Eating Poop! Yuck!!

[Tait & Finn]

I am walking a friends 2 dogs for a couple days. They do not eat poop. Finn, on the other hand, eats poop. Not all poop, so I guess his palate is discriminating, but poop nonetheless. My friend feeds their dogs Beneful (boo) and I feed Finn Acana. I know sometimes poop eating means there is something missing in the diet. What could Beneful be providing that Acana isn't.

[Deborah Brown]

Beneful's main ingredient is corn.  Finn probably just finds it tasty - like junk food poop.  :)  FWIW, my dog's like vegetarian poop from bunnies and deer.

Beneful has got to be one of the worst foods on the market.  But it's like doggy crack.  They all love it.

[Kelly & Zoe]

Bunny and deer poop are like M&M's for Zoe.  We feed her grain-free Orijen - perhaps it's a fiber thing :-)  I do supplement with dried sweet potato chips that I make, but sometimes she just has to experiment with the bunny and deer poop.  I stopped being grossed out about it and just steer her away from it when I can.

[Tracey & Spike]

This is interesting. I'm just about to switch Spike onto Acana puppy from RC. If there is something "missing" that causes them to crave a .... well.... crap.. I'd like to know. Not a habit I want Spike to get for sure!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It is a myth that eating poop (otherwise known as pica) is due to something missing from their diets. There is nothing missing from Acana, it's one of the best foods on the market. Some dogs eat just poop, it's a bad habit and has nothing to do with any nutritional deficiencies.  

Some dogs will eat cat poop because cat food is loaded with fat and it appeals to dogs. 

Beneful does have quite a few things that Acana doesn't have...corn, wheat, soy, sugar, gluten, by-products, propylene glycol, (used in antifreeze), artificial coloring and preservatives, unnamed animal fat, animal digest, and a synthetic form of vitamin K that has been banned in many other countries because it has been linked to liver and blood diseases. 

[Gail and Bailey]

The act of dogs consuming their own or other animals' feces is known as coprophagia.

 Pica is characterized by an appetite for substances largely non-nutritive, such as ice, clay, chalk, dirt, or sand. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thank you for clarifying that, Gail! 

[Tait & Finn]

That list of ingredients is scary!! I guess Finn just likes the taste of poop. Lucky us. Not!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here is a good article on coprophagia in dogs:

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/ani...

[Debbie and Bentley]

I just I might add to this discussion, even though I don't have my doodle, yet.  I do have two senior dogs, and one that passed last year at 14 1/2 yrs. old.  We live on 20 acres, so there is no shortage of "poop".  All my dogs love to eat deer poop, turkey poop, and bird poop. I'm sure they eat bunny poop, also, but I just don't see that as much as the other.  Even if they have just eaten, and we go out for a walk, they gobble down their dessert like there is no tomorrow. I tell them to "leave it", but mostly they ignore me, and I have to run up to them to chase them away.  However, they are usually far enough ahead of me, that by the time I catch up to them, they have had a good amount. I feed them Blue Buffalo food.  The good thing is, that their fecal tests have always come out fine (fingers crossed here). They usually don't eat each other's poop, except recently I have caught the 9 yr. old sneaking the current 14 yr. old's business. This may be due to the fact that I have had to add hot dog to her food to get her to finish eating. Just an uneducated guess.  They were not puppies when we moved here, which has been 3 yrs. now.  I know that this will definitely not be good for our puppy when we get one, but I will always be walking him on a leash, and going through training, Hopefully, I can prevent this behavior, but, apparently there is something about feces eating that we humans will never understand.  Oh, years ago, we hiked along a horse trail, and horse poop was the first of this delicacy they discovered. Yuck! 

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

This is interesting, since my Josie has switched from TOTW to Orijen Adult she is eating poop; not sure if it's hers, Sassparillas or both of theirs?  I also noticed she is eating a lot of grass?  Their servings are smaller with Orijen and I had to cut back Sassy's servings because she was throwing up?  Could Josie be feeling more hungry thus having seconds with the poop??  Nothing else seems to have changed?  The only other big change is Josie is still inhaling the Orijen (boy does she LOVE it), she was formerly a slow grazer.  Should I be concerned and get her into the vet?  The only reason I know she's eating poop is she is a big kisser so when she moves in for a kiss she stinks!  Also, Sassy feels thinner, she was lean on TOTW but after returning from a long weekend she looks skinny and feels skinny.  I'm gonna swing by the vet this weekend if I can and weigh her, should I be concerned?  My sister insists her vet says skinnier is better but at what point is it too skinny?  They inhale their two meals but with Sassy I had to cut back because she was randomly throwing up, usually just liquid and again randomly?  Should I be adding goodies like yogurt / eggs / squash / green beans more frequently to their meals?  Their poops are good and solid.  We always added something with TOTW so they'd eat it but that's no longer a problem now that we've switched to Orijen.  Open to ideas / suggestions / feedback.  Thanks Ü

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You may want to increase the feeding amount slightly.