Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:27 pm Post subject: Lab of 20 months- still eating POO!!
Hello
I have written about my Mia before eating poo and she did stop it for a while but now she is doing this again, trouble is being a Lab she tends to look chunky/puts on weight if I go back to 2 mugs morning and evening
I have cut back her food to one mug of granules morning and evening and now wonder if she is still hungry making her eat poo again
I find this totally disgusting and stressful to watch and just cannot understand why she still wants to do it, she is actively now searching for it again when out on walks, apart from keeping her on a lead which being so young she needs to let off steam
Sorry to say my indi is 22 months old and she still eats poo. We changed her food, tried things in her water, picked the poos up straight after she had done them and she still does it!!! Will watch this thread eagerly to see what advice is given. Sorry I cant be of any more help but im sure someone with plenty of experience will be along soon! x
How about giving her a lower calorie food so you can give her lots in her bowl but she won't put on weight then maybe she'll be satisfied so she doesn't want to eat poo but not getting to heavy either. I don't know what you feed but Burns foods seem to keep them lean and a lot of other companies do light versions so maybe that's an option?
This pooh eating must be stressful and difficult and I know I would find it very distasteful too.
But I did find the article that Jules posted a link to written by Lizi absolutely fantastic. It explains so much, including that since there is quite likely a strong genetic component, you may not be able to change the dog's desire to eat pooh and so your options have to, I think, be a balance between trying to find a way to mentally come to terms with this behaviour without hating the dog and finding whatever methods you can to prevent the behaviour by picking up pooh and walking in less dog populated areas.
My dog eats horse, sheep and other mammal pooh, but seems uninterested in dog pooh and my OH gets agitated and disgusted when he munches on horse pooh on a country walk. It doesn't bother me nearly so much.
I suspect that the repellent (for humans) element of the pooh eating might be causing a lot of stress and making your dog anxious and more likely to eat pooh, if, as the article says, it is also a behaviour rooted in stress.
As Jules says, you may have to bargain for the fact that your dog's behaviour may carry on and you have to make decisions. If you cannot bear the pooh eating, cannot find any strategies to limit it and are beginning to hate and punish the dog, then I hate to say it, but you may have to consider re-homing.
It sounds from what you have written though that feeding more stopped the pooh eating to some extent. The article says that the pooh eating happens is associated with very hungry dogs (tho' this must include most labs I would think!). If it were me, I would rather my dog got a bit heavy and I could still love it rather than me ruining my relationship with my dog because I was getting cross and revolted all the time. For me a dog is all about the relationship.
I really sympathise with you vintageperson. I hope you'll continue to post.
I cant help with eating other animals poo but i know if shes eating her own or another dog she lives with you can give egg shells for them to eat or Pineapple as this makes the poo smell or taste really bad (we wouldnt notice the smell just the dogs) then this stops it. I had to do this for Harry
Ivan stopped seeking out poo to eat when he was about two, but he'll still have a go if its lying there....he's now three. Milly is 9 and is a persistent chod-chomper
They just love it
____________
--------------------------------
Mooz, Ivan & Milly xxx
My American Bulldog started eating poo as a young puppy in her first home and she was nearly 5 years old when she passed away last year and I'd never managed to stop her from doing it from time to time and trust me when I say I'd tried EVERYTHING
____________ Sarah and Bran
Always watched over with love by our angel, Flora, from Rainbow Bridge
Bran Training
Abbie didnt have a good start to life so i have no idea if there was a reason but she ate her own [mostly]. Nothing stopped her but it was not constant, although i didnt like it i didnt want to set her back to the sad little dog who took well over a year to wag her tail so i largely ignored it. She still did it when she died age 7. I would rather have her now -if it were possible- eating it all the time than not have her.
Try the pineapple but you may just have to accept it. At least its better if its her own rather than other dogs.
Good luck
____________
From Christine, Millie, Cassie and Lexi.
Never forgetting Carly and Abbie
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
