German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

[trackindog]

Gunner has decided to pick up a new and disgusting habit - POOP EATING! He never did this until we got the cold and snow and then all of a sudden it became edible for some reason to him. ICK!

I first noticed him doing this the week before he got the pancreatitis and it had crossed my mind that this could have had something to do with it. Because of this I won't take him to the dog park anymore because I am just too afraid of him picking something up from this. Now I only have one place that I can take all four dogs for a walk.

He is also doing this in our back yard! With four dogs it is almost impossible to be sure everything is always cleaned up in the back yard. I would have to follow each and every one of them with a shovel each time they decided to go out - which feels like HUNDREDS of times each day! LOL!

Anyway, any suggestions would be most appreciated. I am currently in the process of slowly switching his dog food from Eukaneuba to Flint River Ranch in hopes that he will get whatever he is missing in his diet.

Ann & Gunner

[kitkin]

I was just wondering if you were ever able to break your dog from eating Poop? I've just recently noticed that our dog is eating his poop and looking for suggestions on how to break him.
Thanks.

[cheerio]

Sorry for not answering earlier but I was in...Europe! Jealous are you?...

In any case, eating poop, refered to as Coprophagia, was once believed to be a symptom that the dog somehow lacked of a vitamine or important nutrience. Recent studies have proven that in fact, not only it is not the case, but it is a well needed behavior, which allows a certain enzym to developp and perform proper digestion. It is further hypothesized that the reason why modern pets incresingly suffer from food allergies directly comes from the fact that we stop them from enjoying this "disgusting habit". Coyotes, fox, wolves, all do it and our beloved pets do to. Mind you, these wild animal don't have a 2 legged Mom or Dad to kiss hello right after!...
So the choice is yours, if this behavior, particularly common among pups and again among adults (mostly during the winter months), really bothers you, you have 2 choices: the easy way, and the hard way. The easy way consists in turning your head the other way, and the hard way in finding a way to stop your dog.

Stopping your dog can be achieved by cleaning up immediately after your dog, or by feeding your dog a substence which either will improve digestion, thus removing the instinct the dog has to build up his reserve of digestive enzyms, or a food additive which will make the poop far less palatable (as if "au Naturel" was in fact such a delicatessy!...). Product such as garlic powder has been said to stop dogs from eating their poops. Also meat tenderizers, crushed pinapple, monosodium glutamate... Simply add a couple of shake of the powder or a tablespoon of the ingredient over the dog's food and it should apparently do the tric. You can also purchase from your vet specially made tablets such as "Forbid", made mostly from afalfa. It appears that in most cases it works.
Finally, I would like to suggest that whether you decide to allow your dog to live the life Mother Nature intended for him or not:
1- you should never allow him to eat the poops of unknown dogs or animal;
2- Kitty crunchies should not be allowed either, even if they were specially made by your own cat;
3- Last but not least, try to explain to your dog the the proper order of thing is: First kiss Mom and Dad, then eat poop and never the opposite!

[kitkin]

Thank you Cherrio for the response and hope you had a terrific time in Europ. I’m glad to hear that eating his own poop isn’t going to be hurting him or that he’s lacking any vitamins or important nurturance.

However, since he loves to give kisses I will be going to the pet store to buy Forbid. It is impossible for me to follow him around to pick up all of his poop.

Thanks again,
Kitkin