hi from England

[Cheryl]

(we'll all have to settle to travel by armchair, by sharing our pics;)

[lisadrider]

Hello and welcome from my and my two weimy girls Millie (4 years) and Lexi (6 months)
im from derbyshire so not that far from you.

[greyghost]

Hi Rose, I had a word with Arden Grange and they got their vet nurse to contact me. This is what she says:


Dear Lesley

I am writing to you at my colleague Val's request. I understand that you spoke to her this morning regarding a colleague of yours who has an 8 month old Weimaraner puppy who has a rather unpleasant habit of eating faeces.

There are a number of possible reasons for this and the most likely cause is that it is a bad habit originally invoked by hunger. It's difficult to properly advise without knowing which product and daily volume is fed, but often increasing the daily volume a little bit (start with just 10g per feed) can help. Also introducing an additional feed can help to help stabilise blood sugar levels. This has a direct effect on serotonin levels (also known as the "satiety hormone"), and this in turn will help to prevent hunger pangs, and hopefully discourage the bad habit. This is especially helpful if a dog is fed only once or twice a day.

Vitamin B deficiency may implicated, but is unlikely as all of the Arden grange recipes are balanced with sufficient vitamins and minerals. It is a possibility though if the dog is very stressed out, anxious or over-energetic as requirements for the B vitamins are typically higher. Also excessive carbohydrate within the diet can be causative, but unless your colleague is adding rice, pasta or similar to the Arden Grange - it is very unlikely to be this.

The following link may be helpful : -
www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1551&articleid=155.

The best way to prevent this is to ensure that any of the dogs own faeces is cleared up immediately. Exercise outdoors should ideally be restricted to the lead to prevent scavenging for that of other dogs. If this is impossible, then a basket type muzzle might be sensible. Whilst this habit is not very nice, it's not harmful providing the dog is treated regularly with a broad-spectrum wormer and that sensible hygiene measures are taken.

Please do ask you colleague to get in touch with me directly if he or she requires any further help or advice and I will do my very best to assist.

Kind regards

Ness

[cheekycharlie]

thanks lesley your a star
i will try anything at the moment
we're trying deter at the moment but he's only had it for 3 days so i going to wait until this complete to try anything else fingers crossed it will work.
unfortunately he started this habit at 3 months old and i think i made it worse by reacting badly to it. at that point he was on 3 meals a day we didn't change on to 2 meals a day until he was 6 months but like i say i will give anything a go.
how did you contact them was it through their web site?
thanks again

[marjolein]

Eating poo is common in young gundogs. It solves itself soon enough. Wouldn't really worry about it.

[greyghost]

But it is a worry when it makes them so ill. Holly was so sick for days when she did it. We're not all vet nurses you know LOL

[greyghost]

cheekycharlie said:

how did you contact them was it through their web site?
thanks again

Yep...