Fabulous photo of me by John Clark of Clark Creative
There's a pleasant Sunday topic for ya! First, let me say flat out that I do NOT eat poop-won't even go near the stuff. Now that I've cleared my reputation, we can talk about those dogs who do, and what you humans can do about it.
As usual, we've gone to one of our most trusted resources, holistic veterinarian, Dr. Karen Becker. As we've noted here before, we particularly like her exhaustive exploration of a subject-and she not afraid to call people out if she suspects their advice isn't in the best interest of our pets.
In this
recent discussion of poop-eating by dogs, Dr. Becker explains that there may be some medical conditions, like an enzyme deficiency or pancreatic insufficiency that cause a dog to seek out, say, the digestive enzymes in feces. Apparently rabbit poop is particularly high in these enzymes, which is a favorite of many canines. And there are also behavioral causes, like the lack of mental and/or physical stimulation such as the horrible conditions of puppy mill dogs who are always confined to a crate.
But we all know that some dogs just seem to like to eat poop, so what to do?
Dr. Becker also offers some tips to wean your dog from this unpleasant habit, like making sure you feed species appropriate food with high quality proteins, pick up any of your pooch's poop, pronto, and regularly engage your dog with lots of mental stimulation and physical exercise. According to Dr. Becker, bored doggies engage in lots more strange (an unacceptable) behavior than well-exercised canines.
So does you dog ever eat poop...and if so, what have you done to try and break this habit? Let us know!
P.S. Parental Unit says she'll never forget when her sweet pug, Ollie, got into the cat's litter at her former mother-in-law's house during Thanksgiving dinner. Ollie pranced into the room with the litter-covered poop hanging out of the side of his mouth like a cigar and wanted to play. Good thing everyone there loved dogs and had a good sense of humor...
