Hi
I changed my 5 month male GSD pup onto Burns mini bites at 13 weeks as he had a continually upset tummy and giving out fragrant bodily smells with the original food, Beta Puppy. I now feed him Burns Canine Extra for the larger breed pup. He seem very happy on this diet, but does eat his own poo!!
I have read conflicting reports on this food, does any body have any thoughts or advice on this.
Thank you

I wonder if he is still hungary? my boy was always starving on burns, even the canine extra, just a thought :)

There are people on here who will explain the nurtrition side.  I can only tell my experience. My dog would eat other dogs' poos.  I found by accident that changing her to JWB stopped this habit.  Like I said I am not a nutritionist so I guessed that some foods are more easily digestible than others, other people will tell you about the protein/cereal ratio being the problem but whatever, it does seem to be diet although sometimes it might be behavioural.

You could try giving him pineapple everyday, fresh or tinned.  Some say this stops dogs eating poo because the pineapple provides enzymes others will say it does something to the poo that makes it unpallatable (makes me laugh that one).  Pineapple didn't work on my dog so I am guessing it does make a dog's poo unpallatable so might work on your dog.

Sorry long-winded

Andy - Burns IS an excellent food.

Having said that, I do know of other people with puppies (breeders, actually) who used Burns with their pups, and their pups also ate the poo.

Now, I'm not saying the Burns is definitely to blame, but it can't do any harm to try another brand which is equally as good as Burns - James Wellbeloved.

www.wellbeloved.co.uk

I had problems feeding Burns to my 6 month old shepherd pup. That said, I stand by the fact I think Burns is a good food, it just didn't agree with her. Although she wasn't eating her poo, she constantly had bouts of the runs and she was underweight and constantly seemed hungry, despite changing her from the mini-bites to the canine extra and giving her more than the recommeneded allowance after advice from a Burns representative. It all ended up with her becoming ill from all the runs she had had and the vet decided it was the Burns that was the problem (after initially investigating whether she had a virul infection or not). She is now on Rotal Canin Vetinary formulation 'Digest and Osteo Junior' and she is thriving, and has both put on weight and now has two proper poos a day. I know though that it is all horses for courses, as some on here would rate Burns higher than Royal Canine, I guess it just depends on your dog.

You could try giving him pineapple everyday, fresh or tinned. 

It has to be fresh,tinned does not work,i think due to the lack of enzymes.

IMO Burns is far to low in protein and fat hence why alot of dogs lose weight,always act starving,which could be due to the large amount of rice also(makes you feel full,but your'e starving a couple hours later coz your blood sugars dropped way down),and your'e not the first person who's reported poop eating on Burns.

I feed Wafcol salmon and potato which is also on the to low end with protein and fat,which is why i add meat to most every meal,beef,chicken,lamb,heart,i also add liver once a week.On top of this my dogs all get rmb's everyday,lamb breast,chicken wings and necks,the necks have the perfect proportion of cal/phos.

IMHO any dog that is being fed on Burns needs the extra fat and protein,the kind which can only be provided by meat.

Bottom line: Burns=starving dogs,poo eating dogs,scavenging dogs,thin dogs. All of these are side effects to a diet too low in protein and fat and too high in starch(rice) which = instant energy,but quickly felt hunger again,it is also low in protein of poor quality.

We were even supplimenting my girl's Burns with steak mince, chicken etc. and i just wasn't enough. She has done far better on Royal Canin and put on weight very quickly once she was off Burns. I felt terrible for keeping her on the Burns for as long as we did, but the symptoms she was displaying seemed to the vet more consistent with a virus than with a food intolerence, but after a whole series of visits to the vet and keeping a food diary, it was the food the was setting her off. She is much better now, and although I know a lot of people get on fine with Burns, it just didn't suit my girl and caused her all sorts of problems.

Thanks everyone for your replies and advice.
I am worried that my pup is left feeling hungry on Burns, the amount advised to feed seems less them some other makes, he does also still sometimes has the runs on this diet but nothing as bad as it was on Beta Puppy. I think I may give JWB a try and see how we get on.
Gosh this food lark is all very confusing!!

Just keep an eye on the runs your dog is getting. When I contacted Burns about my pup being constantly hungry, they told me to up the amount of food I gave her, but when I did she got the runs far worse and was still underweight and starving. It was only when I changed her food that she improved in leaps and bounds. Having the runs for a long period not only means they are not absorbing the nutrients from their fod sufficiently, but also means your dog can get dehydrated, so really keep and eye on that, and if you do change foods do so gradually to minimise any tummy upsets.

Good luck!

GSD's can be sensitive to some foods and prone to loose bowels.  It can be trial and error to get the right food for them.  :-)

BTW Burns didn't agree with mine either but they weren't eating dog poo when they were on it and I wouldn't say they were always ravenously hungry either.  It was more a lot of eye mucus and a subtle change in condition, especially pads, for the worse and cow platt poos, now and again.

Like any food it will not suit all dogs, and if the dog is being overfed and/or because of the grain content, many dogs will be tempted to recycle their waste! ;)

You may find the addition of digestive enzymes specifically those brands that contain cellulase and bromelain, will assist in breaking down the grains in his gut (dogs were not designed to process grains and thus many can have issues with its digestion).  Many brands OTC from health food shops.

However there are many reasons that dogs eat their own excrement, habit and boredom being another two.

If I fed my dogs a commercial food Burns would be my first choice of dry diets for my GSD and Weim.

HTH

Our large breed pup was also on Burns canine extra which he loved but he was very windy on it & his motions were a bit too soft. I found that he lost weight on it as well & was advised to add rice to his food rather than increasing the Burns again which would make him grow more quickly but not help keep his weight on. This did seem to help.

Never thought about this before.  My puppy is on Burns Mini Bites and had an episode of esting her won poo.  It never occured to me that it could be the food.  She only did it a few times when she was alot younger and she is still on Mini Bites.  She is moving onto Arden Grange Junior in 2 weeks and then back to Burns when she has done all of her growing. :-)

My dog used to continuously eat her poo. we tried everything to stop her , we then changed her to burns and has not eaten poo since - she is the perfect weight and her poos are the firmest they have ever been - so for me burns is very satisfactory but it may not suit all dogs.

Nips has never had runny poos or any sort of digestive disorder with Burns and he's never been tempted to eat his own poo. Much preferring the output of sheep! :rolleyes:

However, he's a rather lean pup who wouldn't hurt to fill out a bit and I'd also like a wider range of puppy varieties than Burns offer so, having tested him out on JWB duck treats I'm going to move him onto JWB when he finishes the supply of Burns.