Eating Stools

[davey 310]

Problem is 5 1/2 month old pup eating my adult dogs stools ( I think ) now I walk and clean run every morning but when I get home from work there are signs of stools being eaten and a couple of times I have caught pup picking at stools why does this happen and how do I stop it . Pup is healthy and full of energy doing my head in

[jonah. 775]

my 5 yr old pat was at my brothers for a couple of weeks, he's got a 7 month old collie that kept eating my Pat's shite.

my brother's kept his pup up to date with all worming and Jab's and feed is puppy complete and coocked veg / chicken mix.

he's changing the diet a bit to try and see if that helps with the pups general hunger levels. the pups in fine fettle and filling out nicely, good teeth, shiney coat and plenty of energy, just loves eating shite....

be intrested to find out what others have to say on the subject.

[paulus 26]

try adding pinapple juice to its food,

[sandymere 8,263]

Pups often do it, likely a good way of getting the bacteria that helps digestion, many will eat sheep droppings etc as well, most grow out of it though some don't so worth keeping a clean run as far as possible.

Even we are getting in on the act

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_bacteriotherapy

Edited January 31, 2013 by sandymere

[jonah. 775]

try adding pinapple juice to its food,

 

the shitter or the eater ?

[paulus 26]

try adding pinapple juice to its food,

 

the shitter or the eater ?

all of them, the theory is it makes the stools taste worse than shit

[pip1968 2,490]

tried the pineapple with my lurcher but he thought it was desert he loved it,try him on raw chicken and mince my dog stopped eating his stools when fed this

[black Edward 8]

on the other hand saves you cleaning the yard.

[jonah. 775]

try adding pinapple juice to its food,

 

the shitter or the eater ?

all of them, the theory is it makes the stools taste worse than shit

 

i'll get our kid to give it a bash

[paulus 26]

try adding pinapple juice to its food,

 

the shitter or the eater ?

all of them, the theory is it makes the stools taste worse than shit

 

i'll get our kid to give it a bash

to be fair mine will still snaffle up deer dropping when out and about

[sniffer 167]

just dont let it lick your moey lol..

[sandymere 8,263]

try adding pinapple juice to its food,

 

the shitter or the eater ?

all of them, the theory is it makes the stools taste worse than shit

 

i'll get our kid to give it a bash

to be fair mine will still snaffle up deer dropping when out and about

Need to start baiting the locale with pineapple to load the local deer population, might make em taste different as well, venison with pineapple!

[planete 120]

My terrier who is fed on dry food will eat other dogs' stools if they are fed raw meat.

[paulus 26]

try adding pinapple juice to its food,

 

the shitter or the eater ?

all of them, the theory is it makes the stools taste worse than shit

 

i'll get our kid to give it a bash

to be fair mine will still snaffle up deer dropping when out and about

Need to start baiting the locale with pineapple to load the local deer population, might make em taste different as well, venison with pineapple!

now theres a thought a pineapple salt lick

[hutch6 550]

There are various theories as to why dogs eat other dog's stools:

 

The eater is getting insufficient nutrients from the food they are getting and as such will either eat their own or that of a dog that has passed nutrient rich food. If a dog is feed a poor complete with little meat content and comes across a dog's stool that was fed a nutrient rich diet (i.e. raw) then there is more nutrients in the stool as the dog on the other diet hadn't absorbed all of the goodness. Can dogs smell nutrients? I think they can tell if something is nutritious by smelling it, after all their sens eof smell is sued for marking pregnant livestock and detecting cancer in humans.

 

The eater is usually young when the habit is first noticed. Some mothers of pups still has the instincts to clean up after the young to take the smell away from the den so as not to attract predators. The pups learn through observation and believe this is a natural behaviour and carry it on through their puppyhood and even adulthood if not the behaviour is not kerbed. I think this is plausable.

 

If the pup is told off or disciplined whilst house training on a regula rbasis then it soon learns that the combination of having stools and you in the same place is not a good combo and will take to hiding the accidents and then you've guessed it, eating them to avoid the conflict. I have seen this happen with a foster dog I took on and doing some background research on how it was raised.

 

 

Dogs will eat the droppings of herbivours as the bacteria and nutrients on the part digested fibre is easier for their intestinal tract to absorb. A dog will eat grass etc if they are either lacking nutrients or they have an intestinal parasite which is why sometimes they are sick and others not. When they are sick they are trying to eject the parasite so worming them when you see this is helpufl to kerb the behaviour. Unfortunately the eating of herbivore droppings isn't. It looks disgusting to us but we put the same rotted droppings on our veg patch to inject natural nutrients into our food, the dog just does it raw off the floor.