puppy eating poo
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Discussion

robsav

Original Poster:

155 posts

183 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
Hey all,

got a 4.5mth old Weimaraner and having a poo eating problem.

Her toilet training went brilliantly and she hasn't gone to the loo in the house in three weeks BUT we're having an issue with her eating her own st!
We live in a ground floor flat in London with a decent size private garden - 9 times out of 10 we take her to the garden on lead and she shows no sign of wanting to eat her own poo. The problem arises when she is off lead on her little run abouts in the park, she almost sucks it out of her bum.
The obvious answer is not to let her off lead but I have always instilled this early in previous pups and do not want to keep her on lead every walk. We never take our eyes off her but it happens so fast, it's like she thinks her arse is an ice cream machine!
Is there anything we could do to help? we have been praising her hugely with 'touch' and treats when she doesn't do it and when she does do it she has that look of 'I know I am annoying, I won't even ask for a treat'.

Is it something she will simply grow out of? or should we not let her off lead again until she shows absolutely no signs of interest in eating her own produce?

Cheers,
Rob

robsav

Original Poster:

155 posts

183 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
just to add, she shows absolutely no interest in other dog's poo o in hers if it has been on the ground longer than 5mins.
We have spoken to the vet about her weight/feeding/nutrition and he has said we are doing everything right in that respect.

Jasandjules

71,955 posts

252 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
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What is she being fed?

eybic

9,212 posts

197 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
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I saw the dog whisperer helping someone with their dog that did the same. He said it was due to a nutritional imbalance ie they are trying to get some minerals/vitamins by eating it. How true this is I don't know but he changed the dog's diet and it stopped eating it's poo.

robsav

Original Poster:

155 posts

183 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
hey J&J,

she is fed three times a day on Wainwrights turkey&rice wet food. On advice of breeder we have upped her to giant breed puppy portions as she was slow to put on weight.
On top of that she gets training treats (dry Wainwright biscuits and freshly cooked meat) and plenty of fresh water when she wants it.

eybic

9,212 posts

197 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
Just had a quick google and it seems nutritional imbalance is only one cause. Adding pineapple to their food seems to be a way of stopping them eating their poo as apparently it tastes bad when eaten for the second time (not that I imagine it tastes nice without the pineapple)

Jasandjules

71,955 posts

252 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
Have you at all considered feeding her a raw diet? Their poo is so much smaller as they hardly waste much at all, hopefully that might also stop her wanting to eat it......

robsav

Original Poster:

155 posts

183 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
that's the thing - although it can stink every so often (generally doesn't smell too bad) I have been advised that her digestive system wasn't mature enough yet and to her it just smells like her food...not a problem I have had before! apart from the 'oh that's a bit grim' factor I can't help but think it's just not very good for her!
average it out and I reckon she has about 3 extra meals a week of pure st...

robsav

Original Poster:

155 posts

183 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
Have you at all considered feeding her a raw diet? Their poo is so much smaller as they hardly waste much at all, hopefully that might also stop her wanting to eat it......
I haven't mate, no - not for any particular reason, just not something I have done before. I am not against the idea at all and will look into it now, cheers for the heads up.

Who me ?

7,455 posts

235 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
I posted a Q on the re-emergence of some version of Parvo. Still waiting to see any results, but one thing that was mentioned not to dog eat POO, especially that of others. And it seems that younger dogs are more prone to this ( suspected new breed of Parvo) .
Not trying to start a panic, just repeating advice I seen given .

Anyway , on topic of pineapple - safe for dogs - I often get a whole one and eat a slice at a time. Toby goes mad on the smell. Apart from the sugar content( and he's a bit too much tubby now, and on a diet) ,ant reason he can't have a titbit as a treat?

robsav

Original Poster:

155 posts

183 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
no panic caused ha - it has been in my head as well and have mentioned it to the vet. He dismissed it after health check but it's always a concern. I will mention it again this week (vet is a friend of a friend who I trust 100%) as am going for a weekly weigh in at the minute.
Pineapple sounds like an interesting idea, will give it a go - she goes absolutely mental when we have fruit ourselves so I can't see any objection!

Jasandjules

71,955 posts

252 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
robsav said:
I haven't mate, no - not for any particular reason, just not something I have done before. I am not against the idea at all and will look into it now, cheers for the heads up.
I can give you links to a website or two if it helps?

I don't know about you but seeing a dog do that turns my stomach - when I go to view puppies and the mother is cleaning the place up................ I struggle to keep down my lunch....... Plus one of our dogs used to eat the cat poo but since going raw she doesn't seem interested in it.

robsav

Original Poster:

155 posts

183 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
I can give you links to a website or two if it helps?

I don't know about you but seeing a dog do that turns my stomach - when I go to view puppies and the mother is cleaning the place up................ I struggle to keep down my lunch....... Plus one of our dogs used to eat the cat poo but since going raw she doesn't seem interested in it.
that would be awesome thank you. she shows no interest in the cat's poo or other dog poo, or in her own if it has been out of her body more than a few minutes.
when we picked her up one of her siblings had shat on her head so it's a bit of an in joke now...

Who me ?

7,455 posts

235 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
robsav said:
no panic caused ha - it has been in my head as well and have mentioned it to the vet. He dismissed it after health check but it's always a concern. I will mention it again this week (vet is a friend of a friend who I trust 100%) as am going for a weekly weigh in at the minute.
Pineapple sounds like an interesting idea, will give it a go - she goes absolutely mental when we have fruit ourselves so I can't see any objection!
I mentioned caution on the fruit front,as some fruits cause problems. Grapes/raisins ,anything of that family can cause organ problems. Bex has mentioned it . I've asked time & time again if there's a list of fruit safe for a dog to eat. So far ,the Pro's have no list. Apple- seems safe,but it's got a high sugar content. So not wise to give to a dog that's a bit close to overweight. Mine loves apple pie, as he used to clean up our GK's throw outs.Did him no harm, apart from a out of size waistline. Similarly Apple & Bramble pie- GS loves to feed him anything like this . So GS is Toby's best mate & vice versa, well they came into house together. We got Toby at 8 yrs old, a fortnight after mark was born. Now, they're a pair. Problem is that mark feeds Toby things TOBY shouldn't have . But it's nice to see a toddler & his dog together .

Jasandjules

71,955 posts

252 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
http://www.naturalrearing.com/coda/l_introduction....

http://www.lepus-sighthounds.com/natural-rearing.h...

There are also a couple of books if you are interested once you've looked at the above. I will say though take your time to read and be happy with the raw diet.

AdiT

1,025 posts

180 months

Wednesday 16th May 2012
quotequote all
Sounds like a habit thing. Walking just on lead for a couple of weeks might break the habit.

Mine never eat his own crap but for the first 6-9 months he'd eat any other kind if he could given 1/2 a chance; Cat, cow, horse, sheep, rabbit, fox, and his absolute fav'... goose st.

As to the not putting on weight... How much is she eating? Mine eat at least twice what was recommended for his weight when a pup. Another Weim' I know lost weight (or put on none) and ended up teribly thin on the recommended amount. Vet couldn't understand the failure to put on weight. Gave it a special diet; No result. The owners decided to let the dog go to someone else in the end and it (I beleive) is now healthy. I thimk there's a huge difference in calories burnt between pups walked on and off the lead.

C3BER

4,714 posts

246 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
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It's a habit in young dogs going back to the year dot. Many animals do it to hide their own trace from predators. I cured my springer by lifting him away from his poo before he could turn and eat it. My dogs still like the odd pheasant crap which they eat like icecream frown .

robsav

Original Poster:

155 posts

183 months

Sunday 20th May 2012
quotequote all
cheers for the replies all. we were away for the weekend and pup was with my MIL. she tried the pineapple trick and is adamant it has worked, I'm going to keep it up for a couple of days and see if that's the case!
we have upped her feed again (over the last week or so) and she is looking great so fingers crossed it isn't going to be a lasting problem.

pikeyboy

2,349 posts

237 months

Sunday 20th May 2012
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Glad that you have a soloution.

I let my GSP's/ GWP have as much food as they wanted at the puppy stage and fed them 4 times a day. They can tend to grow in fits and starts though making them look lean. Plus some dogs just are leaner, I have both a very stocky and very slender GSP's almost look like two different breeds. Both are in brilliant conditionm
When they get to 12 months and go onto adult food I feed them twice a day.


cal216610

7,839 posts

193 months

Monday 21st May 2012
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We had the same issue with ours, http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...
The pineapple did work but she went back to eating it after a few weeks off, we then changed her food to the large kibble as were told that gulping her food down made her hungry later and this has actually worked.