[keriiksen]

I know its normal for pups to eat poop but how can I make him see that its disguisting? In the dog park Varg will run far away from me and poop so he gets to eat it before I get to him.

 

[DianaM]

Don't let your puppy off leash. Keep a drag line on him so he cannot stray far. I don't know how old he is but if he's young and small, he could easily get bowled over by a big dog or even attacked. IMO, it's too early for him to be off leash in that sort of situation that you cannot control him enough to keep away from poop. At four months of age I'd suggest lots of "you-centered" exercise and training. He needs to learn that all fun happens around you and not that he can have mini-adventures and snacktime so long as he keeps away from you!

 

[balakai]

My almost-5 month old does this. I'm not sure why--she didn't do it in the shelter as there was poop in her cage when I was there--but if I'm not right there to scoop it up as soon as she goes, she'll eat it. Strangely, she doesn't eat my other dogs' poop!

She has done this since I brought her home 3 1/2 weeks ago, while eating Science Diet (what she ate at the shelter) and all through the switch to Canidae. She's managed to grab and gulp 3 times (the first time I wasn't expecting it, the second time was in the house, third time I got caught without a baggie).

I will probably try one of the products designed for this issue--a friend has some from Solid Gold that she no longer needs so she's bringing it to me on the 20th. For now, I'm managing it by being RIGHT THERE, ready with a bag.

I did have a fecal run, since she was a little underweight, and nothing showed. Could there be some intestinal parasite that didn't show up?

~Kristin

 

[Sherush]

My puppy did that when we got him but we switched his diet to a much better one then he came to us on and he stopped doing it within a day or two.

 

[BowWowMeow]

Who knows why? There are all kinds of theories but Chama, at age 13, still eats other dog's poop. It doesn't matter what I feed her. I just get out there and pick it up right away. I have trained a leave it command and if she won't eat it if I'm around.

 

[Trixie's Mom]

This reminded me of when my 2nd GS ate her poopie...i asked her vet what i could do & she said "well, we sell a powder that you put on her food so when she poopies it will make it smell bad" I told her no way if you have something that smells worse than dog poopie you can keep it, LOL. By the way, she did stop doing it on her own, thank goodness.

 

[Mandalay]

My Bearded Collie used to do this and when I found that I could not stand it any longer I asked the vet. They had me sprinkle some meat tenderizer on her food and it stopped immediately.

The vet said there is something in the meat tenderizer that makes the poop "taste bad"...I never knew poop needed an additive to make it taste bad before this...I just always assumed that poop would taste bad on its own. Apparently not.

 

[csantosa]

Both of ours did it and the Adolph's Meat Tenderizer worked for us.

Chris

 

[Rügen]

I was thinking of trying this meat tenderizer trick. I was wondering if anyone could tell me about how much to add to the food? Does a sprinkle really do it? It's not bad for them? Thanks!

 

[Mandalay]

We just covered the food with it...maybe a teaspoon, maybe a little less. I never measured it as the vet said to sprinkle "some" on. Try sprinkling "some" on and if you dont notice a difference in 2 days or so, sprinkle "some" extra.

I am not sure why the meat tenderizer works or what is in it to make it make the poop taste bad. Like I said, I'd have thought that poop tastes bad on its own. Guess not.

 

[Raleigh]

It's nice to know my puppy isn't the only one with this weird behavior. I'll try the meat tenderizer trick too. She licks her own urine too, does the tenderizer work for that too?

I heard somewhere that the reason they might eat their poop is that they are missing a nutrient in their diet - is this true? My neighbor suggested a pill she could take to solve this issue too. I'll check with my vet.

 

[GSDOwner2008]

I've never heard of the meat tenderizer, but now I know! We've always just put pinapple in their food which supposedly works the same. They love pinapple, so it's like a treat for them!

 

[StGeorgeK9]

I have had this problem with a couple of fosters, Ava when she was a puppy and my last shepherd when I first got her. Diet seemed to be the issue with the fosters and my Heidi girl, once I put them on a good diet and corrected them a couple times, it was no problem at all. I'm not sure if it was just a puppy thing with Ava, made me ill at the time, but she didnt do it but a couple times and with mild correction and re-direction it never became an issue. Both Heidi and my current foster were very malnourished when I got them, so it made sense that they would eat anything. I've never had to try supplements to correct it though.

 

[thor wgsd]

I got something called "koprofagia" from the vet (though it's an argentinian made product so might not be available anywhere else) which works wonders, you put it on like "salt" on the kibble and it actually adds taste to the food as well (and my pup seem to love it).

Now if I can only get him to stop eating horse

in the park......

 

[1sttimepupowner]

Originally Posted By: thor wgsdI got something called "koprofagia" from the vet (though it's an argentinian made product so might not be available anywhere else) which works wonders, you put it on like "salt" on the kibble and it actually adds taste to the food as well (and my pup seem to love it).

Now if I can only get him to stop eating horse

in the park......

Maybe you can sneak in and add koprofagia to the horse food.

 

[Amun_GSD]

My puppy did that when we got him but we switched his diet to a much better one then he came to us on and he stopped doing it within a day or two.

Curious, what was the food you switch him to?

 

[dogma13]

This thread is 12years old.