The act of eating stool or feces is called coprophagia. Many animals in nature including bears, wolves, big cats, and other creatures are known to do this. The theory on ‘why’ they do it is simply because there are left over nutrients to be ‘mined’ from poop.
It also happens to be incredibly disgusting.
You should definitely get your dog to stop doing it right away.
Here are some tips on how to do that:
- Get your dog on a quality food. I would say that the majority of poop eaters that I meet are dogs on low quality dog food. Low quality foods are almost always rife with corn, soy, beat pulp and other fillers. Why are fillers bad? Simple. Dogs can’t digest them. In not being able to digest them they get pooped out in much the same way they went in.If you take a creature that isn’t so averse to the fact that this substance just exited from their derriere, allow them to realize that this smelly substance is very similar to the food they ate a few hours ago, how hard is it going to be to convince the dog not to eat it?
I can just picture the inner monologue the dog is having, “Wait a minute…you put it in my bowl and tell me it’s fine to eat it. When I eat it after I poop it out you get ticked off. What gives!?!
Look for foods that contain any amount of corn, beet pulp, soy, etc. and STAY AWAY! Guess what folks? Many vets recommend the absolute WORST dog foods out there. I’m not going to list the major brand name that is most often recommended…let’s just say it rhymes with Flience Fliet. Foods like that and others that are prevalent both at the pet store and also on commercials are not good for your dog. Fillers just drive up the price of the food because the dog has to eat so much more of it and often encourage a dog to turn to the dark side of coprophagia.
We recommend Flint River Ranch. It comes delivered to your door, no fillers, no preservatives, all human grade ingredients, etc. In most cases I’ve encountered, the simple changing to this food has fixed the dirty poop eating habit.
- Try some Pineapple. Give your dog a few chunks of pineapple with their food. Pineapple is fine for most dogs to eat. The acidity in it, though, can often change the taste of the poop so it is very un-appetizing. Why does poop need to be MORE un-appetizing you ask? I don’t know. But if you need to convince your dog of that fact you may find pineapple to be a help.
- Sprinkle some meat tenderizer on your dog’s food. Go to the grocery store and buy some meat tenderizer. Here is the catch, though. It has to be meat tenderizer that is mostly MSG. MSG gives a metallic taste to dog poop and can be pretty discouraging to the average copraphile…er…copraphagier…um…..poop eater. Now, many people aren’t too big a fan of MSG and what it can do to a living creature so that is something you’ll need to take into account.
- Keep your yard clean. Having a yard clean of feces is a good practice anyway and can take away temptation from a hungry scavenger.
- Correct your dog when he or she partakes in their dirty sin. You can use a leash correction, shake can, e-collar or other tool to correct your dog in the act.
I’ve given you 5 things to try to get your dog to stop eating poop. I’ve still never met the dog that can go toe-to-toe with all five of these ideas and still continue eating poo.
As someone who works at an animal hospital and understands the Science behind the “Flience Fliet” I can say that it is a carefully balanced blend designed specifically for dogs, they may have evolved from wolves but are wolves no longer. Also, the next time you criticize one of those Veterinarians, remember they are basing these recommendations off of almost ten years of studying animals. You, on the other hand, are a complete idiot.
Normally I would simply erase comments like this. Comments that are insulting like this are obviously meant to get a rise out of somebody. I just couldn’t stop laughing once I read this, though, so I had to let it through. In fact, there were two main reasons I allowed this comment to come through:
1- I found it hilarious the baseline that you’ve set for where you are willing to debase yourself by making insulting comments to strangers with the anonymity of the internet. This post wasn’t about religion, politics, or women’s rights….it was about dog food. You found my take on dog food so abhorrent that you had to take the time to insult me. It’s interesting the topics that people will choose to make themselves look foolish.
2- You couldn’t be more wrong. The food in question is trash, it harms dogs, and it helps keep vets in business. Your only argument to the contrary is that veterinarians had been studying it for a long time. Is that really an argument? Off the top of my head I got to thinking of other things that scientists, ostensibly smarter than the rest of us, studied and then released into the market. Ever heard of fen-phen? Plenty of smart scientists invented it, approved it, and released it on the market. That one killed people. How about asbestos? Studied like mad and still released for public use. How did that work out? How about simple nutrition? Every nutritionist worth their salt will tell you that the food pyramid that was designed and studied by scientists is complete and utter nonsense. But according to your standard it’s good because scientists studied it and gave their stamp of approval.
I get it. You’re working at a vet’s office and you’ve been indoctrinated by these vets who are good people and really care about dogs. If they are recommending the food in question, though, then the unfortunate truth is that they know next to nothing about proper nutrition for dogs.
All the best.
I feel as my dog eats her poop is because she is scared of getting into trouble so she tries to hit the evidence.
She will not poop out side know matter how bad she has to go, she will wait till I let her back in and poop anywhere she likes in the house, this is bad BC I have a new born baby.
I have done everything I can think of from what I know scene I was raised on a farm and dealt with animals my hole life, I feel this is the last straw its either fix her poop eating habits or find her a home that can deal with it.
Its very say But I can’t have my kid scooting around on the poppy floor when she starts to crawl.
What you’ve got is a lack of supervision. Your dog is sneaking off in the house and going to the bathroom. First rule for a dog that isn’t house trained is that it should never get the opportunity to sneak away.
What kind of food does your dog eat?
I found this website looking for a way to get my dog to stop eating dog poop but had to chime in.
I am a veterinarian. Graduated veterinary school seven years ago. Unfortunately we don’t get a lot of training in nutrition. In my vet school, we didn’t have a single nutrition class. However we did get a ton of free food from Flience Fliet and other top pet food companies. All through veterinary school, we got one bag free and could buy additional bags for dirt cheap. Consequently, I fed my dogs the Flience Fliet after I graduated vet school and made the same recommendations to clients. Not evidence based, rather because that was what I was conditioned to do.
I’m pretty sure the free feeding program still continues in veterinary schools around the country.
Thanks for your input, I had heard that from other vet students as well.
I just had to comment, I have a dog that is a poop eater. There is nothing I can do to discourage her, she knows exactly that it is not a desired behavior, but just can’t help herself I have followed all of the above steps, given vitamins, digestive enzymes, raw diet, pineapple is a treat, etc. There is never any poo laying in my garden, I assure you, and there never was.
There is another factor that no one mentions, it’s genetically predestined. I know of breeders who say that all of their dogs eat poo and others who say that the don’t have that problem. I’ve even read a blog from a breeder that said you can change any comfirmational aspect of your line, (face, hindquarters, legs) but has never been able to get rid of the damned poo-eating gene. So before you pick out your new puppy, ask the breeder if their dogs are so inclined. There is no 100%, but if both parents are poo eaters, it is fairly likely that your new puppy will be too or will have been shown this bevhaior at an early age. There are of course people who seem to be able to cure this problem, with air puff collars, I am very pleased for them.
I use a muzzle, problem sorted.
Whether or not the dog is genetically inclined is of little concern to me. It’s still a problem that needs to be solved. If all of the above doesn’t work then you need to spend more time on correcting the issue as the last straw. Best of luck.
“Before you pick out your puppy from the breeder…. ” Sorry, but just had to say, thank you to those who feel they simply HAVE to have a dog from a breeder. And I sure the millions of dogs put to death every year so folks like you can get your ego stroked by having a “purebred” thank you as well. Want a dog? Save a life and find a rescue or go to the pound. .
As for the food and the above mentioned routinely prescribed by vets, I once had a friend who was a sales rep for SD. She finally quit for ethical reasons. She just couldn’t in good conscience continue to push this crap food on vets/people/dogs. She said she KNEW it was junk, the company knew, everyone knew..but it was big money.
With all due respect, I’m all for rescuing dogs from shelters. But the truth is that the unwanted pet problem is going to be best solved through responsible breeders. Shelters play a great part but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a quality dog from a quality breeder. It has nothing to do with ego.
This post is clearly over a week old but I also have to reply. I’m all for rescuing dogs from shelters as well. Growing up with my parents, we rescued three dogs at separate times from shelters. All were great family dogs but very unfriendly to other dogs due to being abused as a puppy.
I think getting a rescue dog is great, but there is nothing wrong with getting a dog from a breeder. People who buy dogs from breeders should not be demonized and it has nothing to do with ego. My boyfriend and I bought a dog from a breeder because we wanted a loyal, bigger dog that would be ok with living in an apartment as long as it was exercised properly. So we bought a purebred golden retriever to be sure of the temperament. That doesn’t make us evil or egotistic. Everyone has their own reasons behind their individual choices.
Amen.
I feed my dog Blue. The weight management formula. I have 3 dog, but only one of them ways poo. It doesn’t matter if it’s his,one of the other dogs or the cat box. Neither of the other two do this at al. I’ve moved the cast box to a place he can’t get to. I’ve read your post of things to do…the only thing I haven’t tried is the pineapple add guess what it is next on the list. Here is my question-Do the pillsand/or powders that I see on the market work? I’m getting desperate.
I just have to comment on the food. Ty I absolutely agree with you. The food in question is 100% below average. vets. Only reccommend it because of the kickback.
Just because they went to vet school doesn’t mean they are dog nutrition experts.
Full of fillers and low in nutrients. Sorry . its a sucky food.
My 5 month old puppy is a determined poo eater. I have had him for 2 months, I started personal dog training sessions over a month ago. The trainer is very serious, with 17 years experience. We practice all aspects of training, she was sure that after some obediance training the puppy would learn to ‘leave’ his poo alone. As of yet, No Luck in deterring him away from wanting to eat it. He impresses the trainer in all other training. He has great attention and learns tricks quickly. The only thing that has helped with the amount he ingests is that I am 6 inches behind him with a pooper scooper when we are outside… Still he finds special time to poop behind my back. I got For-Bid from my Vet, it’s a powder that you add to the food.. No luck with that. Plus it costs $20 so I won’t be buying more. I am about to try squirting hot sauce on his poo and letting him take a bite. Has anyone tried this? Sounds a little mean but it is a disgusting habit I want him to stop. I have another dog and so far the puppy has not shown interest in her poo or stuff we pass on walks. It seems he is limited to his own (fresh) poo.
The trainer hasn’t recommended you correct the dog when he starts eating poop? That would be the course of action I’d take. Let the puppy start eating and then immediately correct with a leash and training collar.
I’m struggling with a darling little pomeranian who eats her poo on occasion. I, of course, freaked out when she did it the first couple of times, and now I believe she’s doing it because she’s nervous and wants to hide the evidence. I can’t seem to get her to leave it. She eats both Canyon Creek wet food, and Blue Buffalo dry, with natural apple treats in between. I can’t seem to get her to realize it’s okay to just leave it. I fear it’s a behavior that’s too ingrained in her now, as she is two, and when she first did it, she was probably six months old. Any help would be appreciated. I’ve tried pineapple, she doesn’t like the taste of it. If “it” happens (maybe once every couple of months) I can’t get to it to put tobasco on it because it’s already (gone) … I feel like if I ignore that she had an accident in the house, she’ll think it’s okay, so I correct her with firm NO’s. But nothing has seemed to work. Any suggestions?
Have you tried having her poop on leash and then simply correcting her when she goes to eat it?
My beagle puppy eats his poo. I do correct him, watch him like a hawk and he leaves it when I tell him to and I give him a tasty treat when he leaves it, but when we’re gone and he’s in his pen… he helps himself to it. We choose not to crate train him like we did our other beagles, and even then one of our crate trainned beagles used to eat his poo too, but eventually stopped when he grew older, but it took persistent supervision, and consistent correction and we always took him out on a leash in our backyard, never leaving him to do his business without watching him and picking it up right after him and my feamale beagle.
I feed my new puppy Flint River dog food (as I’ve done with all our beagles) which is a high quality food, and I would like to try giving him pineapple, but I want to know if I should give him fresh pineapple? I’m concerned about the canned pineapple due to the sugar content. Thank you
P.S.
It really bugs me that some dog owners will give their dogs up… (like they were a broken toy) because of their poo eating. It just takes being responsible and taking the time to train your puppy/dog. Some people think that puppies come pre trained.
You could get fresh pineapple or get the pineapple in a can that has no sugar added.