Hi i rescued a jack russell about 8 wks ago he is about 7-9 mths old i have tried him on every food possible complete wet n dry with (gravy) tinned,frozen,cooked chicken scrambled egg but when we go walkies he eats shits rolls in it and i have even caught him rolling over a dead rat covered in maggots this is causing me major headaches as he sleeps in my bed and the thought of him eating n rolling in shit is making my stomach turn some days he can have up to 3/4 baths i have now had had to keep him on an extenable lead which is a shame as he does come back on recall please help as im thinking of rehoming him

> he sleeps in my bed and the thought of him eating n rolling in shit is making my stomach turn

He is a dog, they lick thier own bums and stick thier noses in the grossest of places (up other dogs bums, in patches of wee they find in the grass, in dead animals etc...), so even if he doesn't eat poop he still has a disgusting mouth ;)

> please help as im thinking of rehoming him

You want to re-home him becase he eats poop and rolls in gross things?? Maybe a dog is not a wise choice as a pet then ;)

Bathing your dog so much may be encouraging him to cover the scent you are putting on him, he is also young and this behaviour may lesson as he matures.
Sorry I haven't anything more constructive to say, but you must expect a dog to act like a dog and I think rolling in rotting animals must be better than them rolling in badger/fox poop - that stinks

Some dogs tend to just be drawn to other animals poo. I had a springer years ago who would roll in and eat all sorts of animal mess. (Fox, horse, badger) I just had to be aware of my surroundings and if i knew we were walking somewhere where it was likely he'd find some then i would put him on his lead. If he got to it before i could then id just hoze him off when we got home. It wasn't an everyday occurance as our walks varied from day to day.
I doubt the eating of the mess has anyhting to do with his lack of appitite. Unless he is eating a very large amount.
Try and establish an eating routine, never leave his food down all day.
Offer it him, if he doesnt eat it within say half an hour remove it, and offer again at next meal time. Do this after exercise as he is more likely to be hungry. Cut out treats while you are tring to establish this routine. I have found tripe to be a winner with fusspots. Havnt met a dog who wont eat it.
Ill also add if you do not like the thought of a poo covered dog sleeping in your bed, then dont let him.

He also rolls in that aswell !!! I own n breed olde tyme bulldogs so i know what dogs lick n smell but my problem is he wont eat if i could get him to eat FOOD he might stop doing this disgusting behaviour !!!

Thanks springador64 i have tried the tripe, and removing the food after 20mins if only he would eat food he might leave the shit alone, i now keep him on an extentable lead to stop this problem but i feel sorry for him as he come's back on recall and needs to run n sniff !! And i have changed my walking mainly pavement now

> but my problem is he wont eat if i could get him to eat FOOD he might stop doing this disgusting behaviour !!!

It's highly unlikely that he is eating poop to satistfy hunger. May last dog ate his dog food but that did not stop him sanffling cat poop at any given opportunity, there was just no way he would pass up the opportunity to relish a cat turd, I just had to be vigilant and keep him away from cat poop. The dogs I had when living with my parents were partial to cow-pats, as we walked through cow-foelds this was a daily occurance and there was no way we could avoid it, they enjoyed sharing a cow pat :)

If you are worried about his fussy eating habbits, first get him checked by a vet to make sure he is fit & healthy with no underlying problems or any dental problems, then stick to a food and don't change it. By changing his food so often you are teaching him that better things come to those that trun thier noses up! Simply offer him his meal, leave it down for 15 mins, then take it up, a healthy dog will not starve itself.
Is he fed on his own, away from your other dogs? If he is fed away from them, then feeding him in sight of the other dogs may bring out a bit of a 'competetive' appetite. If he is fed with the other dogs, feeding him on his own may make him feel more at ease with eating.

He could be very unsettled (8 weeks is not really a long time for a dog to settle into a new home).
Will he eat if you feed him by hand? That may make him feel a little more at ease untill he settles in.

When you say he doesnt eat, what do you mean? He must eat something

How long does he go without eating?

He will take the food from your hand and leave it on the mat, i feed him by himself i even sit with him to try and encourage him, he has been to the vet he is very healthy the vet told me jack russells are very notorius to this problem

the longest he went was 3 days, he then only ate a handful of cooked chicken

If the vet is happy he doesnt have any health problems, then i really do not know what to suggest other than what has already been said.
If he is happy and healthy in himself then it wouldn't seem he is doing himself any harm.#

A food that i would also suggest you could try is 'Field and Trial muesli mix', its not the best food in the world but i have known it to get the fussiest of dogs eating.

http://www.skinnerspetfoods.co.uk/products/Field---Trial-Products/Muesli-Mix/

Good luck

I think its a behaviour thing with jack russells - the eating that is!  Maisie used to be very fussy with her food and I had to hand cook everything - until we got Billy that is - the canine dustbin - now (as if by magic)  she eats because if she doesn't he will get it!  Try Naturediet - my dogs snaffle that down or sardines in vegetable oil pureed with raw veg - Maisie and Billy still lick the plate minutes after it is all finished - its got a lovely strong flavour.  Maisie rolls in fox poo given half the chance and tries to eat cow pats.  We have to race to the litter tray if one of our cats poos before Maisie and Billy get to it.  To our dogs, cat poo is like the rarest of truffles - a delicacy and that's just the way it is!

> When you say he doesnt eat, what do you mean? He must eat something
>
> How long does he go without eating?

Those were my thoughts.  It is easy to over estimate how much he needs, could be as little as four ounces of dry food a day.

If he isn;t as thin as a hat rack hardly eating anything for up to a week will do him no great harm.

> It is easy to over estimate how much he needs, could be as little as four ounces of dry food a day.

Agree with brainless, if you are used to bulldogs and thier big appitites then its easy to think a little JR isn't eating alot, when ifact he is probably eating as much as wants/needs. He's probably just not a greedy dog and justs eats what he needs.
When he starts loosing condition and seems less energetic is when to worry, but from what you have said he seems to be fine on that front.

this might not be ideal,but ive known at least 3 fussy russells who would only eat catfood.

My vet has a saying 'a healthy dog would never let itself starve' - if he has been checked over and is fine then i guess he is just being fussy.  I know dogs that eat all their food and still eat poo so doubt it is to satifty his hunger.  If it bothers you that much you could put a muzzle on him to try and break the habit, but you MUST teach him the 'leave it' command so you can eventually remove it when he understands what it means, you will have to watch him like a hawk tho because if he finds something poo-ie to eat and you dont see it he will probably help himself. 

I would encourage him to sleep on the floor in a bed rather than in your bed if his doggie habits upset you.

As a vet nurse we were always told to tell clients to never feed catfood to dogs.

My sister has 2 JRT'S. The bitch is fussy and won't eat if you watch her. She tends to pick a few pieces of kibble from her breakfast. As for dinner she will eat one small scoop of kibble. Both meals she has a little topper which often get ignored..
When she stays with us i have tried different food, be it the kibble my dogs are on, raw meat, goats milk, fish etc, she still turns her nose up at the food. There is nothing wrong with her, just she has a small appetite.

As for the poo eating, my eldest loved it, eating and rolling in, when he got through to the 18month stage he stopped. Occasionally he will eat horse poo..
My youngest is 10 months and loves eating any poo and rolling in it, i allow him to do that, as i'm hoping he too will grow out of it.

Agree with others that if he is fit and well he must be having all that he requires, he may well prefer more of a BARF type diet though, have you tried him with raw chicken wings or raw minced meat rolled in balls with dry food tucked inside it, he may find foods like this more interesting.

Also re: the rolling as others have said, all very normal some breeds are more likely to roll than others, terriers who like many other breeds have a high prey drive are more likely to roll in all kinds of dead things and faeces, it is all part of a dogs natural instincts and goes back to their hunting days, being preditors their scent is easily picked up it only takes a little breeze to alert prey of them being there so their instincts teach them to roll to cover their own scent, dogs are still dogs no matter how much we domesticate and feed them ourselves :-) they never lose the ability to hunt, nor should they.

The only way you can stop the rolling is to always keep a close eye on him and call him away the moment he begins to sniff at something, so if you put a lot of effort into training him to leave! or off! or better still with a whistle or clicker you can sort the problem 95% of the time, you can't stop him acting on instinct but you can teach him to obey commands, if you catch him soon enough. :-) Or the other solution is to keep him occupied yourself by playing games like retrieve etc to distract him.

But, as annoying as it is, you mustn't blame him for just doing what he is built to do, he's a terrier and terriers are particularly good hunters, it is part of his breed trait.

I have a small terrier cross and he can literally go for days without eating and I have just accepted that this is how he is. He is lean but not skinny and abounds with energy so I no longer worry about his fasting habit. Some days he will eat his two meals, other days possibly one meal or a part of one and then he may not eat again for 3 or 4 days.

I also have a GR who rolls in some things that we humans find disgusting - fox poo is a regular favourite of his and the smell turns my stomach but it is just one of those things that some dogs do. I would prefer him not to but am not always quick enough to holler "get up you dirty dog" and so prevent him applying his favourite cologne liberally to most parts of his body. He has done it so often these past few months that he now automatically walks into the shower when we return from the woods or fields even if he is clean :-)

Thank you for all your reply's i have taken them all on board and will let you know how we get on !!!

> As a vet nurse we were always told to tell clients to never feed catfood to dogs.

I just wondered-why's that?

Cat food has too much protein in it for a dog, all animal foods are made for the requirements of each species, a little will not do any harm though, never met a dog which would not happily gulp down cat food, but it is the wrong measurements of protein for a dog.  So not really to be recommended, no matter what the dog thinks! :-D

Many thanks maiseie the sardines worked mixed with rice fingers crossed he keeps on eating

When you resuced him did he live on the streets for a while,he to me is showing classic scavenging behaviour and eating poo would have been a good source of nutrients to him even though we find it disgusting.  try not giving him normal meals but maybe a marrow bone with meat still on.  thats really good for him, and scraps from your food on a plate?

Dont give in as a rescue he may well have been surviving on his own, or if he had bad owners who never fed him he will have learnt to scavenge for food.  You will have to teach him a new way.

I hope you can work it out.  Let us know how it goes

Many years ago a vet told me that cats cannot store minerals like dogs, so cat food has to have more minerals in it,which is why cat food and poo seem extra tasty to the dogs,a bit like putting pepper and salt on your own dinner makes it tastier.My terriers love to roll in fox poo etc,it is an attempt  to mask their own smell which improves their chances of a successful hunt,The surest way to get a terrier to roll in something horrid is to bath it!

Paddy is doing alot better thanks, i keep him on a lead when we get to a bushey area known to him for his favorite rolling area !! He now sleeps with my bulldogs (at last he is out of my bed ) his diet is still proving to be a nightmare but at least he is eating more now e.g cat food twice a week,sardines,cooked chicken,sausages,fish fingers, super noodles,pasta with a sauce,roast dinners, i have also joined a dog training class with him he is doing so well, thanks for all your messages i will keep you posted