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Poop eater

4K views 34 replies 8 participants last post by  Mountain mom 
#1 ·
Can’t believe that beautiful face loves her own poop, disgusting. She can actually spin and catch it before it hits the ground🏼 Thought she got over it, but has started it again. Any suggestions?
 
#2 ·
The reach of the Havanese puppy is amazing, isn't it? Mine did this too when I got him from the breeder at 9 months. While I am not sure what worked, I did 2 things-
1. get some Forbid from the vet. You don't have to take her in. They sell it at my vet's, about $3. for a packet. You add it to food.
2. mine came with tapeworm, undectected in 2 stool tests. I saw it in the poop when I cleaned it up. Treated the tapeworm.

I also changed his food. After 2 weeks, it was over.
 
#3 ·
Wow! Thank you for your reply. Forbid was the first thing we tried and it didn't work. We are at the point of changing her food now. Any suggestions? I will also ask the vet to check her stool. Haven't ever seen anything but you never know. Since it wasn't detected in your pup right away, we have to try that. She had Giardia but was successfully treated for that. Will call my vet today!
 
#4 ·
When he was eating poop, he was still on puppy food at 9 months. It was Earthborn Holistic(what the breeder fed him. He was also pooping 9 times a day.
My vet said that he could go to adult food. First try was Victor Dog and Puppy.
Second try was Victor Yukon River. He loves it and has been eating it now for 2 years. Looses his mind for the thought of a kernel or 2.

The tapeworm was a surprise since he had 2 fecal tests in a week and did not have fleas that were visible. In Florida, you have to get a Health certificate when you sell a dog. I think it has to be within a week of the sale? The breeder had the health certificate done maybe 4 days before I got him(with a fecal test). She brought him to my house because she wanted to inspect it. He was freshly bathed and did not appear to have fleas. He started the poop eating before she left. Took him to my vet to get checked out after 2 days. They did another fecal that again was negative. A day or 2 later, I could see tapeworm in the poop I cleaned up.
My vet says that tapeworm is not a worm that they usually detect in a fecal. He probably picked it up at the breeders. I know she used litter boxes and his appetite probably started there. Hard to control when you have 10 or more dogs. Someone is always pooping!
 
#6 ·
Yes, that's the one. Victor stands behind all of their foods so if she doesn't like it, you can get your money . I order a few bags (5lb) from Chewy for free shipping or can get it locally at the same price.
I really like Victor. Their people are very helpful on the phone if you have questions. While I was looking for a puppy, I talked to many top breeders of Havanese and Bichon Frise that feed Victor. I was concerned about recalls etc. and was impressed with what I heard about a brand I'd never heard of before.
 
#7 ·
Victor it is

I will be purchasing some tomorrow. You've been wonderful and so helpful. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I've always had large breeds in the past and this is a whole different world. Even with all the "challenges", I would get another Havanese tomorrow. In fact, my husband is worried that I will lol. This one hasn't even finished all her obedience training yet! Since CC is all white and we live in the mountains, she gets more baths than darker or mixed colors. I would love to get an all black male, down the road. Again, thank you for your help. Can't wait to change her food😊
 
#8 ·
I hope something helps. Let us know how the new food goes. And if the youngster stops her poop eating! I was so disgusted with it, never encountered it before with my 4 previous dogs.
Your little gal is beautiful! I really did not want a black dog but that was the way it worked out. I've always had white dogs(Bichon Frise) so it was a change but I think Shadow is beautiful now. He always looks clean but it is hard to find ticks & fleas on him. And they are hard to photograph. The Havanese are little characters, that is for sure.
 
#16 ·
Probably. When I'm searching for threads on the forum, I always use Google as my search engine with the key words and "havanese forum." You could also start a new thread with your specific question. I only ever visit the forum from my computer, so I can't tell you how to upload photos from a phone or iPad ...
 
#17 · (Edited)
CC might outgrow poop eating. Patti was interested in Poop-cycles as a puppy, she'll be 2-years-old the first of March. There were times when she was a puppy I caught her experimenting and giving poop a bite. She liked to pick up and carry around other animals frozen poop, which I always took away from her. At that time, she was always on a leash when outside. She's indoor-litter box/tray trained and didn't have any interest in eating poop in the house.

After we fenced the yard and she started going out on her own, I watched and made sure I kept all the poop picked up. Today, she occasionally seems to be interested in checking out fresh poop but rarely takes a bite. She's always interested in checking out poop piles if we are on a walk, sometimes thinks about picking up a frozen Poop-Cycle ... which I make her drop.

If you're leash walking CC, take along a favorite treat and when she starts to try and eat poop, say Treat! Trade a Treat! for the Poop. This is how one person on this forum has trained her dog to not eat poop. He comes for a Treat after pooping.

These little dogs are amazingly smart and easily trained.
 
#18 ·
My dogs occasionally like some deer nugget snacks, especially if we are walking near their dinner time and the digestive juices are flowing. They have never eaten their own poop or the other one’s poop. I don’t worry about it. I figure it is part of being a dog. I do not like them eating dog poop because it is likely to contain chemicals (eg from dog on Nextgard) but they do not eat dog poop anyway. They like wild animal poop which can contain parasites but IMO if their immune system is strong they will not get sick from parasites. They are not wormed and have never gotten parasites. If they were eating excessive amounts of poop I would be concerned. I have read a few articles saying that a dog with EPI may eat lots of poop and non food items.
 
#21 ·
New Food arrived

CC loves her new food! She is actually picking out the old and putting it in little piles on the floor so she can get to the new lol. She was getting to the point of not wanting to eat and we know she's fine, so it was perfect timing for the food change. Can't thank you enough. Now we'll just have to see if she is still wanting her waste. We will give it some time and see. I don't think she was getting what she needed as she got a little older, from her original food. Praying this works!
 
#22 ·
CC loves her new food! She is actually picking out the old and putting it in little piles on the floor so she can get to the new lol. She was getting to the point of not wanting to eat and we know she's fine, so it was perfect timing for the food change. Can't thank you enough. Now we'll just have to see if she is still wanting her waste. We will give it some time and see. I don't think she was getting what she needed as she got a little older, from her original food. Praying this works!
Wow that is great. Way back when I fed kibble I switched to a different type that Mia liked better and she would pick through it and only eat the new stuff!
 
#23 · (Edited)
These little dogs seem to be picky eaters. I don't know how many different dog foods I went through. Finally, ended up with Honest Kitchen along with adding a little HK broth plus 10 or 12 crunchy Honest Kitchen Kibble type bits on top. Patti loved! it for a while and then started not rushing to eat, not eating for a day, waiting hours before eating or finishing.

Grrrrrr! frustrated I boiled a chicken thigh - cut it into bite size pieces and added a few of those on top of every thing. Wow! Patti was Lovin' her food again. I've been doing this for about a month.

Now at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. Patti either sits in the kitchen staring at the counter top, waiting to eat or will find me and Bark...Mama, It's time to eat. If I'm not in the house, she'll go to my daughter or husband and ask to eat.

I go back and forth changing up the food types. Chicken and Beef base with different broths. One day I decided to only feed her all Beef and didn't add the boiled chicken thigh pieces on top.

As usual, Patti quickly trotted in from outside and went to the food bowel without touching it. A couple of minutes later, she came away from the food bowel and sat down looking up at me. I could read her mind: Mama ... Where's the Chicken?


I added the chicken pieces and she finished off the food, licking the bowel.

I cooked up a whole new batch of chicken, cut it into pieces and it's frozen. Patti goes CRAZY smelling chicken cooking. I did it while she was at the groomer.
 
#24 ·
I'm happy to hear that CC likes the food. It is quite smelly stuff! They seem to like that.
A slow transition to a new food is best to avoid belly upset. Not sure what to do if they won't eat the old food. My guys have always been good eaters though.
I didn't catch how old CC was but the vet felt that Shadow was old enough at 9/10 months for adult food since he appeared to be full grown. We did a slow transition, maybe 2 weeks.
Let me know how it goes!
 
#26 ·
Guess we'll stick with our kibble! Our contract with the breeder says we won't change Shama's food without consulting her ... We give her Now Fresh along with some Wellness stew and canned pumpkin (which ends up in her bangs if I don't have her hair clipped back ...

https://www.petcurean.com/product/now-fresh-grain-free-small-breed-adult-recipe/

https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/nat...mestyle-stew-lamb-beef-stew-brown-rice-apples

https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/nat...yle-stew-venison-salmon-stew-potatoes-carrots
 
#27 ·
CC is 10 months old. Yes, the smell was pretty potent when I opened the bag lol. I was going to follow the directions on the bag for getting her acclimated, but if I notice any stomach issues or gas, will cut back. She used to belch loudly after she would finish a meal and that has stopped. Tomorrow is only day three, but so far so good. I am going to weigh her tomorrow. She was a little over 11 lbs the last time she was at the vets. Breeder said she would be 11-12 lbs. Since this food is for all life stages, I’m not too concerned about waiting until she is a year old to change her food. She is also producing less stool. That’s a bonus! I was surprised at how little of this food she will need a day, per the bag. I know those are just recommended amounts, but I would like to start at that amount.
Boy, for a quick reply, I’ve gone on and on. I will keep in touch and would love to see more pics of your handsome boy 😊
 
#29 · (Edited)
CC is 10 months old. Yes, the smell was pretty potent when I opened the bag lol. I was going to follow the directions on the bag for getting her acclimated, but if I notice any stomach issues or gas, will cut back. She used to belch loudly after she would finish a meal and that has stopped. Tomorrow is only day three, but so far so good. I am going to weigh her tomorrow. She was a little over 11 lbs the last time she was at the vets. Breeder said she would be 11-12 lbs. Since this food is for all life stages, I'm not too concerned about waiting until she is a year old to change her food. She is also producing less stool. That's a bonus! I was surprised at how little of this food she will need a day, per the bag. I know those are just recommended amounts, but I would like to start at that amount.

Boy, for a quick reply, I've gone on and on. I will keep in touch and would love to see more pics of your handsome boy ��
When I started feeding Patti Honest Kitchen I started out giving her 1/4 cup x 2 times a day = 1/2 cup of food per day. HK is dehydrated food, you add water/broth to it, with absorption of the liquid the food expands. After a few meals, Patti threw it up. >:) A Clue...too much food.

I cut back to a Heaping-1/8 c x 2 times a day = 1/2 c of food per day. Topped with a few HK Crunches and Chicken!!! Takes some experimenting on the amount.

To clarify I alternate between Beef and Chicken, along with different broths for variety.
 
#33 ·
Our trainer told us to try pineapple in the food. If you don't want to switch to all new food, maybe try grinding up some pineapple and adding that to your current food. There is something about the pineapple apparently that deters the puppy from eating their stools. Probably the smell I'd imagine.

Caveat: Duke stopped doing this so we haven't actually tried it to see if it works. Now if I could only get him to stop STEPPING in his poop ever time he goes!!
 
#35 ·
Our vet told us about the pineapple, but sadly it didn’t work. She seems to not be interested one day, then crazy about it the next. I’ll take the one day because it’s better than no days. Suffice it to say, these dogs are worth the trials and tribulations. They are the best!
 
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