Why do dogs roll in smelly, disgusting things?

[catbird]

Then I have one for you...My cat, Badness, rolls in litterboxes.   Bath time for a howling 13lb cat with all her weapons.

I can definitely see how she got her name...

[JanC]

Is it just me or does anyone else have problems with that Pet Place website?  I've tried before, sign in & the box stays there & won't let me beyond it to see the article.  I don't know why I can't read anything there.......duh

I give Hannah pineapple now & then after her meals......I still have to watch her like a hawk as she is inclined to pick up & eat most anything......whether it's hers, another dog, cat or wild animal......doesn't matter to her.  Must all taste the same.....ewwww.  Then she wants to kiss me on the lips......double ewwwwww.

[lesliek]

I've never tried pineapple,but mine get pumpkin a lot & spinach occasionally. Didn't make any difference.I think they just like poop !

[dingbat]

I think they just like poop !

I have heard tons of reasons why they do this, and over the years we have had some that do and some that don't. I THINK it has to do with the individual dog and maybe it is instinct, boredom, or it becomes a game.

Piya ( you remember her, the $8k dog from last summer), well she will eat anyones poop, but I think it has become a game with her. We go out with her and watch her and then scoop up the poop from her or anyone else, she has this thing that she does, she will saunter around the pen, sniffing here and there, and then sniff something and jump back, sure as shooting (gaby hayes) there is a piece of poop that we missed. If we don't notice this right away, she will mozy on back and snatch it.

So now I think it is this game with her. Maybe the dogs that do this are craving attention?? I have no clue anymore, some of ours would never think of doing such a vile thing, others just love it.

db

[JanC]

db:  My vet said it's boredom......Hannah was living in a backyard & I don't think she had much human contact.  That could be why she started doing this.  My last Lab wouldn't touch her own but was out looking for other "munchies".

Don't know if you read this (I posted it before) but Hannah pulled a good one & it just cracked me up.  When I see her go, I run outside & pick it up.....if there isn't any out there, then I don't have to watch her so closely.  She watches me do this every time she goes & I can see the little wheels turning in that little brown head of hers......

One day I was on the phone on the side patio & Hannah was in the backyard.  She came walking over to me & dropped something at my feet.....I looked.....it was a lone poopie that I had apparently missed.  The next time, I had company over here.....we were on the side patio talking & here comes Hannah with another little poopie that she placed at my feet.  Thankfully, the girl who was here has a dog & the two of us couldn't stop laughing.  Hannah must think I have a collection & didn't want me to miss any......   She's a pisser......

[nic7sheree]

You Guys are so crazy!  I'm cracking up here....I get so mad at sammy... He will roll in poop or pee when i take him to the park, and when i yell at him he bounces around and does his side flips in the air like "what" i didnt do anything! It drives me nuts.! he also sneaks and eats poop, not dog poop, but i think its racoon,rabbit,deer,ect.

[dingbat]

My vet said it's boredom..

JanC

I have heard that too, so we had a nice long talk with the 2 girls involved and requested that if they got jobs and brought some money in they wouldn't be bored. Neither of them showed any interest in working, hae it way to easy here, and just sauntered off, with that smug look on their faces

Jan

Hannah bringing you some that you forgot, that is a good one. Piya will just gobble them up, always concerned that she is going to ingest something else besides, like some weed or rock or something, and after last year don't know if her tummy could take another operation,

we sure as hell can't afford another

db

[Bridgett]

Lots of ideas!  I have heard it is also because they are lacking some nutrient in their diet.  Considering that all of us here feed our dogs (and cats) very well, I find that theory harder to believe now. 

I am so glad my little princess isn't the only dog who does this. 

Daisy also looks in the kitty cookie jar, ie. litter box, sometimes.  Kitty cookies you know.  I caught her once with her paw in the cookier jar and threw such a big fit she hasn't gone back recently.   

[ChelsAndPhoebs]

I can't believe I missed the poop eating thread! My Phoebe will eat her own and she'll go for Chelsea's too!  Gotta be fresh.  I've tried the pills/powder you add to the food and doesn't slow her down at all.  Anyone try the pineapple.  This little girl has the sweetest face and it eats poop.  She'll go for cockroaches too.  (I live in Texas....lots of big fat roaches).

[dingbat]

My Phoebe will eat her own and she'll go for Chelsea's too! 

chels&phobes

Same here. Piya will eat anyones poop. I think it is more than bored, hungry etc. I am not sure what though. I have read that it is quite natural for canids to eat stool?

Something about recovering nutrients, covering their tracks and all kinds of other things.

Never had any luck with those things you add to the food, and if a dog is eating other dogs poop, you would have to feed it to everyone. and most of the times that doesn't work either.

Sometimes it is in their nature and there is nothing we can do about it. We have 2 girls here that do that, one is 2 the other is 11??

db