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Post by kfieldin on Dec 22, 2004 20:51:11 GMT 1
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Jules
Wolf Team Member
PAT Dog Owner
Posts: 1,421
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Post by Jules on Dec 22, 2004 20:58:52 GMT 1
Jane - I've just finished the Compass Canine Behaviour course and there was definately some info there on poo eating or 'coprophagia' - I'll dig my notes out later and see what I can find Can I just ask what you're feeding Flora on as I seem to remember it can sometimes be diet related i.e. the dog is trying to make up certain nutrients? Also is it mainly that she eats her own poo or does she eat other dogs poo just as much?
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Post by kfieldin on Dec 22, 2004 21:02:11 GMT 1
Can I just ask what you're feeding Flora on as I seem to remember it can sometimes be diet related i.e. the dog is trying to make up certain nutrients? Also is it mainly that she eats her own poo or does she eat other dogs poo just as much? Thanks, Jules, that would be helpful. She is fed on Nutro puppy. Charlie is on Burns, but Flora's breeder started her on Nutro and I have been lazy about changing it over. She also gets Butcher's puppy meat in with her middle meal. She's not particualrly fussy, to be honest! Her own, other dog's, it doesn't seem to matter Jane x
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Jules
Wolf Team Member
PAT Dog Owner
Posts: 1,421
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Post by Jules on Dec 22, 2004 23:52:04 GMT 1
Right Jane - this is what I've come up with so far First of all it's fairly common so don't panic about it!! Basically the faeces contain some undesigested material which can provide nutrients for the dog One thing you can do is reduce Flora's access to the faeces i.e. make sure you clean both Charlie and Flora's poop up in the garden as soon as they go so she doesn't have the chance to eat it You can also try training Flora to poop on command so that it can be cleared up as soon as she's been Diet wise some dogs that are poop eaters may have vitamin B or K deficiencies and this can be supplemented under your vets direction. A higher fibre diet is likely to reduce any hunger Flora has and stop her eating the poo too!! And feeding a dry only diet is likely to make Flora's poo less appealing to her - so it might be worth cutting out the Butchers You can add things to Flora's diet e.g. pineapple to make her poop less palatable But if the real thing is that she's eating other dogs poop too then the only thing I've come up with is looking at some sound aversion techniques (which you'd need to find out more about). The basic idea being that you have Flora on flexi and if she walks past the poop praise her and if she tries to eat it use training discs or a form of noise to startle her and if the timing is right she should begin to learn 'everytime I try and eat poo that horrible noise starts up' Hope that's some help
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Post by LurcherGirl on Dec 23, 2004 0:27:40 GMT 1
I think Jules has summed up nicely the measures that can be taken.
No-one is really sure why dogs do it. So all we can do is try various things (change diet, clean up swiftly, don't punish as they will only eat it quicker, add stuff to the food as a deterrent - I believe there is even stuff that can be bought in pet shops for this) and see if anything that helps.
If she eats her own poops, then you could teach her to come in very quickly after toiletting by calling her and giving her a treat every time. This would give you time to clear up after her.
Equally you could teach her formally the NO/LEAVE command to then apply in these situations.
It is thought that if a puppy was housetrained by punishing it when it pooped indoors or in the wrong place outdoors, could be a contributory factor as the dog will try to get rid of the evidence... fast...
Sorry that we can't give you any definite cures, but I hope we were able to give some useful pointers.
Vera
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Post by kfieldin on Dec 24, 2004 9:25:22 GMT 1
Thats been a big help, Jules and Vera, so thank you. I shall keep going with what I'm doing and try out some of the new ideas too. I will up the fibre and drop the meat. I will also talk to the local petsop owner and see if he has anything that can be put in the food.
In the last two months we have been in a household of four dogs, of which Flora is the youngest, cheekiest and smallest. Having watched her behaviour closely in the last two or three days I can see that it's not so much her own that she eats but the black lab's, who is the biggest, oldest and is regarded as the leader of the pack. Do you think that it might be either challenging or subservient behaviour?
Jane x
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Jules
Wolf Team Member
PAT Dog Owner
Posts: 1,421
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Post by Jules on Dec 24, 2004 10:49:35 GMT 1
Jane - not quite sure why she's eating particularly the black labs I don't *think* it would be to do with a ranking thing but is he perhaps eating something different to the others - apparently if the dog eats tinned meat rather than a dry diet it makes the stools more palatable - eeeuuuchh
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