Hello everyone
A disgusting subject to open one's first post in, but here goes:

Does anyone have experience of/advice about poo-eating?
I feed a mixture of Naturediet & Skinner's maintenance, so am convinced that he's getting all the necessary nutrients, but the little beggar just LOVES to mink up bits of poo - sheep's for preference, cow's for pudd., ... & of course his own if he can get away with it. (mmm, kisses! lovely!!)
Is he missing something vital? e.g. should I get raw meat for him - or is he just doing it 'cos he likes it?
Most importantly - is it harmful? & what can I do to prevent it?

I have had 1 bitch that ate poo. She used to eat it as it was coming out of the other bitch
She did it for ages & in the end I had to let them toilet seperately & clear up as soon as any was done.

She stopped doing it herself without any drugs etc. I had tried Deter on another dog of mine & ikt made him worse! Carrots are supposed to stop them if you throw some in the garden.....mine love carrots though:rolleyes:

Eating the poo of herbivores is entirely normal for dogs - although nauseating for us!

Hi,

Jack my GSD does this, if he gets half the chance, and only his own.:rolleyes: I tried pineapple chunks/ juice in with his food, i was told that this would stop him, made him WORSE.  So now when he goes out to the loo, come rain or shine i'm not far behind him.  I'm HOPING as he gets older(only 13 months) he will grow out of it

I sympathise with you.  I had a GSD years ago that did it for ages whilst she grew from puppy to adult.  Now 2 of my Chihuahuas dig up the cat poo if they can smell it in the garden and snack on that.  I feed them a complete dry food (Arden Grange) so I took am sure they are getting all the right nutrition.  I threw carrots in the garden but they ate them too! LOL :rolleyes:

I'm struggling with this too :-(

My elderly (almost 11yrs) GSD (spayed) bitch does this and then suffers for days with an upset stomach.  She's then put on a light diet of chicken and rice but is then hungrier than ever and we have to be twice as vigilant!

Don't ya just love 'em?! :rolleyes:

When my older puppy was fed on Burns he did this constantly,I seemed to spend all my time looking through the kitchen window waiting for him to toilet ,and try and get to it before him,I then changed him over to raw and he has not done it since,but he will still eat horse poo if he can get to it

Thank you everyone for your responses, sounds like I shouldn't worry about his herbivore habit then ... will continue ton-of-bricks attitude to eating his own tho'!
Kind regards all

I also had dogs eating poo including their own when fed on Burns. Changed to a raw diet and it stopped completely.

Personally I think becuase dry food contains a lot of grains & cereals which dogs cannot digest fully, they will eat it a second time round to try to get more nutrition from it, also on Burns they seemed to be starving all the time so maybe were eating it out of hunger.

With the raw diet their poos are so small that its obvious to me that they were not fully digesting the dry food, so were quite probably lacking in certain nutrients.

Have also noticed recently that when let into a field that sheep have been in they are pretty disinterested in the sheeps poo, whereas before going raw they would hardly move as they were busy hoovering up as much sheep poo as they could manage!!

I would becareful about letting your dog eat other animals poo - although I know its easier said than done ;) . I dont know about sheep and other animals, but I know that if a horse has recently been wormed and a dog eats its poo then it can cause them to get ill and worse case, it can be fatal.

I must admit I used to have problems with one of my dogs eating her own poop - its a horrid habbit. We tried everything from tablets to feeding her pineapple. However, I must admit when we switched her on the BARF she stopped.

Mmm... never had the problem that one or two posters report on Burns, and we live out in the country with plenty of opportunity for 'free food' in the fields!
There's a little about the problem on http://www.johnburns.co.uk/Coprophagia.htm
Don't know if it's any help. There seems to be a fair bit of confusion about what causes it, but I don't think it's hunger.

Personally i would take anything Burns says with a pinch of salt.The articles and advice on his site are tailored to suit the problems alot of dogs have on his food :rolleyes: It wouldnt surprise me one bit if a dog fed only on that food would consume it's own poop and have many other major problems,the protein and fat etc content are so ridiculously low,i honestly dont know how it would sufficiently sustain a dog who only got fed this food

Stinkermink-The first thing that comes to mind when i read of this problem is DIET,what you're feeding him may look good to you and may be suiting in other ways,but it may not be providing your individual dog with the correct amounts of vitamins,minerals,protein and fat he needs.Try adding in some real fresh food and cut back on the dry food to compensate,also supplement with VitB complex and digestive enzymes,naturediet makes one called naturezyme.There are no rules stating that dogs have to be fed the same food day in day out.My dogs get a large variety of different foods,and i change dry foods after each bag.So the longest they on the same kibble is around 3-4 weeks,they get fresh food additions in every meal,plus rmb's daily.This regime should work for any healthy dog.

>the protein and fat etc content are so ridiculously low

Still too high for my dog.

>Still too high for my dog.<

Yes,well i think it best i reserve my judgement on your's and your dogs problems,other than to say i would be seeking out a holistic vet who specialises in nutrition.I think you'll be pleasantly surprised :)

I agree; it's terribly important to take the advice of qualified professionals for something as important as this, and ignore random unqualified strangers who are untraceable if something goes wrong because their 'advice' is a load of toot.

>and ignore random unqualified strangers who are untraceable if something goes wrong because their 'advice' is a load of toot.<

Agreed :) Although i dont take every word my vet says as gospel either ;) .There are plenty of average pet owners who's passion is nutrition(me for example) who learn and read as much as they possibly can from various sources over the course of many,many,many years and know the extreme importance of a good diet,there are also those who could teach plenty about this subject to their own vets.Any vet who recommends above all others certain grocery store foods,science plan et al obviously doesnt know a great deal about canine nutrition,because if he did he would know the ingredients contained in these foods are not whats considered optimal..... I realise the prescription diets do have their place if homecooked or raw is not an option,but the others are just plain yuck!

When it comes to digestive/food issues i think ones best bet is to seek out a vet qualified in this very important subject,and glean as much info from the net from articles and also from other experienced pet owners,(i know i've learnt alot from members of the various dog forums i belong to),books etc as we can.
I have seen so many dogs crash because of their narrow/close minded ignorant owners who later wished they had listened to more of other peoples experiences,advice and opinions other than their vet,their friend or whoever :(

With reference to the original post.  Many years ago I had a Golden that ate poo on a regular basis.  I was fairly new to dog ownership so therefore asked my Vet why she was doing this as I was very concerned.  Vets answer was 'I don't know but if you ever find out will you let me know as one of my dogs eats poo as well'.  Now I am not concerned but I just stop them if I see them going to do it.

The difference between enthusiatic amateurs who have a passion for nutrition and veterinary surgeons who have studied the subject in conjuction with their anatomy and physiology is that the latter have actually been examined on the subject without which you can never have any real confidence that they know their tongue from their ear ;)

>because if he did he would know the ingredients contained in these foods are not whats considered optimal.....

Considered by who?  Someone qualified to formulate them of an enthusiast amateur never examined on the subject?

It's all too easy to fall into the trap of believing that, just because something's on the internet (or even in a book), that's it's true, when in fact anyone can put up a webpage full of convincing-sounding nonsense. For most things it doesn't matter, but with others it can be a matter of life or death. As regards nutrition it's very important to be able to trace the writer and their qualifications; ie, their scientific background, and how they can back up what they say. Without that the information they give should be considered unreliable.

That is why I would always prefer to discuss these things with a vet.  Even if they don't know something at least you know they have had a level of education that is conducive with evaluating and understanding evidence based research rather that believing any old claptrap just because it is being peddled round the same old single interest web sites.  Their opinion will be of great value even if you actually go about sourcing the information yourself, that is after all what we train and pay professional for :)

Absolutely. At my vet's suggestion, for advice on my dog's diet I'm looking at information from the Minnesota Urolith Centre; they're the world experts, and even get human uroliths sent to them for analysis. What they say can't be bettered! A vet will be able to direct a client to the genuine experts with verifiable information.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

I can't help being amazed at how little I can find on the internet.  Yes, there is a vast amount of information but when it comes down to academic literature it just isn't there.  Academics build their reputations on how many times a piece of their  work is cited in other academics' work.  Academics are also financially rewarded for publishing so all told it is not in their interest to plonk their hard work on the internet for free where every Tom Dick and Harry can access it and use it.  Unless you have "inside" information i.e. JG's vet's recommendation it is difficult to know  how valuable information that you find is.

>As regards nutrition it's very important to be able to trace the writer and their qualifications; ie, their scientific background, and how they can back up what they say. Without that the information they give should be considered unreliable.<

So pretty much all of the info on this website and others like it should be "considered unreliable" because i cant trace every posters scientific background :rolleyes: This should go for behavioural advice and everything else then shouldnt it....

I believe many of the regular posters in the behaviour forum do have qualifications in that field besides which many posts direct the enquirers to seek help from qualified practictioners.  Unfortunately that doesn't happen as much in the food forum :)

>So pretty much all of the info on this website and others like it should be "considered unreliable" because i cant trace every posters scientific background  This should go for behavioural advice and everything else then shouldnt it....

You've got it in one. :) This isn't an academic veterinary forum full of qualified professionals - it's a glorified chat room. You wouldn't take the medical advice told to you by a stranger at a bus stop as being entirely safe, would you? It's just the same here. Internet publication doesn't guarantee veracity, no matter how many times it's posted!