Hello everybody, i read the forum daily and have learned alot from you all on lots of different topics ,so i wondered if any has any advice for me? I have a 4 month old Staffy pup who eats her own pooh if i dont  get to it first!! How can i strop this, or do you think she will just grow out of it? I bred her myself so i have the mum and never had this problem with her mum. Help !

Hi,

The technical term for this behaviour is "Coprophagia" if you type this into Google there is lots of information there about it. :)

HTH

HI, and thanks for the quick response, will have a look now. Thank You!

Hello HTH , i have looked on google and suggestions are to try a spoonful of tinned pieapple in her food so off to the supermarket to get some! worth a try! and if it doesnt work i have a good recipe for a pineapple trifle so it wont be wasted!!!! Will let you know if it works.

Thanks again. :)

nothing to do with the subject but just to point out HTH means 'hope that helps' or something, i dont think it is the posters name :)

OOPS ,:( soz new to this .. .. apologies to fablab .... thanks Zoe, now you mention it suppose its obvious. Having trouble finding all the little icons you all put on, will get the hang of it soon ! THANKS .:)

LOL ! (laughs out loud) Don't worry we were all new to this at some time. :)

Yes, I believe that some people have had some success with adding pineapple or garlic to their dogs diet .. probably worth a try ?

Hope you enjoy this board now you've started posting. :)

Think some pups pick up the habit from Mum, who will clean up after the litter, why some pups do it I have no idea but may be if they are weaned a bit late of something. Best thing is to pick it up the moment it is laid, and then she can't continue the habit.

Review the diet you are feeding your puppy, most commercial diets are cereal heavy and therefore pass through incompletely digested and therefore the faeces still have some food value; hence why dogs are attracted to horse droppings :D

Pineapple contains the Digestive Enzyme bromelain hence why it is suggested, alternatively you could try a Digestive Enzyme complex available from health shops; pet shops sell a product called DETER which may help but I don't know what is in it.

Environmental management is crucial.

At the moment i am feeding her on Raw Tripe and Nutro puppy bisquits,? and yes you are right about horse droppings !! I have a horse and when i take the dogs with me to the farm i spend half my time chasing them off the muck heap!!! :))

My pup used to do that until about 6 months old, the pineapple thing didn't work for us.  Everything my pup finds goes into her mouth including snails and horse poo   She's just nine months now and doesn't eat her poo anymore but is still partial to the odd manure pile, probably tastes quite sweet?  I do discourage it though just in-case of wormers in equine poo!
Sarah

Never worried about mine eating Horse or Sheep poo, must say never thought about medication still being viable, suppose unless you have had it happen you don't consider things until someone suggests it :)

Please be aware that lungworm can be contracted by dogs eating snails...........................

Ivermectin used in worming horses can be fatal to some breeds especially collies and ASDs

Hi Thome, I think you might be mistaken with another lungworm parasite (Angiostrongylus sp.) - It affects rats' pulmonary arteries, then eventually migrate into the lungs.  It is then passed out in rat's faeces where it can then penetrate into the soft body tissue of molluscs (in particular slugs and snails) - If these infected snails are eaten, and they are sometimes eaten by humans, then the condition eosinophilic meningitis can occour - however this is not a condition that is seen in the UK (as I understand) - The type of lungworm that affects OUR pets and livestock is of a genus Dictyocaulus sp. and so is obviously a different species.  Of course parts of the life cycle of this worm can pass through into faeces and affect grazing land, it can also be carried on fungal spores and earthworms!  Nevertheless as I understand it my dog is not at any great risk of contracting Dictyocaulus from eating the odd snail.
Sarah :)

Hi

My last rescue dog was 12 months old when we got him and he indulged in this habit for quite a while.  I tried adding courgettes and pineapple (the latter he wouldn't eat anyway) to his diet but short of picking up  immediately after him nothing worked till I changed his diet.  He now has no processed food and not only does he produce less, presumably because he digests all he does eat, but he doesn't even attempt to eat what he does pass.  I have to agree with Tohme on this - processed food does not suit all dogs, they cannot digest all the cereal in it.  To dogs, what comes out is hardly different from what goes in - its all food to them so they eat it.