addicted and infested

[sn210]

My dog just came up positive for giardia and both my dogs were put on antibiotics.    Anyone familar with this...any suggestions?  my boston terrier is the main culpret here and he has a feces eating problem in a bad way....any suggestions for us household members or for dogs that eat their feces and get these types of intestinal paresites?  he is addicted to this awful habit....can he be lacking nutients?....he was malnurished as a pup before we got him......old habits die hard............  

[Jaybay]

We have a saying amongst dog owners/ lovers in my neighborhood: he wouldn't be a dog if he didn't eat shite.  :-)  

Some dogs just like the taste.  That simple.  It's more typical for a dog to eat any kind of poo other than his own.  My female has a decided appetite for cat poo.  The one theory I've read that makes sense is that cats eat a higher protein diet, and hence, have more of it in their poo making very attractive to dogs.  I've read that putting a little meat tenderizer in your dog's food makes the poo very unpalatable.  As long as your dogs don't have access to other animal's feces, you might have some luck with that method.  

[peekawho]

Our dogs are devoted eaters of poo.  I have to really be diligent about getting it picked up all the time.  The meat tenderizer trick simply seemed to make it tastier to them.  It probably works for some people, just not for us.

Pick up your dogs poo right away, every day. I'd rather not have to bother, but unfortunately, it comes with the territory.  Otherwise, they'd eat at Le Brown Buffet every time they went outside.  

[April2]

My dog likes to dig into the cat box and munch on cat poo, ugh! The only way we were able to stop that was by putting an invisable fence around the doorway where the cat box was and putting the collar on the dog. Everytime he'd try to go in there, he'd get a little shock. After a couple of weeks, he stopped trying to go in there so we took the collar off and he still avoided going in that room. We have to keep the litter box clean every day and the yard picked up too.

One thing I've noticed him doing lately is eating underwear and socks! I kid you not! I have one child in particular who is bad about leaving her room a mess and the dog has eaten several of her underwear and at least one sock. Of course she gets mad and we've been trying to keep him away from the dirty clothes but why on earth would he do that??

[Jaybay]

Why?  Because of all those great smells in the clothing!  I've had a couple dogs who loved to raid the clothes hampers.  Like your dog, it was always the smelliest items that were the most attractive.  They'd out-grow the worst of it in about 4 years, but the only permanent solution is to use a dog-proof hamper with a lid.  If only Hubby would understand exactly for what purpose that tall plastic container in his closet is intended...

The same reasoning applies to trash cans.  There's just too much tempting, smelly stuff in trash cans for even the best-behaved dog to always resist.  The best money I ever spent was years ago with our first dog who was quite the trash-can cur.  It's made out of wood and the exterior is beautifully finished in oak with copper insets with a punched design.  The plastic can goes inside the box.  No way can a dog get into that baby!

On a gross, but practical note regarding nasty things that dogs love to chew and shred, we ladies need to be aware of where we place used sanitary napkins, etc.  Having had a hysterectomy years ago, it was never an issue for me until a friend of mine came over a few years ago.  Bless her heart, she wrapped everything up very well and put it in the bathroom trash can.  The next morning I discovered the dogs had had a field day with it during the night.  I was greet with the shredded remains strewn all over the living room.   :-\   And yes, I immediately went out and purchased trash cans with self-closing lids for every room in the house...

[April2]

ooooooooo, yuck! Why do we put up with these creatures?! :P
I had one dog growing up who was a toy poodle. She was the best dog we ever had. She always acted like a little lady. She'd prance around with her head up! Never had a behavioral problem with her, ever. Then we got another toy poodle, a boy and how do I say this politely? He was a dingbat. He was completely opposite from her. But as they grew older and older, they got closer and closer and would sleep together. When my girl dog died, my boy dog grieved over her. It was so sad. He actually died about a year after her.
I guess we could learn a lot from dogs, huh? They are more accepting than we are. And that's my philosophical thought for today! :)

[askingyou]

Does anyone have their dog not only eat the ****, but likes to roll in it too?

I give my little one a bath , and she no sooner runs out to the coral where the cows and horses are and loves to roll in the cow turds.   She's all pure white coat.  Until after  she's finished , she  walks around dirty as a dunken walking around with her head up high.....   Like miss prancy!    
I believe their sense of "odor" is different than ours. Unless she thinks smelling like a dirty ole' man is better than the sweet shampoo.