Diarrhea
If your bulldog has diarrhea, you can give them some Goats Milk Yogurt (the plain kind). It will soothe their digestive tract and help clear it up. If by chance it doesn't help, then it could be a more serious problem like worms or giardia, and your dog needs to see a vet. You can start them on a bland diet also and that will help clear things up too. Boil a few chicken breasts and save the water. Use a food processor or ninja bullet to grind up the chicken and then boil some white rice with the chicken water. Put equal parts chicken and rice together and feed your pup this diet for a few days to help get the diarrhea under control. For my adults I give them a cup of this as a meal three times a day. I also sprinkle some FortiFlora into their food and that can also help the problem. Forta Flora is a powdered probiotic that puts good probiotics back into your dogs GI tract. You can get Forta Flora from Amazon, it’s over the counter. Here is the link for it…
Round worms are one cause of diarrhea and need to be specially treated right away. Puppies can dehydrate quickly so if you see loose stool in your puppy please take action fast so they won’t end up in the hospital. A vets office can inject fluids under the skin between the shoulder blades, it’s called a water bubble and slowly dissipates while it brings your dog’s hydration level back into balance. Always remember when switching their food to a new one to go half and half with the new food for at least a week and gradually transition so their system can adjust to the new diet then slowly back out of the old food and eventually you’re only feeding the new. A nice slow transition will mean less stomach upset and no diarrhea. Food related diarrhea looks like thin pancake batter.
If the diarrhea won’t clear up take your pup to the vet for some metronidazole. That medication is fantastic and will get your baby balanced within a few days. If you have watery diarrhea keep bowls of clean fresh water out so that your dog doesn’t get dehydrated while you help them get better. Change the water bowl each day. I put down a tarp quartered with a couple of old towels as a potty pad for my bulldog so she can go inside while she gets better. That way I can keep her clean and monitor the stool for traces of mucus or blood. Those indicated different issues and you can’t tell what is going on if your dog is going potty out in the grass. Ruby will use a potty pad for me so it’s easy for me to do this. If you start your bulldog on plan B with potty pads as a baby they will use them when you put one down in the house or in a hotel/motel situation.
It’s impossible to know how a dog can pick up things like giardia or a virus that causes diarrhea. I once had a vet tell me that what we bring in on the bottom of our shoes is toxic to dogs. We try and take off our shoes at the front door for this reason especially when there are baby puppies around that chew on shoes. If you think about it your shoes come in contact with everything yucky outside. The pores of the feet are the largest in the body and what you step on can get right into your system so protecting your feet and your dogs feet is important. In some cultures people put medicine on the bottom of the feet to get it into the system quickly. So it makes sense to protect that part of your body. Dogs are no different. They don’t wear shoes so you need to protect their feet from things they could step on or get into.
With a round of metronidazole your bulldog should be okay within a few days but finish all the medication your vet gives you even if the situation clears up quickly. At least four to five days of a bland diet, the half and half chicken and rice mixture is ideal for diet during this time. Again, this is what I do for my dogs and I’m not a vet so always consult a professional if your dog is acting lethargic or you can’t clear up the problem on your own. Diarrhea can be a symptom of a lot of things but if it’s food related or a simple tummy bug it can be cleared up quickly by doing a few routine things like the bland diet, goats milk yogurt or Forta Flora. Most doctor’s offices will talk to you over the phone and advise you whether or not they feel it’s necessary to bring your bulldog in to get checked.
