Posted by Jeanne on September 15, 2009
The new craze on the puppy circuit is underground dog fences. Simply put, underground fences are electronic containment systems designed to teach pets their boundaries while in your yard. They use a small “shock” which is transmitted through an electronic collar. These hidden fences can actually contain your dog within the barrier without forking out the expenses of putting up a fence. While most dogs don’t like being kenneled up for long periods of time while you are working or the kids are at school, this gives them the option of roaming the front and back yard and letting them have a sense of freedom, but only where the invisible fence will allow them.
The advantage of having an underground dog fence is that you won’t have to resort to ropes, chains and cages, which some people consider inhumane and unhealthy for your dog.
While wire fences are expensive, can be dug under or jumped over and allow for little exercise, they can also distract from the beauty of landscapes and in most cases decrease the property value of your home. Underground fences are reasonably priced and invisible, meaning that nobody will even know it’s there except you and your dog!
Here’s how it works. When a dog approaches the fenced area, he’ll receive a warning tone. Then, if after two seconds he hasn’t retreated back, the tone will the be followed by a mild electrical jolt, transmitted through a device connected to his collar. The jolt will be harmless and painless to your pet and matched to his specific temperament. If he still chooses to not retreat back, the electrical jolt then sets itself to the highest level to prevent the dog from running through it.
Although the underground dog fence is safe for all dogs, it is recommended that you wait until your puppy is between the ages of 16 and 20 weeks before trying to train him with the system.
Easily installed, underground dog fences will give your dog freedoms that he may not otherwise have. While dogs tend to be nosey, trying to cross the street, going into the neighbor’s yard, digging in your flower garden or chasing those passing by, the underground system will quickly teach him where he is and isn’t allowed to go.
Check with your local pet supply stores for information on underground dog fences and pricing. Just as you need freedom and exercise, so does your dog. Remember, he is part of your family and it is your job, as his owner and caretaker, to be sure he is safe and healthy. With an underground dog fence you can give him that safety and independence that dogs love so much. You might even get a warm smile and thank you from the mailman!!
Posted by Jeanne on September 14, 2009
There are several popular theories about the causes of this strange habit:
- A dog that eats poop is doing so to supplement his own, nutritionally-deficient diet. He is not getting enough vitamins from the food he’s given in his own home, so he chooses to eat the poop of other animals (usually dogs and cats) in the hope that there may be some residual nutrition available for him to sponge up the second time around. This is a faintly plausible theory, apart from the fact that studies have been conducted on dogs suffering from malnutrition and well-nourished dogs with a clean bill of health: and the incidence of cophrophagia among both groups was virtually identical.
- The behavior may be derived from the carnivorous/scavenging heritage of our dogs. When carnivores make a kill, they typically consume the entire carcass of the animal – everything from the actual flesh to sinews and tendons to “offal”, which includes the stomach, digestive tract, and its contents (poop). It’s been suggested by some that coprophagia is a simple and natural extension of this instinctive behavior.
- It may be related to boredom or stress. The particulars of this theory are hazy, but essentially, bored or stressed dogs – such as those that spend too much time on their own, those that lead understimulated, underexercised lives, and those that are excluded from family life and adequate human attention and affection – often succumb to strange and compulsive habits, like pulling out their own fur, spinning in circles for hours on end, and (theoretically, at least) poop eating. In other words, a dog will eat poop simply because there’s nothing else for him to do.
- Internal parasites, such as worms, may be leaching nutrients and calories from the dog’s stomach and digestive tract. Typically, a dog with worms will have a voracious appetite (even more so than usual!) and will consume all the food that he has access to. In more advanced cases, an infested dog will turn to technically-edible substances (such as poop), which he would not normally consider appetizing, to fill the gap.
- Improperly housetrained dogs sometimes eat their own poop in an attempt to conceal the “crime” from their owners and thus avoid detection. This is especially true of dogs whose owners tend to punish them for housetraining mistakes, whether out of impatience/frustration or because they believe that the dog is somehow doing it to “spite” them. A dog that’s pooping inappropriately indoors either has not been housetrained correctly, in which case the accidents are not his fault; or the reason is medical in nature. To rule the latter out, the dog should be taken for a check-up at the vet (particularly if the indoor defecation has started suddenly and without warning).
- Nursing female dogs eat the poop of their puppies as a means of keeping the den area clean, and of hiding the existence of her pups from potential predators. It’s thought by some that one of the reasons that coprophagia is so commonplace in puppies, especially, is because they’re emulating the behavior of their mother.
Clearly, theories abound on the subject. Unfortunately, most of them lack merit: the simple truth is that, although we can guess as much as we like as to the reasons that our dogs willingly and enthusiastically ingest poop pretty much whenever the opportunity presents itself, nobody knows with any degree of certainty as to why they do it.
Although it’s nearly impossible to “cure” a dog with a taste for poop of this socially unacceptable habit, here is a short list of tips for coping with the behavior and minimizing it as much as possible:
- Clean up the poop in your own backyard as soon as the dog toilets. If he doesn’t have access to it, he can’t eat it – and it’ll save you from dealing with the flies, the odor, and the eventuality of someone treading in it.
- Teach your dog the “leave it” command for those times when you want to be able to walk him off-lead. Reliable obedience in the “leave it” makes off-lead walks a real pleasure (and it’s a lot safer for your dog, too – the usefulness of “leave it” applies to things like herbicide, snail bait, and broken glass as well as poop!).
- You can try booby-trapping the poop in the backyard with things like Tabasco sauce and lemon juice, but this seems like a great deal of (rather disgusting) trouble to go to when you could just pick the poop up. In addition to the natural deterrent of having to repeatedly handle specimens of dog turds, reports of success from this technique are pretty erratic – in most cases, it seems that a dog bent on coprophagy isn’t going to be put off by a brief burning sensation in his mouth.
- There are substances you can buy from pet stores and vet clinics which, when put into the dog’s food (or the food of the household pet whose poop he’s eating) makes the poop smell and taste very unappealing to dogs. One such product is called “For-Bid.”
- You can experiment with adding natural deterrents – such as a few tablespoonfuls of canned pumpkin or pineapple, or fresh grated zucchini – to your dog’s meals. Again, anecdotal evidence suggests that most dogs will readily eat these substances, but that their presence in poop makes it unpalatable.