Home Remedies for Dog Constipation: Constipated, Colitis or Blocked — Sort It First, Then Water, Fibre and a Walk

Written by Marc Brannigan, Co-Founder & CEO of HempMy Pet. Last updated 14 October 2026.

Constipated, Colitis, or Blocked? The Three-Way Sort

Straining looks the same from across the garden. These three are completely different problems, and one of them is an emergency.

Why Dogs Get Constipated

VCA and Merck list the same set. The commonest ones are the ones you can fix at home; the rest are why it keeps happening.

• Not enough water. The first cause on every list. Dry-food-only dogs, hot weather, a dog who does not like the bowl. Merck: hydrate before adding fibre, or fibre makes it worse.
• Indigestible material. Bones (cooked bones especially), hair from grooming or licking, grass, sticks, cat litter, fabric. These form the dry, crumbly, grey mass that will not move. A bone-eating dog with constipation is a vet visit, not a pumpkin.
• Pain on posturing. VCA names osteoarthritis directly: a dog whose hips or back hurt will hold it rather than squat. Seniors who "get constipated" are often seniors who hurt. This is the one cause hemp has evidence for — see below.
• Medications. Opioid painkillers, antihistamines (Benadryl included), diuretics, sucralfate, some antacids. If constipation started with a new medication, that is the cause.
• Enlarged prostate in intact male dogs, pressing on the rectum. Flat, ribbon-shaped stool is the giveaway.
• Not enough exercise, or stress. A dog who has been crated, boarded, or in a new place will often hold it. A long walk solves more constipation than any supplement.
• Disease. Hypothyroidism, a pelvic injury that healed narrow, nerve damage, a mass. Recurrent constipation with no obvious cause needs bloodwork and a rectal exam.

Home Remedies, Ranked by Evidence

With Merck's actual amounts, which almost no page gives you.

Amounts and the laxative classes are from the Merck Veterinary Manual on constipation and obstipation; causes and the 48–72-hour rule from VCA Animal Hospitals.

The 48-Hour Plan

For a bright, eating, non-vomiting adult dog who last passed normal stool within the last day or two and has not eaten bones.

• First, the three-way sort above. If it is a male dog and you are not certain he has urinated normally today, stop reading and call the vet.
• Hour 0: water. Fresh bowls in two places, warm water stirred into the food, or a portion of canned food. A long walk.
• Next meal: plain pumpkin (1–4 tbsp by size) or psyllium (1–4 tsp) mixed into wet food. Repeat at each meal.
• Every few hours: a walk to a familiar spot. Watch what, if anything, is produced — and photograph it.
• At 24 hours: if stool has passed and is softening, continue the fibre and water for a week and fix the cause (bones, water, exercise, the new medication).
• At 48–72 hours with nothing: vet. VCA's threshold. A vet can feel the mass, check the prostate, rule out an obstruction, and — if needed — give a safe enema or an osmotic laxative. Waiting longer risks obstipation and a colon that stretches and stops working (megacolon).
• Any time — vomiting, a painful belly, blood, no urine, a dull dog: vet now.

Where Hemp Fits — and Where It Doesn't

We make hemp products for dogs, so here is the straight answer.

Our serving guide works from body weight. If your dog is on tramadol, gabapentin, an antihistamine, a diuretic or any other medication on the constipation list, read hemp and your dog's medications first.

When to Call the Vet

Go now if:

• A male dog straining who has not urinated, is dribbling, or is licking himself — a blockage, not constipation
• Straining with vomiting, a hard or painful belly, or a dog who is dull and off food
• Blood, or a known swallowed bone, toy, sock or corn cob
• Repeated unsuccessful attempts with crying out

Call the vet if:

• No bowel movement within 48–72 hours of the last one — VCA's threshold
• Flat, ribbon-shaped stool in an intact male — prostate
• Constipation that began with a new medication
• A second or third episode in a few months — thyroid, prostate, pelvis and pain need checking
• A senior who has started hesitating or crying when posturing

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best home remedy for dog constipation?
Water first, then fibre, then a walk. Add warm water or canned food to the meals so the dog is properly hydrated, then mix in plain canned pumpkin at 1–4 tablespoons per meal (or unflavoured psyllium at 1–4 teaspoons) — the Merck Veterinary Manual's amounts for bulk-forming laxatives — and take the dog for a longer walk than usual. That resolves most mild constipation within a day. If nothing has passed by 48–72 hours, or the dog is vomiting, in pain or has eaten bones, it is a vet call.

What is the fastest-acting laxative for dogs?
There is no safe fast-acting laxative to give at home. The fast ones — bisacodyl (Dulcolax), senna, enemas — are stimulants or rectal treatments that are dangerous if the dog is actually obstructed, which you cannot rule out without a vet, and phosphate enemas can kill small animals. Mineral oil by mouth risks aspiration pneumonia. The fastest safe route is the vet, who can feel the mass, rule out a blockage, and give a warm-water enema under sedation or an osmotic laxative such as lactulose or PEG 3350 at a veterinary amount.

What can stimulate a dog to poop?
A long walk, because movement stimulates the colon and a familiar spot stimulates the urge; water and wet food, because hard dry stool is the problem; and bulk fibre — pumpkin or psyllium — which holds water in the stool so it can move. For a dog who is holding it because squatting hurts, pain relief from the vet does more than any fibre. Do not try to stimulate the rectum manually or with a thermometer, and do not use human suppositories without veterinary direction.

How do you tell if a dog is constipated or has a blockage?
A constipated dog is usually still bright and eating, strains and produces small hard pellets or nothing, and improves with water and fibre within a day. A dog with an intestinal blockage vomits — often repeatedly, and especially after drinking — has a painful or distended belly, goes off food, becomes dull, and does not improve with anything you do at home; there is often a history of a bone, toy, sock or corn cob. A male dog straining who is also not urinating has a urinary blockage, which is a separate emergency. Vomiting plus straining, or any pain, means the vet now.

How much pumpkin should I give my dog for constipation?
The Merck Veterinary Manual lists plain canned pumpkin at 1 to 4 tablespoons per meal as a bulk-forming laxative — a tablespoon for a small dog, three or four for a large one — mixed into wet food with plenty of water. It must be plain purée, not pie filling, which contains sugar and spices. Give it at every meal until stool is normal, then continue a smaller amount for a week. If there is no stool within 48 hours despite it, stop adding fibre and call the vet; more fibre in a dog who is not drinking makes the mass bigger.

Can I give my dog olive oil or coconut oil for constipation?
No. Oils do not lubricate a hard faecal mass the way people imagine; they mostly produce greasy diarrhoea and, in a susceptible dog, pancreatitis. Mineral oil is worse — Merck restricts it to rectal use because an oral dose that goes down the wrong way causes aspiration pneumonia. Water, wet food and fibre are what actually soften stool. Save the oil.

Why is my old dog constipated?
Three reasons, often together: seniors drink less and produce drier stool; they move less; and — the one most people miss — they hurt. VCA lists osteoarthritis as a cause of constipation because a dog with sore hips or a sore back will hold it rather than squat. A senior who hesitates, circles repeatedly, or cries when posturing has a pain problem first. Water and fibre help; so does a vet's pain assessment, and joint comfort is the one area where hemp has trial evidence in dogs.

Can hemp or CBD help my dog's constipation?
Not the constipation — hemp is not a laxative, there is no canine trial for it, and a dog two days without stool needs water, fibre, a walk and then a vet. The one real connection is the senior dog who is constipated because squatting hurts: VCA names arthritis as a cause, and joint comfort is where hemp has its evidence in dogs, with five published osteoarthritis studies including our own. Start low and with food, and tell your vet, especially if the dog is on an opioid or antihistamine that slows the gut.

The Short Version

Sort it first: hard pellets is constipation, slimy squirts is colitis, a straining male with no urine is an emergency. For mild constipation in a bright, eating dog: water and wet food, pumpkin at 1–4 tablespoons a meal or psyllium at 1–4 teaspoons, a long walk. No oils by mouth, no human laxatives, no enemas. Nothing in 48–72 hours, vomiting, pain, blood or a swallowed bone — vet. If it keeps happening, the cause is water, bones, a medication, the prostate, or pain.

Hemp has no role in the bowel and one real role in the stiff senior who hesitates to squat — the joints, with a vet in the loop.

Hemp for Dogs → Arthritis in Dogs

Dog Diarrhea · Upset Stomach · Can Dogs Eat Pumpkin · Arthritis in Dogs · Serving by Weight

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is general information, not veterinary advice. If your dog is unwell, contact your veterinarian.