The Radiance of Knowing

Why do dogs eat feces?

“I don’t eat any animal that hasn’t got sense to disregard his
own feces.” “A dog eats his feces.” “I don’t eat dog either.”
“But would you consider a dog to be a ‘filthy animal?’” “I don’t
know if I’d call a dog ‘filthy,’ but they’re definitely dirty.
But a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.” “So,
by that reasoning, if a pig had a better personality, he’d cease
to be a filthy animal?” “That’d have to be one charming pig.
He’d have to be ten times as charming as that Arnold on ‘Green
Acres.’” - Pulp Fiction

For reasons that are still fairly unknown to veterinarians and
scientists, some dogs seem unable to resist the tasty treat of
their own or another animal’s feces. Amongst a group of dogs a
decent sized lump of excrement is less safe than an errant
Twinkie at an Overeater’s Anonymous meeting. If dogs ran the
world the finest restaurants would serve big steaming plates of
the stuff as an entrée and the doggie version of T.G.I. Friday’s
would serve it as an appetizer, cleverly fashioned into a flower
shape. We don’t even want to guess what would be served as a
dipping sauce.

It was once thought that the tendency some dogs have to eat
feces stemmed from a nutritional need of some kind. Poor diet
and poor health were considered to be the motivation for this
seemingly bizarre and definitely disgusting (to humans)
behavior. Vets and animal health specialists now say that isn’t
the case as research shows no connection between canine dietary
or nutritional needs and the phenomenon. At this point,
scientists are stymied. No one knows why some dogs do this.

In the case of a mother dog that has recently given birth, the
behavior is completely normal. Mother dogs will teach their pups
to urinate and defecate by licking their hindquarters. The pups
respond to the stimulus by doing what is expected and the mother
will eat the results instinctively. For dogs in the wild this
behavior served two useful purposes. It kept the whelping area
clean and eliminated the odors of the pups’ waste that could
attract predators. The puppies often learn this behavior from
their mothers and mimic it. Most puppies stop doing this by the
time they are weaned.

It is more curious when non-parent adult dogs eat feces whether
it is their own or that of some other animal. Some scientists
suggest that this is scavenger behavior and natural for dogs who
are traditionally scavengers. The theory doesn’t explain why
some dogs do it and some do not, however.

As natural as it may be, it is not a good idea to allow your dog
to engage in this behavior. Eating of feces can expose a dog to
internal parasites and bacterial infections, as well as raise
the risk of viral infections like distemper and parvo. The best
way to prevent a dog from engaging in this behavior is to remove
the temptation. Keep the yard free of feces by disposing of it
promptly. Owners can also train the animal early, before it
becomes too habitual. Other methods that have been employed with
varying degrees of success are feeding the dog things like
garlic and pumpkin which are believed to make the feces less
appealing and spraying the feces with a foul smelling solution
(most dogs despise citronella, for example) that will make the
dog not want to eat the excrement.

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About twelve years ago I went to a dog grooming expo in San Bernardino California. At the time I had been grooming for a few years and thought I knew lots. I remember watching the scissoring competition. One of the entries later became a team member of Groom USA. The whole experience humbled me and helped me strive to be better at my art.

Then one of the judges for the competition gave a lecture on grooming the Cocker Spaniel. At first I was only mildly interested. She began her lecture with “Most people don’t really understand the Cocker Spaniel”. She went on to say that Cocker Spaniels were “sensitive dogs”. A Cocker was a dog who’s feelings were hurt easily. While she was giving this lecture she had her own Cocker Spaniel on the grooming table, let us call her, Buffy. The woman began demonstrating how to groom Buffy. I still was not ready to buy into this whole “sensitive” thing. That was because before the lecture, Buffy was being walked through the crowd up to the lecturing platform. Two different audience members tried to pet Buffy as she walked to the front. Buffy let out a yelp, a snap and a little tinkle each time.

While this woman groomed Buffy, I noticed that the dog stood very proudly, cooperating at every step of the grooming. When the woman would start to turn Buffy around the dog would immediately turn around for her. Then Buffy would be quietly praised by her owner and she would stand straighter and more proud. This is where I started to think that maybe this woman had something with her whole “sensitive” thing.

Well wouldn’t you know it…first dog scheduled on Monday was a Cocker Spaniel. We referred to her as “the brat”. The honest truth was that if a dog came in with an attitude I would just groom them. I Didn’t take their attitudes personally, just did my job to the best of my ability. The “good” dogs got the pats, the praise and the added attention.

On this Monday I decided to groom her differently. Whenever she did any small thing well, I praised her. If she waited a second before she growled at me for picking up her foot I would tell her how brave she was. Slowly I noticed a change in her that day. Although she was still a brat she seemed to want to be good. Her patients with me seemed a little longer. When I finished grooming her I actually saw her tail wiggle. I told her how good she had been and how brave she was, it wiggled even more. I realized that there was a “good” dog in there and it was too sensitive to trust just yet.

That day changed my whole outlook in regards to my work. I realized that positive reinforcement was my best grooming tool. From then on, no matter how busy my shop was I tried to give each dog a little added attention. After a time I was amazed at how many dogs that would normally wear muzzles during the grooming would later graduate to never having to wear them. I began getting more and more dogs that were being referred to me because no other dog grooming shop in the area would groom them. Although not all of the dogs got over their little quirks, many of them became more trusting and more cooperative. Praise and patience are the keys to cooperation.

Dogs are similar to people. If you give them a chance, let them relax, and try not to initially judge and label them, you are sometimes surprised at what you learn.

Katherine Durr is a professional dog groomer and the author of “How to Groom your Mutt”. Visit her website at Doggie Dews

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I moved into a new house about 14 days ago.

The funny thing about this house is thatwhen you walk into the master bathroom, the light switch is on the left side, opposite of where the sink is.

Well, practically every other house I’ve ever lived in has always had the light switch on the right sideor at least on the same side as the sink.

And I’ll be a monkey’s uncle if EVERY SINGLE TIME I’ve walked into that bathroom, my hand doesn’t instinctively reach to the right to turn the light switch on. Even after 14 days, my prior conditioning has been so engrained that when I consciously try to remember which side the light switch is on… my hand still shoot out to the right, instead of the left.

This is the exact same type of conditioning we aim for when training our dogs. And this is why I advise that— even after your dog understands a commandyou continue to say, “come” and then give a tug on the line… up to a year after the initial training session.

Your dog should be so conditioned to respond to commands that it becomes an automatic response Coming when called is responded to in much the same way that hearing a car backfire might make you duck your head, or cover your ears.

As I’ve already touched on this concept a few years ago in my book, which you can read more about at Dogproblems.com … I just had to share this experience with you, because it was so comical to the extent to which we animals (yes, we’re animals too!) can develop conditioned responses.

Just like our dogs.

Adam G. Katz is the author of the book, “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer: An Insider’s Guide To The Most Jealously Guarded Dog Training Secrets In History.” Get a free copy of his report “Games To Play With Your Dog” when you sign up for his free weekly dog training tips e-zine at: dog training

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