changing dog food advise PLEEEEASE!!!

[subterraneanalien]

Hi, I have an 11 month old flat coat retriever bitch. Adorable in so many ways, except one, she eats her own poo. I know, yuck. She is in good condition and the vet gave her the thumbs up at her recent general check up. However I am aware that one reason for her coprophagia might be she's not getting the nutrients she needs in her food. (The vet talked about it in terms of it being a bad habit she's got into, which I think is also valid).

Her weight is 24kg and she gets 500g of feed in two portions a day (according to the directions on the packaging for her breed size and weight). She is on Chudleys complete dry puppy food at the moment and has been since weened. It is the food her breeder (and she is a pedigree) uses for all her puppies and then she moves them on to Chudlleys adult dry food, which is what I planned to do imminently as she is coming up to one year old.

I have been on to the allaboutdogfood website to compare foods and components and have been surprised to see that the protein element of her current food compares well (only a little lower) to the other brands I have been advised to look at. This confuses me because I understood that she probably needed a much higher protein content.

The Chudleys puppy food is 28% protein.
Chudleys Performance for adult dogs is the same.
Millies Wolfheart Riverside Mix is 30%.
Canagan is 33%.

Cost is an issue. I think I've worked out roughly that I pay 72p daily at present, Chudleys adult would be 54p ???
Millies £1.28
Canagan £1.90

Any experience or advise, both on a decent complete dry food for my breed and also the coprophagia? Thanks.

[BiteyShark]

How much meat content does it contain?

I typically feed my dog food 60-70% named meat or fish which obviously makes up a lot of the protein content.

[Ihaventgottimeforthis]

Would you consider wet/raw feeding as an alternative to dry?

Also, if it is a habit she has formed, can you break it by forming a stronger routine around going for a poo - like keeping her on lead until she has done a poo, then it's easier to prevent her eating it?
I know it's easier said than done, our first dog when I was young, I genuinely think I only saw her poo about a dozen times in her whole life, she hated being watched!

[subterraneanalien]

I'd like to keep to dry food and keep things clean and simple Ihaventgottimeforthis !! But I did move onto wet food with my previous dog because he was poorly, so it's not impossible. I wanted to limit the possibilities though because there is SO MUCH OUT THERE!!!!

When she does her morning poo in the garden I hover nearby and lure her away and then clear it up. She doesn't try and eat it every time. Usually out on a walk she doesn't bother because she is distracted by the big wide world, but occasionally she will. We just keep vigilant.

BiteyShark, I will look at the meet content and that might help clarify, thanks.

[Thedeadwood]

I would personally say Chudleys is a pretty poor dry food (all about dog food gives the puppy version only a nutritional value of 63%). It's a poor percentage of actual meat and is bulked out by wheat and grain.
I would definitely be upgrading her diet for many reasons and you might well find it helps with her poo eating.
I personally would recommend Orijen or Eden or Millies or even AATU. However, as one would expect, if you don't want to pay much, you won't get good quality. Applaws would be worth trying - it is a little bit cheaper than the others. Can you really not afford a better food for her?

Is it only her poo she wants to eat? Does she do it the second she poos?

[subterraneanalien]

Thank you Thedeadwood I'll take another look. I can afford to pay more, it's just quite a big jump with some of them and not much in between. Of course it's true - you get what you pay for, I know. Thanks.

[WhatAStupidIdea]

We use Orijen for our ddogs and I highly recommend it. Ours have been much better since we changed - shinier coats, less smelly all round (especially their breath), better poo, and they wolf their meals down.

I’ll copy and paste a comment from the other day with regards to what worked for us re eating poo:

We had a German shepherd who would eat his own poo (and then more often than not, vomit it up on my carpet 🤮), what worked for us was only toileting him on the lead in the garden, immediately walking him away and to his bed when he’d finished, saying ‘all done’ when he was there and giving him his favourite treats (small piece of warm chicken or similar and an antler) while we immediately cleaned it up. Before long we could just say ‘all done’ when he’d finished his business and he’d take himself off to his bed and await a treat without even looking at his poo. It’s about breaking the habit usually, but do look at her food as poor nutrition can also be a cause of coprophagia. Sympathies there though, it’s gross.

[Rinsefirst]

Great tip whatastupid. I’m in the camp that you set your budget and you do your best. I think there is a lot of snobbery around dog food and 72p is a decent daily amount.

[DogInATent]

There's an awful amount of snobbery around dog food. And that website just fuels it.

Don't second guess the vet just because you've read about nutrients online. If the vet suggests it's a bad habit that needs to be broken, work with that first.

[BiteyShark]

I like that website because it 'does' let you search using cost.

OP forthglade might be another to look at which is a reasonable meat content and the price isn't too bad either.

Personally I use the scores to weed out the very cheap fillers then I check the ingredients but that's because if I feed my dog 60-70% meats (wet) I can swop around brands and flavours every single day with no issues even with a dog having a stomach condition.

[subterraneanalien]

Thanks All. After deliberation and even closer scrutiny of the allaboutdogfood comaprison website, I am going to go with the brand I used with my previous dog, Gelerts, and I've found a variety that will suit my current dog and scores 83%, is within my cost scale and my local independent pet store stocks it, so happy all round! Now I just need to see if my dog likes it, otherwise it'll be back to the drawing board! Thanks again for your thoughts.