The American Beagler Forum

I asked this question in one of the recent threads but it is important enough to me to give it its own space. Most puppies and dogs I have owned have a tendency to eat any form of carrion or sh-t they might find in the field. Most, puppies especially, will go out of their way to seek it out and eat it. There are many parasites and diseases that can be picked up in this way. I try to break them of the habit and feed them only rabbit tracks but the best way is simply to get rid of the ones that do and keep only the ones that don't. Obviously, this is a small pool to choose from

Since dogs are creatures of repetitive training, it seems to me that if you only feed dry dog food and discourage meat eating, it is easier to break this trait. If you feed raw meat from birth, they would seem to be more likely to eat it while in the field. If you feed raw eggs, they will just love bird eggs, duck eggs, pheasant eggs and any other wild bird eggs they may run into. There are dead deer all over in my area and the coyotes, possums, coons, etc. love it just as much as the beagles. Good breeding grounds for distemper, hepatitis and many other things dogs are susceptible to.

This is a serious issue to me. Where is my thinking become illogic?

Meat is irresistible. Simple to me when meat or kibble are offered watch the reaction seems to be a wonderful advertisement for offal.Maybe electricity will work but I doubt it. Luck of the irish to ya.

AB, I use electricity every time I see a pup sniffing something he should not be sniffing. Brought one in tonight that is 6 months old. He did a great job on the rabbit but his shock collar had indescribable offal on it. Made me want to puke. Course, he might roll in that also.

Am I the only person with this problem or the only one who sees it as a problem? I thought I would have had more solutions by now

Bob

My guess is, it is a primal instinct linking back to the wild.

When I was a boy, I wore the coveralls I fed the cows in, hunting deer. Made sure I stepped in a flat paddy with both shoes.
What worked out was, the deer felt less threatened by a 2 legged cow than they did a boy with a gun...

Good luck on your venture to "clean up their act"...

I kick my dogs away from anything I see them eating while we're out in the field but in my opinion that's not the problem.........the problem is when you can't see them. They get into more crap than we will probably ever realize and unless you plan on running with your dogs the entire time (which I know I can't) how can you police it effectively??? The answer is you can't and the few times we do catch them in the act isn't going to win over their instincts to eat that kind of junk when you're not around to stop it. Plus, while I understand your thoughts on the parasites and diseases IMO it's part of being a dog. We medicate them with preventatives and do the best we can but in the end they are gonna do what they are gonna do........they are of course still an animal and it's what they do. I had a house dog that never got any scraps, she always ate dry kibble once she was old enough and weened. She also never left our yard no matter what........but guess what else, if there was ever any kind of road kill right in front of our house you can bet your last dollar she was out there chewing on it until I took it away. There like kids, they don't understand what is good or bad for them and as soon as you turn your back they're gonna try it again.

bucks better beagles wrote:I asked this question in one of the recent threads but it is important enough to me to give it its own space. Most puppies and dogs I have owned have a tendency to eat any form of carrion or sh-t they might find in the field. Most, puppies especially, will go out of their way to seek it out and eat it. There are many parasites and diseases that can be picked up in this way. I try to break them of the habit and feed them only rabbit tracks but the best way is simply to get rid of the ones that do and keep only the ones that don't. Obviously, this is a small pool to choose from

Since dogs are creatures of repetitive training, it seems to me that if you only feed dry dog food and discourage meat eating, it is easier to break this trait. If you feed raw meat from birth, they would seem to be more likely to eat it while in the field. If you feed raw eggs, they will just love bird eggs, duck eggs, pheasant eggs and any other wild bird eggs they may run into. There are dead deer all over in my area and the coyotes, possums, coons, etc. love it just as much as the beagles. Good breeding grounds for distemper, hepatitis and many other things dogs are susceptible to.

This is a serious issue to me. Where is my thinking become illogic?

let me ask a question, what is the main ingreident in most dry kibble? im pretty sure its meat.

It wold seem from the responses that feeding meat or not feeding meat has no influence on this behavior described.

I would say that it has zero influence. I also think the main ingredient in MOST dry kibble is corn, wheat, or some other grain not meat.

i use to have a nice grade copper nose male we left ryans i slipped a big piece of prime rib out to ole copper got home 2 hours later the prime rib was still there he wouldnt touch it back then if it wasnt JOY he wouldnt touch it why is this