All dog owners dread this statement: Oh my god….my dog just ate poop. After the initial shock the question is: Why Does My Dog Eat Poop!! What do I do? The thought of this sends shivers down our spine, even from the best of us dog lovers. The medical term for eating poop is Coprophagy. Now doesn’t that make you feel better? Probably not. No matter how we try to wrap our brain around it, a dog eating poop just grosses most of us out.
Why does my dog eat poop?
Here are some of the top reasons your dog may eat poop.
Dogs are born to eat poop: Yes, you read this right. Dogs are born to be scavengers, living off of anything in their environment to survive. When food is scarce, dogs instinctually scavenge for any nutrients they can find. A mother with newborns will eat her puppies’ poop. She does this for a number of reasons. To stimulate the puppies to eliminate, to keep her den clean and to hide the smell of poop from predators.
Your dog may have a medical issue: This is very important: when your dog eats poop, take them to a veterinarian right away to eliminate any medical reasons for eating poop. Some possibilities include a malabsorption problem, deficient in nutrients, parasites, diabetes, pancreatic problems, just to name a few. It is really important that you rule all of these possibilities out.
Your dog may be anxious: Sometimes your dog eats poop because they feel anxious. Do you use punishment when housetraining? If you do, they will eat their poop after they have an accident so that they do not get punished.
Your dog may be seeking attention: Some dogs will eat poop to elicit attention from you. When they want attention, it does not matter if they get positive attention or negative attention. When you see your dog eating poop, if you yell at them and making a big deal out of it, you are giving them attention.
Is your dog from a puppy mill?: Sometimes dogs from puppy mills will eat their own poop because they are bored. Or it could be because of long term crating. They are pooping and eating in the same place and do not know the difference. It could also be because they are not fed enough of the right sorts of food, and their scavenger instinct kicks in.
Eating dog poop may be a learned behavior: Doggie see, doggie do — Some dogs will pick this up by watching other dogs eating poop.
How do I get my dog to stop eating poop?
Why your dog eats poop can be for a number of reasons. Be sure to bring your dog to the veterinarian to rule out any medical issues. If they come back with a clean bill of health then it is most likely a behavioral issue. Some important things to remember in attempting to stop your dog from eating poop are:
Keep the Area Clean: Be sure to keep the area where your dog eliminates clean of any poop so there is nothing for them to get. Monitor your dog when outside. Clean up poop immediately after they defecate. If you need to have your dog on a leash to monitor them, then that is what you should do.
Feed a well-balanced diet: You may need to change the food that you are feeding your dog. If it is not a well-balanced diet, this may be one of the causes of eating poop. Food with lots of filler actually smells the same after being eaten. Also be sure to feed your dog enough. If they are not being fed enough and are hungry this may cause them to eat their poop. If you are feeding once a day, change this to two meals a day.
Exercise and Stimulate: You want to be sure to give your dog enough exercise and find things that will stimulate them. Dogs will eat their poop out of boredom. After a good walk, maybe some really nice toys to play with and a good chew bone.
Train them: Be sure to train your dog with a command that will re-direct them if they are heading to eat the poop. Some will use the word “Leave it”. Be sure to give a positive reinforcement when they do. A nice little treat, toy and praise.
Add a deterrent: There are a lot of products that you can buy in a pet store that may help in making the poop very unappetizing for your pet. These are really a trial and error. You will need to try several to see what would work best for your pet. There are also a lot of natural remedies that you can try. You will have to try them to see if any of them would work for your dog.
Eating poop can be a hard habit to break in a dog. Just remember, do not be discouraged. Following and executing a good plan and creating distance between episodes will help you on the road to breaking this habit.
Has your dog eaten poop? Have you had any success making them stop? We would love to hear what you have done to stop your dog from eating poop.
When you leave for vacation it is so stressful to leave your furry family behind. You have done your research and hired a professional pet-sitting company so that you can go away with peace of mind knowing that your pets are taken care of. But what about your home? With a Pet Sitter, you can also have peace of mind that your home is taken care of as well. This is a free benefit few realize when they hire a professional Pet Sitting Company. Yes, you read it right…..a FREE benefit.
What could possibly happen while you are away on vacation? We all know the most obvious things: the biggest one…..a break in……who would know….you are gone for 10 days…..you would never know until you got home. How awful! There are so many other things that can happen…
Let me tell you an actual story. How lucky that these clients wanted to have their fur babies stay in their own home. Just Around the Corner was hired to do three visits per day to take care of Brady, their beloved Boxer, and his two feline sisters, Amber and Anabelle. For the first two days, we visited, fed, and played with everyone, and all was going well. On the third day of their 10-day vacation, as we drove down their road at 6:30 in the morning on our way to take care of them we could see smoke coming from their house. Our hearts, of course, starting pumping ……and going through our minds were the babies in the house. We ran right in and found all the animals waiting for us in the living room looking anxious. We got all of them out of the house and put them in our car. We called 911 and the fire department responded quickly. On inspection of the house, the fire department found a faulty wire in the heating system. They said in another hour it would have sparked a fire, which could have been a total loss. Because we were there to pet sit, we were able to get the pets to safety, call the fire department and have someone come out and fix the heating system. What a relief to our clients! Their house was saved, their pets were saved, their heating system was fixed, and the pets could remain in their home.
Here are 5 things a Pet Sitter does for your home:
Rotate lights through-out the house each day so that it looks like someone is home.
Bring in Newspapers and Mail each day.
Rotate blinds and shades.
Security check the house, checking all windows and doors to be sure the house is secure.
Check to be sure all systems in the house are running properly (electrical, water, heat, etc…).
So remember, “How your home is more secure by using a Pet Sitter”…….Not only are your pets part of our family, we also consider your home our home and will do everything we can to protect your pets and your home. With no extra charge for the care of your home……
Are you convinced to hire a professional pet sitter for your next vacation? Click here for more information on our services.
If your dog could talk, he would tell you how excited he is that National Dog Biscuit Day is on February 23rd. This day is celebrated here in the United States and around the world. Dog biscuits, or dog bread, have been around since Roman times. The origin of Dog bread was that the bread was not fit for humans; it was old or of bad quality, so they gave it to the dogs.
An American inventor, James Pratt, created the first known dog biscuits we know of today, sometime in the 19th century. He came up with a secret recipe for “dog cakes” made up of meat and vegetables. The “dog cakes” were first sold to English countrymen for their sporting dogs. Then, they were introduced in America and marketed at dog shows. Spratt’s product was supplied to army dogs during WWI. And, in 1907 Spratt made his first bone-shaped biscuit, known as Milk Bone. Milk Bone was bought by Nabisco in 1931 and acquired by General Mills in 1950.
Since then, dog biscuits have come a long way. There is a huge market for them, since so many people own dogs. There are hundreds of varieties of biscuits today; chewy treats, crunchy treats, soft treats, freeze dried or jerky treats, dental chews, bone-like chews, pig ears, rawhide, and the list goes on and on.
Chewing comes natural for dogs. They explore through chewing! Chewing helps dogs to exercise their jaw and sometimes clean their teeth. It keeps them occupied and gives them something to focus on. When a dog doesn’t have anything to chew on he can become destructive and start chewing on your furniture or other things around the house.
On any other day, you might give your furry baby a biscuit as a reward for doing something good or part of their training. But, this is his day…so give him an extra special snack or two. Dog biscuits may have changed through the years, but one thing has remained the same, dogs still love them and we humans love our dogs!
You can always find plenty of store bought treats. But you can also find thousands of recipes online to make your own yummy homemade goodies. You can also visit a dog bakery, where they specialize in tasty treats for canines. Either way, your pet will be very happy.
If you’ve grown with dogs, you probably know that bonding can be as simple as petting them for a few days to become best buddies for life. Bonding is definitely a more difficult process when you decide to get a cat. We’ve all joked about the haughty nature of felines, but most of those jokes come with more than the grain of truth attached to them. . .
Often times, people get a cat, expect instant bonding and jump to the conclusion that the cat will never want anything to do with them. Take a proactive approach and try a few techniques to better bond with the new feline family member.
Begin with these:
Don’t use negative reinforcement
With dogs people often use negative reinforcement to train them in the dos and don’ts around the house. In fact, many people claim that using this form of reinforcement never results in them getting moody or stand offish and that they simply learned not to potty in the house and all was well. While we don’t recommend that approach with dogs, we most definitely can tell you that cats don’t respond to negative reinforcement – at all.
Simply raising your voice at a cat is a good way to be dead to them for life. Cats have a very low trust threshold. One bad experience with you and building a bond is going to become infinitely harder. Save yourself a headache and focus on positive reinforcement methods if you have to train your cat in order to keep your bond in good standing.
2. Be the giver of food. Don’t just leave food out 24/7. Cats bond much quicker with the people who feed them. The way to a cat’s heart is his/her stomach, so take advantage of that fact and associate yourself with him/her being fed. Your cat will start cozying up to you in no time. Petting your cat and rewarding him with a treat throughout the day will also remind him that associating with the humans of the house reap many rewards.
3. Be patient. You can force a cat to like you. Don’t try to play with them incessantly or pick them up all the time. Give your cat some space and let him/her come to you. The more you push for the relationship, the longer it’s going to take to build one.
4. Be interesting. Yes, I said it. Be interesting. Cats love dangling toys, string and even laser pointers. Throw a cardboard box or brown shopping bag in the middle of the floor and your cat is sure to come a calling. These are all great options that allow you to provide your cat with some much needed space. Once he begins to trust you, then go ahead play more interactive games that won’t scare him off and invade his space! Follow these basic tips and in time you’ll have every cat happily eating out of the palm of your hand.
If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to contract lice then you’re probably familiar with the irritable pain dogs with lice experience. However, dogs actually catch a different species of lice entirely, one that can’t be passed on to humans.Whew!
The two types of lice are very different. . .
The two types of lice are very different. Where human lice moves quickly and enjoys clean hair, dog lice mostly stays stationary and prefers dirty manes. Dogs that are properly cared for within clean environments are highly unlikely to ever come in contact with canine lice, which is why consummate dog owners never experience the parasitic pests.
There are two forms of canine lice, chewing and sucking. Chewing lice chews on the skin of its victim while sucking lice, the more irritating of the two, latches onto a dog and sucks its blood. Both forms are easily transferable between canines and through contaminated objects, although they only target dogs.
The good news is that dog lice are easily diagnosable and treatable. They can be seen with the naked eye and look like small six-legged bugs. They don’t move, making it easy for you to run a brush or comb through your dog’s fur and see the pesky gangs of itchy invaders.
Treatment is incredibly simple. Your local pet store undoubtedly has a wide variety of shampoos, sprays and powders that will effectively kill and rid your dog of lice. You may need to treat your pup multiple times in order to also kills the eggs as they hatch, but your puppy is sure to be clean as a whistle after just a few days or a couple weeks of treatment depending on how bad his/her lice infestation is.
To prevent reinfection, thoroughly clean or get rid of your dog’s bedding and all the places he/she frequents. Be sure to disinfect all grooming utensils and you should be free of dog lice soon after discovering their existence.
Yes, they’re disgusting, but so easily dealt with that you won’t even have to contact or notify your local vet. After dealing with the lice, make sure your dog is kept clean and healthy and you’ll probably never have to worry about dog lice ever again.
Why your dog eats poop can be for a number of reasons. Be sure to bring your dog to the veterinarian to rule out any medical issues. If they come back with a clean bill of health then it is most likely a behavioral issue. Some important things to remember in attempting to stop your dog from eating poop are:
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