Why is my dog’s poop so smelly? Here’s the Answer

With Gut Health Testing, Your Dog’s Poop Can Tell You Even More

Since your dog’s poop is about 50% microbes, even a small sample can provide a lot of information about your dog’s unique gut microbiome—the diverse community of trillions of tiny organisms (microbes like beneficial bacteria, virus, fungi, etc.) that live in their GI tract. The gut microbiome is involved in almost every aspect of your dog’s well-being, including digestion, immune response, longevity, and even mental health.

By sending AnimalBiome a pea-sized sample of your dog’s poop for analysis, you can get a detailed picture of your dog’s gut health. Find out whether the bacteria that make up their microbiome are out of balance, and get personalized advice if a gut microbiome imbalance is causing your dog uncomfortable symptoms, like diarrhea or itchy skin. Gut microbiome testing is an easy, noninvasive way to find out exactly what’s going on in your dog’s gut. Using DNA sequencing, our scientists will identify all the different types of bacteria present in a sample of your dog’s stool. Then we will compare those results to our reference set of all the beneficial bacterial groups we expect to find in a healthy dog’s gut. Here’s what you can learn from gut microbiome testing: Your Dog’s Unique Microbial Community. By identifying all the different bacteria in your dog’s stool sample, we can give you a detailed picture of their unique gut microbiome. Missing Bacteria. By comparing your dog’s results with the healthy reference set, we can tell whether your dog is missing any important beneficial bacterial groups. The absence of certain groups may be a result of antibiotic use, diet, illness, or other factors. Harmful Bacteria. Microbiome testing will also identify problematic groups of gut bacteria. These may be pathogens that don’t belong in a healthy dog’s gut or normal members of the microbiome whose populations have grown too big. Imbalances. If important beneficial bacteria are missing, or harmful bacterial populations are too big, the gut microbiome is out of balance. As a result, your dog may experience distressing symptoms, such as diarrhea, constipation, itchy skin, or even behavioral issues. Identifying imbalances early allows you to make changes to your dog’s diet or lifestyle that can improve or even prevent symptoms.

Your Dog’s Diet. Every gut microbiome is unique. Different dogs need different dietary adjustments to support the growth of specific beneficial bacteria. Our microbiome testing report includes food recommendations based on your dog’s individual results to help you make simple changes that can improve their gut health and overall wellness. Microbiome testing is easy with our DoggyBiome Gut Health Test kit. The kit contains everything you need to collect a small stool sample and send it to us for analysis. You’ll get your dog’s results by email within two weeks, along with personalized recommendations for diet, supplement, and/or lifestyle changes to improve your dog’s health.

Top 10 Reasons Your Dog’s Poop Smells So Bad:

Do you get the first dry food you see at the grocery store? Often, the main cause of smelly stool is diet, and although low-quality dry foods might fill your dog’s belly, that doesn’t mean they’re healthy. Many dog foods are full of fillers that your dog can’t digest or fail to give them a balanced diet, leading to smelly stool. Possible Remedies

It might be time for an upgrade. Food can get expensive quickly, especially for large dogs, but you don’t need to spend much more to get high-quality food. Look for food that’s low in fillers and has a high protein content.

Even if you’re avoiding food that would give any dog a tummy ache, every dog is different. Allergies and intolerances can lead to digestive issues, including smelly poop. Some of the most common allergens are proteins like beef, pork, or chicken, but your dog might also be allergic to a vegetable like corn, potatoes, or peas. Possible Remedies

It can take some work to rule out allergens, but once you know what to avoid, you’ll have a happier, healthier pup. Try switching out protein flavors first, looking for a dog food that only contains one animal product. If that doesn’t work, look for grains or veggies that both foods have in common.

If you’ve tried a few foods and allergies don’t seem to be the culprit, it might be that your dog just has a sensitive stomach. Dogs with sensitive stomachs often get irritated by eating too quickly or just eating the wrong foods. Possible Remedies

Look for a food formulated for sensitive stomachs or advertises a limited ingredient diet. Some sensitive stomach formulas contain probiotics or prebiotics, which promote gut health and make your pup less likely to have digestive issues in the future.

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What If Your Dog’s Poop Isn’t Brown?

If your dog’s food contains added coloring, those colors might show up in their poop. But “funny” colors—such as purple, gray, or green stool—could also indicate other serious health issues or even ingestion of poison. (See the infographic below.) Consult your veterinarian right away if you see any of these signs:

Red streaks in your dog’s stool can indicate fresh blood, which may be coming from the anus or the colon. Constipation can cause bleeding, but red blood in the stool may also indicate parasites, ulcers, or even tumors.

Black, tarry stool indicates digested blood, which may be a result of bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Orange or yellow poop could be caused by food coloring (or a lot of carrots) in your dog’s diet, but it can also indicate liver disease or a biliary (bile-related) problem.

Green poop could be the result of eating grass, or it may indicate a gallbladder problem.

Very pale or gray dog poop could indicate too much fat or calcium in the diet, disease of the pancreas, or a problem with the biliary system (liver, gallbladder and bile ducts).

Is your pup’s stool too dry? Small, hard droppings could mean your dog is constipated. An inappropriate diet can lead to constipation. Or your dog may not be drinking enough water. Constipation in dogs is often a result of reduced motility in the colon, meaning that material is moving through the colon too slowly. Slowed colonic motility can be caused by certain medications (such as opioid pain relief therapies) or by muscle weakness in the colon.

In dogs this is most commonly associated with hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone levels) and hypercalcemia (high levels of calcium in the blood). Colorectal disease and colonic blockage (e.g., due to a foreign object) are also possible causes of small, hard poops. Is your dog’s stool too wet? Stool that’s wetter than normal is classified as diarrhea, which could mean mushy piles, loose puddles, runny poop, or watery squirts. When stools aren’t well-formed, it means your dog’s food isn’t being properly digested. Often because material is passing too quickly through the GI tract. Loose stools can be due to a lot of different issues, such as a new food or treat, parasites (like roundworms), food sensitivities or allergies, stress, infection (for example, Salmonella, E. coli, or parvo), a gut microbiome imbalance, intestinal disease, or other problems. If your dog’s poop doesn’t firm up over the next two or three bowel movements, see your veterinarian. Diarrhea in puppies may be temporary, but because their immune systems are still immature, it might also be a sign of bacterial or viral infection, so consult your veterinarian.

What about poop that’s soft—think soft-serve ice cream or the poop emoji—without being wet enough to count as diarrhea? Stool that looks like the poop emoji isn’t normal, but it might not be a serious problem either.

Your Dog’s Feces Smell Very Bad ¡Causes!