Dog gut health after scavenging: Lab & Jack Russell

Two dogs with loose stools after scavenging in the garden — that's a really common situation, and the fact that both are affected at once is a useful clue. It suggests they got into something similar outside rather than one dog picking up an infection from the other. Probiotics can make a genuine difference here, but strain specificity matters a lot — a product that works well for one breed and age may do very little for another, so it's worth being precise. To point you in the right direction: what are the ages of your Labrador and Jack Russell, how long have the loose stools been going on, and have either of them been sick or completely off their food, or is it just the stools that are affected?

That timeline and pattern makes sense — two days, eating well, no vomiting, both affected after the same outdoor session. This really does look like a dietary indiscretion response rather than anything infectious. That said, if either dog deteriorates, starts vomiting, goes off food, or you see blood in the stools, a vet call becomes urgent. For now, gut support is a reasonable first step alongside plain food if you haven't already switched them. Can I ask — are they on any existing probiotic or supplement, and are they on the same food or different diets?

Perfect, that's helpful. Since you've got two dogs on different food formats and different sizes, you want something that works independently of the diet — not a food topper that might interact differently with wet versus dry. My recommendation for this situation is YuMOVE Digestive Care (formerly YuDIGEST). It comes in a daily sachet format, contains a well-researched strain called Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415, and is one of the few UK dog probiotics with actual trial data behind it. Critically, it works across breed sizes, and the sachets are easy to split — you'd give a full sachet to the Lab and a half sachet to the JRT given the size difference. It's widely available on Amazon UK and usually starts showing results within 3 to 5 days. Blander food alongside it will speed things up — boiled chicken and rice for the Lab, the same or plain tinned fish for the JRT works well.

Yes, it's safe for both. YuMOVE Digestive Care is formulated for dogs across all sizes and life stages, so a 4-year-old Lab and a 7-year-old Jack Russell are both well within range. The main thing to adjust is dose — the full sachet is calibrated for a medium-to-large dog like your Lab, and the JRT just needs half. At 7 the JRT is heading into senior territory, so if you find ongoing digestive sensitivity is a pattern with her specifically, it's worth mentioning to the vet at her next check-up, as older small dogs can sometimes have underlying sensitivities. But for this episode, the same product at adjusted dose is exactly right for both.

With a scavenging-related upset in otherwise healthy dogs, you should see stools firming up within 3 to 5 days if you combine the probiotic with a few days of plain food. If things aren't improving by day 5, or either dog gets worse at any point, that's your cue to call the vet — it would suggest something more than a simple dietary indiscretion. Once they're back to normal you can either stop the probiotic or continue it as a maintenance supplement, especially for the JRT as she gets older. It's not something they need indefinitely, but some owners find a short monthly course after any outdoor foraging keeps things settled.