Really like informed advice on my dog's desire to eat poop, hers and others. I am a NEWBIE and have an 8 month old chocolate lab(bitch) called Talisker who has been spayed. Tried all sorts: addatives to diet eg pineapple and powders, changing diet over gradually from Arden grange to James wellbeloved, telling her off firmly and am now keeping her on lead to prevent it the most. Muzzle was hopeless as she found a way to still do it. This is maddening and she has vomited as a result. dare I say it, i am at the end of my tether with this. Please help. what would be the best action to take?
Re: poop eating(Coprophagia) Hi there, and welcome to the forum. The first thing to say is that your problem is extremely common. Many dogs have this horrible habit. There is an article here Why dogs eat poo and what to do about it which might help. Switching to raw food stopped my dogs eating their own, but I couldnt promise it would work for you, and it doesnt stop dogs eating the poo of other dogs which are not fed raw. There are no guaranteed, sure fire ways, of completely eradicating the problem, it is more a case of trying to manage it with different combinations of approaches, and finding out what works best for you. Pippa
Re: poop eating(Coprophagia) My almost 9 month old eats sheep poo and rabbit poo , which really makes me feel sick , especially if they then want to give a nice sloppy kiss , so I can empathise with you . I just try the distraction method , call him away immediately with a sharp loud NO . I do tend to think its very common , especially with younger dogs although my elderly Lab used to look for and eat dead fish by the harbour, they are so gross at times !
Re: poop eating(Coprophagia) [quote author=editor link=topic=419.msg1752#msg1752 date=1332837888] Hi there, and welcome to the forum. The first thing to say is that your problem is extremely common. Many dogs have this horrible habit. There is an article here Why dogs eat poo and what to do about it which might help. Switching to raw food stopped my dogs eating their own, but I couldnt promise it would work for you, and it doesnt stop dogs eating the poo of other dogs which are not fed raw. There are no guaranteed, sure fire ways, of completely eradicating the problem, it is more a case of trying to manage it with different combinations of approaches, and finding out what works best for you. Pippa [/quote]
In the comments on article Why dogs eat poo and what to do about it there was mention of using banana. Yesterday I started our Guide Dog Puppy Riggs (7 months old), and our mixed-breed rescue Penny (4 years old) on green banana. A few other puppy raisers have had success with giving their coprophagic dogs unripe banana, but I had to wait until Riggs was full-grown as bananas have a lot of fat and sugar, and I had to get a go-ahead from my Puppy Raising Supervisor. I put half a small green (unripe) banana in their food, taking out the equivalent amount of kibble, when I feed them twice a day. Along with strict poop "management" I am really hoping this will stop both of them eating poo. For Penny 'coz its gross, but for Riggs especially as severe coprophagia could cause him to be withdrawn from the Guide Dog programme.
Keir is a poo eater. I have a gate on the spending area and call him for a treat as soon as he's done, shut the gate and go back for the poo once he's indoors. So far we've had no incidents. I'm hoping he grows out of the habit. Luckily he doesn't eat the other dogs' poos. .
Plum ate her own poo and that of other dogs and any other poo she could get her chops on. With her own I would be close behind her in the garden ready to pounce as soon as she'd finished so I could bag it before she got to it, she still managed sometimes though. But she seems to have grown out of it now, mostly. She hasn't eaten her own in a long while and neither is she that interested in others. She might have a sniff and move on or just respond to "leave it" and a treat. I'm hoping it doesn't make a return as I found it disgusting!
And it's working! Calling him away straight after pooing with a tasty treat, picking up later when he's not near it. (My theory being that picking it up gives it value in his eyes) Today he went out without me noticing and came trotting in to me, leaving a poo behind. Hurrah!
Bramble started this habit when she was about 4 months old. I like Boogie would leave the poo for a minute....ask Bramble for a behaviour...sit/hand touch/ etc..then C&T (with high value treat thrown a few feet..) then surreptitiously pick up poo I don't know whether she just grew out of it, or it worked I just realised one day that she wasn't that interested anymore
