Why does my dog eat tortoise feces?

[Ales]

Hey all

I'm not sure if this happens to other people with leopard tortoises but my dog(german shepherd) is constantly eating my tortoises feces.

She(the dog) prefers the feces from the one tortoises that only eats grass and weeds,the others eat leaves,fruit,veggies...like most tortoises.

Is there anything in the feces that is different from normal grass that dogs eat when they sick,because the feces are pretty much wet balls of grass?

The dogs breath seriously stinks when she eats the feces,and I cant let her in the house.
Also,can dogs get salmonella? as I know it passes through the feces.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[Thehunter]

lol hahahahahahahaheehehehehe

[Bushviper]

I have the same problem. If you find the feces then sprinkle them with tabasco sauce. I have no idea why they do it either.

[MISA]

I am posting this reply on behalf of The Pet shrink:

The condition is called coprophagia and most dogs find goose poop, cow dung and cat scat and even human excreta absolutely irresistible ... it's sort of like pudding to them! So I guess tortoise droppings are also considered a delicacy.

Even more yuk, some dogs eat their own, or other dogs faeces - it's probably the recycled protein they are after.

Oh yes, and most dogs eat poo to get the taste of processed pellets out of their mouth!

[Kevin Lancaster]

Boy am I glad I read this thread BEFORE lunch time.....

[herpitologica]

Dogs are scavengers and will eat just about anything if the oppurtunity arises.Think of ferral dogs or township dogs eating habits.My dogs on the farm eat two well balanced meals a day including leftovers at night.They still go for chicken,goat,sheep and goose poop as though they've never been fed.They seem to use the cow patts as a skin and coat toner just to drive my wife over the edge.I think as BV said,any kind of chilli,pepper based sauce will get it through pretty fast that it isnt edible.

[CarlaSmit87]

My dogs loooove cat food, both before and after the cat have eaten it Blegh!

[Ales]

Glad to see my dog is "normal".

I will definately try the tabasco sauce!

Thanks all

[Nineve]

Glad to see my dog is "normal".

I will definately try the tabasco sauce!

Thanks all

Try to mix extra raw fat in with the dog pellets, that seems to help in most cases

If I may ask which breed is your dog?

[Ales]

but my dog(german shepherd) is

[boing]

My labrador adores going up to visit the pony and snacking on his faeces while up there! I can always tell when he has done it because his breath STINKS!! I have noticed that he does it less if my landlords german shepherd is outside, probably because they spend so much time playing they forget about the delicacies awaiting them at the pony camp!!

[Zander Marais]

Haha it's weird because I used to have the exact opposite problem... the tortoise was eating the dog's feces.

[Ales]

Haha it's weird because I used to have the exact opposite problem... the tortoise was eating the dog's feces.

That often happens with wild tortoises,they eat hyena,lion,leopard...feces,to get the calcium from the bones that were eaten.

I haven't seen my tortoises doing it but I have a friend that has seen his tortoise eating the dog feces.