Saturday, February 09, 2008

Mojo has a problem


Mojo is the love of my life. His tail is always wagging, he's very snuggly, he never forgets anyone he's ever met, he's got a protective bark and he is the best dog anyone could ever have. He has some faults, which we've pretty much nipped in the bud but recently he's developed a horrible problem. He has Coprophagia, which in regular terms means he eats shudder poop. At first we noticed that he smelled suspiciously like cat litter, and I even found the litter crusted to his lip. This problem was easy to solve: put the dome on the litter box and turned it around so that the cat can enter easily by crawling over and then entering. I thought the problem was over. Then one day about 3 weeks ago I came home to a horrible smell, and L washing the floor in our living room. Mojo had vomited, and unfortunately what came up was poop. It smelled pretty bad. Really, really bad.

We then went on vacation and while he was with my brother during that time, he never was alone and not on the lead when they went outside. Here at home, I had become lax about picking up the poop because of the snow, but I've been out scooping since we came back. I initially thought the best solution for Mo's problem would be to put a muzzle on him when outside, but he discovered that he could use that as a kind of scoop, and all I got was the aggravation of him running in with crap all over his nose. Nice.

I'm trying putting meat tenderizer in their food, which apparently makes the waste taste bad. I've read pureed pumpkin in their food also helps deter them on the other end.

I've read that Coprophagia is natural, as much as that repulses us humans. Sometimes it is brought on by a deficiency in the dog's diet, or a change in their food. Sometimes it is behavioral. It makes me feel horrible how much it aggravates me, especially because I love that dog so much.

In other crappy news, our Fresh Air Fund kid is back on the scene. He called us no less than 15 times during the 11 days we were in FL. He called 7 times on Wednesday, 2 Thursday, and twice last night. The last call last night was almost 10 o'clock. Sometimes I answer, sometimes I don't. I was straight with him that we would not be doing the program. I suppose talking to his mother might stop the calls, but she never seems to be around. In fact, I think his older siblings provide daycare. I know it's hard for them. He tells us that he loves us and that he wants to move to Maine and have us become our parents. I snort when he says this, because I've been suckered by his manipulation once before. His behavior while he is here never has matched his adoration on the phone. He loves playing people. I can see this now. The grass is always greener.

Have a happy weekend. More snow is coming.

4 comments:

Malathionman said...

"I'm trying putting meat tenderizer in their food, which apparently makes the waste taste bad." Right, it tastes so good in the first place.

Don't you love getting that big poopy kiss before you realize what he has eaten?

Paul Saxton said...

Well, your description of Mojo's new eating habits has fair turned my stomach!

Hope all's good otherwise.

Paul x

White Hot Magik said...

We got a puppy today, I hope he doesn't develop this habit. So what is a Fresh Air Fund kid?

Hyperher said...

Hi Paul. Nice to hear from you. You can see my dilemma with the dog. Disgusting, but obviously tolerated because of love.

Leucantha, the Fresh Air Fund is a program which strives to place inner city kids from NYC in the country during the summer. The trips last anywhere from 9 days to 2-6 weeks. Our child ended up to be a bit of a challenge. We've had him for 2 years.