It’s potty time, but if your dog isn’t pooping, you might be more frustrated than feeling like throwing a potty party. No worries, though…wanting to know how to help your dog poop is actually being really concerned about their dog gut health and that’s what we’re all about!
How long does food hang around?
While dogs may be our best friends, it turns out that our digestive systems are kind of opposites. For instance, your dog keeps the bulk of his digested food stored in their stomachs (about 70%) and only about 30% in their intestines while humans keep about 30% in their stomachs and 70% in their intestines. On average, food will go through our dog’s stomach a bit slower than it does in ours, but movement through his intestines and his digestive tract is a bit faster. That’s why it’s so important to focus on good dog gut health–there’s a lot of things your dog’s gut will do to help keep him healthy and it needs to maximize the time the food and nutrition you give him. Generally speaking, from entering the mouth to exiting the rear, a dog’s meal will take about six to eight hours. Remember that breed and dog size can factor as well, as can gut health, so that could be as little as four hours and as long as 12 even. The healthier dog gut your furry family member has, the more efficiently he’ll digest his food and then get rid of the waste.
Why should you want to know how to help your dog poop?
Pooping is important. We’re not just saying that because we’re all about the perfect poop. It’s a fact–food goes into our bodies and the waste exits. That’s the same for our furry friends too.
But there’s more that goes to dog gut health and dog digestion than just food taking its run through your dog’s gut. Optimal nutrient absorption is really why you’re feeding your dog in the first place–to help fuel him to be his happiest and healthiest. If your dog’s gut health is not in great shape, that’s not going to happen. The best way to tell about good dog gut health? Your dog’s poop. You want to know how to help your dog poop the perfect poop because that means his gut is the healthiest it can be. And good health always starts in the gut!
Getting your dog to poop: What’s the start-to-finish process?
When you’re taking a look at how to help your dog poop, it’s a good idea to know a bit about the digestion process in general. In a nutshell, the food your dog eats takes a journey through the following process:
Food first enters the mouth. As your dog is chewing and eating, digestive enzymes help break his food down into fuel in the form of amino acids. This is the first step of digestion, and it’s important. It’s also the first place poop problems may start, believe it or not!
Next, the chewed food goes through your dog’s esophagus. It’s basically a big straw that transports food and water from the mouth to the stomach.
Once in the stomach, the magic really starts happening. This is where your dog will keep about 70% of his food until it’s fully digested and excreted. Your dog’s body will make additional acids and digestive enzymes to help break this food down even more.
Then your dog’s intestines (commonly called the ‘gut’) start joining in. His gut helps break down food to make them digestible as absorbable nutrients and it’s here that good dog gut health really is important. When your dog’s gut health is in balance, the stomach and intestines together are able to break food down as efficiently and optimally as possible.
And then…the waste hits your dog’s colon. Well, it’s where the food and waste become poop, rather, and it hangs out here until he pops a squat. Again, the process from entering your dog’s mouth to taking it’s turn on the lawn-fandango typically takes about 4-12 hours, and good dog gut health is key for an efficient process.
How to best help your dog poop: To lose is to gain
In honesty? If your dog’s gut health is in good shape, you won’t likely have to worry about how to help your dog poop. An efficient dog digestive system will take food from mouth to tushy with little issue several hours after each dog meal.
The thing is, there is importance in helping your dog’s digestive system be as efficient as it can be. Today, the over processing of our dog’s food, environmental concerns, medications, and more take their toll on our dog’s gut and we need to ensure they’re the healthiest they can be. Supplementation can make a difference.
Enter Bernie’s Perfect Poop! We’re not just your typical supplement if you’re looking for how to help your dog poop. Bernie’s Perfect Poop is a combination of high-quality fiber, pre- and probiotics and digestive enzymes that start maximizing your dog’s digestive process from the second your dog starts eating. With each meal, Perfect Poop ensures your dog has enough fiber to push his food through at the right form and consistency to offer nutrient absorption. The pre- and probiotics help create and add to a thriving gut flora that leads to overall health and immunity. The added digestive enzymes make sure that your dog’s food is broken down as it needs to be so that it can be absorbed as the fuel it’s designed to be.
And you don’t even have to work to figure out how to help your dog poop. You just add the deliciousness to each of their meals and then pat yourself on the back for giving them great gut health and the perfect poop!
