# What did you just eat?!?!?!!? 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… ## Thread In Behavior · started by KFontaine04 · 19 replies - **Category:** [Behavior](https://nihonken.org/community/c/behavior) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## KFontaine04 · 2008-11-21T13:31:06.000Z 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! ## ljowen123 (moderator) · 2008-11-21T13:56:12.000Z 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. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-11-21T13:58:43.000Z 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. ## sunyata · 2008-11-21T14:01:52.000Z 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. ## mike_t · 2008-11-21T14:11:34.000Z 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) ## kwyld · 2008-11-21T14:52:11.000Z 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. ## KFontaine04 · 2008-11-21T15:13:13.000Z 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. ## _dlroberts · 2008-11-21T16:50:14.000Z 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! ## KFontaine04 · 2008-11-21T17:08:00.000Z 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. ## _dlroberts · 2008-11-21T17:25:57.000Z 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? ## KFontaine04 · 2008-11-21T17:41:50.000Z 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. ## _dlroberts · 2008-11-21T17:52:00.000Z 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. :-/ ## KFontaine04 · 2008-11-21T18:19:52.000Z 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_rain · 2008-11-21T18:46:58.000Z I initially thought this threat was about what we humans just ate, like "what'd you have for dinner?", hahaha gross!!!!! ## StaticNfuzz · 2008-11-21T18:47:20.000Z 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 ## KFontaine04 · 2008-11-21T18:53:41.000Z 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. ## apshiba · 2008-11-21T19:13:07.000Z 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. ## sunyata · 2008-11-21T19:51:50.000Z 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!) ## lindsayt · 2008-11-22T09:19:04.000Z 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). ## KFontaine04 · 2008-11-22T10:31:43.000Z Thanks Lindsay, good to know. --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)