My Dog Has Diarrhea. What Do I Do?

If your dog has diarrhea, your first instinct may be to call the vet. A dog with diarrhea can usually be successfully treated at home. If your dog is looking, acting very sick, or has blood or mucous in its stool, it is probably best to see or consult the vet first before home treating. Dogs have a habit of eating just about anything. Diarrhea is usually a normal and healthy way for them to flush harmful toxins from their systems. It’s not unusual for a dog to have bouts of diarrhea for a few days up to a week.

If your dog seems relatively strong, fine, and happy, you have a good chance of treating your dog at home. Here are some recommended measures to take to treat your dog.

1. You’ll want to cut the amount of food you feed your dog in half for at least 24 hours. Some vets even suggest no food for 24 hours to give your dog’s digestive system time to recover and heal.
2. After 24 hours, feed your dog a bland diet (in an amount of about half of what they normally eat). Our vet generally recommends a cup of food made up of 1/3 cup of chicken and 2/3 cup of white rice. You can substitute boiled hamburger (to remove the fat) for the chicken, if you prefer.
3. You can also add 1-3 tablespoons of plain yogurt to your dog’s food to soothe their system.
4. Add a probiotic to their diet like Probiotic Miracle for Dogs.
5. Boiled sweet potato is another item that you can add to your dog’s diet. Recommended amount is 2-4 tablespoons added to the meat and rice mixture.

If your dog has diarrhea and it doesn’t clear up in a few days, gets frequent bouts of diarrhea, or looks or acts sick, take it to the vet. The vet should be able to find the cause of the diarrhea and will usually prescribe anti-diarrheal medications such as metronidazole.