Preventing Stool Eating in Dogs

This article is from the B-Naturals Newsletter, August, 2008 "Basic Supplements for Daily Use in the Dog's Diet" by Lew Olson PhD Natural Health www.b-naturals.com/newsletter. You can subscribe to this free monthly e-newsletter at the website. I highly recommend it!

Another issue people often write to me about is dogs eating their own or other dog’s stool. This can be a frustrating and annoying problem. The reasons for this can vary, and I will discuss these briefly.

1-Boredom. Some dogs, if left in kennels or yards without the opportunity for walks or training classes, simply get bored and turn to finding something to do. The answer for this is to clean the yard or kennel twice daily, and to get this dog to a training class and start daily walks.

2-Learned behavior. Often dogs will have been around other dogs who exhibited this behavior. Again, clean the yard twice daily, and get the dog to a training class. Scolding or yelling does nothing to abate this problem, but keeping the yard clean and getting the dog involved in other activities helps a great deal.

3-Poor diet. I see this behavior most often with dry dog food diets. Dry dog food is high in carbohydrates and fiber, and the stools produced are large. Carbohydrates are difficult for dogs to digest, and the dogs system labors over digesting these foods. This produces large volume stools that contain undigested foods. These are tempting for a dog to try and consume. The answer here is to change the diet. Better choices would be a raw or home cooked diet. If that can’t be done, look for a higher quality dry dog food, preferably one low in grains or one that contains no grains. Add fresh food to this diet, including whole milk plain yogurt, meat, eggs and cottage cheese. Canned fish such as mackerel, sardines and salmon are also good choices.

4-Occasionally, dogs will find stools tempting due to nutritional needs. They might crave bacteria that help aid digestion. It may be helpful to add the Bertes Ultra Probiotic Powder, a mix of beneficial bacteria. This helps cut down gas and aids in digesting carbohydrates. It also helps keeps the stools firmer which makes them less ‘attractive’. The Bertes Zyme can help too, as the animal based enzymes help break down fat and protein. This helps keep the stools smaller by aiding in the assimilation of nutrients which makes the stools less tempting. The plant based enzymes help in digesting carbohydrates more efficiently and also reduces stool size.

So remember, keep stools picked up, keep your dog active in training classes and walks, choose a better diet and use supplements to help with digestion. All of these will be very helpful in solving this aggravating problem!