SOS!!! DOBIE EATING HIS POOP

[AllisonRaeB]

SOS. Does anyone have suggestions for my 11 month old dobie who will not stop eating his own + other’s poop? I feed him more than enough dry food with pumpkin 3 times a day and he gets PLENTY of attention and freedom. He will eat fresh and old poop. I normally walk him on a leash and have control over the situation but sometimes he’ll manage to pick up a rock solid old piece of poop someone didn’t pick up. Worst of all, when I visit my boyfriends house with a backyard, he will NOT stop eating his own poop. I’ve heard there a supplements, prescribed and over the counter, anyone have a recommendation from experience??

 

[Viemarangelrock]

It’s actually quite common.

Is he on a high quality kibble? Poor quality kibble could be an issue due to the high amounts of additives, preservatives and colourings. Make sure the kibble has good protein sources that are from meat, rather than from grains, which are more difficult for him to digest.
When walking him on a leash just be super vigilant. Teach him the ‘leave it’ command, too.
Keep temptation at bay. Pick up after him immediately. Prevention - the easiest way to stop it.

 

[Panama]

We had to resort to For-Bid to stop my Dalmatian from doing this, and it worked great! (No prescription needed)

FOR-BID – Coprophagia Deterrent for pets

 

[AllisonRaeB]

It’s actually quite common.

Is he on a high quality kibble? Poor quality kibble could be an issue due to the high amounts of additives, preservatives and colourings. Make sure the kibble has good protein sources that are from meat, rather than from grains, which are more difficult for him to digest.
When walking him on a leash just be super vigilant. Teach him the ‘leave it’ command, too.
Keep temptation at bay. Pick up after him immediately. Prevention - the easiest way to stop it.

Yes! I feed him high-protein Victor kibble.
Will do, thank you

 

[JanS]

We had to resort to For-Bid

That actually worked better than anything else we tried too. Thankfully most of our dogs outgrew it at a certain age as well.

 

[Ravenbird]

Within a restricted yard & on leash otherwise, the first thing I would do is pick up the poop! I do agree to start with something like For-Bid right away, but seriously, I let my dog out to poop at "poop time" and I watch to see where she goes, then go pick it up, put it in a bucket with a lid and that's that. We live on 10 acres and empty the bucket in a hole and cover it with dirt but If you put yours in garbage pick-up, you can use your doggie bags, or line a small bucket with a bag to put in the trash later. If my dog took up poop-eating I'd be even more diligent. I do miss poop sometimes and find it later, but if someone steps in it before I find it I'm totally pissed!

 

[Cindy Jensen]

This is the first of my four dobies to eat her stool, and not out other pointers stools. Not interested in hers, just her own. I bought NaturVet Coprophagia stool eating deterrent. One pill daily that she will just gobble up on her own and she has not touched them again. I must say she sniffs them but then ignores them. They do have an unfortunate smell from our other dogs. We did have a whippet that used to eat her sister's stools Immediately if you know what I mean but she did outgrow that (thank goodness). I noticed our dogs are sometimes fond of bird poop!! And deer or bunny poop is an occasional treat, but I see that as more ''vegetable'' type of stool!! Hopefully this will help and should be used for a couple of mos to set up a new routine.

 

[vicrock]

A basket muzzle will ensure she cannot do this.

 

[JanS]

A basket muzzle will ensure she cannot do this.

I was going to suggest that too. Our breeder used to muzzle one of her dogs outside because it insisted on trying to eat rocks and other things.

 

[HelenaG]

I used to have a dog that ate poop, picked up whatever trash she could find on the street, etc. She was adult and from a shelter. Anyway, I was fed up with it when she dag out a dead rat once and tried to eat it. Nothing helped except the muzzle. I guess if it's a pup you could teach him to never eat anything except what you allow. Cause you know, sometimes they can eat something dangerous