a couple of questions

[chris_NE]

Murphy has came on leaps and bounds he's now a year old. we've been working hard with him with his barking and jumping up on people and kitchen furniture but we've still got a couple of issues.

at the minute i cannot get him to eat his food unless its got chicken gravy on, we've tried leaving him to graze, removing his food after a certain period of time, and also putting him in his cage and leaving him for a little while, but he still will not eat just his dry food.

also he's been eating snails (hunting them out the garden) and eating his own poo but only in the garden. for the snails i have tired collecting them up, putting tobasco source to put him off (he now really likes tobasco source) we've have tried mustard and special sprays but he still eats them. now were getting the garden changed so theres gunna be no little recesses for the snails to hide.

anyone else getting similar issues, or have gone through this. any advice would be much appreciated.

[Cockertime Blues]

HI Chris, welcome to COL.

I'm no expert, but there are lots on COL who'll be along to help you.

Meantime, I'd say it's just your dog's preference for not wanting plain old dried food.  What dried food is he on?  I always add warm water to our dogs' dried food, and mix in a bit of Butchers Tripe, or real meat I've cooked, or sardines or something.  What do you mean by "chicken gravy"?  If it's chicken Bisto, then it's probably got too many additives and salt, but if it's "real chicken gravy" with flour as a thickener, then I can't see there'd be anything wrong with it.  Your dog probably just thinks dried food on its own is a bit boring?

Regarding snails, I think I'd rather my dogs just ate snails now and again but definitely without the tabasco.  Humans eat snails.  I believe some dogs do eat their own poo, from what I've read on COL. although our dogs never have.  Perhaps it's just a phase or perhaps he's not getting everything he needs from the food he's given?

[Sue E]

We add a spoonful of Butchers dogfood in with Ozzy's dry food and it works a treat.  If we don't put it in he tends not to eat all his food, sometimes just looks at me as if to say "wheres the other stuff??".  Helps keep his poop nice and firm too! 

I think most dogs go for snails, we've not got many at the moment, but when there are a few I have to do a sweep of the garden and remove them all before I can let him out on his own.  I'm always scared of him getting lungworm (??) by eating snails. 

[JennyBee]

Snails can carry lungworm so I'd definitely keep trying to discourage him from eating them . Brodie is on Burns dry food but gets a couple of spoonfuls of James Wellbeloved wet food mixed in with every meal

[bracken]

My retrievers have had the odd spoonful off wet food mixed with kibble for yrs, they are not fussy eaters but will quickly eat with just one spoonful mixed in with kibble   i see no harm if they tuck in happily  

2 of my 4 cockers are poo eaters I have to watch carefully and pick up straight away when possible, its such a nasty habit  

Snail eating is abit worrying, as can make them so poorly  

[chris_NE]

he's had a bit of everything mixed in with his meal. from soup to pasta. he's on wagg food for working dogs. he'll eat his meal aslong as its got got something on it.
we get the big brown eyes when he looks at just his meal.

we havent found a snail for a couple of days and i dont think hes ate any on the night time, but yeah they can get lungworm fomr eating snails which is a major worry. mebyes it is a phase.

[Karma]

If he likes something with his kibble, why not get a wet dog food pouch and pop a little of that on... that way you know it's nutritionally good for a dog (soups, gravy etc can have high salt levels, which can cause major problems for dogs in the long term...) and he may be happier to eat it! 

Honey loved to eat snails when she was young... we discouraged her but obviously couldn't watch her every move... she grew out of it by the time she was about 18 months, so as long as he's not obsessively eating them, he may grow out of it...