Dog eating his own poo?
 

Does anyone have any experience at stopping this behavior and avoiding MSG as well as any allergies a dog might have?

We tried pineapple, which he will not eat.

Heard about meat tenderizer from friend at dog park but am concerned about MSG and any possible allergic reactions.

One good thing, if I do not scoop up my dog's poop when out on a walk here in the Villages, he gobbles it up.

http://www.responsibledog.net/corophagia.html

My sheltie has the same miserable habit!! And I don't know of anything that will stop her from doing this.

We had a sheltie that also "recycled". We could never break him of the habit. We had to watch him like a hawk.

I've had that problem with dogs in the past. Nothing I tried worked. They especially liked it when it was winter up north and they were now "poopcycles". I don't know if my pup now has the problem as her messes are picked up immedietly!

Couldn't you quickly sprinkle some nasty tasting stuff on the poo....hmmmm....never mind.

Can mean that a basic nutrient is missing from the diet if a relatively new habit. Usually, it goes back to being in the wild. Only the alpha dog was allowed to scent and leave droppings. The alpha would eat the dog droppings of the other dogs. Lone dogs would always eat their own so a pack could not find him so easily. It is disgusting but if the dog is healthy (no worms, fleas, etc) relatively harmless. I just wouldn't let the dog lick me after munching.

The one thing you can do is to train a dog to "leave it." It really should be one of the basic commands, anyway. Best way to prevent a dog from being poisoned is teach it to only eat when it is given permission to do so. Not easy, but very doable.

Time to ask the vet...

not a very tantalizing topic when eating a breakfast sausage...:icon_hungry:

Tal, we had that problem with Sam up north. Petco has a product that begins with "Copra.." and it worked excellently and very fast. Worth a try I think. Good luck.

She knows about it as she refused to kiss him at his first check-up. That was one of the vets at Buffalo Ridge. I usually just go to whomever is available there. They suggested pineapple and also something you buy that you put in the dog food. I think I have consulted several vets at Buffalo Ridge.

I am trying to get a variety of options.

A walk on a leash is the easiest but not always practical if I have a lot of other stuff to do. When he is at the dog park he is smart about trying to go where I cannot see him (or so he thinks). Then he gets it as fast as he can. I do try to watch everything he might pick up to sample as there are various poisonous plants and the like near the mail centers and as weeds in yards. http://landscaping.about.com/od/land...us_to_dogs.htm

What the vet named Tabitha on this blog, 4th post down, says makes sense…….

Topic: Coprophagia (Poop Eating) Advice

Simple solution....Pick it up

Meat tenderizer by adolfs works as well.

You really ARE talking about your dog, and not your husband etc. :mmmm:

You know how some folks say "I have a friend that"... and it's really them or a loved one.

OK. now that I've ruined your lunches...gotta run.

That's what I seen on some websites. Is this just available via the net or do some local Villages' stores carry it?

Dog eating his own poo?
 

Be careful using it. Try small quantities first because dogs can react badly to it just like people. It is an MSG based product. You should be able to get it in most supermarkets.

I was worried about what kind of reaction my dog might have. I did get some negative comments about this solution on some of the blogs I checked on using meat tenderizer. I do not remember the vets at Buffalo Ridge suggesting this either.

They have a powder product at their Pinellas pet store but they discourage it's use.

Not simple at a dog park, where one takes a dog in order for him to run free and get exercise.

One stop-gap measure would be not to go to the dog park until after the dog has eliminated at home while hooked to a leash, where you have control.

For some dogs it's so instinctual that nothing else will work.

Thanks. I tried that today. A long walk before the dog park and a pocketful of plastic bags. He pooped. I scooped with a hand covered with a plastic bag.

At the dog park today though, he pooped again and got some of it. I managed to chopstick the rest of it over the fence with some of those red flags DDRR uses. He is learning that I do not like him eating his own poop and I really scold him if he even goes near any other critters' feces-- bird, rabbit, snake, other dog, cat, etc. Actually, I am not sure what snake poop looks like but I assume they do this.

We stopped one of our dogs from doing the same thing by putting a spoonful of canned pumpkin in their food. It seemed to work.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but you can't stop them from doing this.

I know where there is a will there is not always a way. My dog is also very stubborn.

I know we did and several other dog owners did with the treatment from Petco. Rather than declare defeat why not try it? It's made for this purpose.

They sell it in any grocery store In the seasoning section I think. One bottle last a long time and you don't need a lot of it. Just sprinkle 0n when you setup the dogs meal about 1/4 of teaspoon of less.

I think about this when I see someone let their dog lick their face. Yuk!

Most dogs do not eat their own poop or that of others. Now smelling butts....

I have come into contact with hundreds of dogs and their owners at Doggie Doo Run Run since January 2007 and can only think of ten or so that do or did this.

I would think that its the dog's inability to digest rich dog food, or the treats you give them. If its not digested properly, it may still possess some of it's original "fragrance" and to a dog, its tastiness.... Do these dog eat other dogs poo?

Canned Pumpkin
 

Our dog does not have a problem with eating her poop. In fact, when we went to the pound and spent time with her, we observed to insure that she did NOT eat her poop before we made the decision to adopt.

HOWEVER, our vet suggested giving the dog a spoonful of canned pumpkin on occasion, I think simply because it is good for her.

Some do, some do not. Mine just recycles his own recent poop.