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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 02:26 am
My parents' completely spoiled, utterly adorable, spunky black lab cross engages in this disgusting behaviour. She's almost 3 now, but around the age of 2, we thought she had "outgrown" it because she hadn't consumed any doggie doo all summer. Then comes winter and she seems to enjoy "poopsicles" as the vet calls it.
I've done a lot of internet searches, but so far I haven't seen any good remedies. Has anyone else encountered and solved this behaviour?
Also, and I have NO idea why, she seems to enjoy rolling in fresh doggie doo. I've had the displeasure of having to scrub her down twice last summer. Any suggestions on this one too? In the winter it wasn't really an issue with the snow and all. But most of the snow is gone and ya hafta watch her like a hawk during the warmer seasons.
All of these makes me wanna smack those people who can't pick up after their dogs. They bring 'em to the park to do their business so they won't have any doggie doo in their own yard. Just burns my cookies it does!
Rolling, eh? That's nasty, just on the basis of the cleaning implications. We have a dog (part lab, naturally) who liked to eat her crap -- just hers, no one elses. Restricted access is the only thing that keeps her off it altogether, though the behavior curtailed a lot as she grew up.
Our vet told us to try putting MSG in her food -- that it was metabolized in such a way that it would make the poop unappealing, but we never tried it. Seems like a lot of sodium to pump into a dog when we could just be more prompt about picking up around the yard.
(When she was only a few months old, she'd occasionally get excited about new people in the house, and when we had company she'd take a dump in the kitchen and bring the person a turd as a sort of present. It was good for figuring out who your real friends were, anyway...)
Poop give power to dog! Gift from gods! God is dog spelled backwards!
When our dog was a puppy he used to eat his crap, but we trained him out of it. The rolling thing I don't quite understand.
patiodog wrote:(When she was only a few months old, she'd occasionally get excited about new people in the house, and when we had company she'd take a dump in the kitchen and bring the person a turd as a sort of present. It was good for figuring out who your real friends were, anyway...)
*LOL* Thanks for the laugh! I'll have to tell my parents about that one. At least their pup never did any of that kinda stuff!!
She used to eat her own stuff too, but now it's just the few tasty tidbits she finds in the park. She seems to be uninterested in her own anymore, thank goodness!
cavfancier: But HOW did you train him outta eating it?
As for the rolling, I've come across other stories online of the same dilemma. They seem to like getting it on their neck and I know that's how she does it too. Just kinda leans into it, then ends up rolling onto it. Ick.
"Leave it" has been the command since day one whenever he gets too close to something he should not eat. A firm voice and consistency in the command words eventually worked.
Hmmm...I'll have to try that. It's a word not in her vocabulary yet.
I'm the only one she really listens to and even then, it's not 100% of the time. (Her "Mommy" and "Daddy" are just too soft-hearted with her.) She understands "no" very well when I say it, although I have caught her grabbing something off the ground and running if I say "no" and I'm not physically right beside her. Such a brat! My Dad doesn't like the tone of voice I will use with her at times, but it's the only tone where she will actually obey commands. Oy!
Maybe this summer, if she rolls in doggie doo one too many times, they might realize a firm commanding voice is better than having to suds up the dog. Dog poop is really hard to get out, lemme tell ya!
If a dog is eating poop, doesn't this suggest that they have a nutient deficient diet?
That is one of the theories of coprophagia, but currently there is no iron-clad reason why dogs do this.
But in this case, nutrient deficiency is not the reason. She is on a veterinarian prescribed diet that has all the nutrients any doggie would ever need. (The diet is due to her being a bit overweight - a common problem with labs.) She is a healthy and happy dog. I have continually heard compliments about her coat (glossy and thick), plus her tongue is a nice pink colour without any coating. Surely those two signs alone are a reasonable indication of dietary health. Factor in the fact that during the summer she didn't eat any doggie doo and then started up again in the winter months and the dietary reasonings just don't fit.
Oh, GROSS!!!!!
I'm goin' back to the CAT room.
Once again, cat room joke suspended for fear of being offensive. Amazing...second time today the 'cat' got my tongue.
caprice wrote:That is one of the theories of coprophagia, but currently there is no iron-clad reason why dogs do this.
But in this case, nutrient deficiency is not the reason. She is on a veterinarian prescribed diet that has all the nutrients any doggie would ever need. (The diet is due to her being a bit overweight - a common problem with labs.) She is a healthy and happy dog. I have continually heard compliments about her coat (glossy and thick), plus her tongue is a nice pink colour without any coating. Surely those two signs alone are a reasonable indication of dietary health. Factor in the fact that during the summer she didn't eat any doggie doo and then started up again in the winter months and the dietary reasonings just don't fit.
A vet I know -- admittedly, she's a bird person -- thinks that labs have a defective hypothalamus and that their thirst and hunger switches are always "on." Course, she's got no evidence for it, but if you know labs its hard not to think she may be right.
(A little convulted, that sentence was.)
Well, my pacc, the corgi, is not always on, re food and water.
Haven't had a lab, but did have an irish setter. Well, enough said, m'dear Kelly. But I don't remember him as being totally water/fooded obsessed either. Might remember wrong, interested.
We've got two mutts, one with lab mixed in, one without. The one with the lab (1/4, as far as we know) eats and drinks maniacally, is incredibly friendly, and is very stupid unless she's trying to get to food -- in which case she can show remarkable focus and intelligence. Except for the hyperactivity (which I blame on the Aussie shepherd part of her mother), I blame it all on the lab bit.
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