Coprophagia- poop eating help :(
So, here's my dilemma: My 6 month old puppy eats poo, regardless if it's his or not. We would be walking and if I am not paying attention, he would put poop in his mouth. It's really gross, especially when I have to remove it and food rewards are not working to "drop it" so I have to use my fingers 
Yesterday, I went to the park and he pooped in front of a picnic table full of people and dogs. I did not have a bag so I went to get the shovel to throw the waste out. When I turned around and started walking towards him, he already ate the big part. People were laughing and saying, "ewww." Which really made me sad and not want to go to the park anymore. It was really embarrassing. :-(
I'm working on "leave it" where he'll stop sniffing interesting things and sit right in front of me.
I feed him Orijen kibble and bits of liver twice a day and always pick up after him post elimination. I'm not sure what he ate but he used to have a piece of string stuck where I had to pull it out. After, I noticed he watches it come out and sometimes licks it while going. I try to keep him looking straight (like my other dogs) but it sometimes doesn't work. He always turns around to make sure it's on the floor after.
I read Victoria Stilwell's blog on coprophagia and she states a reason may be his previous environment. He saw it as a "toy" or the owners scolded him for eliminating in the house that he ate the evidence. He might have learned this from other dogs as well.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Yesterday, I went to the park and he pooped in front of a picnic table full of people and dogs. I did not have a bag so I went to get the shovel to throw the waste out. When I turned around and started walking towards him, he already ate the big part. People were laughing and saying, "ewww." Which really made me sad and not want to go to the park anymore. It was really embarrassing. :-(
I'm working on "leave it" where he'll stop sniffing interesting things and sit right in front of me.
I feed him Orijen kibble and bits of liver twice a day and always pick up after him post elimination. I'm not sure what he ate but he used to have a piece of string stuck where I had to pull it out. After, I noticed he watches it come out and sometimes licks it while going. I try to keep him looking straight (like my other dogs) but it sometimes doesn't work. He always turns around to make sure it's on the floor after.
I read Victoria Stilwell's blog on coprophagia and she states a reason may be his previous environment. He saw it as a "toy" or the owners scolded him for eliminating in the house that he ate the evidence. He might have learned this from other dogs as well.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Comments
On a side note: Bill Engvall does a joke about making poop taste bad. It's really funny.
I never had to deal with dog eating other dog's poop, but my past three dogs loved cat, deer, and rabbit poop..
Bella loves all those two luckily we have no cats anymore and she has gotten better with leave it she is like why bother try to eat the rabbit poop I hear leave it each time..
Though if she is off leash it's harder to control. She'll hear me say leave it she eats a bit then comes to me like hah I ate some anyways..
Her grossest act is rolling in coyotes poo I had her off leash first time she did it I was like what are you doing? She then flops to the ground and she has it all over her and her harness. OMG Bella she must love baths.
I agree try pineapple there are products out there..
Would putting hot sauce on poop then the dog eats it would that cause the dog to want to leave it? Might be a bit too extreme though and bad if the dog decides to eat the hot sauce poop..
Saya did pick up a deer poo when I had her off leash. I told her to drop it she did, but still had some in her mouth I had get out. She also gotten horse poo luckily we don't go by that often.
I hope you get it fixed soon.
@ayk I'm working on switching him over to RAW. I found a few places at the University that sells meat for cheap. We're working on switching him little by little and starting with liver then chicken.
With potty training, I leave him in the crate for a max of 3 hours. I thought he was doing well, but I'm not sure anymore... he may be eating his accidents! I never scolded him when he had an accident too.
I've heard it was because his food was of low quality, but Orijen is a five star kibble blend.
That may be why his breath smells so bad... then he licks me... ewww.
Just be scrupulous about picking up, and work on 'leave-it'. Have him on a leash for potty breaks and call him to you for a special treat immediately after he's done his business. Be cautious about being overzealous in redirecting or scolding him about poo eating, because he may then be reluctant to poo in front of you. Better to teach him to poo on command, and then come to you for a treat and you can just pick up the pile and then turn him loose.
Make sure you have a fecal sample assessed for intestinal parasites at the minimum. If your pup's poos appear poorly digested, the consistency is always soft, or if there is diarrhea/steatorrhea, then additional tests might be in order.
I'll start the transition to a lower protein food and get crushed pineapple to try it.
So he did something gross today (if you care to be grossed out.)
I was letting him potty on leash and the first drop fell. I then tried to get my bag but he was about to do the second drop. Mochi then ate the second drop before it went to the floor.... SSOOOOO GROOOSSSSS.
Do you think he's just hungry?
Here's a thought...what if while its coming out, you show him a smelly treat, like a piece of chicken or cheese- right in front of his nose, will he focus on that? Then - even if he only gets one nugget out- you lure him forward, away from the turd, feed cheese and walk...this may entail asking someone else to come with and pick up the poop OR- step away form the turd, throw some more cheese on the ground (forward) so he can graze for that while you scoop the poop....eventually he gets a cheese after each poop, but at first you may need to be ridiculously liberal with the rewards.
Her stomach never really adjusted 100% to the puppy food I had been feeding her, so I think that feeling of an upset belly might have contributed to her anxiety about her poop, which might make her want to hide it.
Maybe might have to do something with him being really food driven or hungry. Also, I take Moja out for her poop walks right after I feed her, so maybe that helped too. The theory being you can't be *that* into if you're full. Right? But dogs do surprise me sometimes..
I don't know what to suggest other than what people have suggested....Try the pineapple, or some of the commericial mixes to stop it. Sucks, anyway, so I hope you find a solution!
She stopped though when I changed her diet. My vet had me take her off puppy food and poof nasty behavior gone.