Guide: giardia in puppies
Giardia in Puppies: Symptoms, Treatment and Cleaning Up
Giardia in puppies is an infection with a microscopic gut parasite that is picked up from contaminated water, soil or feces. Many infected dogs show no signs at all. Others have soft, foul-smelling diarrhea that comes and goes. It is common in young dogs and treatable. However, reinfection is easy, so cleaning matters as much as medicine.
Symptoms of giardia in puppies
According to VCA Animal Hospitals, the signs can include (VCA):
- Sudden, foul-smelling diarrhea
- Soft or watery stool that comes and goes
- Greasy stool, sometimes with a greenish tinge or mucus
- Weight loss or poor growth
- Occasional vomiting and low energy
VCA also notes that most infected dogs have no symptoms. In young puppies, however, giardia can cause severe watery diarrhea that needs prompt treatment.
How puppies catch it
Infected animals pass tough microscopic cysts in their feces. A puppy becomes infected by swallowing those cysts, for example by drinking from a puddle, sniffing contaminated ground or licking its own paws.
After a puppy swallows cysts, it starts passing them itself within 5 to 12 days. Because cysts survive well in cool, damp places, any spot shared by many dogs is a risk.
How it is diagnosed
Giardia does not always show up on a routine stool check, since cysts are shed on and off. Therefore, vets often use a specific giardia test, and they may ask for more than one sample. Bring a fresh sample to your first vet visit.
Treating giardia in puppies
VCA lists fenbendazole and metronidazole as the drugs used most often, usually for 3 to 10 days. Your vet will choose the drug and the dose.
Give every dose, even if the stool firms up early. Then follow two extra steps that vets commonly advise:
- Bathe the puppy at the end of treatment, to wash cysts off the coat.
- Retest if the diarrhea returns.
Stopping reinfection
- Pick up stool immediately, every time
- Wash bedding, bowls and toys in hot water
- Clean hard floors and crates, and let them dry fully
- Offer fresh water, and keep the puppy away from puddles and ponds
- Wipe paws and the rear end after potty trips during treatment
Can people catch giardia from puppies?
The risk appears to be low. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains that the types of giardia that infect dogs are usually not the types that infect people (CDC). Even so, VCA advises assuming it could happen.
So wash hands after handling stool, and take extra care around young children and anyone with a weak immune system.
Coccidia: the other common puppy parasite
Coccidia are also single-celled gut parasites, and VCA notes that puppies are commonly infected. Many show no signs, while others have watery diarrhea. Coccidia need a different medicine from giardia, which is one more reason to let a vet test the stool. See puppy diarrhea and worms in puppies.
Related guides
- Puppy Vaccine Schedule and Deworming: What Is Done Before Go-Home and What Comes Next
- Kennel Cough in Puppies: Symptoms and When to Worry
- Parvo in Puppies: Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment
- Hypoglycemia in Puppies: Signs and Emergency Steps for Small Breeds
- Luxating Patella in Dogs: Signs, Grades and Treatment
See all our puppy guides, read about our health testing, or meet our Havapoo puppies for sale and Goldendoodle puppies for sale.
Sources
- VCA Animal Hospitals. Giardia in Dogs. vcahospitals.com
- VCA Animal Hospitals. Coccidiosis in Dogs. vcahospitals.com
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Giardia and Pets. cdc.gov
Sources were checked on October 7, 2026. This article is general information and does not replace advice from your veterinarian.
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