Dog walking

stratdl

We feed our dogs a raw diet, too. Yep, it's expensive, but when we started out, we only had one dog and she was a diabetic. She went from needing 6 units of insulin twice a day to 2-1/2 - 3 units of insulin twice a day. We switched to a holistic vet who taught us about raw eating when the other vet told us to feed her molecularly modified food. (I bet that Dave wouldn't approve--I certainly didn't! :bigsmile: )

Anyway, for raw, we get prepared medallions from Nature's Variety. We use the organic chicken medallions, but they have many other flavor varieties. Nature's Variety already puts the ground up bones, etc. in the food. All we add is a few supplements and some canned pumpkin. The supplements we add are prozyme (a digestive enzyme), green alternative (basically a power pack of veggie stuff), and cod liver oil. Once a week we add probiotics. We don't have any problems with the dogs' health and our new vet (we had to move to another state due to a job change) told us that he'd never seen an elderly diabetic dog in such great condition.

Due to the cost of raw food (as has been stated before), we have cut back a bit on the raw and added a little bit of kibble. We use Nature's Variety Instinct--it's completely grain-free. Nature's Variety also makes a kibble that has some grains to it--that's called Nature's Variety Prairie. So, if you want to look for a kibble for your dog that's pretty good and grain-free, go with the Nature's Variety Instinct. If you can't find it in your area, you can get it online from the Only Natural Pet Store (www.onlynaturalpet.com). They have all sorts of wonderful holistic & natural stuff for your pets.

I hope you get some good out of this!

-Deborah

MisoSoup79

Dogs don't always have a nutritional deficiency to eat poo. Some lower ranking dogs eat the higher ranking dog's feces as a sign of respect, or groveling. Puppies often eat poo just because they like the way it tastes and unless they are corrected, they sometimes develop a habit of it. Some dogs never develop the taste, others eventually grow out of it. But it's a myth that it's always a sign of nutritional deficiency. I have known one dog to eat his own poo immediately following elimination just because he was nervous and anxious. So sometimes it's psychological.

I'm not saying it can't be attributed to nutritional issues, but dogs like poo and that's a fact. Nearly any dog will either eat or roll in cat poo (due to the cat's higher protein and fat diet probably) and dogs on a tastier diet offer better tasting poo to dogs on a less interesting diet. Dogs are dogs and sometimes they do disgusting things, but those things are normal in their own psychological world.

For the dogs that do this just because they like it, there are not a lot of things that can be done to stop it, unless you are very diligent. Additives might work, but some dogs will surprise you with the odd tastes they acquire (like one in particular that developed a love of cayenne pepper oil, which his owner attempted to use to deter the dog from digging and chewing). Try natural additives first, before resorting to laboratory-made chemical additives, for obvious reasons. Also, pick up poops immediately to remove the temptation. Verbally correct the dog with an unpleasant sound or a firm "no" if it looks too interested in a pile of poop. But realize, to some of these dogs, poop is just a tasty treat, like a tootsie roll to us, and often no amount of correction will prevent the dog from gobbling it up.

Sure it's gross, but they are animals... they walk around naked and sniff and lick butts, so why should eating poop be offensive to them?! :laugh:

stratdl

Dogs don't always have a nutritional deficiency to eat poo. Some lower ranking dogs eat the higher ranking dog's feces as a sign of respect, or groveling. Puppies often eat poo just because they like the way it tastes and unless they are corrected, they sometimes develop a habit of it. Some dogs never develop the taste, others eventually grow out of it. But it's a myth that it's always a sign of nutritional deficiency. I have known one dog to eat his own poo immediately following elimination just because he was nervous and anxious. So sometimes it's psychological.

I'm not saying it can't be attributed to nutritional issues, but dogs like poo and that's a fact. Nearly any dog will either eat or roll in cat poo (due to the cat's higher protein and fat diet probably) and dogs on a tastier diet offer better tasting poo to dogs on a less interesting diet. Dogs are dogs and sometimes they do disgusting things, but those things are normal in their own psychological world.

For the dogs that do this just because they like it, there are not a lot of things that can be done to stop it, unless you are very diligent. Additives might work, but some dogs will surprise you with the odd tastes they acquire (like one in particular that developed a love of cayenne pepper oil, which his owner attempted to use to deter the dog from digging and chewing). Try natural additives first, before resorting to laboratory-made chemical additives, for obvious reasons. Also, pick up poops immediately to remove the temptation. Verbally correct the dog with an unpleasant sound or a firm "no" if it looks too interested in a pile of poop. But realize, to some of these dogs, poop is just a tasty treat, like a tootsie roll to us, and often no amount of correction will prevent the dog from gobbling it up.

Sure it's gross, but they are animals... they walk around naked and sniff and lick butts, so why should eating poop be offensive to them?! :laugh:

Thanks for this post, Miso! My puppy always goes after my two adults' poo, but never her own! :grumble: I had been thinking it was something weird, but never thought it may be a hierarchy thing! And yes, we do run after the other dogs to pick up their poo before she gets to it! :happy:

GREAT post! Thanks again!

FitnessGeek

When dogs eat poop, and love to eat it, it's called "coprophagia".

Coprophagia is pretty common and the reasons are unknown as dogs have been known to do this for multiple reasons:
-Hungry, and the poop is there to eat.
-Accidental, he's just curious and wants to see what poop tastes like.
-Submissive, he may be overly submissive and be eating the poop of a more dominant dog.
-Too much food, his diet is too high in fat or protein, he may start to like the poop better.
-Your reaction, if you dog gets a lot of attention eating poop, because it grosses you out so much. He may keep eating it to get more attention.
-Malnourishment, he's missing something very important in his diet, and is trying to get it any way possible. (check for worms!!!)
-Puppies, most dog-mothers eat their puppies poop, an old instinct to get rid of evidence of puppies. Gotta keep em safe from predators!
-Cleaning, he may be trying to clean up his own space by moving or eating the poop.
-Stress and neglect, if he's left alone too often, he may eat poop out of boredom and anxiety.
-Mmm poop, he just likes the way it tastes (especially true with cat poop) and it may even be a genetic trait passed on by his parents. (probably good to breed that trait out...)

There we go all the reasons I know of...
Hmm I think I said 'poop' too much.

Mickie17

When dogs eat poop, and love to eat it, it's called "coprophagia".

Coprophagia is pretty common and the reasons are unknown as dogs have been known to do this for multiple reasons:
-Hungry, and the poop is there to eat.
-Accidental, he's just curious and wants to see what poop tastes like.
-Submissive, he may be overly submissive and be eating the poop of a more dominant dog.
-Too much food, his diet is too high in fat or protein, he may start to like the poop better.
-Your reaction, if you dog gets a lot of attention eating poop, because it grosses you out so much. He may keep eating it to get more attention.
-Malnourishment, he's missing something very important in his diet, and is trying to get it any way possible. (check for worms!!!)
-Puppies, most dog-mothers eat their puppies poop, an old instinct to get rid of evidence of puppies. Gotta keep em safe from predators!
-Cleaning, he may be trying to clean up his own space by moving or eating the poop.
-Stress and neglect, if he's left alone too often, he may eat poop out of boredom and anxiety.
-Mmm poop, he just likes the way it tastes (especially true with cat poop) and it may even be a genetic trait passed on by his parents. (probably good to breed that trait out...)

There we go all the reasons I know of...
Hmm I think I said 'poop' too much.

Gross...EWWWW, but this makes sense. Our 8yr old lab started doing this when I brought home two baby lab foster puppies. Her maternal instincts really came out and she became a "mom" to them. We decided to adopt on eof the pups, and he has started eating poop too i the past week...and we think it's because of her. UGH! GROSS!!!!!!!!

So the question is: How do we stop the madness???

leann_m_olson

I've heard it's bad if dog eats their own poop, just gross if it eats another dogs. Only sure fire way is to pick up the poop before they have a chance to eat it. Our little Scottie-Skye eats big boy (Sunny) Lab's poop every once in a while, never thought of the dominance thing but that's probably it. Although she can hold her own against him.