Eating the Poop

[hershey04]

guys, help me out.. what do i do about my 18 week old pit bull puppy eating her poopy?? she probably ate her poopy 5 to 6 times already i guess when i'm not looking she just does it and im like "NO!!" so like how do i get her to stop?? is she not getting the nutrients she needs?? cuz we feed her enough. i just dont know whats up. will it go away with age?? help me out!!!
-Hershey04

[kazuo]

Here are some links I found from a google search.

After a brief glance, the first link seemed to be pretty informative.

http://www.pooponastick.net/pages/index/why%20dogs%20eat%20poop.htm

http://dogs.about.com/cs/behaviorissues/f/coprophagia.htm

Hope that helps

[aliwishus]

From what I've read, often the only really effective way to deal with poop-eating is to pick it up before eating happens. Scolding likely won't work, but you could teach a leave it (just be sure to pick it up once the dog complies with leave it). Here is an article on how to teach leave it using clicker training:

http://www.clickersolutions.com/article ... eaveit.htm

-ali

[jmann4]

One one of my dogs does this (Angel) but not her poop, other dogs and cat poop. I've never really stopped her from doing by saying no.

I did something similar to a leave it command and it works quite well. Of course there's the odd time here and there where she gets in that poop eating mood and I don't catch her until it's half way down.

What I suggest is be more aware of her habits before she goes poopy mouth on you. See how she acts, if you can catch that then you can stop it before it happens by using a redirection to something else.

[Amy]

We've had really good luck, with puppies especially, with using a probiotic mix to help stop this. Or adding yogurt to their food. Some of the volunteers in the rescue that I'm in have added pineapple or adolph's meat tenderizer also and had luck with that.

That said, I have a boston terrier that has always eaten poop, but he has GI issues, so we know why and we're working at getting them resolved. My dogs who don't normally eat poop will in the winter too....

[HugABull1]

That's interesting about the probiotic! Now that you mention it, my crew all started eating one another's poop when I left the yogurt out of their mash for a while (I feed BARF). Now that the yogurt's back in their definitely snacking less on eachother's "leftovers". Thank goodness. Poop eating is soooo gross! And of course they want to lick my face after

[raiyo]

Anyone got any other tips on this poop eatting problem? I tried used meat tenderizer with no luck. My dog is deaf so I cant use the leave it. He is only 12 weeks old. When you guys are talking about yogurt, what flavor, brand, and all that good info? Will it work with dry food?

[Amy]

I use vanilla yogurt, buy it in the large tubs. Yes, it would work with dry food, makes them want to eat it more. Winter is a hard time of the year, almost all my dogs like poop sicles

Or go to the health food store and buy a probiotic blend. I use one called PB 8, it's in capsule form, so I open the capsule and sprinkle it on. I've had really great luck with this and pups who will turn around and eat their own poop. What probiotics do is help you to digest your food better, so you are using your food better and your stomach doesn't get upset during digestion. I used to have a lot of stomach issues, but have been on probiotics for years now and can finally eat without pain all of the time. I was one of those always on antibiotics kids, so my gut was probably totally stripped of good bacteria that aids in digestion.

I've also heard of people buying the HOTTEST hot sauce you can find, pouring it on and then letting the dog eat it, they vomit quite a bit, but may be reluctant to eat poop again. Don't let him see you do it though.

Or adding ground up pineapple to the food.

My boston terrier has big time gut issues and I've been unable to curb his poop desires. But am working with a holistic vet now on getting him well again, so maybe....

[raiyo]

Thx Amy, you gave me tons of info that I can try out, heheh. Where do you buy a large tubs of yogurt? I'll give the pill a try before going with the yogurt. I don't want Kozmo to have white foam on the side of his mouth, heheh. Might give me the wrong signal, OMG! heheh. The hot sause part I love the most. I use to do that to my sister's kid when I was very young. They wanted to eat my food when I didn't want to share. I place a who bunch of black pepper and they tried it and never did ever since.

[turtle]

I feed my dog yogurt because it is good for her digestion, I have done so for about a year now and she is in great health. She does not eat poop and I did not know that yogurt would help curb this... interesting.

I was told to get the Plain Yogurt not the Vanilla since the vanilla has sugar in it. I buy it at the grocery store in a big tub, I think it's about 2 pounds. It's only about $1.50 for the Plain yogurt.

She gets a couple spoonfulls each day just in her bowl and licks it up. You can also put it in the dry food. Mine does not get any white foam on her mouth, she just licks it up quickly as a treat.

[raiyo]

Call me stupid, but what is a health food store? I mean, could you give me names of the stores in your area? I asked around and no one knows what a health food store is. I tell them I want to buy this and that. All I get is, "huh, what is that?"

[Amy]

Do you have a phone book? They are listed under Health and Diet Food Products-Retail in my phone book. GNC is a chain around here, not sure if they are nation wide. I go to a locally owned one, Whole Foods is another chain.

There are also tons of them online. Something like this....it's good to have bifidium and acidophilis both....
http://www13.netrition.com/super_acidophilus_page.html

I use PB8 for myself and the dogs if they need it http://www.thebetterhealthstore.com/Gro ... ngs%20desc

Or just try yogurt and see if you get the result you want from it, if not, then maybe order a probiotic. For his size, I would quarter the dosage on the bottle.

[raiyo]

Amy, is this the PB8 that you are using and having luck with? I wanna try stuff that worked on others before I jump into another brand. Do you use it on every meal or just one a day? I'll stop by at GNC tomorrow and see if they carry it in the store. I checked up there site and nothing came up.

http://www.thebetterhealthstore.com/Ite ... 2791700112

[Amy]

Yep, that is it. It has 8 probiotics, you can see if GNC carries something close to it if they don't carry it. Maybe print off the sheet so they can see what it is.

[raiyo]

Grrrr.... after a week or so feeding Kozmo the PB8 and yogurt I had some luck. He will poop and leave it. I usually pick it up in a few minutes. Before he'll poop and turn around and have a snack. I found out just today if it sits there long enough, it's lunch time. I was testing him to see if he'll eat it. So I lefted it there after he did his business, then BAM, I hear licking. This isn't going to work when I find a new job. I won't be at home picking up the goodies he leaves behind. Anyone got any other suggestions for me? I'm going to dry to use some hot sause soon.