of bone that will maintain firm, but not hard, stools.

And you can mix meats together. Pork neck + any boneless meat is okay. (But remember, always introduce a new meat slowly).


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## Siskojan (Mar 13, 2011)

CM - I've read about chicken wings and turkey necks, but are whole turkey wings OK? I was at the grocery store again and didn't like the price of chicken legs with back attached (well actually I didn't really care but hubby is not yet on side with a diet change and I didn't want to rock the boat too soon) I bought turkey wings but won't feed them to him until I know for sure it's OK. I'm going to be buying the books you recommended pronto.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Siskojan said:


> CM - I've read about chicken wings and turkey necks, but are whole turkey wings OK? I was at the grocery store again and didn't like the price of chicken legs with back attached (well actually I didn't really care but hubby is not yet on side with a diet change and I didn't want to rock the boat too soon) I bought turkey wings but won't feed them to him until I know for sure it's OK. I'm going to be buying the books you recommended pronto.


I'd be careful about turkey wings. They are very hard and brittle. I won't feed them because they shatter too much into these sharp little pieces for my liking. I won't feed any turkey bone-in items other than necks as the bone is softer in those. Also, even if you were to feel comfortable feeding it, the bone is relatively hard, as far as raw bones go, and a newly adjusting spoo might be more likely to have digestive issues with something like that. Chicken really is your softest bone.

These are the edible raw meaty bones that I would consider safe for a bone-in meal for *my* spoos:


Chicken quarters, chicken backs, bone-in split chicken breasts. 
(Chicken drumsticks and MAYBE thighs could be okay for a mini, small standard or any GOOD chewer who does not gulp. I give Millie chicken thighs and drummies, but she doesn't gulp at all so I feel safe doing this.)

Pork ribs, lamb ribs, deer ribs

Turkey necks (whole - with supervision because the shape *could* be a choking hazard. I feel comfortable feeding them, though, based on my dog's eating habits and my own supervision.)

These are all of the RMBs that I feed - I think. Others might be able to add which rmbs they feed.


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## Teffy (Jul 4, 2010)

Oh my goodness, the most interesting and most 'LOL' post yet! LOVE poop talk and how we have nicknames for them...Fossil Poop and Cannon Butt. ROFL!!!!

I have 'soft ice cream' cuz it comes out...soft...and in a swirl. That's when I've given them something fatty. 

Not the poop...but the action...'She's giving birth'.............to fossil poops, for too much bone.

I comment on other people's dogs poop too and make comparisons to my girls poop. Okay, not to their face, just in my head.


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

ChocolateMillie said:


> Really? I have not found that to be the case...
> 
> With my dogs, firm, dry, light yellowish color *always* is the result of feeding lots of chicken (even when I used to remove skin and fat). Usually stool will be soft if too much fat is the case...and that was not the case for the OP.
> 
> Darker stool is the result of feeding rick dark meats, like heart, venison, beef, organs...


light yellowish + soft poop = way too much fat 
light yellowish + soft or gluey poop + sour smell = DANGEROUSLY fatty meal fed

The above was learned from my schnauzer that suffered from recurring pancreatitis.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

schnauzerpoodle said:


> light yellowish + soft poop = way too much fat
> light yellowish + soft or gluey poop + sour smell = DANGEROUSLY fatty meal fed
> 
> The above was learned from my schnauzer that suffered from recurring pancreatitis.


Ah, yes, the key is that it was soft.  OP had hard, light yellow stool which in my experience and the experience of several raw feeding friends of mine is common with lots of strictly bone-in chicken,


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