acts like he is starving

[debbiej]

boris acts that way all the time. First I noticed that he was eating a lot of straw. poop was full of it, then he started throwing it up. we put straw in his kennel because the ground was muddy. so then I didn't let him in his kennel, but let him out to potty while watching him. and crated him inside. he and hilda were playing outside with some branches. she plays with them, he tries to eat them. if a scrap of paper is anywhere near, he eats it like food. after throwing up the straw, I gave him boiled rice for a couple of meals. then his poop is solid white. rice I thought, then no....I looked and it is paper. this morning I went into the guest bathroom, and I think somehow, someone didn't close the door, and I believe he ate almost a roll of tp. this isn't being naughty, he acts hungry. I wonder why he does this?

[BeverlyC]

Well Debbie, I have no idea, but when you find out be sure and let me know!! Lothar and Boris sound like twins. Lothar will as well eat anything he can get his mouth on, my house is worse than baby proof. Lately he has become addicted to equal packets, DH leaves them on the counter in the morning for some reason instead of throwing away and Lothar has to eat them. I pretty much am using abstinence with Lothar and the yard, he isn’t allowed in the back yard at all anymore because he eats grass, not just chunks, but the whole square of sod, dirt and all. Sweet gum balls are a favorite as well as pine cones. His all time favorite is paper towels, he listens to see when you are washing your hands and makes a bee line for the paper towels. So annoying. I don’t think it is a hunger with Lothar as much as an obsession.

Good luck getting Boris to stop and if you do, please let me know what you did.

[Judi W]

let us not forget the thong undies

[Judi W]

A behavior that might have been initiated with real cause (hunger caused by worms in a young pup) can become a habit and I suspect that is what is going on. Now you are stuck with being a cop, but do make sure to check for parasites and thyroid.

[Patty1231]

With Rocco, I don't think this has anything to do with hunger - he just likes to eat things. He's like baby who has to stick everything in its mouth. He has gotten much better but will sneak little pieces of paper of the counter/table if left, tp, kleenex, and sticks when he can. Needless to say, I have to make sure these things are as unavailable to him as possible.

[Mochasmom]

Mocha picked up the annoying habit of eating gravel. The story we got when we got her was that she had basically been starved so this has been an ongoing problem. She is by no means a starving dog now. I have noticed that in the years we have had her the habit has cooled a little but in our case supervision has been the key. We have been lucky, though, that the gravel seems to be the only thing she will eat that she shouldn't! I am thankful that she has never eaten any rocks that she couldn't pass or that she isn't a paper product eating girl (since I have read how much fun some of you have with paper eaters!).

[debbiej]

ah yes, the undies that stewed for 2 weeks..that was weird, but the 3 piles of snow white poop was close to as weird. I kept looking at it thinking "what is this stuff?'
he isn't like hilda who grabs stuff and looks at us like "come and get it", but he turns his back and gulps it down. that combined with the food gobbling/guarding makes me think the idea of hunger in his life before us is the reason.
he may have had worms when we got him, but he's on heartguard plus now, and I think that is supposed to keep them free of all kinds of worms. I will ask the vet about the thyroid. another physical thing is his saliva, it has always been thick and sort of sticky. (now that's a tangent)