He Won't Stop

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Quincy
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He Won't Stop

Post by Quincy »

I'm no sure if there is th right place, apologies if not.

Some of you may know by now I have a basset hound who is now alittle over a year old.
The problem is he literally won't stop eating or looking for food. He will eat anything and everything.

He has been vet checked and we have been told he hasn't got a worm or anything and his weight is ideal. Apparently this is normal. I would understand if he was still a young puppy experimenting what is what.

He eats anything from his normal food, to fluff, string, tries to eat plastic, glass, nails, you name it he will try eat it, literally everything. His favourites are grass and plants, licking cat and dog urine, licking bird poo, his all time favourite is eating cat poo. He jumps on that so fast it's gone before you realise.

Him doing this is making him throw up a lot more then he should be, he has already been on meds, because he started passing blood, which turned out to be issues with his digestion because of something he ate. He's OK from that now.

The vet advised us to get a muzzle until he learns what he is allowed to eat and what he isn't. The first muzzle didn't stop him. He still managed to eat then we got a caged muzzle again that didn't stop him, he would squash it throw th cage, and will constantly look for food.

This is something he would do literally do all day and night. Apart from when he is sleeping, is looking for food,

It's getting to the point in causing problems in the family, we love him to pieces but we don't know what else we can try.

As soon as he gulfs down his food he would literally come running in and jump on us to get to our food.

What else can we do. :|
Shalista
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Shalista »

I cant really help but i'll try to gather information for those who can :lol:

What brand food is he eating?
how much does he get?
How much exercise does he get?
how much does he weigh?
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Ari_RR
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Ari_RR »

Just off main topic for a sec... Licking is different from looking for food.
I think what appears as licking urine is actually him detecting pheromones, I would not try to stop this. At least not because he is always searching for something to eat.
Quincy
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Quincy »

I assumed the licking would be different but that's just when he passes and continues to look for food.

He is on purina win a lot
He gets two meals a day the recommended amount for his breed and expected weight, he gets 365g a day between two meals.

I can't remember what his weight is but when we at the vets last he was ideal, that wasn't too long ago.

He gets between 4/5 30/40min walks A day
JudyN
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by JudyN »

Is Purina Winalot a wet food or a kibble? If wet, do you add any biscuit to it, and if so what variety?

It might help if you could give the exact variety, or post the full ingredients list.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Quincy
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Quincy »

It's a dry food.

Cereals, meat and animal derivatives(8%*), derivatives of vegetable origin (dried beet pulp 1.5%)' oils and fats minerals.

* equivalent to 16% rehydrated meat and animal dervivatves with min 4% beef

Protein 19%
Fat Content 9%
Crude Ash 7.5%
Crude fibres 3%
Linolenic acid 0.14%
Linoliec acid 1.88%

I copied everything excatly from the bag
JudyN
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by JudyN »

OK, most of the regulars on this forum would classify that as a rubbish food. Just one glance at a dog's teeth will tell you that they are designed to have a fair quantity of meat in their diet, but this food has practically no meat - and 'meat derivatives' can include feathers, beaks, and all the horrible bits we wouldn't dream of eating.

A better quality food may make a difference. Look for one where meat is the first ingredient on the ingredients list. The best have no grain at all, just meat and veg. One problem with better-quality food, though, is that as there is no filler, they don't need as much, and a greedy dog will swallow it in a mouthful and then look round for the rest... Another option is raw feeding. Several members here raw feed their dogs so if you're interested, we can give you a lot of information. It's just possible that once your dog discovers what decent food tastes like, he'll lose interest in other stuff.

It might also be worth making it harder for him to eat the food he does get. There are loads of food-dispensing toys on the market - Kongs, treat balls of varying difficulty, dog bowls designed to slow them down, like this one: http://www.animeddirect.co.uk/green-int ... GwodUCkF4Q I have one of these and it takes a fair bit of work to get a single bit of kibble out. It's also important that when feeding time is over, there is NO chance of him finding food. So shut him out of the room when you're eating/cooking, and make sure everything is cleared away (including non-food that he might think is food).

Outside is harder, of course, and I have a dog who can eat pretty much anything through his muzzle too! Did you try the scent games suggested in an earlier thread you started? If you had him on a long lead, would you be able to do scent games somewhere relatively food free? I'm thinking a quiet beach might be good but not many of us have access to one.

I'm not an expert, though, and he might need some expert behavioural input. There's an article on 'compulsive pica in dogs' here http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/dog-ti ... ntrol-pica and if you search on those terms you should find a lot more info. Good luck!
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Fundog
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Fundog »

I have a Springer spaniel who believes all walks are a snack finding mission. Everything from dropped sandwiches to cat poop is good eats in her mind! (Cat poop is delicious, by the way.) :lol: I have to be vigilant, paying attention to her nose on the ground constantly. Fortunately, she doesn't try to eat non organic material. I've had this dog for nearly 13 years. She's been like this since she was a little puppy.
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
Shalista
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Shalista »

yeah bax was obsessed with eating cat poop to. thankfully he outgrew it. rolling in cat poop however..... :roll:
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
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Nettle
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Nettle »

Cat poop has a very high meat content, and your dog's food has a very low meat content. "Food" for thought.

I have found that if my dogs get lots of raw fresh green vegetables and fruit to eat, they are much less interested in grass. I don't mind them eating grass and wild herbs because that's what dogs do, but again, I feel an improvement in your hound's daily diet might cause less interest in scavenging.

Having said that, of course dogs are natural scavengers, scent hounds are truly scent-oriented, so we can't change that completely. But any improvement is worth trying for.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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Shalista
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Shalista »

Perhaps we could help address her question about the dog eating NONfood items to? I cant really help but i feel like that is the more potentially life threatening problem then eating poo
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by JudyN »

Shalista wrote:Perhaps we could help address her question about the dog eating NONfood items to? I cant really help but i feel like that is the more potentially life threatening problem then eating poo
Agreed. It might be that if he discovers what a really good food tastes like, then non-food will also become less interesting. You're going to have to be very careful about putting away non-food he might eat (socks etc.). And this might be a reason for wearing a muzzle as it might make it a lot harder to eat non-food, even if he can still eat poo through it.

Have you done any retrieve work with him? If you can really reinforce him to bring things to you in exchange for a treat (even when you haven't asked him to), he might realise that it makes more sense to give you a sock than eat it. I did this with my dog - he didn't eat socks, but he did guard them - and now he will often present me with any undies, hankies, dishcloths I've left within reach. I still thank him and give him a treat, as it's far better than him guarding them (and I find it kinda cute :lol: ).
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Quincy
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Quincy »

Thanks for all of the replies. I think I will change his food to a better meat/veg content. Does anyone have any suggestions to a good food but at a decent price. I'm in the UK.

I have tried retrieve work with him and give him a treat when he comes back, however his nose takes over. Which like many of you have said he is scent driven being a scent hound.
I have also tried scent play without food but with being outside again his nose takes over. Is there any good scent markers or anyone you can buy.

He is obsessed with socks.

I'm going to change his diet and try again with scent training and retrieve work
JudyN
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by JudyN »

Quincy wrote:Thanks for all of the replies. I think I will change his food to a better meat/veg content. Does anyone have any suggestions to a good food but at a decent price. I'm in the UK.
Have a look at this website: http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-direct You can put in your dog's breed, weight, age and so on, and it will list foods with approximate daily cost, and rates them. The food you're using now gets 0.4 out of 5!

You could try this method for teaching 'drop': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndTiVOC ... e=youtu.be It's worked well for some members :D
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Fundog
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Re: He Won't Stop

Post by Fundog »

The sporting outlets that supply hunters often have a variety of scent, such as rabbit and pheasant. It is highly concentrated in a tiny bottle, in liquid form. You put a few drops of that on a retrieving dummy or favorite toy, and play seeking games.
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
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