Help...

[lildachshaundbailey]

undefinedundefinedundefined
Help me!!!!! My puppy eats his own poop when he poops in the house! Is this healthy???? What should I do????? Also, He sometimes eats wood.

[Renee750il]

This is a condition called "pica." My understanding of it is that it is usually caused by a lack of something in the diet. Try putting your puppy on a really high quality puppy chow, like Flint River, Innova, California Natural, there are quite a few really good ones out there. If you go to www.naturapet.com, there is a utility that will let you compare all sorts of foods to find out which one will best fit your dog's needs.

There is a chance that he is trying to eat the "evidence" when he makes a mistake in the house. Eating the wood might be just wanting to chew, so do make sure he has plenty of chew toys. If he is what they call an aggressive chewer, he may need some tougher chewies. I would worry more about the wood eating, though, because most of the wood used in building and furniture today is treated with some pretty nasty chemicals. If it's painted - that's more to worry about. Just put a chew toy in his mouth every time you catch him chewing on something inappropriate. That's harder than it sounds; they manage to get into stuff everytime you turn your head. You can imagine the destruction Shiva can leave in her wake. By the time she was 17 weeks old she weighed 70 pounds! She'll be 6 months old in a couple of weeks and she's finally quit chewing on everything in reach, including us.

[Snuggles]

When we first got my puppy we had a similar problem. He would eat his poop when he went out side, inside we always got it in time and had no chance. Don,t worry to much it might be gross but our vet said it was normal and as long as it is his own it is fine. Now, if he starts to eat other dogs then talk to the vet because he could get things like worms.

Anyways what our vet said to do is put tabassco sauce on it every time he goes so he will learn it is very hot. We never tryed it because he grew out of it in about 4 months. I also heard about some thing you put in there food to make it taste gross, but I only heard that from a person not a vet, If you do any thing like that check with a vet first.

[Renee750il]

I'm glad we haven't had to resort to hot sauce for anything here. It wouldn't work! I was eating one of my favorite snacks the other day, a corn tortilla toasted with melted cheese and habanero pepper sauce and Shiva wouldn't leave me alone. She kept nudging me with that big nose of hers and plopping that huge paw on me. I finally told her, "okay, if you think you want this . . ." and gave her a little bite. WRONG! She loved it. I have a puppy who likes hot, spicy food. Maybe it's because her breed's Brazillian. She tries to lick the empty Negro Modela (Mexican beer) bottles, too! I tell her she's too young to drink (g). None of that explains why Bimmer likes hot food too, though. Give him a piece of jalapeno cheese and he's a happy dog.

A word of advice, though: never Never, NEVER let your dog have any chili unless you're prepared to suffer the consequences. It doesn't bother them in the least. but oh, the stench!

[chazhound]

Our dobie used to love to dig holes in a particular spot in the yard and we tried everything including placing big rocks right under the dirt to stop him. But he would just dig up the rocks and everything. Finally we tried pepper because we knew he didn't like it. And it worked.... he didn't dig there ever again.
Try sprinkling some pepper on it if nothing else fails

Chazhound

[Renee750il]

I'd forgotten about the pepper. It really does work. We had neighbors in North Carolina who always let their female Golden out in the front yard (why???) when she was in season. Of course, she came over to our yard and marked all over the place, so we ended up with every dog in the neighborhood in our front yard - our dogs were inside the fence in OUR backyard - harrassing our big yellow cat. Until my Mom got smart and followed Goldie, dumping pepper on each one of her markings. End of problem. Gulliver, our cat, could sit on the front steps and watch while his tormenters were seized by uncontrollable fits of sneezing. After a day or so of that unpleasantness the dogs didn't come back. No permanent damage done, but they wouldn't even walk through our yard for months!

[chazhound]

Haaaa haaaaaaa!!!!
Pepper is the magic spice, and a good name for a dog too

[soccerwoofer]

i don't think it's healthy,but i don't think its bad. he'll be fine.

Luke likes popcorn,we were thing of going to Petsmart to get him "pupcorn" for treats

i've always wondered if it was Pet smart or Pets mart

[Rae]

hmm... i always thought of it as Pets mart, since its a "mart" kinda place.

our old dog, snoopy, used to be soo possessive when we tossed him steak bones.. he almost bit my dads hand off when he tried to take it away. then we started to use pepper. PRESTO!! pepper is a miracle. my dads hand can testify to that.

[Snuggles]

How di you use pepper for that. My dog gets possesive over everything he is not supposed to have like paper. We never know what to do. So, when did you put the pepper on or what did you do with it.