My dogs just aren't getting enough fiber. Both are having stinky anal glands. No infections, just too much goop.

They need some fiber in their diet and pumpkin just isn't enough. I'm thinking of going back to a more "normal" food....rather than the high-protein Evo or Taste of the Wild.

What would I add for fiber if I kept the Evo? I do not have the time or money to be able to cook for them...not yet, anyway. Remember, I live where food is incredibly expensive. Vegetables and fruit are LUXURIES.

Psyllium husk? It's what we add to the cat's raw food for fiber.

This all came up because another elkhound on Taste of the Wild was compulsively eating fiber (in this case, chicken feathers) to the point where he almost had to have surgery.

The vet told her that TOTW doesn't have enough fiber, nor does any of the high protein dog foods.

Ole is obsessively eating grass. Now I know why. I don't want to wait until he's in the same boat as the other elkhound.

Green beans have been suggested but I doubt there is enough fiber there, though they are one of the veggies I can get frozen and cheap enough.

I know psyllium is kind of rough on people....not sure I'd know how to give it to the dogs without causing more problems....

Jack insists the pumpkin, sweet potato, green beans, and pretty much any vegetable (regardless of how it's prepared) Is. Not. Food. and will not eat them. On the rare occasion when he seems to need fibre, I stir a bit of psyllium husk into his food and he's never had a problem. He's not particularly sensitive, though and I don't have to do more than a day or two a couple of times/year.

FWIW, Jack has much more solid poops on Orijen than he ever did on lower protein/higher carb foods like Solid Gold. On Evo, though, his poops tend to be softer and slimier - not excessively, but enough so that I only rotate in tiny bags of Evo for variety. He seems to like the taste, I just don't like picking up after him when he's eating Evo!

I hope you're able to find something that works for Sofia and Ole.

What about some steel cut oats or similar? Or brown rice?

What about flax seed? You can usually get it pretty inexpensively; even if you need to have it shipped. Then you can grind it and add it to the food--I'd probably mix it with water if I was adding to dry.

Actually that is a pretty ignorant remark by that vet, since
1. the range of fiber content in high-protein, grain-free food lines (when taking into consideration caloric density as well) is about the same as in traditional grain-based lines, and
2. how much fiber (and just as important, what type - since different kinds of fibers have totally different properties) is "enough" varies from dog to dog. Some do better with more, some with less, it just takes a bit of experimenting to find out what works.

I have found that psyllium is well tolerated by most of my clients' dogs who need additional fiber in the diet. Just start slowly and don't overdo it.

You can also try oat bran, rice bran, dietary cellulose, apple fiber, flax seed, and so on, just keep in mind that they are different types of fiber that influence stool consistency in different ways.

This is very interesting. I have never had a dog that needed his anal glands expressed until we found Max. I have to bring him in every couple of months. So your saying I can add fiber to his food that should help him express he glands himself? That would be so great. Now Fred and Charlie scoot every now and then too. They don't like pumpkin, how much flax seed or psyllium would I add to their food? They eat Orijen right now if that matters.

Jean are your dogs good water drinkers? I don't think it effects anal glands, but Quinn isn't and he will get pretty constipated if I don't get enough fluids into him. I use a home prepared diet mixed with HK and the occasional kibble meal when DH is in charge, but I always have to add additional water to Quinn's diet. He just doesn't drink enough.

We had the same runny poo issue on Evo and now have no issue whatsoever with both dogs on Orijen . For whatever reason Sammy can't do any Evo products, not even the canned.

It's off and on runny with Sofia, but mostly like little ROCKS. But tiny ones. Before I went to Evo both dogs were fine anal-gland-wise. But since going on Evo they both SMELL. They aren't scooting, there's minor licking, but I'm just really tired of THAT smell.

Sofia has very intense glands because of her coyote genes.

Even lots of pumpkin didn't help, and that used to do the trick just great.

I got some green beans and some oat bran at the store today. Ole thinks frozen green beans are COOKIES. (He now runs into his crate to see if there are more green beans in there, he's so cute.)

Sofia will eat them in dog food with warm water and salmon oil on them.

Sofia used to drink like a camel (the coyote thing again) but since Ole is a normal dog that way she's drinking more. And they both think warm water makes dog food fabulously delicious.

So we'll try this and see if it helps. And maybe look into Orijen...or go back to Eagle Pack or we'll see....

Good luck Jean, Quinn never did well on Evo while the other dogs thrived. It may not be a good match for your crew.

WELL! Last night they dogs got lots of green beans, two tablespoons of pumpkin (they always got that before), salmon oil (which they also always get), and lots of warm water. They snarfed that right up!

And TODAY Sofia is running and playing like a happy, happy dog again! She was FLYING around that yard!

Now that I think of it, she's been unhappy about running around and playing ever since I switched them to Evo. I thought it was because she was tired of her dog yard, but nope! Poor Sofie was too constipated to feel comfortable! Having had that problem myself, I feel pretty bad about that!

So it's veggies every day from now on, more than just pumpkin. I feel so stupid that I didn't figure it out sooner!

I am wondering how exactly you served these green beans. Were they the french cut style that you just served raw? Or the regular green beans that actually have the bean inside them and served them cooked???
Glad it helped. I give veggies, but mine are all cooked, and I'm thinking to firm up their poops, it might help to give some that isn't so very cooked.

I take a large handful of frozen regular green beans (not string beans) put them in their dish, squirt salmon oil, put in their food and run very warm water over it and mix it up. Last night, since I was out of pumpkin, I gave them each a teaspoon of oat bran. They also got a little leftover lettuce and Sofie only left two little bits of that, which was totally amazing.

Jean I asked earlier in your post but I don't know if anyone saw it. My smaller dogs scoot every now and then and I've had to take Max twice since we've got him to have his glands expressed. Now their poop is all solid. But would adding pumpkin and green beans help with the anal glands so they stop scooting, and how does it help I don't get that part? Mine are eating Orijen, they didn't like EVO either.

My understanding is that the poops need to be big enough to squeeze the anal glands as they pass through.

Ole and Sofia are already doing better since adding fiber just the last two nights. Sofia is feeling so much better!

Every dog is different...but I do have to say that Sofia has anal glands that just don't quit due to her coyote genes. She still sprays occasionally when startled or over-excited, and I mean SPRAY.

Thanks Jean, that makes sense. Being on a grain free food their poop is smaller so adding the bulk to it would then make it larger pushing on the glands to help express them as the go. Is that Right?

That's how I understand it. It seems to be working for us now. The dogs are much less smelly than they were two days ago, and feel better, too.

I'm glad Ole and Sofia are expressing themselves better around your house Jean

You could also add some blackberries and other feild berries as they will help express the glands by making the poop larger. Right now in my area it is blueberry, Raspberry and blackberry season. The trail I walk I share with a huge pack of coyotes (I think basically they are semi solitary but pack to kill larger game). Anyway during the winter I notice their poops are mainly all fur, now their poops are mainly all blackberries They seem to really love the blackberries, or it could be that they are just more noticable in poop than blueberries or raspberries.

That's a great idea, and if I lived in Oregon I'd do it. But up here though we have some blueberries, and a few raspberries, to get any in quantity would not be very easy...

Buying them is out of the question. They are $4 for the smallest little box you've ever seen.

I'm going to put some raspberry canes in next year. Raspberries are my most favorite food in the whole world! I'm not that fond of blueberries at all.

Do you rotate between the Pumpkin, Green beans and Berries in your dogs food. Or do you add all of them?
Every meal Or only one meal a day?



So when I go to the store I'm not wondering which one to buy.

Are the Green Beans suppose to be whole with the bean or sliced?