# Acana switch and eating poop



## blazeandcooper (Apr 10, 2013)

Hi everyone!

I've read some posts on the forum, but this is my first time actually posting. I have a concern about my dog's health and wondered if any of you could help. 

My two dogs (small poodle mixes) were on a Nature's Variety Instinct rabbit and Primal raw. They would get one meal of Primal in the morning and NV kibble at night. They were healthy and had high energy, but their poop was never solid and Blaze would get random cases of diarrhea. They were on this combination for about four months. 

Suspecting the NV kibble as the culprit, I switched them to Acana Ranchlands at the end of my NV bag. They had no issues with the transition and their poop looked great right away. Blaze has had no diarrhea. They still get the Primal raw in the morning and Acana kibble at night. 

My concern is that two weeks into the change, Blaze (1 year old) is suddenly eating poop. He has never done this before. I live in an apartment and take them out on leash. If another dog owner doesn't pick up their dog's poop or he finds some at the dog park, he stops and tries to eat it. I got more concerned today when I found him in the bedroom eating his own poop. He never has accidents inside so this was rare. I'm not sure if he was hiding so he could eat his own poop or if he was trying to hide his accident. 

Other than the poop eating, he is his same old self. We go to the dog park or go on walks 5-6 days a week and his energy level has remained the same. 

He is lean and gets a lot of exercise. I think I will start off by giving him more food and see if that helps. Maybe he is hungry? I feed him the amounts guided on the food bag. If that does not help, should I take him to the vet? Change his food? Anything else I can try? 

Thanks for any help!


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

Hello and welcome.

I have heard before of dogs starting to eat poop when transitioned to a new food. Different theories on why that happens: Some say the dog is not totally digesting and utilizing the new food yet and so eats poop to make up for the nutrients. Longer time on the new food may help in that regard. Another possibility is sometimes a dog is not getting the same number of calories with the new food if the owner hasn't calculated out the difference. The NV Instinct Rabbit has 482 kcal/cup while the Acana Ranchland has 422 kcal/cup; so that's a 60 calorie difference. Also, the NV has a high fat of 22% compared to the Acana's 17% - perhaps that makes a difference.

All that said, first I'd figure out how many calories you're feeding on the new food compared to the old food to determine if you need to feed more. If you need to feed a little more, that might take care of the problem. And maybe the higher fat content in the NV kept him feeling full longer. It certainly had more omega 3s in it. You could always try adding an omega 3 oil supplement.

It can be a guessing game sometimes on what will work. It sounds like Blaze is otherwise very healthy though.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

So many theories as PDXdogmom said. One is that the stool still have undigested protein and starch and some dogs just can't help themselves when they smell food, any "food" That's why some also go after leather items, proteins nom nom, indigestible of course.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

I don't know how you react when he does it, but I do find (at least at the daycare I work at) the bigger deal you make out of it the quicker they are to take a bite and run. We have a couple of real die hard poop eaters.


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