May 03, 2011
My dog eats feces, we try hard to always clean it up, but some times he beats us to it. What do you suggest?
Full Question:
First and foremost-thank you for what you do...but more importantly a BIG thank you to your son for serving!I'm an avid "reader" of you web site and have instilled many of your lessons into my obedience routine with my two Weimaraners. I have a male and female. My male-Harper is a rescue (yes, he's full of problems). We've conquered the aggression and dominance factor---It took forever to establish me as alpha...but we did it! One thing that I cannot break, and have sought behaviorialist opinions on is Harper eating feces. He loves to eat my female's feces and sometimes we catch him eating his own. Our back yard is not terribly small (privacy fence yes) but not exactly four acres either. My wife and I scoop every time they go outside. but sometimes---he beats us to it. We've tried the powder mixed with dog food, we've tried cayenne pepper...nothing. I've also started using a pinch (yes, it's up high-like you describe) and he will "leave it". But...when he's out in the field when we work on retrieval...he keys in on it.
Your thoughts? And yes...I've looked through your articles too.
We're stumped.....any direction?
Cory
Cindy's Answer:
The very first thing I evaluate with dogs that eat feces is what kind of diet they are on. Many dogs do this because their nutritional needs are not being met. The problem is that it does become a learned behavior and with some dogs even when the nutritional needs are met, they continue to do it because it has become a habit.
From a training standpoint, you could try supervising him all the time and using the remote collar to teach him to avoid.
I would evaluate both of your dogs’ diets and if you aren’t already feeding a raw diet or a grain free high quality kibble, I would recommend it. We have an extensive section on the website on feeding and a raw diet.
There is also the possibility that he has an enzyme deficiency, which would have to be determined by a vet and a blood test. Most dogs with pancreatic enzyme deficiency are quite thin though, and your dog looks like he’s carrying a lot of weight.
I would evaluate diet and retrain with the electric collar if this was my dog, and see how it goes.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
From a training standpoint, you could try supervising him all the time and using the remote collar to teach him to avoid.
I would evaluate both of your dogs’ diets and if you aren’t already feeding a raw diet or a grain free high quality kibble, I would recommend it. We have an extensive section on the website on feeding and a raw diet.
There is also the possibility that he has an enzyme deficiency, which would have to be determined by a vet and a blood test. Most dogs with pancreatic enzyme deficiency are quite thin though, and your dog looks like he’s carrying a lot of weight.
I would evaluate diet and retrain with the electric collar if this was my dog, and see how it goes.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
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