There have been rainbows aplenty in Regent's Park during the wet, rainy weather, but we have yet to locate the elusive pot. Looks like it's somewhere behind the Lord's Cricket grounds. We'll stop the car the next time we see it on our way home and have a look. Promise we will share half with you if we find it! Hah!
By popular demand, I am writing again about the reasons for dogs eating poo. To humans it’s a very disturbing and disgusting habit. The veterinary term for this is called coprophagia, and it may comfort you to know (shudder) that this is quite normal.
Poo eating (coprophagia) is common in many other animals such as rabbits, rodents, pigs, horses and even primates. However, this behavior is considered to be a problem in dogs, as there doesn't seem to be any reason for them to be munching on other dog's doodoos. Puppies, of course, will regularly eat poop and anything else they come across. If this becomes a regular habit then its a problem. To many dogs this habit usually signals a nutritional deficiency and hero worship if they eat the poo of another dog in the same house.
Think about a diet change. I would suggest first trying a quality premium food. If your pet is already eating one, then switch to one of the natural diets such as raw food from Weebox available from the larger supermarkets. Dogs are programmed in the wild to eat raw food and although your pet is domesticated and raised on pellets and pate, some raw food will aid digesion and take away the need to sample another dog's poo. You can also cook your own recipes, but this is often too much trouble if you have a busy life. A diet rich in fat, protein, and fibre and low in carbohydrates can sometimes reduce the tendency. My dogs adore raw chicken wings. There are no big bones to choke them and it is very, very healthy. Ask any vet? They will agree with me. A good doggie multivitamin will also help stop the problem. A probiotic tablet (available from pet stores) will go a long way to aiding digestion and putting an end to that urge to sample someone else's poo.
Altering the flavour can help. Your dog will stop eating poo if it tastes bad. Poo left in the back garden or in your cat’s litter box can be sprinkled with Tabasco sauce or cayenne pepper. That should send them into orbit!
There are a few things that you can add to your dogs food to alter the taste of their poo. Schwartz Meat tenderizers (from the Herb section of the supermarket), can be added to your dog’s food; this will help with digestion but also make the stool taste horrible. The dose is 1/4 teaspoon per 10 lbs of body weight. Another option is to purchase a product - called Stool repellum - from your local vet or from the site, PetVet on the internet, . It gives poo a taste that your pet will hate. My personal remedy is to mix in some pumpkin into the food. You can buy this in a tin from the supermarket. For some reason this stops the urge to eat another dog's poo poo. Pineapple works well too but often the dog will toss it out of the dish so best to puree it and put in a spoonful at each meal and mix it in well. Many dog owners have found that by supplementing the diet, the coprophagia then stops. My dog stopped once I added vegetables to their food. Buy the supermarket own brands of tinned carrots and mushy peas and add a spoonful to each meal. I promise you it does work after a few weeks and they love the taste.
Finally, using a citronella spray collar works quite effectively on dogs that persist in eating the stuff. A citronella spray collar reduces the frequency of coprophagia in dogs and the habit gets broken.This requires the pet owner to be alert and involved, triggering the spray in response to a quick chomp.
Do NOT punish the dog when you see them gobbling up something unspeakable but distract them instead with a treat or a ball. If you tell them off, they associate that with bad behaviour and they will eat their own poo to hide it in case they get punished.
And my point is ........
"If you want to test cosmetics, why do it on some poor animal who hasn't done anything? They should use prisoners who have been convicted of murder or rape instead. So, rather than seeing if perfume irritates a bunny rabbit's eyes, they should throw it in a perp's (cop speak) eyes and ask him if it hurts."
Some nice doggy ads:
These are classified ads, that were actually placed in U.K. Newspapers:
FREE YORKSHIRE TERRIER.
8 years old,
Hateful little bastard.
Bites!
FREE PUPPIES
1/2 Cocker Spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbor's dog.
FREE PUPPIES.
Mother is a Kennel Club registered German Shepherd.
Father is a Super Dog, able to leap tall fences in a single bound.
Here is an amusing video clip for all those cat owners. This is what your bored cat does when you are out at work all day.
That's it for this month.
Dawn ("")
