Skycat et al: diet and coprophagia

[Neal 1,784]

I'm wondering if anybody has some advice or tips. My 21 week old kelpie bitch was a consistent poo eater when I first picked her up at eight weeks. She'd literally do a poo, turn straight around and snaffle it down as quickly as possible. Thanks to watching her like a hawk and immediately picking any up as soon as she'd crapped she'd stopped this habit within a week or so.

However, now that she's out and about and enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the local wood, I've noticed that she'll still occasionally do it...but never her own. It's not every poo by any means and I've sometimes spotted her going up to the edge of the path (at which point I've sneaked up behind her: ready to clap my hands and shout, "AAGGGHHHH!") sniffing some poos and then ignoring them.

I'm not certain but I think I've spotted a bit of a pattern in that the poos she's eating may all be dry-fed-food poos. That kind of slightly soft to sloppy type which is slightly yellowish in colour (though not as pale as those produced by a dog fed a lot of bone). Sorry, disgusting description.

I mentioned it to her breeder and she advised adding tripe to her diet. She said that whenever she notices her kelpies starting to eat dirt (dirt as in soil rather than dirt as in poo) she gives them tripe as she's assuming they're currently lacking in particular minerals which they're getting from the ground and which can be given instead by the green tripe. She said this always sorts it out.

Maud is currently fed nature's menu puppy cubes. These are basically an all-in-one barf diet containing salmon, chicken and other odds and ends. When I contacted the company about the difference between this and their other foods, they said it had extra elements necessary for pup growth needs etc. I previously raised pups by simply feeding the other frozen foods in the natures menu range, as the adults are fed, but differing amounts.

Does anybody have any thoughts or recommendations? I've considered adding a handful of complete dry food but would rather not do this as a) I've managed without dry for over twenty years and b) it might make her start eating her own again. I'm currently just watching her intently and saying "agghhh!" every time she starts sniffing about in the undergrowth but I can't help thinking that telling her off every time she uses her nose is not great training for a bushing/mooching dog.

Thanks in advance.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Neal

[skycat 6,172]

I think that these sort of habits should disappear in time, as presumably she learned this in the nest, which maybe wasn't cleaned out as regularly as it should have been? Just wondering. But one thing I would say is that to feed a wholly satisfying diet you need to add stuff the pup can actually chew, rather than simply swallowing ready-prepared nuggets, no matter how 'good' it is supposed to be for them. Chewing satisfies the emotional and psychological dog, rather than just filling its stomach. It's one thing to feed a correctly balanced raw diet, but quite another to provide the dog's less obvious needs, in terms of relieving boredom, exercising jaws, making them feel good.

Raw, unwashed tripe is best, but it's hard to find the real thing these days, unless you happen to know someone at an abattoir. Most comes already washed, which cleans away all the essential minerals and goodies to be found in the semi-digested grass. Lamb ribs are great for gnawing on, but it's important to make sure that she's got a safe place to gnaw in peace, well away from other dogs,  rather than trying to bolt it all down too quickly. 

If she persists in scarfing down the horrible leavings of dogs which have been fed on food filled with preservatives, ( which, retain far more of a food odour rather than a waste odour) it might be a good idea to set her up for a shock: get someone to hold the pup while you treat a pile of crap with a good dose of chilli powder. Then, when she's released and heads over to browse, she will get a nose full of peppery dust. Just make sure that she's not so dumb as to actually try and eat it!

 

[Neal 1,784]

Thanks Skycat, great advice. 

I must admit, I did consider your very first point as a possiblity as she was originally the smallest in the litter but, thanks to also being the feistiest in the litter, she'd pretty much caught up with the others when I picked her up at eight weeks. With regards to the psychological aspect, I also feed her beef trachea and chicken wings (the latter take her about five minutes to eat but the former keep her occupied for nearly two hours!) and this morning I've bought a bag of tripe chunks which will hopefully be better for her in that respect than the blocks of minced tripe.

When she has the additional food (e.g. trachea, wings etc) she's always left on her tod in the garden room with the adults indoors so that she can take as long as she likes. I may try the lamb ribs with her too.

Thanks again for all the great advice...as always!

[Caravan Monster 323]

Charcoal dog biscuits from the pet superstore stopped my old collie x from eating his own as a puppy.

[Neal 1,784]

Thanks Caravan Monster. All sorted now. As I expected, she gradually grew out of it. I was just a tad worried as she was keeping it up longer than I'd expected.