Food theory for loose bowels

Monty has always had pretty loose bowels and apart from first of the day he rarely does anything solid. We've changed his food a couple of times and cut out certain things such as poultry but nothing seems to make much difference.

He is currently fed on James Wellbeloved White Fish and Rice.

However for the last week or so he's been having fresh bones, either lamb or beef from the butcher counter in Morrisons and his bowel movements have been greatly improved and he's now solid on around 80% of his poo's.

Could it be the bones that make a difference?? If so, can I just feed him a bone every day or is this not good for him?

I know that too much bones can make a dog constipated so I imagine that's what's making his stools firmer.

A raw diet might be the way to go for him.

Bones everyday shouldn't do him any harm, just be careful he doesn't end up going to the other extreme and ending up constipated.

Personally I avoid weight bearing bones from cattle since they are alot denser than our dogs teeth and may cause damage to teeth. Otherwise go for it I say.

He does seem to be much improved but i'm cautious about over-feeding him bones. Am maybe going to go for every other day.

I did think about raw but i need to do some research as i don't really understand it or know much about it.

I think at the moment i'll try to get bones from the supermarket and give one every other day but only under supervision. The only time he is still a little loose is on a walk when he's running around but he's always been like this when tearing around.

Raw diet didnt suit our Boxers !

Best thing to give him for solid poos [and no anal gland probs] are raw chicken wings. 1-2 a day is plenty and they love them. Just be careful though as some like our Harvey would swallow in one gulp. I have to hold his so that he chews and breaks up the bones. Katie and Rosie are quite happy to sit down and chew on their chicken wings. When they swallow the wings whole, they bring them back up again about five mins later - whole

Raw marrow bones are great for them to gnaw on

That is good news, bones can help with firmer stools, just a thought, with Scratch we gave him psyillium husks to his food which helped.
Can you get brisket there?? (it is the rib off beef) it is good as it isnt such a worry with sharp bits of bone but still has the same effect as bones. We also get chicken carcasses for Jed who gets one about 2-3 times a week.

Never thought about chicken wings, will have a look at those next time I go to the butchers or supermarket and then at least I can vary his bones a bit.

Emrad - is that you?!? We had the rib of a lamb a few weeks back and Monty loved it although that didn't seem to have the same effect on his poo that the beef bones did which is odd.


I'm always with him when he has bones as I do worry about him choking as he gets impatient sometimes and tries to swallow large bits.

Im assuming you are giving beef knuckle/shin type bones?

Rib bones are softer and also rib of lamb (morrisons version particular favourite of Tuns!) is quiet fatty so will naturally makes things looser. I find lamb rib from Morrisons (other lamb ribs are available ) the perfect 'package' and leads to one very quiet evening for moi due to a content dog sound asleep whilst he digests his dinner!

He also has chicken thighs (he used to have chicken wings when he was little) which go down a treat or pork ribs.

He only has weight bearing bones for a short period of time, then i dig the marrow out he has that and then they get binned.

It is

How old is Monty? Ted at about 6 months was always loose - we use JWB Turkey & Rice. A friend suggested cutting his food down, although we were following the guide on the bag it appears we were over feeding. When the quantity of kibble was reduced this stools improved. It's been a case of trial and error with getting it right and we seem to have cracked it.