hi
I really need help i have a 6mth old gsd male who is fed on arden grange who will just not stop eating his own poo! Whenever i take him out to toilet i praise him for going and not touching it but then if I turn my back for a second to get the scooper he runs back to the poo and starts eating it. I know he knows he should not do this because if i tell him to leave it he takes a big mouthful and runs off. I have tried allsorts for him to leave it alone spraying the poo, giving treats if its left, picking it up straight away but nothing seems to work any ideas. thanks in advance

jane

He does not know the SHOULD NOT do this he only knows that if he gets caught he is in trouble. The best way to tackle this is to arm yourself with a scooper each and every time you are out so that you can remove deposits AS SOON AS THEY ARE MADE, and offer him something a trifle more interesting to eat AT THE TIME HE POOPS. If you do pick it up straight away how can it NOT work? Giving him a treat for leaving his poop - hmmm how does the association work in the dog's mind?

Hi,
This is called Coprophagia. If you do a Google search you should find lots of info on it.

Kath.

Pet shops sell stuff to put in with the dogs food which makes the poo taste nasty when they eat it, im not sure how this works seeing as the dog has to eat the stuff in the first place for it to get in their poo for them to eat it again .........

I dont like the idea of giving some thing in food that you get from a pet shop ? when i have one that does this as a pup i give pinapple in food some times works, most of the time i am out with scoop.

Hi
Thankyou all verymuch for your advice I think for now I will try the pineapple idea and continue to pick up when it happens. Pickup straight away is not something I can do sometimes as he is left home in my hallway with outside door left open so he has free access to back of house - has very tall fence and no way for him to get out.

Hi Jane,

I have no idea if this works, but I remember reading somewhere that putting pineapple or courgettes in his food will make his poo unpalatable. I had a German Shepperd as a child who had the same problem- remember my mother's frustration! Give it a try, and let me know if it works!

I dont remember much about the stuff from the pet shop (having never used it) but I know it was from a natural source, rather than an actual medication. Unforutnately I cant remember who it was made by, I do know that people who came in for it said their vets recommended it. I would stick with the pineapple and see if that works to be on the safe side, although how do you get a dog to eat pineapple ?? Most of the dogs I look after wont even eat dog biscuit unless it has something more tasty mixed in with it :)

The stuff you are thinking about is Deter it contains Brewers Yeast and microencapsulated red chilli oil, the chilli oil doesn't break down till it reaches the lower gut and so adds an offensive taste to their feaces. Some dogs like chilli!

Why not try Brewers Yeast tablets, much cheaper!

Thats the one :)

I have a 13 month old GSD who does the same thing, I was using Deter for about 4 weeks up
till 3 days ago, it did stop it a bit but not much, so I've given up on that! my dog must like chilli! I think I'll try the pinapple. It amazes me, she is a real fussy eater so how can she like the taste of her poo?
Deter comes in tablet form, My dog loves them and seems to think there are treats, could be why they didn't work very well either that or I didn't give it long enough.
K

I had this problem with a retriever.Doesn't make you want to let them kiss you does it? I used the Deter tablets with him but found that you had to be really careful to give the right amount for the dog's weight and to always give them when you should or they didn't work. I seem to remember that we had to keep going for quite a while before we were sure that the habit was gone.