I have a 7 year old German Sheppard female. She is a bit over weight for her age (about 88 lbs). Lately she has been constipated (about 4-5 days now). She used to "squat" when she pooped, but now is pooping "on the run". she still squats when she pees, but when it'* time for a poop, she runs around the yard and leaves a trail or two of stool behind her. This is very unusual for her, she'* always had normal bowels. Nothing has changed in her diet or feeding times/habits. No toxins lie around the house, and she is good at NOT getting into anything in the house while we are gone.

Has anyone ever had this with their dog? I'm cincerned as this is the time when chronic hip and joint problem begin to occur in the breed, and she is over weight.

A trip to the vet is planned, just wondering to put our minds at ease if anyone else has seen this behavior in thier large dog?

yes its a symptom of round worms.. it makes there but burn when they poo.. see a vet for meds...

I hope she is okay. I love Shepherds. I wanna get one once we get in our house.
Is she pretty territorial?
Everyone I have known is great with their families, but don't take to kindly to strangers.

"Chyna" is one big sucky dog! She would lick you to death Brian...even if you entered my house by your self for the first time......but don't tell the Jehovoh'* (her bark always scares them off to the next house on the street!)

Our Shepherd is very gentle.......she is very mouthy though to other dogs that pass her territory. Once in a while the next door neighbours get a visit by thier daughter and her golden, and Chyna lets her know she'* invading her space!

She love car rides.......specially in Bonnies!

Intestinal parasites in a dog that old aren't terribly common unless they ate stool of a goose/raccoon/possum/stray cat or something else that was infected. It sounds like it could just be colitis which is inflammation of the bowel that can be caused by something she ate or even just stress in which case you'll have to hold her off food for about 24 hours and then slowly start her on a bland diet like boiled chicken and rice, or a few companies make a "low residue" diet that is formulated for GI upset. This running stool is diarrhea right?

I'm not sure if hip problems fit because if her hips hurt she probably wouldn't be able to squat to urinate either as it'* a similar if not the same stance. another possibility is some dogs damage their spine in a way that affects their ability to control their sphincter but that would be more fitting if she were having accidents in the house too.

Definitely take her to the vet though, I've worked at a vet office for 5 years now while i finished highschool and now am in college and we see alot of things come in that could have been minor problems but left go to long they can require alot more treatment (and bill) to resolve. Good luck.

Glad to hear your dog is so friendly. I was worried about this, since as I said, I don't want to have to worry about problems with company coming over.


And, man ^^^, it always amazes me what freaking knowledgeable people ^^ we have here in any subject.

What i mean by poop on the run is that she is running or out for a walk and rather than stop and squat to push out her stool she just keeps walking or running and the stool just seems to drop out as she'* doing this. She has not had any diahreha .....her stool comesout in tiny "charcoal briquettes" type of sizes.

She is on a flea/heartworm pill already that is take once a month from June to November.

She gets tested (blood test) onced a year. I have 2 cats (completely indoor never let outside) but Chyna is known to go into their litter box now and then (evidence is the kitty litter stuck on her wet nose )

She pees ok. I think she has difficulty lifting her tail though......I'm wondering (concerned) a bit about that.

Did you get her to the vet?
How is she doing? Hope things are getting better,

Doing some research on behalf of your beloved pet, I was able to find this article regarding Anal Sac Disease. The only thing that I can see that relates to your pets symptoms is the the dogs difficulty with lifting its tail. Heres the link. Ive seen this on Dirty Jobs where the Vet has to squeeze out the sacs to clear the issue. If this is what the problem is, it may be further along and may require minor surgery to remove the Anal Sacs entirely. Talk to your vet.

Heres the link. The site in general covers just about EVERYTHING pertaining to pets and their health.

I hope your dog gets better......


http://www.sniksnak.com/doghealth/analsac.html

Wow. Who'd have thunk it.
Hope she'* okay.