chocolate labrador bad habits

[glenis]

my brothers dog has started to eat poo when out on his walks ,not his own ,but other dogs poo , he is about 5 years old and has only just doing this horrible habit ,why is he doing this ? but more importantly how can we stop him?

[andy-hughes]

Dogs usually eat faeces if their diet is deficcient.

A dog will instinctively try to aquire nutrients it is missing which it may detect in the faeces of other dogs.

Make sure the dog in question is eating a full balanced diet, and try introducing a vitamin supplement - that should stop him feeling the need to 'top up' in this common, but rather unpleasant fashion.

It it persists, have a word with your vet and get him checked for worms or parasites.

[gelda]

Being an ex dog walker I've come accross this a lot. I had a word with a vet about it and he said it had nothing to do with diet as a lot of people think and if any vet could find an answer to it they would be very rich! he said he'd tried all sorts of very good food on dogs but it never works, it's very common in greedy dogs ie labradors and collie type dogs, I've walked several labs and they all had that habit. the only thing to do is to try to stop them and give them a treat when they leave it and lots of praise. The other thing the vet said was it usually doesn't do them any harm, it's just disgusting to you especially if they want to give you a big sloppy kiss!!!

[glenis]

thanks to you both