What did you just eat?!?!?!!?

KFontaine04KFontaine04
edited November 2008 in Behavior & Training
Okay, so Sake is going through a major Poop eating phase. I don't know why, she just loves to eat her poop. She doesn't scarf down food, so I know she is processing it okay, she eats Orijen Puppy, and she gets plenty to eat.

Here is what I have tried so far:

A bit of pineapple with her food to make her poo less tasty. But I don't know how long a bit of pineapple lasts, just one poop? If I give her pineapple with breakfast she still seems to be eating poop at night.

When I do watch her and she poops I tell her "leave it" and "come" and she runs right over to me and gets a treat while I clean up the poop so she can't eat it. BUT, if she is out in the backyard with Miso and I don't see her poop, she chomps it right up.

IM SICK OF POO KISSES! I have to clean her mouth and brush her teeth every night so she doesn't smell like shit...literally!

Any suggestions you may have would be wonderful!

Comments

  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited November -1
    Kristin - I am thankful I have not had to deal with this, but I think you can add pumpkin to decrease them eating - whole pack pumpkin.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    ewwww. Tsuki went through a period of this too, she wasn't lacking anything dietary (always double check!) and wasn't used to doing it previous to living with me - she just wanted to eat it. Just be diligent in removing the source of her desire and keep on doing what you are doing, Tsuki grew out of it.
  • sunyatasunyata
    edited November -1
    You can get some additive from your vet to sprinkle on her food that makes the poop taste really icky. When Bella was having her digestive issues last year, we had to get this because she was eating the poop we did not immediately pick up since she was not absorbing all the nutrients from her food.

    Also, just be diligent about picking it up. She will probably grow out of it since she is so young.
  • miketmiket
    edited November -1
    I've also luckily not had to deal with the poo eating (knock on wood!!), but for some unknown reason dogs seem to love really smelly stuff...eating it, rolling in it and smelling it. There is a great section in 'The Other End of the Leash' on this, but can't remember if it talks about solutions.

    Sorry but have to laugh at the poo kisses though...that's just plain funny! (now, watch me eat my words...lol)
  • kwyldkwyld
    edited November 2008
    Sunyata-"You can get some additive from your vet to sprinkle on her food that makes the poop taste really icky." I had to giggle at that comment. How much ickier can it taste? I know the stuff that you're talking about though. I feel like I've heard from somewhere a long time ago that dogs eat their poo so that you don't see it. For instance, if your dog pooed in the house and you scolded them and yelled at them and put their nose in it, it can cause some dogs to poo in the same spot but eat it so you don't know they did it to avoid getting scolded again. But your dog is going outside though, so that doesn't really apply. I can't help you, but I have dog sat for a lady who had 8 dogs, and every single one of them do it and they eat Eukanuba.
  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    I will pick up some whole pack pumpkin tonight and see if that helps.

    Poo kisses are not funny mike...not at all...she is still freaking adorable though.
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited November -1
    Kristin, eating poo can sometimes be a behavioral thing and sometimes be a medical thing. On the behavioral side, its actually a natural thing. Mothers eat the poo of young puppies to keep the area clean. Dogs that live their entire lives in kennels (like at puppy mills) will frequently eat their poo to keep their space clean. Once the habit is formed, it can be hard to break. On the medical side, poo eating can be a sign of a nutrient deficiency. Its probably worth the $60 or whatever it will cost you to get her checked just to be sure. If there's a medical cause for her poo eating, its probably an easy fix with a supplement or medication.

    I don't have any experience modifying poo eating behaviorally, so I don't have much advice to give other than keep a close eye on her. The only way you can stop the behavior is to be there to redirect her when she attempts it.

    Good luck!
  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    She has been to the vet and has a clean bill of health, no parasites or anything. She is eating a full breakfast and dinner and she has been gaining weight and her stool is normal.

    I think it's more of a behavior thing. Im gonna keep on keeping on and hope she grows out of it.
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited November -1
    Has she been to the vet since she started the poo eating? Did you mention it explicitly when she was there? Did they do blood work?
  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    Dave,
    She has been a poo eater for a few weeks. I just took her to the vet last week where they took blood and a fecal sample. They said nothing out of the normal showed up on any of her tests.
    If I do notice her going to eat the poo and I go to correct her she hurries up eating it like it's some prize. She also snaps at Miso if he gets to close to her poo treat.
    I have been watching her VERY closely the last few days and if I am there and distract her with a treat and clean it up she doesn't make a fuss.

    She is getting very good at the "leave it" command though! She was beating up the cat last night and I told her to leave it, and she looked at me and just walked away from the cat...Shiba's...perfect little doggies one second...poo kissers the next.
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited November -1
    Well then, I concur. It's probably a behavioral thing. :-)

    If it makes you feel any better, I've been getting vomit kisses a lot over the last month or so. :-/
  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    Ah Dave, Vomit Kisses! I laughed..thanks. Hopefully soon we will just be getting shiba kisses and not disgusting, gross, stinky, bad bad bad, nasty kisses :)
  • the_november_rainthe_november_rain
    edited November -1
    I initially thought this threat was about what we humans just ate, like "what'd you have for dinner?", hahaha gross!!!!!
  • StaticNfuzzStaticNfuzz
    edited November 2008
    Yeah some dogs just like poop and nothing is medically wrong. Wolves will also ingest what they just dropped off.
    Although gross it won't kill them if your dog is overall healthy.

    1. Really rich food produces a strong after smell that makes it enticing. Also her body may not need as high a protein you are feeding as a result the excess is getting eliminated as part of waste. Try switching to wellness with less protein to see if a change will help.

    2. Forbid is a product that you can sprinkle on the food and also msg that can be purchased at your local Asian market. I don't know that I would go the msg route.


    3. I would NOT scoop while she is around. You do not want her to think you are competing for a resources she deems valuable. I would leave it and distract her after she is done with a treat like you have been doing and go back an collect once she is back in the house.

    Let's hope she grows out of it and you can get her in a habit of redirection to come to you each time after she takes a dump. You will have to be absolutely consistent each time with treats and moving her along and away.


    Snf
  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    SNF - I never let her see me pick up the poop. I watch her poop from the house and once she does I call her into the house and give her her treat to munch on, and I go ouside with the door closed and clean it up.
    The next time she is let outside she goes and sniffs the spot she last pooed, but once she realizes nothing is there she just goes on her merry little way.
  • apshibaapshiba
    edited November -1
    Frost does not have poo eating issue (thank God) but he is crazy for geese poop. When we go for walk/run, I have to pay close attention to avoid those areas. I dont know what it is that motivates him to eat geese poop.

    He will 100% of the time sniff and examine other dogs' poop if he comes across (the owners do not pick it up all the time - bad social behavior) but he never eats that poop.
  • sunyatasunyata
    edited November -1
    Abhay, Nola likes rabbit poo. Not only does she like to munch on it, she likes to roll in it. So I have to clean up puppy poo, AND rabbit poo. (And no, the rabbits are not mine, they are wild, and trying to scoop up rabbit poo is pretty difficult!)
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    High protein diets= tastier poos that will actually smell a lot more like cat poos (we all know dogs love cat poos)

    SEP (stop eating poop) by Solid Gold

    Puppies are always hungry, usually, so it's all fair game. They usually outgrow it as long as it doean't become a habit.

    Keep at it, gotta love those poo kisses (Beebe was a notorious poo eater-before it even hit the ground, but she outgrew it).
  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    Thanks Lindsay, good to know.
  • YandharrYandharr
    this thread is ancient, but Saru just started eating poop this week for no good reason. Not sure if it's related to the food switch I just did. I had to switch from Orijen to EVO because it was too hard to find and way too expensive. What's the DL on Evo? I know it has about 10% more protein (46-ish%). Is this bad for a 2.5 y/o? Anyone think this could be correlated to poop eating? He eats (food) 3x a day, the mid meal is mostly a super small consolation meal b/c he gets jealous of Ciqala eating. When we go out, he hunts for poop like truffles or something. He will ignore a squirrel or snake over poop. I'm pretty upset about it mostly b/c i don't want to go through another food switch.
  • CaliaCalia
    46% protein seems a bit high for a dog, especially if it is just a pet and not some major athlete. The Evo could be too rich for your pup, thus not getting fully digested and making the poop taste and smell good to him.
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    Why do you think dogs love cat shit? Because it's mostly protein! Try going with something with about 25-35% protein. I give Acana to my poop eater, and she still eats her poo, so even then it isn't always a fix, especially if it's been a long term habit.
  • shibamistressshibamistress
    I like Evo, though I don't usually feed kibble at all. I mostly feed raw, and Evo is about as close as I can get, if I have to give them kibble.

    None of my dogs eat poop, whether they are being fed raw or kibble. But my best friend's dogs (also raw fed) BOTH eat poop, though frankly, I think the older dog taught the pup to do it.

    So I'm not convinced it is necessarily tied to what they're eating and how much protein. And I also don't agree that Evo is too high in protein for the average dog. But like I said, I'm a raw feeder, mostly classic BARF style, which means my dogs get mostly meat, with a lot of bone and skin (fat).

    None of which solves your problem, of course. :(
  • YandharrYandharr
    Ugh, well he was a notorious poop eater as a puppy- enough so to earn him the nickname "Crapface," but he grew out of it within a month and I never had a problem again.. until two years later. He always gets weird on me around summer for whatever reason, maybe its part of his summer emo-ness. Perhaps it's behavioral? I usually feed them after walks so maybe he's getting impatient and needs an appetizer a la poop? lol
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