We have a Great Dane that we got at a year old from a breeder. She was very thin, so we put her on Blue Buffalo large breed food and she has since gained weight. She has food to eat on demand at all times.
The problem is she has a disgusting habit of eating poop that she falls back into occasionally. I keep it cleaned up, but she seems to find it somewhere. I think from the condition she was in when we got her that maybe it was survival, I don't know for sure.
Does anybody know what I can do to make her stop this? I have never had a dog that has done this and I don't know what to do. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
By Linda from CO
Your beautiful girl is probably an Alpha female, and she is eating her poo, because she is supposed to. According to her doggie heritage. She's probably a really good mama. I had a female dog with puppies, and she ate all her puppies poo. I think it keeps predators away from them in the wild. It keeps wild predators from smelling the baby poo.
My mother had a couple of dogs, and ate poo, and she asked the Vet, and he said "don't worry about it, they do that." I have a male that is about 15 years old now, an Alpha Male, and he lives for his pups, and if allowed to, he will eat their poo. I don't like it either, but it's what they do. And the pups aren't even his, but he will protect them to the end. Your girl sounds like an Alpha Female. Embrace her, love her, and just try to keep the poo away.
I know how grossed out you feel, I have had the thing happen with our dogs. They are well fed, excercised, played with, and in general have a good life, but they love poo. Theirs as well as the other dogs. I've tried all kinds of additives to their food, putting tobasco, pepper etc on the poo, a shock from a training collar nothing seems to phase them.
The only solution that has worked is to put a muzzle on when they go out to do their "business". Then clean it up real quick. Then I get forgetful and they eat it. It has not made them sick. I have seen a couple of dog shows on TV and they all say it is almost impossible to cure. The owner has to be trained to clean up ASAP so the dog doesn't have access to the poop. Good luck and let me know if you discover an answer.
A diagnosis of coprophagia could be route issue? There could be a number of reasons for eating own/other dog poop or underlying issues. However MD said its normal and somewhat common for dogs to do this. It could be behavioral in nature, them not feeling well or having some sort of anxiety causing this. Monitoring the dog during all bathroom breaks ( clean up immediately) and when around other potential poop areas to otherwise try and break the habit.
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We have 2 pets and they eat their poop. I can't seem to break them of this habit. What do we do?
By Deb from Mason City, IA
You can purchase a safe product at the pet store that you add to the poop to make it taste bad. Other than that, you probably need to talk to your vet.
We had that problem with one of our dogs and the vet recommended sprinkling Accent meat tenderizer on her dry food because dogs love the taste when the food is going in, but the taste is terrible when it comes out. That did the trick for our dog!
I work in the pet industry and they do sell a few things for your issue (potty mouth) is the one that comes to mind, but I have also had customers tell me that they will give their dogs pineapple and another said pickles. I would double check with your vet to make sure, but they both taste good the first time but not the second time.
Hi Deb! you didn't mention the age of your pets or how long they have been eating their own feces. Is this a new or longer term habit?
All three of our dogs ate their feces as puppies and two of them outgrew the nasty habit between 8 and 10 months of age. However, the middle one (over six years old, now) still does so on occasion. Our only solution has been to keep the pooper-scooper handy and in regular use!
We've tried many of the "anti poop eating" products and nothing deters his appetite for the stuff. As well, his vet claims the dog is healthy with no obvious nutrient deficiencies that would cause him to crave poop. The darn dog just laps it up. :-(
If I were you, I would first work with your vet to eliminate any possibility of a health issue and then try some of the "anti poop eating" products. They do work well for many dogs.
However, just a "heads up" observation from experience that for some of these fur kids, the daily use of a pooper-scooper is the only sure fire solution in stopping the behavior. Good Luck!
My German Shepherd puppy is 5 months old. I noticed recently that she now eats her own poop. Please what do I do to stop it, because it's disgusting.
This link may help.
www.petmd.com/
Please don't smack or shout at her it will only make things worse. Yes we know it's disgusting but dogs don't look at it like that. Good luck.
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