Dogs???

Maybe its a lab thing, mine did that too. I finally put a specific garbage can in the garage that all dirty diapers go in so that I don't run into that anymore

One of the things i was told, was that they are trying to protect the baby by getting rid of evidence. In the wild, many animals eat the feces of their young as to leave no evidence of them being there. As for dirty diapers, i use the diaper champ, and i put he poop in the toilet before i even close it up. No stinky. The only time i put it in the garbage can, in the garage in a plastic bag, is if it is the yucky, runny, watery poop. I get many compliments on how my daughter's room does not smell like a dirty diaper. Then you can save the plastic bags, and the environment! Good luck to you!

Probably the same reason they will eat their own vomit, roll around in waste and sniff embarrassing places during awkward times of the month.

I think that's part of their pack instinct. They believe they need to keep their home clean. They know it's poo. They just don't like it in the house.

Kristie,

I am not sure about that either. I have a 1 yr old lab that likes underwear, and has at one time or another gotten ahold of one of my girls dirty underwear after they had an accident. She also tries to eat the goose poop outside, and used tampons out of the garbage. Totally gross.

I don't know, but my mom had a dog that would eat the poo out of the litter box and used sanitary napkins. And my sister's dog LOVES the used sanitary napkins.

And to think, people let them lick their faces. YUK!

They are just nasty creatures. Not my favorite animal, that's for sure.

I am studying to be a vet tech and have worked in the field since '01. This is perfectly normal behavior for a dog. They do not know any better. They find something interesting and they get into it. Dogs are very curious. If you can try to keep the trash out of their reach. Dogs like to eat nasty things and sometimes they can get caught in their intestines and cause lots of problems. I have seen balls, rocks, underwear, various toys and socks surgically removed from the intestines. I remember one time someone called about their dog eating their used tampons.
Good Luck!

It depends on the breed of dog, but mine are very attracted to strong smells and sometimes that is very unappetizing. It's the same principal as dogs on a walk having to stop and smell other dogs' poop and pee - it's interesting to them, they learn about who was there before them and it once was food!! I have a mized breed who is picky about what he eats, but my Lab eats anything she can get her mouth on. So keep those diapers secure and you should be o.k.

I just saw this nature presentation last weekend with my kids, about Gross Animal Adaptations. They talked about how in the wild some animals eat poop, especially in the winter when food is scarce in the woods - apparently it has good nutrients in it! (they didn't talk about human feces, but maybe it's the same concept?)

I wonder the same thing!!!!! My dog (Cocker Spaniel) is picky when it comes to food my son drops on the floor. He will not eat noodles, veggies etc. Yet he loves baby poop and spit up. He loves to drink out of the toilet although he has fresh water.

We live on a farm, and poopy diapers isn't the only thing they eat, I was always told it's something missing in their diets, my dog also gets a good food and is well taken care of but that doesn't seem to matter, he still eats the manuer in the barn or anything dead he can find for that matter. I'd just try to make it harder for them to get ahold of the diapers if you can, have a seperate diaper pail with a locking lid or even take them out to the trash bins and not putting them in the trash pail.

If I knew the answer to that one, believe me - I'd be packaging it, marketing it, selling it and making a fortune!!!! (sorry, couldn't resist... no answer, but that's just a disgusting thing dogs do! Yuck!
J.

Recently there was a story in the news about how a father left his infant son unattended and asleep, and a dachsund ate through the dirty diaper the baby was wearing and ended up chewing off the baby's genitals. (The parent was charged with negligence.)

Please - DO NOT leave children near animals unattended!

Hi Kristi,
Dogs as you know are a ancestor of the wolf. It is a natural instinct for a predator to eat the stool of their young to protect them from other predators. Even with dogs being 15,000 generations out of the wild this is a very strong natural instinct which cannot be "bred" out of them. Your dog feels that he needs to protect the new baby in the house. You shouldn't be grossed out from him doing this you should feel good about the fact that your dog has adapted very well to a new "pack member". I have two dogs, three when we had children. My girls are two and three. Many a poopy diaper has been found ripped to shreds on the floor with the poop gone. Yuck I know! So I save all my plastic bags from shopping and I have a bucket outside that clamps shut. I would change a diaper, put it in the bag and out the door. It just became a habit after awhile and after many clean ups. Hope this helps you understand your dogs behavior better.
warm wishes,
Shelly

just taking a stab at this one. my dog use to eat poo. until i changed her food. their is some nutrient or something that your dog is not getting in its food. hope this helps.

My mother in-law's dog eats its own poop. My advice is don't try to figure out why your dog is eating the diapers, just make them unreachable. Get a Diaper Champ. It is impossible for my dog to get into. Believe me, the Diaper Champ is not perfect. We have to take out the bag every day because it does get stinky, but we never have to worry about our dog exploring the dirty diapers. Good luck!

I feel your pain! My dog does the exact same thing. I run a home daycare, so there are a lot of diapers!!! I now throw them into a can in the garage! She also eats her own poop outside. I heard its because they are low in vitamins or nutrients but I had her tested, no such luck! She just likes it I think! Misery loves company! Good luck!

Believe it or not, he is trying to clean his house. I don't remember where I got this information but: in the wild, when an animal has babies they have to eat the waste from the babies in the nest, den, whatever to keep the area clean. So when you have poopy diapers in your home that your animal smells- it wants to get rid of it. My Bichon is a perfect pet EXCEPT she does get into the cat box and drag out feces and gets into the bathroom trash, especially when it is that time of month. YUK Let's see if any vets out there confirm my belief :-)

I know how you feel, I have 2 boxers & a pug and I was out, but my husband was home and one of them got my sons diaper and eat it all..it's gross!

I originally heard it was a vitamin definciency, however upon doing some serious research found that it is not at all the case. Dogs, It's not a breed thing its all of them, have a natural instinct to try to mask their scent in order to hunt. Thus the stinkier it is, the more they want to get into it. It's not just about eating it, it's about geting the new scent on themselves. It can also be related to a certain amount of jealousy. You are attentive to those dirty diapers, so if the dog smells like the diaper, maybe you'll pay attention to them. Dogs and kids can be so instinctually alike, i.e: bad behavior=attention=good idea. Easiest lesson to learn, hardest to break. Our dog used to look for the stinkiest diaper tear into it and roll around in it and then hide. The cleanup was sooooooo awful, because not only did we need to clean the scene of the crime and the animal, we also had to clean each place she traveled to. Try making sure that all stinky diapers are stored in a place where the dog can't get to them. You may just need to be vigilant in keeping the lid tightly shut on the garbage can, and maybe not allowing the dog in the garage.

From my experience labs and beagles are bad for that. The family beagle use to dig through the cat box and eat the cat turds. My aunts beagle would go in the back yard and eat his own droppings if my aunt didn't keep them picked up. It would make me absolutely sick. I've heard that it's a deficiency in their diet. Then I've heard it is a defense mechanism to get rid of smells that can attract enemies....Not sure I believe either one. Kinda just think some dogs are just gross. I've not heard of all of them doing this thing.

The best thing is to secure the diapers so he can't get them. Maybe tiny can for under the sink and put a child proof lock on the door so he can't get to them. Not sure how you can break an animal of that kind of behavior. Maybe you could douse each diaper with a little tabasco...might harm the dog though. Who knows. Some bitter apple spray on the diapers before you dispose of them????

My best friend had a dachsund that would eat the crotch out of my underwear if I left them anywhere she could find them. I lost about three pair to her. It would almost make me gag....then she also ate dryer sheets and would chew holes in sweaters. So i guess it could be worse. :)

I am not a vet, but for some reason it is like a dogs nature to eat poop. I don't know why, but sometimes dogs will eat their own and if there is more than one dog they may eat eachothers. It is gross. My dog used to do that with my last sons diapers. My husband and I started putting the diapers in a plastic bag and tossing them in the trash outside so the dog wouldn't get into the diapers. It is a pain, but that is the only thing we found that worked.

Hi Kristie,

My name is G. and I am not a vet but I have raised many dogs and have 3 children.The dirty diapers although it is gross and disgusting to us. To a dog it is just recycled food. They are known for eating poop diapers and I have never seen a dog that didn't. My suggestion is to put a seperate trash bin either in a container with a lid or maybe in the garage if you have one where the dog can't get to it. That is the only thing I know to do. Hope this helps. G.

HA! I have a 3 year old pain-in-the-rear daschund/terrier mix and he loves poopy diapers. He tries to get one every chance he gets. It's so gross. It must be a dog thing.

I went to school for animal science and a lot of times its a basic smell situation. Many animals practice copography and even though your dog may be getting enough food etc. it could be a number of things. The same thing with dogs eating grass. One thing to keep in mind. We have two diaper genies and we put all of our diapers in the diaper genie. sometimes we forget because we are doing other things and needless to say we had a situation this week where our dog got into a shirt that had poop on it and a diaper. One of the items is currently in our dogs stomach and in the past he has passed them with no problems. This one is not so easy and we walked away with spending over 500.00 at the vet. We are currently trying to get him to pass whatever it is that is 4-5 inches in diameter in his stomach curently. Which has allowed for diarhea etc. Plus, our lab is 12 and an old man but still acts like he's 5. We feed him an incredible brand of dog food that I personally tested while I was in school and he has been on it for almost 10 years. Dogs will be dogs. pay the extra 30.00 to get a diaper genie and try to remember to throw the diaper in it and you won't be in our current situation. If he doesnt pass this he will need to go in for surgery. So wish us luck. I have never studied poop more!!!

Most dogs will eat any poo they can get. Mine loves cat poo. My advice to you is get a garbage can with a tight fitting lid. I've had several dogs and they all eat it. If your dogs get outside they are probably eating it and you didn't realize it. SORRY

My last dog (also a Lab) had a similar nasty habit, but she snacked on the canine variety. I got a lot of theories from different vets/friends/family as to the cause, but the end result was that in order to stop her, I had to remove (immediately) any sources, and when she was out in the community, keep her on a leash with hawkeye supervision. Nothing else worked. Some people had a theory that dogs who do this are lacking something in their diet, but in the case of my pooch, I hate to say that she seemed to just like it. All I can suggest is that maybe you put the garbage can on a counter or someplace higher up where you can still reach it, but the dog can't. Good luck!

Hey Kristie,

My dogs did the same thing. I found this web site and this is what it stated...

Many animals eat poop on a regular basis. These include rabbits, rodents, gorillas, many insects such as dung beetles and flies, and yes, dogs. (Keep that in mind the next time a dog wants to lick you!) Herbivores such as rabbits and rodents eat their own poop because their diet of plants is hard to digest efficiently, and they have to make two passes at it to get everything out of the meal. This is equivalent to a cow chewing its cud, only cows are able to re-eat their food without having to poop it out first. Another reason why animals eat poop is that poop contains vitamins produced by their intestinal bacteria. The animal is unable to absorb the vitamins through the intestinal wall, but can get at them by eating the poop. Another reason that animals such as dogs and flies eat poop is that poop contains a certain amount of protein. Dogs are particularly fond of cat poop because cat poop is high in protein. I had a friend with a dog and a cat, and he never had to clean the kitty litter. The dog took care of it.

http://www.heptune.com/poop.html

Hi Kristi,

I have a 'GROSSER' one. My 10 year lab tries to get to my dirty maxi pads.....I could die. It's so disgusting. She also rolls around in something in the back yard. It's not bunny poop, cat poop, squirrel, I think it's a possum. It is the WORST smell ever. She's not allowed to be in the yard alone. I don't trust her. She also used to eat my mom's dogs poop. That I heard there are nutrients in there.

These Labs....they get more mental with age :o)

I'd get a diaper genie, but personally, that thing doesn't hide the smell of babies stinky diapers.