 Poop eater
#118797 - 11/25/2006 10:25 AM |
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My GSD is 4 months old and ferociously goes after her poop when she done. Sometimes she doesn't even wait unti she is done before turning and eating it. She has only eaten hers and no other. I have tried many over the counter remedies found at the local pet store as well as some powder from the vet and even hot sauce. It turns out - she likes Mexian. Who knew. Is this something she will grow out of? Any comments and/or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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 Re: Poop eater
[Re: Brian Emery ]
#118798 - 11/25/2006 11:01 AM |
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My GSD is 4 months old and ferociously goes after her poop when she done. Sometimes she doesn't even wait unti she is done before turning and eating it. She has only eaten hers and no other. I have tried many over the counter remedies found at the local pet store as well as some powder from the vet and even hot sauce. It turns out - she likes Mexian. Who knew. Is this something she will grow out of? Any comments and/or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Hi, Brian,
There are many many threads here about coprophagia, if you use "search."
In my experience, I've noticed that dogs on good diets tend to do it less (and less interestedly), but there are a million reasons given for the habit.
Personally, I'd correct for it in my adult dogs if they did it. (One of mine will, very occasionally, and they are on excellent diets, so I can't maintain that all raw-fed diets quit doing it instantly, 100%.:grin 
Regardless, you can have the dog on lead for poop walks and pick it up immediately, and consider the dog's diet. Those would be my two steps.
If you're feeding something really low-quality (Science Diet, Purina, etc.), I'd consider a better food.
http://www.leerburg.com/feedingdogs.htm
Good luck!
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Re: Poop eater
[Re: Connie Sutherland ]
#118800 - 11/25/2006 11:32 AM |
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I have a poop eater too. She's 7.5 months old. She will eat her own or my other GSD's (completely raw fed), but not my dad's Cairn Terrier's (eats Nutro Max).
Her diet is not the problem I'm sure...she is eating 1/2 Canidae & 1/2 Raw or Canned. I've found it is something that she just likes to do...more habit than anything. I have started adding a mix of digestive enzymes, probiotics, and vitamins/minerals to her food and have seen less intensity towards poop-eating...meaning I don't see her little wheels turning on how she can eat it as soon as she's done doing it!
My main strategy to combat the problem: I just stand behind her with my shovel and wait. 
You might want to try to get a copy of the Whole Dog Journal for this month. It has a great article on this subject.
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Re: Poop eater
[Re: Connie Sutherland ]
#118801 - 11/25/2006 11:33 AM |
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My dog used to do it, but grew out of it. We corrected for it, but I don't really know if it was maturity or our corrections that stopped it.
It is really disgusting. The burps afterwords were even worse.
Carbon |
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Re: Poop eater
[Re: Amber Morgan ]
#118803 - 11/25/2006 12:04 PM |
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She is on Nutro Large Breed Puppy food; I have tried Flint River, but it gives her bad gas and very soft stool. I don't think diet is the problem (educate me if I am thinking wrong) I guess I will just give it time. Thanks for the input
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Re: Poop eater
[Re: Brian Emery ]
#118804 - 11/25/2006 12:27 PM |
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She is on Nutro Large Breed Puppy food; I have tried Flint River, but it gives her bad gas and very soft stool. I don't think diet is the problem (educate me if I am thinking wrong) I guess I will just give it time. Thanks for the input
Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Flour, Rice Flour, Rice Bran.
That's the first seven ingredients of a food that's pretty grain-heavy (Nutro Large Breed).
It's not even close to the worst kibble I've seen, but six of the top seven ingredients are grains. This almost certainly means that if they were combined, grains would be far ahead of meat on the ingredient chart.
The theory about coprophagia that makes a lot of sense to me (besides hunger and habit) is that dogs who are eating a very grain-heavy diet are constantly seeking more food, probably in their urge to satisfy the unmet need for protein from meat rather than grains (which dogs don't digest well).
I think I'd still consider a better food as well as having the dog on lead for poop walks.
Good luck!
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Re: Poop eater
[Re: Connie Sutherland ]
#118807 - 11/25/2006 01:20 PM |
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Reg: 04-27-2004
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I agree with Connie, improve the pup's diet and keep her on leash to break the habit. Correct, distract with delicious treats, then scoop immediately. A month or so of consistency and no errors should bust the habit. If she tries to eat while she's pooping, just hold her head gently or block her.
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/
That's a pretty good site to learn about everything that goes into kibble and what's high quality and what is not. Of course, that's for kibble; raw is still best.
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Re: Poop eater
[Re: Diana Matusik ]
#118808 - 11/25/2006 01:39 PM |
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... improve the pup's diet and keep her on leash to break the habit. Correct, distract with delicious treats, then scoop immediately. A month or so of consistency and no errors should bust the habit. If she tries to eat while she's pooping, just hold her head gently or block her.
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/
That's a pretty good site to learn about everything that goes into kibble and what's high quality and what is not. Of course, that's for kibble; raw is still best.
Diana has posted a link to several of the best articles on the web, IMO. The article about the outdated notion that there's such a thing as "too much protein" for dogs (derived from research done using -- yes, grain! -- as the protein source) is something that explains beautifully and succinctly exactly why grain-heavy dog foods are a fiscal boon for the manufacturers and a nutritional bust for the dogs.
IMO, everyone researching dog food should read eat least that most crucial key to the grain question:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=protein_myth
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Re: Poop eater
[Re: Connie Sutherland ]
#118813 - 11/25/2006 02:11 PM |
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Connie, yes I always thought that was amusing. "Too much protein for a carnivore." Uh huh, so is there such a thing as too much water for a fish? Okay, dogs aren't obligate carnivores but last I checked a dog's dentition wasn't designed with a salad and English muffin in mind.
http://www.iei.net/~ebreeden/kibble.html
If you scroll down, that site defines some common dog food ingredients terminology.
http://www.sniksnak.com/ac/petfooddefinitions.html
I think this one might be a bit better than that other one as far as defining label terminology.
Needless to say, reading pet food labels has lead me to read labels for my own stuff. I cannot believe how often monosodium glutamate (MSG) shows up in human food.
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Re: Poop eater
[Re: Diana Matusik ]
#118820 - 11/25/2006 03:29 PM |
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..... Needless to say, reading pet food labels has lead me to read labels for my own stuff. I cannot believe how often monosodium glutamate (MSG) shows up in human food.
And high-fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated fats/oils, and twelve different ways of saying "sugar" so it won't land in first spot on the list. 
Yes, the grain-as-protein-source is something that commercial dog food manufacturers have a lot of explaining for, IMO.
There is no real explanation besides the money one. It's a cheap way to hike the protein content, and who cares if it's a protein source that dogs are unable to use well?
These are good links, Diana.
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