# My puppy eats her poop!



## auntiemissa (Apr 19, 2010)

my puppy is now 17wks old and still eats her poop. whenever i let her out to go potty,i have to stand at window and watch her and if she poops i have to get out asap b4 she gets it. it doesnt happen 100% of the time but enough to where it drives me bonkers(she loves to lick so i have to brush her teeth everytime).She is on a tablet 2x daily called "nasty habit" that is suppose to make them stop eating their poop but it works sometimes and sometimes not. I tried putting crushed pineapple in her food as well as thats suppose to help.it didnt. So my trainer recommended putting habeneros sauce on the poop so when she goes to eat it she will learn its gross. WELL....i tried it and she loves habeneros sauce! HELP! will she outgrow this? do i have to just keep after her? ive also tried bitter apple spray but i just wanna clean up her poop if im out there rather than spray it and leave it(she doesnt care if she steps in it either).any help would be great! shes a very smart dog so im suprised that when we say "leave it" she will for that time being but shes back at again at next poop! shes on innova dog food so shes getting quality food and not lacking any nutrition


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

I would try a powder called forbid. You sprinkle it on her food. It's supposed to make the poops very nasty. When she stops eating her poop, you can take away the forbid. I don't know if it's any good or not. I don't believe she will outgrow this. If you don't want to try the forbid, I suggest working with her. When she wants to poo, stand next to her and when she gets near it say *no *firmly. And reward her for obeying. :smile:


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## Sir (Feb 4, 2010)

Options:
Feed your pup more.
Give your pup a treat after returning without recycling.
Always remove the turd to remove the opportunity of recycling.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Sir said:


> Options:
> Feed your pup more.
> Give your pup a treat after returning without recycling.
> Always remove the turd to remove the opportunity of recycling.


I would NOT advise feeding more. That will just encourage the puppy to eat more poop. 

The only thing that I would recommend out of these suggestions is cleaning up after the dog immediately.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Hehe, It's just something that dog's do. I think they do it just because we think its so nasty. I have tried 100 different things and nothing works. I had two goldens that did and and now my two Danes do from time to time. The Danes rarely eat their own but instead will eat mostly deer poop and rabbit poop but they also eat unidentified poop. None of my dogs have ever suffered any ill effects from it. I also suspect the harder you try to stop it, the more they do it. They all seemed to stop eating their own when I switched them to a raw diet but would still eat other dogs when they ran across it.

The best you can do is pick it up immediately before the dog gets it. One of my Goldens would twirl around and eat it instantly almost before it hit the ground and most certainly before it cooled.

Good luck on breaking her. :smile:


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## auntiemissa (Apr 19, 2010)

thanks everyone! i will just continue to work with her! im hearing its pretty normal behavior though lol


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

My Corgi has a nasty poo eating habit, and let me tell you, we tried EVERYTHING. We tried pineapple. We tried putting hot sauce on the poo. We tried flag training. We tried deterrent tablets, we tried forbid. 
He doesn't care. He loves poo. He only eats the poo of kibble fed dogs, never of raw fed dogs. 
I don't advise feeding more. That will only create more issues.

I learned that poo munching doesn't mean they're missing something in their diet. It doesn't mean that they're starving. They'll eat anything that entices their sense of smell, and for some dogs, poo does that. They don't get the "ick" factor that we get when we see poo filth mouths. 

We just have to supervise potty time, and pick it up right away. I mean RIGHT away. It can also be a learned thing (anyone who has more than one dog knows that a toy or treat that dog A has is suddenly more interesting to dog B) so if you have other dogs, keep an eye out.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I think that dogs are driven to eat poo (kibble poo) because not all the nutrients are not absorbed the first time through their system so their poo still smells like food to them.


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## Guest (Apr 27, 2010)

My Golden pup occasionally eats his own poo but prefers the droppings of other species. The only time my pup eats his own poo is when he is in his crate and is cleaning up after himself. When he goes outside, he leaves his poop. He's healthy so I'm not really concerned.


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## 3RingCircus (May 24, 2010)

Eating feces can also be a sign of some diseases. One is EPI, more on that in my post coming up next.

I'd make sure the pooch doesn't have health issues along with eating feces.

Many puppies do this and some do it for a reason.


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## Veronica (Jun 18, 2010)

Try a product called Forbid Coprophagia Treatment. I think you just sprinkle it on and they won't eat their own poop. I would still change her food in the meatime.


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## dobesgalore (Oct 21, 2009)

malluver1005 said:


> I would try a powder called forbid. You sprinkle it on her food. It's supposed to make the poops very nasty. When she stops eating her poop, you can take away the forbid. I don't know if it's any good or not. I don't believe she will outgrow this. If you don't want to try the forbid, I suggest working with her. When she wants to poo, stand next to her and when she gets near it say *no *firmly. And reward her for obeying. :smile:


Yes, forbid works awsome but rather expensive. Once that habit is started it usualy won't stop. My personal beliefe is that it is a nutritional issue. I had several who did it into adulthood until I started feeding raw. It has COMPLETLY stopped with all of mine who did it. It drove me nuts!


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

Mine went after his poo too, and also likes the taste of hot sauce  He never showed particular interest in other dogs' poo though...does yours only go after his own? We tried the firm 'no' with a tight grip on the leash, treating combined with the 'leave it' command, and occasionally a tap on the behind  Not sure which one of these was the one that worked, or maybe he just grew out of it, but after awhile he stopped when he was around 18-20 weeks. Don't give up...maybe yours will grow out of too :smile:

Though I must say...he still thoroughly enjoys deer and rabbit poop when he's able to ninja some when I'm not looking...


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## AB'S Rules (May 4, 2010)

*Bella's Dad*

Hello everyone, 

Im new to the forum and i find that it is full of helpful information. I can't say that my dog (7mo American Bulldog) has eaten her own poo, but i have witnessed her a couple of times eating the cats poo. Can anyone tell me the reason that could be?


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

AB'S Rules said:


> but i have witnessed her a couple of times eating the cats poo.


Aspen definitely goes for the cat poo...


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

My dogs eat deer and rabbit and other poop of unknown origin.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Our dogs like to eat poop from a variety of animals. WHY? No idea. Probably like the taste...considering we feed partially rotten meat on occasion a bit of poo wouldn't be too off from that, dogs love stinky things. Shiloh our wolf hybrid rolled in poo twice this weekend while camping and I will NOT go into detail of what kind LOL!!!


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## sal101011 (Jan 17, 2010)

danemama08 said:


> I think that dogs are driven to eat poo (kibble poo) because not all the nutrients are not absorbed the first time through their system so their poo still smells like food to them.


agreed, she may not be digesting the food well, innova has grains in the food, i know it is a high quality kibble, but she may have trouble digesting grains, how is her weight? heavy site? lean side? have you tried putting in some pro-biotics in the food? it may help with the digestion, if she likes salmon oil, i would recommend using Alaska Naturals Wild Alaska Salmon Oil with Probiotics

Interestingly enough, I had a puppy that wouldnt eat her own poop, but would want to eat the stray cats poop, my determination was that the stray cat would eat garbage food which wouldnt include taurine, thus the cats digestion was not great which is why my puppy would eat that cats poop. 

Hope it helps!


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## sal101011 (Jan 17, 2010)

Forgot to mention my puppy was on Orijen Large Breed Puppy which is a grain free kibble.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Danemama08 wouldn't be of the human kind would it? LOL I almost caught my dogs doing that one time when I took them to an off leash park that isn't used alot this winter, used more by homeless I think!, anyway Kenzie and Leo love to roll in raccoon poop and pee and boy do they stink when they do!


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## northdog (Jun 26, 2010)

*A most fascinating discussion!!*

My sweet pup also is predisposed to this habit. She's outdoors almost all the day and night, so I think some of it is for "something to do". I try to daily pick up and that helps, I think. What will I do when the cold Canadian winter comes? I suspect that she will enjoy the occasional poopsicle that I don't get to on time!:frown:


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## Abigail&Bess (Dec 29, 2010)

*Abigail and Bess eat theirs too!*

I have two 1 year old female bassets and have tried just about everything and they continue to eat their poo. I tried adding "Accent" food flavoring as I was told that the MSG is what primarily would deter them from consumption but unfortunately no luck.:frown: Several of you mentioned raw diets, but I am wondering if changing from a Science Diet product to a higher quality, higher protein product would help. I was looking at Acana and/or Orijen food. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

Whether it helps with her poop eating or not I think switching to a higher quality kibble is a must.

Science Diet is a pretty low grade kibble, not good at all, one of the worst. Orijen and Acana (IMO) is just about as good as it gets when feeding kibble. 

I would begin the switch asap. Just remember when switching from a low quality kibble full of by products and fillers to a super high quality grain free kibble you must go slow. This will be a big change in diet for your pup. Do the switch gradually over a couple weeks while watching to make sure stools stay solid and firm. :smile:


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