GSPpup eating deer feces

[huntcrazy_1]

I hope some one can shed some light on this matter for me. My 4 month old GSP male can't get enought deer feces when we are out walking He puts his nose down and looks hike he is on a bird but then he finds some deer scat and eats it. If you tell him NO he grabs it and runs, and if you catch him and tell him no he will drop it but then goes right back and grabs it as soon as he is not within reach. The amazing part is that he will rember where it is 20 minutes later. I am worried that he is going to get sick from this ( not to mention me when he is licking my face and I rember what he had in his mouth) and that he might start to think that his what he is hunting for. Why is he dooing this? Is he lacking somthing in his diet? Is it a dominance thing? Please some one help!

[wems2371]

In my experience, dogs of all ages love all kinds of other animal feces. After all, puppies may even try their own. My 11 year old dog will still roll in deer poop, if I'm not watching her like a hawk. My 9 month old puppy will sample it and then roll in it, if I'm not watching. She has no preference. It's all good--deer, rabbit, cat (favorite), and horse. We started young with her by giving an aggressive no. So at this point, if I see it happening--she'll drop it with a "no". But I'm sure the little poop-detector does what she wants when I'm not watching. Other posters may have better knowledge as to the health and hunting implications. I've heard that the dog may need to be wormed more frequently. I'm guessing that when the first dog-like creature fell out of the trees many moons ago--it probably went in search of wooly mammouth droppings! Denise

[Greg Jennings]

Flagyl! Get Flagyl!

Greg J.

[ohiohuntinweim]

My weim loves to eat deer poo. There was a small herd that liked one of the fields we run in by the house in the middle of suburbia. I know there are no birds there so when I caught her doing it she got a no and a nick from the ecollar...if she keeps going either a higher intensity nick or a longer nick from the constant button.

Not sure if thats the right way to do it, but it worked...I believe its called trashbreaking???????

[nitrex]

Do they taste like "Milk Duds?" They sure look like them. I hear chocolate is bad for dogs.

Nitrex

[huntcrazy_1]

No Nitrex, they don't tast like Milk Duds. I tried them but they tast like crap!

[GL]

Sitting here having lunch and all of a sudden I'm not real hungry!

My girl considers deer dropping to be treats from the gods! Tasty little morsels left on the lawn over night and always fresh!

YUK!

I have no idea how to stop it or what to do, if anything, about it.

Something tells me it is a natural thing as almost every dog I have ever owned did it to one degree or another.

So far, my best plan has been to teach her to not lick my face---- EVER!

I think I get more disgusted when I see dog owners doing the kissy face thing with their dogs then I do when I see where dogs put their faces and what they will inevitably eat.

A common house fly is a pretty disgusting insect considering where and what they land on and eat yet my dog thinks they are winged treats and catches them all day long.

Spring has sprung so keep the wormer handy!

Gary

[ezzy333]

Dogs wouldn't eat feces. They are strickly meat eaters and it's the dogfood industry that has tried to convince you they like and eat vegetable materials. I have it on good info from an independant dog food nutritionist.

Ezzy

[GL]

Dogs wouldn't eat feces. They are strickly meat eaters and it's the dogfood industry that has tried to convince you they like and eat vegetable materials. I have it on good info from an independant dog food nutritionist.

Ezzy

You might have opened up a big con O worms there Ezzy!

It sure could be an interesting discussion.

I wonder what our dogs would be like if they got a steady diet of meat?

I've also often wondered if the scraps we give them are in some ways bad for them. Most of the trimmings I don't eat from my steak are usually quite fatty.

Mine is fed at will and always has a bowl of food when ever she feels like eating. She nibbles here and there throughout the day but at our dinner time she waits for what ever treats she might get from the table and then tops it off with a few more nibbles of the dog food.

I occassionally run accross a fairly fresh Coyote kill in the woods and can say from experience, they don't leave much and eat every bit including entrails, fat and most of the bones.

Gary

[BigShooter]

Ezzy ..

Did you take the high road or the low road? You know in the end all dog food turns out to be crap.

My dog likes those crappy milk duds too.

Mark

[big steve46]

Ezzy, You got it wrong! It's only the "offbrand" breeds that eat fecal material as described! The problem is 98.2 % less if you have an E. Pointer or a Setter. I thought everyone knew that! JEEZ!!

[CMJ76]

My female GSP does the same thing.

[slistoe]

As for the pup eating deer nuggets - that's what young dogs do. Be glad you aren't running in a horse pasture.

What bothered me about this post was this statement "He puts his nose down and looks hike he is on a bird but then he finds some deer scat and eats it." I'll tell you what - if the dog has his nose down snuffling for deer scat he certainly doesn't look like he is on a bird. Check out this thread for some more insight into this head down behavior http://www.gundogforum.com/forum/viewto ... 89&t=12450 and then scold away on the dog poop behavior with no worries about messing him up on birds.

[huntcrazy_1]

Please let me explain, I have been running Lab's for years and this is the first pointer that I have ever had. Every Lab that I have run with will run with their nose in the air until they hit the sent, then they put their nose on the gorund to follow the trail. I now know that a good Pointer run's with their nose in the air until they hit the sent then they stop and go on point. At the time I wrote the post I did not know this, but about a day after I got a pigeon and he has been aces ever since. Thanks for the heads up though I am still learning the in's and out's of this pointer stuff.