Thank you labman for your quick response. Mosquitos and heartworm are not, as yet a problem in our area... Southeastern British Columbia. We have noticed that his stool is often soft. Starts normal and ends soft. Is he not absorbing his food properly? The other thing which might have a deliterious effect is that we have wild turkeys running through the property and he seeks out their droppings at every opportunity. We do our best to keep him from eating them, but I know we haven't avoided them all. Our daughter's cat recently came close to death as a result of eating a songbird. The vet diagnosed his malady as "songbird samenella." So... I wonder then about the turkey droppings. A friend recommended that we give him a bit of yogourt with his kibble in the morning... would that be helpful? Yes, if all else fails, we will have to see our vet, although he is many klms from where we are.

I doubt the yogurt will help. The best thing for a dog to eat is a dry commercial dog chow. Adding anything else usually causes more problems than it solves. Bird droppings certainly will cause problems. Dogs can pick up parasites from eating bird droppings. Coccilocous will cause loose stools. The vet may be the only way to solve the problem.

Are you on the West coast? I understand the North West USA is blessedly free of heart worm?

Hello,

The yogurt should be okay as long as you don't give more than a couple tablespoons per day. The yogurt helps add beneficial bacteria back into the intestinal tract.

You could also use a lactobaccillus/probiotic product such as Culturelle (http://www.culturelle.com) instead of the yogurt.

Having his stool checked for parasites is a good idea, as Labman suggested.

Depending on how old the puppy is, it probably needs it's shots anyway (those usually begin at 7 to 8 weeks of age), so I recommend making the trip to your vet anyway. You can have the puppy vaccinated and tell the vet of your concerns all in one trip.

Good luck!