My Puppy Ate His Poop

[hiwaygal]

My retriever/setter mix (middle pic in my siggie) is 7 years old and STILL does this every now and then!!! (she has now earned the nickname "Poo-Breath") And apparently, she is now teaching my basenji the fine art of poo eating!

MANY dogs do this! While it might seem strange (and definitely gross) it's not necessarily a sign of a food deficiency (my dogs get a high quality food, in addition to "good for them" people food) or any health issue. It's really just a habit.

The most effective way to stop is (as another poster said) is to pick up the poo as soon as he's done.

I've tried the medicine, I've tried the meat tenderizer, I've tried feeding my dogs more often through the day...nothing works for us. But if there is no poo to eat, they won't eat it!

 

[mom2riceboys]

Is this normal? It kinda freaked me out... I thought he was going to sniff it like all thes other times but then he eat a big chunk! UGH! I don't want him licking my hand now... or anything in this house for that matter...

My dog did this. It is more common than you think. I called the vet and he gave me pills to put in his food. There's something in the pills that makes the poop unappealing!! I think I put it in his food for a few days. Never had the problem again. Good luck!

 

[dumboiu]

Did you change the diet by simply not serving the poop anymore?

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

can you put the bitter stuff in the cat's food to teach dog to stay out of litter box? We are having good luck with "leave it" outside - but the dog sneaks up to the litter box when we can't catch him time for it to be effective.

 

[mickeyboat]

Did you change the diet by simply not serving the poop anymore?

We live in Vermont. In the winter Jake used to eat poopsicles.

Denae

 

[POB14]

Not to worry, OP. Perfectly, albeit disgustingly, normal. My 2 year old still eats my other dog's poop. Guesss it kinda saves on backyard poop clean up!

And it's a lot cheaper than buying them food! Self-feeding dogs -- the ultimate in recycling!

 

[azgal81]

When I was growing up my dog used to eat my cat's poop all the time. It was pretty gross but he ran to it like it was a treat or something. We had to try to remember to close the door where the litter box was.

 

[disneynutt1225]

You know what they say "One dog's poop is another dog's treasure!"

 

[Cantw8]

Well, until the dog starts washing it down with a big glass of pee, I wouldn't worry about it...

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Well, until the dog starts washing it down with a big glass of pee, I wouldn't worry about it...

That is sooo gross but very funny at the same time!!!

Dogs eat cat poo because a cat's diet is usually 100% protein, esp. if it is canned food. To a dog it smells like food.

Among the crowd of "poo eating talk" rotfl: ) ...same thing. The higher quality foods will seem like "food" to a dog.

Now don't know if any of this is true but I prefer to live in a world where dogs make sense.

 

[FullStride]

And just imagine NOT knowing the puppy ate the poop and this beautiful puppy comes running up to you and you bend down to hug him/her (because you can't resist) and the puppy starts licking your face. Oh Yeah baby!!!!!!!!!! Yuck!!!!


How could you resist?

 

[Patty3]

FullStide, what a beautiful golden, how old is the puppy?

 

[FullStride]

FullStide, what a beautiful golden, how old is the puppy?

Patty3, That's not my puppy BUT I did have one that looked just like this one.
Our golden passed on last August. golden's are awsome.

 

[BWVDenise]

This is what I love about this board. It's a place we can go to talk all about puppy poop!
I've been cleaning up after her quickly so she can't get it, but she's been finding either squirrel droppings or chipmunk chips or something that she thinks is just like chewing gum. I never know it until I reach in her mouth to make sure she isn't chewing on a acorn or something. Yuck!

 

[Patty3]

FullStride, I am so very sorry to hear that.

 

[TinkInPink]

this is going to sound really strange, but in horses when they ate their poop it means they are lacking something in their diet, a mineral etc.

 

[bianca]

I had a Newfoundland that did this. We tried absolutely everything to get her to stop. My vet explained that this behavior was probably instilled while she was a puppy and saw her mom clean up the litter box. She loved turds in absolutely any form. Warm ..... great. Frozen ...... we called those turdscicles. We cleaned up the yard immediately, we tried meat tenderizer, we tried the pills. They all seemed to change the taste, but she still liked it! We finally decided that if she was not done with this behavior that she would have to find a new home ...... one that would provide her with lots of room outside, as she was primarily an inside dog at our house. I realized I had reached a new low by the time she reached her first birthday. We were told that occasionally it works to put tabasco or chili powder on the turd and this would deter her. Picture this ..... I am out in my backyard, ****y-trapping turds with tabasco and chili powder at 3 a.m., so they would be all ready for her in the morning. When she discovered them, you would have thought she discovered gold! Needless to say, it was shortly after that she was adopted by another family that was willing to put up with her "eccentricities"!

 

[kdibattista]

My dog did this (yep the one in the siggie ). The vet said it was because he was a hunting dog

 

[minkydog]

We had a dog that did this,but he wasn't a hunting dog. He was just stoopid

 

[Taylor]

If my dog ate his own poop it would save me a heck of a lot of time with a shovel out in the yard.