Poop eaters

[skittledoo]

I've never dealt with this before since Bamm and Cricket don't eat poop.

I think I may have found what could be contributing to Joey's nasty smelling farts aside from just his food. He's a poop eater.

Yesterday at work he was playing with the daycare dogs and I caught him eating poop twice before we got a chance to pick the poop up. This morning I was walking all three dogs and was picking Cricket's poop up when I noticed Joey guzzling a pile of poop that was nearby.

If there is one thing that literally grosses me out its dogs that eat poop. Of course he tried to lick me shortly after. Eeww. What can I do to stop him from eating the poop? Like I said, this is one area I have absolutely no experience with.

 

[Kilter]

There are some supplements you can add to their food to get them to not eat their poop.

But if he's eating other dog's poop, you'd have to supervise him at all times and distract him from doing it so you can pick up. Or use a basket muzzle so it's not an option for a few weeks and see if it breaks the habit.

Some of the supplements that come to mind are green tripe, live culture yogurt and of course a raw diet seems to help a lot of dogs (nothing left in the poop they want).

 

[Beanie]

Auggie went through this phase for a while last year. I had to stalk him in the yard because he would poop, then turn around and eat it immediately. Thankfully he got over it. I agree with Kilter, I think it's just going to be a matter of watching him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't eat any, and hopefully, he will get over it.

 

[Lizmo]

All I've found is to just clean the yard immediately. Lizzie does it from time to time. Such a disgusting habit.

 

[Doberluv]

Jose` will eat poop if given the chance. I did teach him "leave it." Then when he would leave it, he got something even better as a reward for leaving it. (It's hard to find something better.) Otherwise, I make sure to clean up the poops in the yard right after they do it. So, prevention if out on a walk, teaching a good "leave it," and cleaning up asap every b.m.

They say you can feed pineapple and the poop becomes less attractive to the poop eaters, but that doesn't do any good for other dogs' poop. Jose` primarily goes after Chulita's poop, not so much his own or other dogs. And I have a feeling pineapple might be awfully acidic for their tummies....might irritate.

Sometimes I'll be watching him out in the yard, getting ready with my pooper scooper. Chihuahua's poop is sometimes hard to spot if the grass isn't freshly mowed, it's hidden quite well because it's very tiny. He'll go stand in front of a poop and just look at it, then look at me and won't go for it if I'm watching him. Then I know there's poop there and I tell him, "thanks for showing me where it is." Then he'll walk around the yard and do the same in front of another poop. So, he helps me find them. He gets high value treats for leaving the poops alone.

If I weren't out there though with him, he would chow down. It is disgusting, not only the kisses and breath, but there have been times when he ate a large amount and then threw up in the house. There isn't very much that is more disgusting than throw up made of poop.:yikes:

 

[JessLough]

Pineapple gives Rosey house-clearing farts. We learned after the one time after having to sit outside for half an hour.

 

[Fran27]

I think Tips just stopped eating it. Maybe there's something in Evo that makes it not yummy? He'll still eat cat and kid poops if he gets the chance... (gotta love when kids decide to poop on their potty while I'm doing dishes or something) which is oh so disgusting.

 

[AliciaD]

I've heard the pineapple thing too, but that doesn't help with the other dogs, nor do I know what it does to dogs.

I think it's one of those activities that is just too self-rewarding that it's hard to break, but I think a combination of cutting him off from eating anymore and rewarding him for leaving it (later on, when there's not as great a chance of him "relapsing") is the way to go.

 

[Toller_08]

Dance has always been a poop eater. She was horrendous about it as a puppy and has definitely gotten better about it with age, but she'll still do it if given the opportunity. The only thing that worked for me is making sure I am proactive about it and being sure she doesn't get a chance to eat it.

Diet makes no difference for her, nor did supplementing everybody's food with anything. It's a disgusting habit for sure, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot you can do for it in my experience. I hope I never have a poop eater again, but it's something you just kind of learn to live with. No unsupervised access to the dog run or the yard, definitely no daycare for her, make sure the dog run is always clean, etc. She knows I don't like it, so if I'm out with her she'll think twice about it, but every once in a while she thinks she's sneaky and I catch her. Dance is also a very, very food obsessed dog though... so I'm not really surprised she's a poop eater. If something smells remotely like food to her, she's probably going to try to eat it. She hasn't eaten any in forever, but that's definitely not because she doesn't want to. It's just constant vigilance on my (and my family's) part.