Poop eating dog

[Carol McCasland]

ok.  I now disclose that Cody eats other animal's poop!  Not his own, thank goodness!  But he's after coyote, fox, squirrel, and other dogs' feces.  When we are walking on the trails, he's on leash, so no problem to keep him from the bad stuff, usually, if I catch him in time. But at day care, he's right there when another dog defecates and catches it almost in mid-air!  My day care provider and I are at wits' end!  He eats Canidae Grain-Free.  And (really the reason for this post) last week he had a toxic shock event that sent him to the ER. The vet said he would have probably died if I hadn't brought him in.  He was that sick all of a sudden!  Vet doesn't know what brought on this event (vomiting, bloody diarrhea, shock-y, low blood pressure, low temp, almost no color in his gums).  She also diagnosed him with coccidia, which makes me suspicious that the whole thing was related to poop-eating.  Any ideas, anyone?   btw, Cody has recovered very nicely, although he has two shaved forelegs that make him very poodley-looking!

[Lucy, Mila & Issy]

Carol,

I'm so sorry you had such a scare but I'm glad Cody made it OK. I'm wondering if he has a sensitive immune system since puppies usually get this before their immune system strengthens and develops.

Also, he might be lacking some nutrient that causes him to seek out poop. Cats tend to poop out protein which is why dogs are drawn to it, but since you are feeding grain free he should be getting plenty of protein(?)

Just some food for thought (no pun intended)....

Hope all stays well!!

[Lucy, Mila & Issy]

Oh, and I'm wondering if any other dogs at the daycare have had symptoms since there is usually a "carrier" involved in coccidia...

[Dixie Moore]

Recently there was a lengthy discussion about this on the breeders' forum, but mostly it was about dogs eating their own poop. For that, there are some products that seem to work for some but not for others. One person described behavior training a dog not to eat it, but it sounds like he enjoys it so much that would be a hard habit to break.

I think that it is largely a dog's nature to do this, even though it disgusts us and can make them sick. But they learn it from their moms, who lick their newborn puppies' bums to make them go and continue to clean their den by taking care of it for several weeks. 

Day cares and dog parks are hotbeds of bacteria, and it stands to reason this is what made him so sick. Add to that the difficulty in retraining the behavior, and it could be very difficult. Vaccinations, feeding them well, and otherwise taking care of them will only go so far to keep them safe and healthy. 

I know that Cody probably loves to go to day care, but I don't know if I would advise continuing to do so now that he has gone through this. You could try smaller, more controlled outings with dogs for a while. When he goes for their poop, use the "leave it" command and redirect him to a treat.  It could take a while to train him to the point where you could trust him in the day care situation again though.

I think that coccidia is present in all dog's poop, so they all carry it, but as they get older they can usually tolerate a "normal" amount of it without getting sick. But a poop-eating dog would assault his system with the coccidia, and his normal tolerance would probably be overcome. 

That's a tough one Carol, and I hope you are able to resolve it.

 

 

 

[Carol McCasland]

it's never easy with Cody, is it???  His day care provider has a small group, and she is ever vigilant.  She is also his kennel provider for when I am out of town.  again, a small group (no more than 7).  Maybe I need to take him over there for day care on leash for a few hours and try to enforce the no poop behavior.   I'll talk to her.  She is a dog trainer also.  Also, as far as the carriers go, the vet says the most common carrier in our area is rabbits.  Cody doesn't get exposed to a lot of rabbit poop, since my yard has a privacy fence and I never see rabbits in the back yard.    For now, I'm just happy he's seemingly well and back to his usual happy self.