One year old eating poo

[Nicola Reilly]

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anyone any idea why my one year old shih tzu has started eating other dogs poo?

 

[JudyN]

Sometimes they just like the taste... particularly if the other dogs have been fed on cheaper food with lots of filler and even sweeteners.

But it's also suggested there could be something lacking in your dog's diet - what do you feed her? It might also be boredom, so if you could distract her and find something more interesting for her to do that might help.

Anecdotally, my dog used to do this but stopped when I changed him to a raw diet. There may be a link there, or it might have been coincidence. Certainly plenty of raw-fed dogs still eat dog poo.

 

[Nicola Reilly]

He is fed on tails.com mix of wet food and dry food. He has just started this I was just wondering if it can cause him any damage and it’s not the nicest thing to see either .

Sometimes they just like the taste... particularly if the other dogs have been fed on cheaper food with lots of filler and even sweeteners.

But it's also suggested there could be something lacking in your dog's diet - what do you feed her? It might also be boredom, so if you could distract her and find something more interesting for her to do that might help.

Anecdotally, my dog used to do this but stopped when I changed him to a raw diet. There may be a link there, or it might have been coincidence. Certainly plenty of raw-fed dogs still eat dog poo.

 

[JudyN]

Tails isn't the best food - to save time, I'm shamelessly copying @JoanneF 's words from another thread:

Tails.com are good for delivery but it's not as great a food as the marketing would have you believe - if you ask for specific things like for example both poultry free and low protein (as an example, I forget the details) they can't actually provide these. A friend uses it, it does get delivered on time but it seems expensive for what it is and her dog's poos are somewhat spectacular.

I normally refer people to www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk for independent ratings of dog food. They score foods from 0 to 5, and it's a useful source of information. Many suppliers will tell you who does home delivery, I use Gentle (4.8 out of 5) and get it delivered free. You may not find a rating for Tails as it has several mixes.

There's a chance that switching him to a better food might make a difference, but it's by no means guaranteed. Dogs seem to vary in how resilient their stomachs are - for some, eating something icky can cause problems/illness, but others seem absolutely fine. Remember, they do lick their own bums!

You sometimes see suggestions that you should muzzle your dog to stop this - I wouldn't bother. In my experience, it doesn't stop them and you end up with a horrible filty muzzle!

 

[Nicola Reilly]

I don’t really want to change his food again it took a while for him to settle on this one as we tried a few and he wouldn’t eat or eat for a couple of days and not bother but he seems to like tails

Tails isn't the best food - to save time, I'm shamelessly copying @JoanneF 's words from another thread:



There's a chance that switching him to a better food might make a difference, but it's by no means guaranteed. Dogs seem to vary in how resilient their stomachs are - for some, eating something icky can cause problems/illness, but others seem absolutely fine. Remember, they do lick their own bums!

You sometimes see suggestions that you should muzzle your dog to stop this - I wouldn't bother. In my experience, it doesn't stop them and you end up with a horrible filty muzzle!

 

[JoanneF]

My understanding is that there are three reasons, two of them linked. One, like @JudyN says, it provokes a reaction. Two - again like Judy said, there is something the other dog has been fed that makes the poo appealing either for taste or because some good nutritional value remains in it. Three, linked to two, is that your dog is lacking something in his diet that he thinks the poo might meet.

You could try feeding a dessert spoonful of natural, LIVE yoghurt daily. A friend swears by this as it balances the gut flora and aids digestion. Raw green tripe is also rich in probiotic enzymes and might help but yoghurt is easier!

 

[JudyN]

I don’t really want to change his food again it took a while for him to settle on this one as we tried a few and he wouldn’t eat or eat for a couple of days and not bother but he seems to like tails

Yep, that makes perfect sense - sometimes it's a real struggle to find a food that suits them.