Dog eating Sh**t

kennyw

Hi all quick question,

Does anybody know the reason or reasons behind the whole situation of dogs eating, Grass and Sh**t..

My 2 have only recently started doing this.. and its quiet disturbing as they are indoor dogs an when they return indoors from been out the back it stinks off their breathe an its revolting.

Is there anything i can do to help stop this habbit.?

I have done the usual catch them in the act, punish them with a high verbal shout and quick poke to the side of the body to distract them from their drive of getting to it.

Iv asked the vet locally an he states it can be down to varying diet. I have tried the likes of giving them tuna and tuna oil with there normal dry nut diet.

Anybody any input or experience with this..

Thanks in advance.

ISDW

Is it their own poo that they're eating?

If so, put some pineapple in their food for a while, it should get them out of the habit.

ppink

Yes it has nearly driven me cracked too at times:rolleyes:

it is normal for dogs though, even though we see it as disgusting.

One thing I know for sure with my dogs is no amount of shouting or poking or nicely asking would stop them!! they may get to apoint that they wont do it when you are watchign them (mine didn't!) but will still do it when you are not.

So there are tablets available otc in the US for this. my family sent me some and they appeared to work but I do hear that simply adding pineapple to their food will help.....apparently it is not too nice eating it a second time round!
other than that pick up the poop on a regular basis and limit their access to it.
the grass......well if you find an answer to that I would be interested;)

kennyw

Never heard of the pineapple solution.. great idea, il defo try that..

Yes it is their own that they are eating.. I clean up the yard nearly always instantly after they go, but as life is life its not always possible to get to it straight away.

The older dog is starting to copy the younger one at doing it, as it was the younger that started it first, it seems liker a competiton now between them on who can get to it first..

I was thinking maybe would it be worms or something medical that could be causing them to eat it, as it has only started in the last month.. They have got all there vac's an worms an fleas dose, so im just baffeled an disturbed.. haha

The grass thing, i had always taut it was to do with getting mositure or for an upset stomach.. There is many conspiracy (pardon the spelling) theories out there, and like you Ppink, i would be very intrested in someones input with a clear or at least viable reason..

ppink

The grass intrigues me I have to say. None of my 4 dogs ate grass ever until number 5 arrived and they all copied her:rolleyes:.
Every day was like a herd of cattle being left out on grass in the Spring after a long winter inside.........galloping out and grabbing as much as possible.
They are not as mad for it now for some reason.
There are theories on deficiencies etc but I dont know the truth on that to be honest.

One thing I do know is if I am weeding the garden one of my dogs is alongside me trying to pull out the grass, and if i am digging.......she is digging:). I have not managed to teach her hoovering yet;)

kennyw

One thing I do know is if I am weeding the garden one of my dogs is alongside me trying to pull out the grass and if i am digging.......she is digging.

thats it class..


Yea its intresting on how one dog shows them the way an now they are all as you said a crew of grazing cattle munchin down on the green stuff..

You have 5 dogs, i would love the space to have 5 of them, in fact id love a herd of them.. haha

What breed of dogs have you got urself.?

ppink

well unfortunately we went to four late last year. we have 2 german sheps now and 2 little mutts. it is the female gsd who is the "helper".

She dug over all my vegetable beds this year ready for planting:p. Now I have to keep the gate locked to the veggie garden as she picks the pea pods and the cherry tomatoes and runs off to eat them.:D

What dogs have you?

Mo60

I have six dogs in total, all fairly small. The eldest is approx. 16 years old and completely blind and only goes out to do his little jobs! Everytime he ventures out, one of my other dogs follows him to clean up his sh**.

With regard to eating grass I have noticed that my dogs only seem to eat it when they have upset stomachs.

Justask

Pineapple works for sure...when I asked my vet why it works he said 'you dont want to know' :eek:

paultf

kennyw wrote: »

Hi all quick question,

Does anybody know the reason or reasons behind the whole situation of dogs eating, Grass and Sh**t...

A couple of my dogs eat poo aswell. I tried the pineapple trick aswell and it worked for a while but they went back to their bad habit. So I just gave up. Luckily I feed mine Burns so the output is very small so its not too bad.

I was speaking to a nice woman in Dog Training Ireland in Dublin the other day about Land Of Holistic dog food. I mentioned the problem with the poo eating. She also suggested pineapple but she also suggested two products: Deter and Forbid. Not sure where you can get them but they are mentioned on this website:

http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/stop-dogs-eating-dog-poop.html

"If you visit your local pet store you will find various products specifically designed for this problem. Forbid and Deter are a couple of products which have proven to help some dogs stop eating feces."

jaybee747

My other half has a spaniel who does eat her own dirt every now and again.She said possibly a couple of things,1 The dog could be cleaning up after themselves as in keeping their area tidy or that the dog is lacking in something (vitamins) in her diet. A change of food may help.
The eating of the grass apparently is down to the dog having an upset stomach and it's there way of settling it. Don't know how true this is or that every grass eating occasion is an upset stomach.

kennyw

Sound for the input and the advice Paultf.. I might give the ol pineapple a shot and see from thre wheter il go get them other products you mentioned..

Also thanks Jaybee, its intresting to think they are cleaning up after themselfs.. pity we could not train them to clean up after us too, i.e in the kitchen after dinner. I dont think licking plates is as clean as washing them.. (doh the dogs would have a different opinon)

With the grass thing alot of people seem to be in agreement on teh upset stomach sides of it. On the other hand i was maybe thinking, the grass could cause upset stomach.. i.e parasites on the grass they eat etc. Jus a taught.

Great to get feedback on this.. :P

tk123

I saw the stuff earlier in PetMania in Santry/Ballymun to get them to stop eating poops but I've forgotten what it's called! :P

Shanao

What are you actually feeding them? A lot of them it can come down to them lacking in something in their diet. On top of that, some foods are hard to digest and bits of it can actually come out in their stool so they smell it, go 'Yum, there's my food,' and eat it again.

kennyw

What are you actually feeding them? A lot of them it can come down to them lacking in something in their diet. On top of that, some foods are hard to digest and bits of it can actually come out in their stool so they smell it, go 'Yum, there's my food,' and eat it again.

they are on a diet of dry nuts, fish oils (tuna, sardine), tripe, and pigs ear for a treat occasionally.

70 - 80% of it is the nuts, about 20% is a mixture combination of all of the secondary..

they both are feed twice daily, same routine. no human food scraps. no other coloured or artifical treats.

I do get you doh when u state it can come back out un-digested and can be a second helping for them. But as i clean up their stools fairly shortly after if not immedittly i notice everythin to be fine.. nothing i can see stands out anyway..

Dogs will be dogs i suppose..

Shanao

What brand are the dry nuts though? Like i said, its more down to the smell rather than the sight. And if they are lacking in something nutritionally then it means they may eat their poop to try and get nutrition out of it.

Eating the grass may be their remedy to feeling ill after eating their own waste, or it could be that most dogs will eat grass to settle their stomaches when its very warm as it can make them feel ill as well.

suziwalsh

Generally pineapple works - the tinned kind. If not courgette works a treat. These work because the faeces become unpalatable to the dog.

No one knows the reason exactly why dogs do it, pups usually do it when mimicing their mum cleaning up after them and can do it later on when stressed. Others do it due to diet, if your dogs dry nuts have coloured pieces in them I would avoid that food as it makes it hard for the dog to digest and the faeces end up coming out like...well dog food. I would change to a good quality holistic food like james wellbeloved or burns.

It obviously is not good for your dog to eat his/her own poo so would be a good idea to get on top of it asap.

The commercial product you can buy is called STOOL OFF and it works quite well. Also it is a good idea to booby trap some poo in the garden with horrible tastes like chilli powder etc. So it tastes unpleasant to your dogs.

The leave it command is also a good one to learn for this task. Unfortunately shouting and poking wont work. But the quicker the issue is solved the less lightly it will to become a permanent habbit.

kennyw

Thanks so much for the heads up an little tips on the chilli powder an the likes.. Sounds lik its goin to be a mini adventure tryin to get this sorted.

I must say the leave it command i wat i do say when i see them at it an they do respond sometimes..lol I have bought the pineapples yesterday going to try it this evening an see how they get on.. If the pineapple dont work its time for the commercial products.

its intresting to know that they were copying their mother from when they were pups, i hadn't taught of that, learn something new everyday egh.. thanks very much for the reply suzi..

snowy two

I have heard dogs do this because they are lacking potassium in their diets and your suppose to give them bannanas suppose to work never had this problem with my guys.

blogga

This thread should be in AH. Dogs rushing out to eat s***e!!! Like my local chipper when the clubs close! Lmao.

Irishchick

Its called coporphagia and its not normal. It can be a sign that your dog is lacking in essential vitamins and mineral or it could have worms. Try worming your dog first. Do it now and then again in 2 weeks time. If that doesnt work go to the vet and get a blood test done to see if its defficient in any particular mineral.

Mo60

Irishchick wrote: »

Its called coporphagia and its not normal. It can be a sign that your dog is lacking in essential vitamins and mineral or it could have worms. Try worming your dog first. Do it now and then again in 2 weeks time. If that doesnt work go to the vet and get a blood test done to see if its defficient in any particular mineral.

I looked this up and found it very interesting. It explained why one of my dogs clears up after my elderly dog, ie because the older dog is could be vulnerable to predators in a different situation.

kennyw

Its called coporphagia and its not normal. It can be a sign that your dog is lacking in essential vitamins and mineral or it could have worms. Try worming your dog first. Do it now and then again in 2 weeks time. If that doesnt work go to the vet and get a blood test done to see if its defficient in any particular mineral.

thank you very much for the heads up an info.. it is very intresting alright. Il try add more food supplements to there diet and also make sure they are wormed.. Itl clear up any side affects then i hope.. If not the trip to the vets is on the cards..

It explained why one of my dogs clears up after my elderly dog, ie because the older dog is could be vulnerable to predators in a different situation.

That is very intresting too, the ol primative nature coming out in them..

Irishchick

Dont add supplements yet. It may be a waste of money as the problem may not be diet related. . Worm them first and see if that solves anything.

kennyw

hi Irish chick.

Iv tried the pineapple trick there now so today is judgement day..

I have already wormed them so im going to go ahead an maybe get a second dose in a fortnights time as guidelined. they are always well wormed fleed an feed, so im just hoping the cause of the problem is just cuirosity..lol

thanks for the heads up.

kiersm

Hey there,

My dog has been eating sh*te lately & I was looking for some help. Glad to see I'm not the only one trying to stop my dog doing this but just one query, is it tinned or fresh pineapple that he needs to be given to try & stop this.

My dogs are both eating Hills food & I really don't want to have to change their food as my older dog doesn't have the greatest stomach & changing his food can be a big ordeal for him moreso than us, & he's not the one eathing the shi*te, so if the pineapple thing doesn't work can anyone tell me what food mite be btr?

They're only wormed a few wks so don't think its that.

Taceom

It's good to read these posts as I thought my dog was a complete oddball. Well maybe he is, he doesn't eat his own pooh but if we come across horse pooh while out on a walk he does try to eat it. He has got used to me saying "no" now when we see it so stops immediately but would eat it if he could get away with it.

He always eats grass though. And last December when the weather was very cold and everything frozen we noticed that he was constipated and off form. Everything settled again once the thaw came and the grass was edible so we (maybe naively) think grass is good for him.

liloldeme

kennyw wrote: »

they are on a diet of dry nuts, fish oils (tuna, sardine), tripe, and pigs ear for a treat occasionally.

70 - 80% of it is the nuts, about 20% is a mixture combination of all of the secondary..

My dog stopped eating poo once I fed him "right food" as my vet called it. I cook for him, chicken, turkey, mince - turns his nose up at anything else (unless he is starving and I mean starving) Vet said most the food you buy for dogs isn't great and he always cooks for his - so I followed his advice and hey presto it worked - also a lot healthier too!

Sorry - pineapple didn't work for me so went on vet's advice**

kennyw

kiersm wrote: »

Hey there,

My dog has been eating sh*te lately & I was looking for some help. Glad to see I'm not the only one trying to stop my dog doing this but just one query, is it tinned or fresh pineapple that he needs to be given to try & stop this.

Hi,

As an update on the situation they have both stopped eating the unthinkable. the cure to the cause was fresh pineapple stewed with sum sugar. 2-3 days in a row just cooked and mixed with their nuts each morning, Haven't looked back since.

Thanks all for the feedback and advise.

Glad to see the post is also helping other's that are experiencing this behavoir.

Keep the updates coming in, and best of luck.