Eating Feces

[redfearne]

I have an 8 month old rottie female, who loves to eat doody.. for the cat box, or out where someone has not "curbed" their dog. What makes a dog eat that? I feed her twice a day, and plenty of water. Is it a vitamin deficiency? I know a few people who would like to have this answered!! Thanks!!

[CarolineS]

There are lots of different theories on this; it is not an uncommon occurrence in dogs. It's been discussed quite a bit on this board. If you do a search under "eating poop", most of these threads should show up. The search function will search all the forums for you. It is located in the top right-hand corner, under the "Post A New Topic" button.

[rottie_mama]

I believe all dogs think that cat droppings are deposited for their enjoyment, and I have yet to figure out why. My mother's shih tzu cross takes great delight in 'cleaning' the cat box. Well, one less chore for my sister. Such a helpful little creature. http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/biggrin.gif

I have heard of some crystal thingies to sprinkle over your dogs food to make its own excrement taste bad (???), but I don't know how to curb her eating other animal's droppings. Try teaching her 'drop it' and use that command when you see her attempting to wolf down dog/cat doo.

Don't you hate it when she gives you a big ole kiss, and then you remember her bad habit. :P


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Rachel aka rottie_mama
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/7900

[anke]

My dog also considers cat poo a delicacy.
It has been suggested to me that the dog is seeking out certain 'good' bacteria, however I'm not certain to the validity of this claim. Try adding a desert spoon of natural yoghurt in her food, this has helped us.

[rottie_mama]

Hey redfearne,

I found a page with some info on stool eating. www.uwsp.edu/acad/psych/dog/lib-prob.htm#copr Hope this helps!



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Rachel aka rottie_mama
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/7900