Eats Poo

[Bearron]

I have a two year old, male rottie who is neutered. I also have a 10 year old rott/shep mix. My rottie, Bear, will not stop eating my other dogs poop. Any suggestions?

Bob

[yogi53]

what are you feeding him? Maybe he is lacking something....

[myzeus]

when my rott pups were eating poop, my vet found that they had hookworms. and it also be something lacking in the diet. i have also heard they eat poop over dominance issues. i don't know how true that is though.

[rottnkidd]

Pick up immediately after your dog and then there won't be any 'treats' for
Bear!
kathy

[yogi53]

you can also try SEP (Stop Eating Poop) available at all pet stores (or a close relative of SEP) and feed to your other dogs

[StephanieandToby]

Originally Posted by myzeus

. i have also heard they eat poop over dominance issues. i don't know how true that is though.

This is interesting, because I used to walk a black Lab who "attached" himself to Toby's bottom to eat whatever was coming out... Toby was the "top dog" and the Lab was second in line....so I always had a suspicion it was related to dominance. The Lab didn't eat the other dogs' poop...just Toby's.ICK.

[Canadianrotti]

If the behaviour has been going on for a while (with or without your knowledge), it may be a habit now. It will take some work on your part, taking the dog out side to "exercise", and then bringing back in right after, and scolding if he goes for a "treasure".
Our pup kept going to the cat box for snacks. It took a few weeks of consistent "Ahhh"'s, but she got the point and has not been back in over a year.

[Platzz]

My Elsa has sampled deer, racoon, goose and cat poop. I think she leans toward the cat do to the fishy ingedents.

I don't believe it's just a diet thing, I think there is some definnance involued too. I've had elsa grab for a "cat-cookie" after she had a full meal and water.

I've never had a dog that ate or tried to eat thier own "teasures".

[RottiMomCT]

Baron was a poop eater. I pick up every day...Baron still found a 'treat' out there...never liked the fresh stuff, usually the stuff that had 'aged' a day or two

I did a little searching...someone told me GARLIC will change the poop (smell, flavor, I don't know and do not wanna know how they figured that out!)...and since Ben and Baron both already get garlic & brewers yeast tablets, I started adding garlic to everyone elses food (about 1/4 teaspoon wil each meal), and I have not caught Baron eating poop in over a month.

Someone also said adding a teaspoon of crushed pineapple to their food changes the poop so it is not tasty to dogs...tried that, they hated it...which was wierd cuz baron will eat anything!

[Lorrie]

This behavior has an actual name - Coprophagia, and it is quite common in puppies.

Sometimes it is due to a nutritional deficiency ... but not always. Dogs will eat the feces of many other species .. kitties for example leave yummy treats in the litter box, bunnies leave doggy M&M's outside .. if it tasted bad the behaviour would self correct!

Some people have had success in stopping this behavior by supplementing their dog's diet with one spoonful of canned pineapple or a teaspoon of spinach or a dash of MSG. (I'm not loving the MSG idea)

Best way to avoid it is to keep the yard clean and keep your dog away from feces all together.

[Bearron]

Well thanks for the feed back. To answer a few questions, bear eats royal cannin natural blend. and a strange thing as well, even though he is 2 and my other guy is 10, the 2 year old is by far the dominant one and the one eating the poo, could be a correlation there, as mentioned in one of the posts. I have a fenced in yard...i try to clean up every time the older guy goes number two, but i can't be there every minute watching, i try my best though.

bob

[Need4Tanzy]

EWW...thats gross but i suggest you just pick up the poo as fast as you can!

[RottiMomCT]

Originally Posted by Bearron

Well thanks for the feed back. To answer a few questions, bear eats royal cannin natural blend. and a strange thing as well, even though he is 2 and my other guy is 10, the 2 year old is by far the dominant one and the one eating the poo, could be a correlation there, as mentioned in one of the posts. I have a fenced in yard...i try to clean up every time the older guy goes number two, but i can't be there every minute watching, i try my best though.

bob

Alot of the time, age has nothing to do with dominance.

I do 'poop patrol' every day. Much easier if I put on a pair of rubber gloves, grab the bucket and just pick it up...stupid pooper scooper doesn't always get it all. Is he eating the poop immediately after it is 'deposited'? If you know he does, that, you have to pick it up, no other way to get him to stop - can't eat what isn't there ...but you can also try the additives to make the poop taste bad (as if it doesn't taste that way already ).

I feed the same food. I would try the 'natural' poop eating deterrents before adding the MSG or something to the food. I can't eat foods with MSG in them, I can't imagine what it would do to a dog...won't tell ya what it does tome but it ain't pretty, or comfortable.