i have an 8 week old german shepherd bitch and she has this disgusting habit of after having a pooh she will eat it.
when she has toileted she has not been scolded so she is not afraid to go???

You can try putting pineapple chunks in her food, this normally works.

She may be one of the pups whose picked the idea up from seeing her mother doing the same thing - as soon as she's done her poo call her away, enticing her with a fav toy or a treat to prevent her munching.

She cannot eat it if you clean it up straight away.

Hi. My 6 month old lab Star has been doing this since we got her. I know how you feel. Unless we catch her and pick it up straight away,she will go back and eat it.I can usually guage when she needs to "go" now,but on the odd occasion where I am not watching,she will go back and eat it. I have tried the pineapple,but it didnt work. She knows she has not to do it,but can't seem to help herself.It's not as if she is hungry,and it's hard for us to understand why she would want to do that when she has just been fed. I keep hoping she will grow out of it,but she did it again yesterday when i had visitors,and had put her outside to stop her constant jumping on them (see another thread).She is a lovely dog,and I love her to bits,but she is the "worst" puppy,behaviour wise,that I have ever had,and i have had dogs all my life,mainly German Shepherds,who were easy compared to her.All I can advise is that you be vigilant and pick it up right away,say NO and generally let her/him know that it is not acceptable,and hopefully you will have more success than me
Jean

There is always the possibility that, the more fuss you make of this, the more she is likely to do it! Typical dog - if you give the impression that you want something, they'll take it!

Hi there,
I have a friend who had this problem, she initially tried clearing it up as soon as the dog eliminated.  Unfortunately this resulted in her dog (also a GSD) racing to get it first - he was probably vying for what he now saw as an important commodity!
Many young dogs go through this stage and they often grow out of it - my three year old working sheep-dog occassionally does this, but not often enough to warrant worry.
It may be a nuitritional problem, and the eating poo is an attempt to reabsorb any nutrients that could have been lost.  Whether it's a behavioural or biological issue, the first port of call should always be your vet just to make sure everythings ok (better safe than sorry!)

MW

hi i am sorry if i have taken your message the wrong way but i have taken it to be slightly offensive as picking it up straight away is the most obvious solution.
i have had gsd years ago and they did this then the vet at that time told me to put them on vitamins sa37 powder which cost a fortune.
it did work for a while and did help picking the pooh up straight away, well if i was quicker than the dogs..
however, they started cleaning up after each other and the cat.?
present day, i have the gsd puppy eating its pooh if it gets there before i,i have consulted with my new vet and am told this is a simple behavioral problem and no wifes tales will work ie pinapple infact if i choose to use pinapple the acidic content may upset my puppys digestive system,, so this is a dilemma.
[sorry for any bad spellings but i have a learning disability]

Ive had a dog do this before and picked it up straight away he soon learnt he had to be quicker to get it . instead we taught him the word leave and no! and pulled him out the way this works much better. my cocker as a pup did this we taught her no she moved straight away and hasent done this since.
my advice is to teach you dog basic things like (stay)good for keeping your dogs still.. say you drop a glass you can prevent accidents, (no) they soon learn what that means good for quite a few things :D  (get down) (drop) if you see your dog with somthing in his mouth, a good thing again to prevent accidents. and leave or leave it!. its far better saying commands then running around like a mad woman after all your dogs.not too hard to teach either. if i can do it im sure you can too :Dive just taught my freinds cairn terrier to do it and shes daft as a brush . hope it all goes well

Feeding them cooked pumpkin is suppose to work well and is also good for them....You just boil it up like potatoes and give a little at every feeding, not too much cause you don't want to give the runs.

Sorry if you felt my reply was offensive. It was not meant to be. It is surprising how often the 'blindingly obvious' is not obvious at all :-).

Dogs, if fed regularly, are usually regular with their toileting so, if you can establish her routine, you can be there at the ready with both the shovel and the command "leave".

Perhaps a change of diet to one that is more efficiently digested would help.

sorry to hear about your problem, but I too had a dog that ate his poo.  I received information that cured my puppy.  First, my vet explained that he probably had to eat his poo as a survival skill.  He suggested I sprinkle meat tenderizer onto his food.  When it's digested & comes out into his poo, the garlic aroma is apparently a bad smell & they won't eat it.  This worked for me & keep my puppy from eating our other dog's poo also.  Good luck!