OK I am hoping someone has an idea what is going on here. Before Potomac several of my guys had issues with their stools.. off and on for about 2 weeks. They are all housed together in the home with us humans... A couple are poop eaters and some of the others love to eat the dirt and grass in the spring.
I attributed the stool issue to bacteria in the soil and gave flagyl... After 1-2 doses of the flagyl they are fine. The younger ones actually get constipated after 1 dose of the flagyl...
Shortly after coming off the flagyl issues begin again.. They are on several different foods,,, all top end,, Cal Natural, Nature's Variety and Solid Gold. We went to Potomac and brought Poland Springs bottled water. They continued to eat some grass and soil, UGH, but stool was perfect the entire week. After being home a few days the issues started again and the pattern is the same. The older dogs have a mucous lining to the stool so I know their colon is being irritated. The younger ones have firm stool followed by watery stool...
I do have one boy who has not seemed to be affected by whatever is going on with the others... Thank GOD, and I pray it stays that way. But he doesn't eat stool or soil... I was going to try to lime the yard but he has IBD and I don't want him ingesting anything if he licks the ground when the girls are in season... Which BTW 3 are as I type, Ugh..
Any thoughts or suggestions? I am so freaking tired of cleaning crates and scrubbing Labradors.

I would say a checkup with a vet is in order. There are so many reasons why dogs have diarrhea. Their stools need to be checked by a vet for parasites or bacteria. JMO

Have you tested for giardia or coccidia ?

Thanks for the reply.. Bacteria I think would be more likely , but I don't think symptoms would disappear for a whole week with parasites... Problem is where are they getting the bacteria from and how do I control it? It doesn't help to medicate if I can't control the source and re-infection....

I think that is probably the next step. I am just concerned where they are getting it adn how to get rid of it.

Also they have none of the other symptoms of giardia or coccidia... It's really strange..

Bird droppings are a heavy dose of coccidia. Rabbit and deer scat have it also. Coccidia doesn't always even show on stool samples and I have had it come and go just as you are describing. Get stool sample checked at vet, ask for Ponazuril.

If you don't want to do that yet. Give probiotics, Pepto and pumpkin for a few days and see if that takes care of it. With coccidia the older dogs do build resistance and sometimes it takes care of itself.

Maybe it's your water? Our city water is alot of chlorine in it to kill the bacteria in the older pipes. My dogs get the runs whenever they drink it. We are ALL on bottled water!

I would suspect your water or water that they are getting into.

We have a place where we can send our water out for testing. We too are rural and on a well. However, I would have thought your RO system would take care of bacteria.

My guys are eating God knows what, and loving it. It just seems to be certain times of the year. Whatever animal goes through the yard and maybe leaves something behind makes the dogs eat it. They get the nastiest diarrhea and sometimes vomiting. I put them on metronidazole, 250 mg 2 times a day for two days. It cleans out the bacteria from the gut. I don't let them eat or drink for 24 hours. Then I give them chicken and white rice. If their stomachs have settled I continue their regular food.

I thought metronidazole was to be given with food?

I would do some stool testing before I tested all the things around them. I think Panacur for 3 days is recommended for parasites.

You might want to try Tylan. Tylan does not kill the coccidia/bacteria, it just interferes with the life cycle. The dog can then develop immunity to the organism. Don't try to eliminate the organism from the environment - it's impossible.

Another thought - I had one girl that was having periodic episodes like that. Never tested her, but after trying Tylan a couple of times I put her on Flagyl for 2 weeks and she was cured. Fecal tests often have false negatives for things like coccidia and giardia.

I would think it has to be your water or the soil they are eating at home. If everyone was fine when you were away drinking bottled water then....

Parasites wouldn't come and go. And have you or any of your neighbors been putting something on lawns or gardens that could be messing with bellies?

Check with your local colleges who may have ag departments. They will be happy to test soil and water.

Good luck, don't envy you having to do all that cleaning up!!!! Ugh....

Thank you everyone for your replies... I spoke with my vet and we are going to do the metronidazole for 5 days and then every other day for a bit.. They respond after 1 dose so we know it is helping with whatever is causing the problem... I am thinking I didn't give it long enough.. My young ones get really firm stool on it so I didn't want to give it that long .We decided to try 1/4 the dose per day with them and so far so good. The adults are getting their regular dose. Pray this takes care of it... I am very tired of cleaning.... Thanks again.

Just got another bout of diarrhea. Gave the Met. goodbye bad poopies. It is definitely something, (animal going through our yard). We were fine all winter. Unless this bacteria hybernates? Glad it's working out for you.

Thank you Nancy, for that information.