Sooleng Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 We adopted a golden retriever a couple of weeks ago. He's now twelve weeks old. As the kitchen is the only tiled floor with reasonably big enough area for him, there's where he sleeps nightly and when we are at work or out at shops. While I'm home from work I give him 95% of my attention. We play outdoor as soon as I get home and indoor during the evening. We started the toilet training with backyard trips - hour on the hour, encouraging him by saying the word "toilet"; whenever he did a pee or poo, he gets rewarded. Toilet training is on going well and only a few misses but mostly happy success. All was going well until the rain started. He gets distracted by the rain fall, water going down the down pipe, puddles, you name it. Although he'd eventually did he pee or poo but he also started doing them inside on those days (mostly pees and only a couple of poos - thank goodness we are prepared with fantastic carpet spray). I end up spending all my spare time mopping up after him. Yesterday he did a sneaky poo on my carpet just as I was getting ready to go outside with him (I was pouring a cup of tea and would have only taken my eyes off him for 1 min). Well I didn't realised it at first, so we spent about half an hour outside (in the rain) walking around and waiting for him to do his business. On returning inside, I smelt the offence............. and he's eaten most of his own poo........ I was totally HORRIFIED !!!!! I would like to know why and how to teach him not to........... I'm also worry if this isn't healthy for him because we gave him the all-wormer yesterday morning (and 12 wks C5 vaccination on Friday) Appreciate any advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Cause he can My boy is a poo eater, as are a lot of the dogs i work with - more so in winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sooleng Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 Cause he can My boy is a poo eater, as are a lot of the dogs i work with - more so in winter. Are you saying this is normal and there's nothing I could do to stop it?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 From what i have seen, it can be pretty normal Im sure others will come along later and give you some ideas to stop it I think they eat it more in winter cause it keeps their tummys warm :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 what is your puppies diet. We saw coprophagic puppies at the clinic because of lack of nutrition or they were not digesting their food properly hence it was tasty. oh if you have a cat they consider kitty cat krunchies (litter covered kitty poo) a delicacy change the diet to a better food, feed more raw food (like chicken necks, wings, lamb flaps etc) and the poo will be so well digested there will be nothing worth eating. Also sometimes it has come from the fact the puppy has been hungry and had nothing to eat except poo (sometimes more common in rescues/neglect cases) pick up the poo as soon as you see it, fix the diet to more raw food and a good dry food like Royal Canin, Eagle Pack etc and you should see it disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucylotto Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 We adopted a golden retriever a couple of weeks ago. He's now twelve weeks old. As the kitchen is the only tiled floor with reasonably big enough area for him, there's where he sleeps nightly and when we are at work or out at shops.While I'm home from work I give him 95% of my attention. We play outdoor as soon as I get home and indoor during the evening. We started the toilet training with backyard trips - hour on the hour, encouraging him by saying the word "toilet"; whenever he did a pee or poo, he gets rewarded. Toilet training is on going well and only a few misses but mostly happy success. All was going well until the rain started. He gets distracted by the rain fall, water going down the down pipe, puddles, you name it. Although he'd eventually did he pee or poo but he also started doing them inside on those days (mostly pees and only a couple of poos - thank goodness we are prepared with fantastic carpet spray). I end up spending all my spare time mopping up after him. Yesterday he did a sneaky poo on my carpet just as I was getting ready to go outside with him (I was pouring a cup of tea and would have only taken my eyes off him for 1 min). Well I didn't realised it at first, so we spent about half an hour outside (in the rain) walking around and waiting for him to do his business. On returning inside, I smelt the offence............. and he's eaten most of his own poo........ I was totally HORRIFIED !!!!! I would like to know why and how to teach him not to........... I'm also worry if this isn't healthy for him because we gave him the all-wormer yesterday morning (and 12 wks C5 vaccination on Friday) Appreciate any advice yep my boy LOVES poo. especially possum poo, a real delicacy He also likes deer poo and sometimes his or his friends altho not as likely to eat this type but picks it up and brings it to me as a present! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretel Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 My 8 month old pup is on a good diet (Eagle Pack Holistic) and raw necks etc but she still does it What bugs me more though is she will bring some in from outside and sometimes eat it and leave bits everywhere Anyone got any ideas on that one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Gretel lower the dry food and increase the things like chicken wings and necks. Her poo will become chalkier (when my dogs get a heap of carcasses the poo is white and crumbly) and she wont want it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raelene Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Adding some pineapple juice to the food, OR adding supplement for gut health called "Thrive D" (and only specifically Thrive D) will make the poo taste yukky and stop the habit, but won't hurt the dog. Should also help stop the dog bringing it inside when it doesn't taste so yummy anymore. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretel Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Thanks I shall try the Thrive D. I tried pineapple and couldn't decide if she had stopped it or not at the time A friend feeds her dogs BARF and one still eats poo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordogs Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I also have poo eaters, their own, wombat, rabbit, duck or kangaroo, yes they eat lots of raw, vegies, chicken necks, backs,wings and lamb flaps. As soon as I see them poo I go to pick it up but they often grab a bit before I can get to it. So what do you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trifecta Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Coprophagia is also a learned behaviour..... usually from Mum. In this case the habit is very hard to break & nothing, including Thrive D or pineapples, juiced or crushed, will stop it. Incidentally, the idea of adding pineapple is not to give the faeces a horrible taste but to add potassium to the diet, as it is widely held coprophagic dogs are lacking in this element. If the dog is failing to do well on its diet & is always hungry, there may be an enzymatic insufficiency. This can be tested by your vet (used to be done quickly using X-ray film! ). In this case Thrive D may help as part of the treatment plan as it helps the dog get more nutrition from its food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBen Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Maybe he was trying to hide it from you by eating it??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sooleng Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 Maybe he was trying to hide it from you by eating it??? Thanks everyone, you input has given me some comfort in the matter as it is common practice among dogs. The thought of it still makes me cringe though :p He is on 1 cup of "advance" puppy complete balanced diet (dry food) with 2 tablespoons of Optimum puppy can food (mixed together) three meals a day. He also gets plenty of dried "chicken liver" as treats when he responses well to training throughout the day. On top of that he gets one piece of Science Diet treat with real chicken in the evening. Plus - when my daughter goes to work and before I get home, he gets pork hide twist everyday to chew on while he's by himself during those couple of hours. He also gets smoked bone if he's behaved outstandingly (not everyday of course ). As you can see he can't be eating his poo because he's hungry :D Besides the breeder said he's been on those dog food since he was weaned from his mum. She told me not to change his diet until he's a bit older as it might cause diarrhea. If I really need to, I have to do it slowly over a period of two weeks. By the way, isn't the pineapple a bit too acidic for puppy tummy?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Baggins Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 My 8 month old pup is on a good diet (Eagle Pack Holistic) and raw necks etc but she still does it :D What bugs me more though is she will bring some in from outside and sometimes eat it and leave bits everywhere Anyone got any ideas on that one? Zarah does that also Gretel and she will vommit all up. :D :p ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazzapug Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Give him charcoal to chomp on and he will stop eating his poo. We have an open fire place and the pugs quite often reach in and grab a bit of charcoal to chew...not when its going of course. So it is something they will eat if they have access to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretel Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 <Zarah does that also Gretel and she will vommit all up.> OMG BB that wins the gross prize!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 3 cups of advanced puppy is quite a bit for a 12 week old. like I said up the amount of raw food until you see dry poo that is not brown/yellow. He wont be as hungry either. You wont automatically give a puppy diarrhea if you do things slowly, I would start adding a neck a day and go up from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moggy Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Sophie used to eat her poo and we tried everything, but nothing worked. As she got older, she is 16 months now, she slowly stopped the habit. We tried all sorts of expensive dry food and pineapple and Thrive D to no avail. But sometimes she brings a bit up and puts it on the back door mat. We think she is showing us we missed picking it up as my husband goes out every morning and cleans it up. Now I just feed her a raw diet. Beef mince, chopped chicken necks, doggy sausage and eggs all mixed together and freeze it in batches. She loves it and is very healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rain Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Gretel lower the dry food and increase the things like chicken wings and necks. Her poo will become chalkier (when my dogs get a heap of carcasses the poo is white and crumbly) and she wont want it at all. Nekhbet i have followed your advice with my poo eating dog and it works! Cheers! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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