How do you get your dog to stop eating ...

[deerminator]

[PoorWordUsage]!!! All of a sudden, our dog has started playing with and trying to eat his frozen deposits. I try to do a good job of picking it up but he finds some if there's even a little. I've read up on it and it seems that its "normal" and fairly common. Our neighobor says his lab tries to eat his horses [PoorWordUsage] whenever he can. The dog seems fine and he eats plenty in the house. He seems to get a kick out of doing it more than anything. I've tried pouring a mixture of vinegar and lots of red pepper flakes over his deposits to teach him [PoorWordUsage] = horrible hot awful taste and he left those alone for awhile but no longer.

[jeffreyd]

usually means he/she is missing some mineral in their diet. my pup use to do this, i give them some rice and chicken/turkey from time to time and also pieces of banana when i have cereal. what do you feed them for food?

[deerminator]

Thanks. We feed him the Science Diet adult dog formula. We give him an open bowl, meaning, I fill it up when its empty and let him eat at his own pace. The vet said this is fine as long as he doesn't overeat. I measured out what he's eating and its normal for a dog his age and weight. The vet and I dog health book I have said it can be from malnutrition but often its nothing more than its fun to toss it around and they like to eat it. It supposedly very common. No dog I ever had did this that I knew of til now. I'm hesitant to give him much besides the Science Diet and Science Diet treats because he got Pancreatitis (spel?) a few months back. The vet said it could have been from anything but its often too much or too rich of foods, i.e. table scraps. He wasnt eating any deposits then so it wouldnt have been that.

[giddyup99]

I have a beagle that did this when she was a pup. Can't remember if the vet got it for us, or got it off the shelf, but there is a powder that you can sprinkle on their food that makes their "business" taste bad.

Worked for my beagle right away...had to use it for a couple of weeks to break her from the habit.

Good luck!

[MuleShack]

Yes, you can get a pill from the Vet (and it is inexpensive) called "Stop" where you give the dog 1 pill with each meal and it makes their stuff taste bad so they wont eat it. We went thru this stage with ours and it cured it after a few weeks.

[bottom-bouncer]

Have battled this problem for years and many dogs. Just sprinkle mccormick meat tenderizer on there food every time you add food to the bowl its cheap and it works

[deerminator]

Thanks. I called the Vet again and she reccomended a product called Forbid that I'm going to pick up. BTW, he's a one year old beagle so still in the puppy stage. A real knucklehead but a great family dog.

[deerminator]

Just following up. I gotta say, that Forbid does the trick. He sniffs his stuff and moves on. It was eight bucks for four days worth of powder that you sprinkle over their food but worth it to me if he doesnt eat his stuff anymore!

[Bowfin]

Does Forbid have any side effects?

[MN Shutterbug]

I would switch dog foods. Science Diet is very poor quality, even though the price doesn't reflect it. Science Diet is mainly grains and dogs need more meat. Also, one of the best things for dogs, especially their coats, is chicken fat. SD uses animal fat which comes from processing plants and can include anything, even road kill.

[deerminator]

It has no reported side effects and is considered safe according to the Vet. PetMeds reports this is how it works:

When eaten by your dog, FOR-BID goes through the gastrointestinal tract where the purified vegetable protein fraction and sodium glutamate are digested, ending up in the feces. This gives the feces a pungent taste when excreted, and discourages consumption by your dog.

As far as the food, the Vet thinks its a good food. I am never one to just accept one person's opinion, even if they are a doctor or vet. I would be interested in additional information, if you could point me toward it via Web sites or articles that suggest healthier alternatives. Thanks!

[MuleShack]

Our vet said that iams was the best food out there as well...that has corn as the first ingrdt. They know disease but need more work on recommending the good foods.

Just google pet food comparisons and you will see the differences in quality in side by side displays.

[Chefd]

try native food its is priced the same and is awesome for working dog both my pointers eat it and the have different levels for how hard your dog is working also purina pro plan large breed adult or the performance stuff work great the Native food has had me cut back the amount i feed my dogs by a third less than before and they still rock i he field