What vitamins are missing from my Labrador diet that causes her to eat other dogs faeces?

Answer 1

This is a very common problem with pets. And more embarrassing for the owners than the dogs!

Tough to break. However here are some ideas. I never did quite break my Sheepdog of the habit. She always had a "guilty" look if she had been.. "sneaking". That could be her own... or a litter box. No matter, they are eating feces, something abhorrent by human standards. Lucy had an excellent vocabulary but this is one thing she pretended that "NO" was just, a breeze flying by and ignored me.

Your dog is not stupid or gross. It is a natural, albeit sick by human standards, habit. Be proactive. It helps.

I had an old English sheepdog who had that same sick habit. I tried the pepper solution but she forgot that lesson quickly. Sigh, she also had a thing about cleaning out kitty litter boxes. GROSS. The only thing I could do was make sure she never "kissed" me.

Since she was not a yard dog and was only out with me, I just picked it up before she got to it. That made it a moot point. If you leave your pup to run out back and do the deed, then you need to keep a closer eye on her. They can be very sneaky about it too, so you have to be vigilant.

You might also speak to your vet. I am sure he or she would be able to offer sound advice geared to your dog who he knows already.


I think, like you, some of these urges are nutritionally driven. You might also go to a place that specializes in dog foods and various nutritional products. Speak with the owner or someone who knows their stuff. Often these people know a lot about such things and can advise you if it happens to be a nutritional thing that is pushing her to this.

Speaking from very personal and sad experience. Being kissed by a dog with such habits increases your chance of contacting GIARDIASIS. This happened to me, last year, for the first time after a lifetime of kissing dogs. It is NOT pleasant and I learned the necessity of washing my hands thoroughly after even petting my own pet!

Good luck.

Answer 2

Lots of dogs do this, nothing is missing from the diet. They do carry some stuff at pet stores and vet clinics you can sprinkle on your dogs food (or any animal in the house) and it makes the stools much less interesting for the dog to eat. It won't change the taste of the food going in, just what happens to the food going out.

Of course correcting the dog and telling it "NO" when ever you catch it and try to keep the yard as clean as possible will help.

Answer 3

There may not be anything missing from your dogs diet. It would take a vet check to figure it out. It could be that she has difficulty digesting some things, or lacks an enzyme or stomach bacteria.
That would mean her diet is adequate but she has trouble digesting it.
But its probably a behavioural problem - that is, something that dogs do that the owners object to. Again, the vet can help.

Answer 4

That is not a vitamin deficinency its behavior. Dogs will eat othe dogs feces. Especially if its from a high quality dog food. When they defficate some of the protiens are left and that draws the other dogs to it. If you like try a higher grade of dog food. Something richer that might stop your dog from snacking. Natural balance lamb and rice from walmart is good, blue seal super premium lamb and rice is great. Iams is ok but not too rich.
check them out. One way to stop it is normal disipine just say no or go out with a spray bottle of dog repellant and spray it on some feces then present it to your dog. He' get the itea, eventually.

Answer 5

as she got worms ? but did you know that labs thrive off a diet of dog meat and veggies, cabbage is one of the best for them, the veg. supplies all the vitamins and minerals a dog needs, and for some reason that applies to labs more than any other dog. just one last thing if you start feeding her cabbage give her a charcoal tablet as well or you wont be able to breath for the smell of the methane coming out of her back end. Looking back through the answers you got, I have never and forgive the pun heard so many c**p answers in all my life.

Answer 6

Is your Lab a puppy? If so, the problem may be Coprophagia, which a simple search can find you plenty of answers about. I've often found that (if this is the case) simply adding a teaspoonful of spinach or pineapple to your dog's food can help alleviate the imbalance. Good luck!

Answer 7

there are no vitamins missing, some dogs just do that, try to minimize the opportunity, like if your dog goes in the yard, make sure the yard is cleaned daily. If you take your dog for walks, make sure the dog doesn't get too close to an irresponsible dog owners leftovers since they didn't pick it up.

Answer 8

Dogs do NOT eat stool because they are lacking anything in their diet..they do it because it is a normal natural part of being a dog. Dogs in the wild eat stool to conceal their where abouts, keep their "territory clean", etc.

Answer 9

There is nothing missing for her diet - It's quite normal for dogs to eat other dogs feces. The fact that it's a lab and that they'll eat anything makes it twice as common!

Answer 10

Hi, nothing is missing from your labs diet...Some dogs --MOST dogs actually eat other faeces...You can buy medicine that will actually stop him from eating it..Just talk to your vet..