Dog poop survey!

I use a high quality grain free food for my dogs.  There is very little waste, as the food is chock full of nutrients that the dog's body can use.  My dogs poop twice a day, usually 2 tootsie roll size plops, that's it.  The better the food, the less the waste.  Of course my dogs ARE small and big dogs mean big poops, but still, there really should not be much waste.

The texture of the waste would be more important than the amount, IMO.  A dog fed once a day and pooping 3 times a day suggests there is a LOT of waste in the food being fed.  Hence, not a healthy diet.

I have not dealt with a kidney specific diet so I can't speak to that.  I'm sure others will be along to guid you.

I have to echo what Sandra has said -- the more useable the food the less waste.  If the dog isn't impacted (i.e., so constipated that the dog isn't pooping) but far less than what you were used to on that food, then it's likely normal for what you have switched to feeding.  Myh dogs don't usually poop more than once a day.

When you home cook -- you should be allowing natural fiber -- for example, you don't peel white potato nor sweet potato -- you just mash up the cooked veg including peel ... it is part of the dietary fiber.  In fact, I never peel *anything* unless I'm giving rutabaga (that comes with the waxed skin) -- that you have to peel.  You discard seeds (like from pumpkin or squash) but that's all.

I rarely use grain in my home-cooked food -- ONLY if for some reason I have tons of broth do I then add either oatmeal or barley (but never rice -- almost no food value and brown rice is incredibly difficult for them to digest) but usually I use no grain at all.  I cook everything in water but don't discard it (in other words -- if I boil hacked up sweet potato in water, I remove the cooked veg and add the next veg/thing that needs cooking in the "same" broth so by the time I'm done it's a condensed broth but full of nutrition.  By the time I then mash everything that's cooked and combine it resembles almost a thick stew but everything has been cooked individually and there are no "lumps" or chunks -- everything has been mashed up with a potato masher and combined.  Any meat I use is ground first so there is no identifying anything, and it's usually not at all dry. 

When I feed kibble or even canned commercial food they have to drink TONS more water -- but my home-cooked food has a really high water content because I don't throw away broth.

But by the time they poop it's simply a medium brown formed consistency but you don't see pieces of undigested food. 

The only way I would be concerned about poop from home-cooked would be if it were really dry or difficult to pass -- that would indicate to me they weren't getting enough water IN the food.   jIf they were constipated on home-cooked food, then there isn't enough fiber & roughage in it and perhaps not enough water IN the food. 

Jewlieee

Did the vet tell you any target levels for phosphate in food to shoot for? What symptom are you actually trying to resolve? Are her kidney levels ok?

I believe these are the questions to be asking.

As others have said grain-free, high quality foods and well-balanced nutritionally sound diets will often produce less stool.

However you are trying to have a specific diet with important nutritional goals so I'd stick with what keeps her kidneys happy.

FWIW I feed a high quality grain free to an XL size dog and his stool is less than most 50-60lb dogs.

I really ought to get a print out of the test results and ask more questions - creatinine and urea were at the high end of normal but supposedly not at kidney disease level. This came out as as result of testing for something else and not suspected kidney problems.  I was advised to keep phosphate and potassium levels low and of course they flogged me the expensive Purina mix. On doing some research - something like that could even be harmful if the problems are not severe. Plus I thought at that price I would be better making my own and have been following online (early stage/mild) kidney diet recommendations.  When I told the vets I was considering cooking from fresh they looked at me as if I had just fallen off the moon! - so no help from that direction. I think I will have more tests done in a few months to monitor things.

    Many things in a diet affect stool quality such as the amount and type of fiber, as well as the amount of fat, and how you prepare the diet. I agree with Karen and Jewlie; you should ask your vet how much to limit the phosphorus in your dog's diet. Dogs need a certain amount of phosphorus, and a diet lower than what your dog needs isn't healthy. If you want to cook for your dog, I suggest you contact someone who is qualified to formulate a diet for your dogs needs. Here are two good links;

             Individualized Nutrition For Your Dogs

            Better Dog Care, Better Dog Nutrition - Creating Healthy Lifestyles for Canines: Main Page