 Pet Talk - Pet Health by Dr. Fran Good, DVM Ketchikan, Alaska June 21, 2002
Well, almost. What, you ask, about defecation habits? That one's a lot easier than urination, and is mostly tied to feeding habits. The first, and most important thing, is that you need to be feeding a quality puppy chow. Besides the fact that a premium puppy chow is the best way to grow a healthy adult dog, it's also the way to minimize dog poop. The brands of puppy foods that don't do feeding trials - feeding their food to puppies to make sure that those puppies grow up to be the right size, have strong bones and teeth, live to a ripe old age - cost less, but may not do the job and always leave larger stools in your yard. If it was useful, your puppy would have kept it and used it. So feed good quality food like Science Diet or Iams, and feed it on a schedule. Since defecation is generally triggered by eating a meal, a puppy is most likely to poop about twenty minutes to a half an hour after eating, usually once daily, although sometimes more often. A six to eight week old puppy should be fed three times daily, as much as he'll eat in ten minutes. Once Rover's ten weeks old, you can decrease feedings to twice daily, but still pick up the food after ten minutes. A good morning routine goes something like this: wake up, take Rover out of his crate, and without a big 'hello' fuss, take him outside to urinate. Once he's done, bring him inside and feed him while you're getting ready. Then take him outside to the Potty area, and wait til he defecates. Using different key words, like 'Go poop', can actually teach him to defecate on command. Once he's defecated, you praise him, treat him, take him for a walk, bring him home, crate him, and go to work. Easy for me to say, isn't it?
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