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My dog eats other dogs faeces!

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  • 08-02-2010 10:03am
    #1
    iw82
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26 ✭


    Hi everyone,

    One of our dogs is a neutered 6 year old Italian Spinone who has been with us the last 3 years. The road we walk on is a quiet country road that has lots of other dogs on it & if he sniffs out another dogs faeces he literally dives on it & gobbles it up!

    I understand the behaviour behind bitches cleaning their whelps & canines in general cleaning their den etc but I do wonder what is behind him eating other dogs faeces!

    By the way he is always on a lead when he is on the road & it is not a regular occurance but he does catch me off guard the odd time. Plus he is a gundog & likes to have a sniff & snoop in the hedgerows. He's also regularly wormed & on a good quality food, Royal Canin.

    I'm just quite curious about why he does it...!

    Any ideas would be welcome, thanks! :)


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    #2
    peasant
    Registered Users Posts: 17,819 ✭✭✭✭peasant


    The reason why he does this is because, disgusting as it sounds to us, faeces is food.

    Dog foods are so rich these days that whatever comes out the other end still contains a lot of nutritional value and a certain amount of appetising (to a dog !) smells.

    Other than training him not to eat it, you might also check with your vet that you are feeding him the right food and that he has no nutritional deficiencies that he's trying to make up this way.


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    #3
    iw82
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26 ✭iw82


    He's been checked out by our vet recently & all is ok health-wise, no nutritional deficiencies etc. We have changed his food recently as he has put on a few more pounds over the winter than I would have liked so I'll see how he gets on with that.

    What you are saying about how rich dog foods are now makes plenty of sense - 'doh'! I guess it's a habit he started in the first 3 years i.e. before he came to us.

    Besides, if that's our biggest health concern for him I will be very happy indeed...!


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