Hi

For the last 5-6 days Jasper (CB.Lab) has started eating other dogs poo in the park. He's always taken an interest in geese, horse, cow and sheep poo, but this is the first for dog poo. Can anyone offer any advice or experience of how we can stop him from eating it (apart from keeping him on a lead)?
I'm also keen to find out why he's suddenly started eating it

I have done a search on the topic, however most threads seem to be about dogs eating their own, which he's not doing!

Look forward to hearing from you.
Sarah
xx

My choc lab also has started doing this will be very interested in the replies you get. I have started telling him to leave and giving him a treat if he does it seems to be working so far as long as i see it also.

My dogs eat thier own and everyone elses :rolleyes:

Any sudden change in behaviour should be checked by a vet, and eating other dogs poo (and that of other animals) could indicate an overgrowth of 'unfriendly' bacteria in the gut, which would be remedied by a long course of anti biotics.  This is esential as the condition often causes a loss off condition.

I agree that if my dog suddenly changed behaviour that way I would get vet checked first.

However, my dog used to eat other dogs' poo as well as the usual deer, rabbit, horse poo.  I found purely by accident that changing her food stopped the behaviour over about 2 weeks.  I checked if the food change was the cause by changing again to other brands and she started eating poo again.  I have fed her on JWB ever since and not had a problem although once in a while (might be months between incidences) I see her pick 'things' up in the park but can't say whether dogs poo or other animals or just rubbish dropped by people.

Hi, can you tell me what JWB is as my dog is also doing the eating dogs poo thing and so thought I might try changing her food. I was thinking about doing this anyway as I have been giving mine Bakers puppy food, and have just seen lots of  discusssions on here saying it was a terrible food to give your dog. So it might be a good time to give something else a go.

Can't say that one food is better than another myself as I am not an expert but do believe that some dogs will do well on any foods and others need a different type.  JWB is James Wellbeloved, you can buy it Pets at Home.  My dog was on Purina Beta and I have also tried her on Pedigree and on both of those she ate poo but not on JWB

Thanks Cheryls, you've certainly given me food for thought....
We've just changed his variety of food which I now believe could be the cause of this new habit.
He's always been fed Arden Grange, but when we went to stock up at the farm shop they didn't have his usual flavour/type so we opted for the chicken classic. This change happened at around the same time as we when we started the new bag.
I've just placed an order on-line for two bags of prestige so will get him back onto that as soon as it arrives (hopefully today) and see if there's any change.

Thanks again!
Sarah

Many years ago I had a bitch that started doing this, so when I was at the Vets having her booster done I asked what was the reason. Reply: 'I don't know but if you ever find out can you let me know as I have a dog that eats poo as well!!'.  I don't think there is any specific reason but I have heard (don't know if it is an old wives tale) that if you put pineapple on their food they tend to not eat dog poo.  I have told this to a friend, she did it and she thinks that her dog was better after.  The only thing is that I think you have to give pineapple at every meal!

These are some of the reasons I have come across -

Puppies will do this for several reasons - once you know what the reason is, you can work to stop it, but remember it is perfectly 'normal' behaviour for a dog......

1) Inapropriate toilet training - punishing a dog when you find a motion will result in the dog reasoning that if there is no faeces on the floor, you can't punish them, and this is the only way they have of removing the evidence.

2) Learnt from the dam. Puppies who were not raised with access to two different substrates will continue to soil the bed area - the dam will remove the soiling, and this become a habit for the puppies - they copy the good and the bad.

3) Enzyme deficieny, often cured by adding a small amount of pineapple to the diet.

4) Bacterial overgrowth - most common in puppies who eat other dogs faeces as they are naturally driven to add the good bacteria from other dogs and even other animals guts that they are lacking. Needs vet treatment with long term strong antibiotics to restore the balance.

5) Most common - inappropriate diet - food it too rich or contains indigestible parts - such as a high grain content. This is why dogs often eat 'cat litter tray crunchies' - cat foods are higher in proteins, which often pass through undigested.......

The most common reason why dogs eat poo - their own, other dog's poo, other animals' poo -- is that it smells good and tastes good. Disgusting and certainly one of the reasons why if a dog likes your cooking, don't get a swelled head.  

You can paper your walls with theories about why dogs eat poo, but the bottom line is they like it.

You may have contempt for 'theories' but if you want to stop your dog doing it, you need to know *why* they are doing it in the first place....

"You may have contempt for 'theories' but if you want to stop your dog doing it, you need to know *why* they are doing it in the first place.... "

I don't have contempt for theories, but the fact is that poo-eating is a natural behaviour for dogs.  For the overwhelming majority of dogs who indulge, there is no other reason.  I have had dogs that never ate poo.  Dogs that did but seemed to grow out of it.   And dogs who continued to do it.  All of the dogs were healthy.   Poo eating (or lack thereof) was completely unrelated to food they were fed. 
I talked to many others with the problem.  I spoke to several vets over the years.  I switched foods.  I added anti-poo eating additives.  I tried pineapple.   I even tried getting to the poo before my dog and dosing it with hot sauce.

I have one dog now that will eat poo.  Her own, fox poo, my other dog's poo.  When I take her for a walk it is a real pain watching to make sure she does not get at any deposits.  My other dog only eats his own poo, sometimes.  So if you don't think I'm sympathetic enough, sorry.  I just learned to accept the reality that for the majority of dogs the only "cure" is prevention - by picking the poo up before your dog can get to it.

I didn't know why my dog was eating other dog's poo (not her own).  Nevertheless she stopped doing it about 2 weeks after I changed her brand of food. I didn't change her food because of her 'habit' so didn't have the preconceived notion that diet might be a factor.  I changed the brand because a usually more expensive brand (JWB) was on special offer so decided to try it.  When the offer stopped I tried another 'brand leader' and hey presto she reverted to the preoccupation of seeking out munchies in the park :rolleyes:  Put her back on JWB and as far as I can tell she has rarely done this since if at all.  I say rarely because I can see she picks up birds' poo, rabbit poo and probably the deer as well but not dogs.  Naturally she is rather partial to horses poo but not very often.  In my experience with my dog I cannot see how the cause of the coprophagia was not dietary

So, I don't think that you necessarily need to know why the dog is eating the poo because you can try a few changes suggested by others who have experienced the same to see if they work.  I don't think for one minute that what will work for one will work for another but there is no harm in trial and error in an attempt to eliminate the cause.

Although it's natural for dogs to eat poo it's not the norm for them to eat dogs' poo or most dogs would do it and my own dog would not have stopped merely because I changed her food. If my dog was eating other dogs' poo just because she liked it why then did she stop? My own experience suggests that for my dog the food I was feeding her didn't suit her and she probably wasn't absorbing necessary nutrients which she then sought in the faeces of other dogs.

Hi Cheryl,

Yes, it is natural for dogs to eat dog poo.   A bitch with a litter of puppies will eat her puppies poo to keep them clean.   Even the dogs ancestor, wolves, do it. As adults, not just puppies. To bring up still another theory, supposedly it may be a way to keep the gut populated with healthy bacteria. 

Why some dogs do it to excess and some never seem to do it is the mystery.

And certainly, undigested food in poo can encourage a dog to indulge who normally would not.  So a change in diet may very well have helped, if your dog digested on food better than the other.

"poo-eating is a natural behaviour for dogs."

Just wanted to say - poo eating (of their own or other dogs' poo) is not a normal behaviour for dogs.  It is called "pica" by behaviourists and is considered abnormal by most.  However eating the poo of other species (rabbits, foxes etc) is a grey area and not considered abnormal by quite so many. 

"Pica" is a psychological term used for humans with abnormal behaviour.   Applying it to dogs is not appropriate, IMO.   A dog who eats chicken pellet fertilizer (most love the stuff) is not exhibiting abnormal behaviour.   A person who eats it - most definitely is abnormal.

Frankly, if one of my dogs manages to eat a bit of poo it causes her no problems and me much less of a problem than one of her other habits.  Rolling in the stuff, especially right behind the ears (never her own in that case though!). 

Stacey

"Applying it to dogs is not appropriate, IMO"

Wonder why it was part of my abnormal canine psychology module then....

Getting bogged down by terminology here.  IMO coprophagia is natural in so far as bitches do clear up after pups and eat other dogs' poo in an attempt to supplement a poor diet.  However, it is not normal for a dog to this because normal refers to the vast majority and obviously the vast majority do not do it.

The problem is not with the term, it's with the tendency of people toward anthropomorphism.  So when an animal eats something humans consider disgusting people label it as a symptom of abnormal behaviour, in this case pica.  

Simple definition of pica (for humans) is craving and eating non-nutritive substances - like paint, paper, soap, soil and so on.  People tend then to adapt the definition to one which is culturally sensitive about what's considered edible versus nonedible. 

An animal that eats its own feces is not exhibiting pica, regardless of what you module on canine psychology says.  A dog that compulsively eats rocks, coins, clothing or wood is exhibiting pica, for example.

I am not thinking about anthropomorphism but how normal can be defined.  If we think of a normally distributed sample regarding any behaviour then we should be able to determine what is normal or abnormal.  Abnormal is what most of the sample is not doing and this refers to dogs' eating dogs' poo.  If it was a normal behaviour then most dogs would be doing it as most dogs are not doing it then it can be considered abnormal.  IMO it was abnormal for my dog to do this because she didn't do this from the start of owning her and changing her food changed her behaviour.  If she was doing it because she liked it she would still be doing it.

Have to say I agree with CherylS.  Pica is not normal for dogs.

The "compulsive eating" of anything which is not a food substance is not normal.  And faeces are not food.

Euhhhhh, I'll remember that the next time he jumps up n licks me...:) Thanks for the advnace warning Sarah...good time in Scotland?

Hi,  I know its a few days since you posted but ive just read it. sorry.

I have a cavalier 9months, she used to do this eating poo, i made sure i picked it up as soon as she had passed the poo, with regards to other animals poo while out walking, i first trained the word leave then when that worked it the house and garden etc i extended it to our walks, so as soon as i spotted any tasty morsels ( in her opinion ) i would wait for her to make her move and the split second she did she got the leave command and lots of praise and a tastier (in my opinion ) treat. I never tugged the lead to get her away just a simple leave was all that was needed.

Now she is off lead, the leave command is second nature. Im not getting ahead of myself here im sure there will be one day when the horse or cat poo will be far more interesting than me. Fingers crossed it wont happen, but hey, shes a dog, just when you think youve got it licked (so to speak) they decided to up the anti. Dont you just love em.

Good luck

julie

I also have trouble with this with my terrier bitch. She has always eaten her own and other dog poo, (after checking first that it's edble) However, her brother has never done it and they are both now 8 years old. I have to say she has never had a poor day in her life, being very fit as my husband runs 4 times a week with them and her coat and condition is better than ever, there's nothing wrong with her. I will say that to a dog it is normal as when they have pups they are constantly cleaning up after thier babies so thier babies are brought up thinking "Its ok for mum to do it so it's ok for me"! I have to clear the garden every time theyve been out there, sometimes she comes in licking her lips at last pee at night and it drive me mad! Its something we just haveto put up with I think.

My JRT is a nightmare for it and I'm sure I have my neighbours in hysterics as i dash down the garden at top speed about 11pm in my dressing gown and slippers in rain and snow with a torch to pick up my dogs poo before he can finish and turn round and eat it.

my Tyko was speyed 2 weeks ago ( she is 6yrs), and this week she has started to eat the other dogs poo i havnt changed any of their diets , they are mostly fed on JWB & chicken wings , because of the speying , i wonder if a sort of hormonal thing ?

My 7 month old cross will eat her own poo, other dogs poo, fox poo, horse poo, mole poo (she nibbles the side of pole hills I can only guess its for their poo), but she will also eat old black banana skins, frozen solid chix breasts, rose bush stems with thorns, a fir bush she uprooted.....  If I catch her in time and stop her eating one undesirable snack she will either find another to eat on her walk or roll in the next mess she can find.

Shes fed on JWB, my only guess is that shes a PIG in appetite and choice of smell! 

Some dogs will do well on any type of food and some dogs will have problems will most types of food. All dogs are individuals and what will suit one will not suit another. That's why I will not criticise one type of food over another;) 

I am not a behaviourist so no expert in dog behaviour but I would like to guess that much of what a puppy does is still exploration and some if not all those behaviours will be outgrown in time.  Human babies would eat horse poo if given the opportunity.  One of my daughter's had a penchant for crayons, flower heads, grass and soap among many others but she grew out of that, thank goodness :) 

Never thought of it that way... your right babies do eat anything.

mine has only done it a couple of times but she does a really weird thing with her lips when she does.  She curls her lips up and chomps right into the pooh with her teeth like she doesn't want to get any stuck on her lips or gums.  it's really bizarre because she doesn't ever do this when she is eating anything else - the weird world of dogs!

Apparently I ate rabbit poo when I was a toddler :)

my brother had a taste for worms & slugs & i once copped my 11month old son eating his older sisters poo out of the potty

It seems as though poo-eating is normal, then. :)

Isn't it just part of scavenging? Some dogs are terrible scavengers in that anything they come across that's edible (and some things that aren't ) will be eaten. My bitches are all like that but my dog (different breed) is far more fastidious and eats only "food" - in the human definition of the word :D When adog's eating poo, he doesn't think "Ooo .... yummy .... some fox/rabbit/sheep poo" , he just thinks "something that smells good enough to eat"-gulp ....gone!!!!

Exactly, dogs are by nature scavengers and some may exhibit scavenge behaviour more than others. 

Eating poo could quite easily be a normal scavenge act for a dog as opposed to their having to be some particular reason for it.  Further, humans can inadvertently reinforce the behaviour into an obsession by making a big issue out of it.

I have a bitch that's more like a lady human than a dog, she's very particular with what goes into her mouth, poo is a no no. :-D  My dog acts like a typical scavenger, is a typical scavenger and has been known to pick up the odd tasty poo morsel but he's not obsessive and he doesn't touch his own.  

Dogs eating poo of their own species is NOT normal,exception being mum cleaning up after pups.

Cairnmania pica is most certainly associated with dogs,it is an illness that can be treated succesfully. :)

Digger i would have to disagree with the strong antibiotic suggestion,a strong probiotic would help with poo eating, plus so much more :) Probiotics would have to be taken after a course of antibiotics anyway to replace the good bacteria antibiotics destroy.

I have seen the greatest success with enzymes,Bcomplex and probiotics when treating coprophagy.

Dog poo is full of germs and can make dogs sick,not to mention infest them with worms,it is not something to be taken lightly IMO and should not be written off as normal! Herbivore poop is another matter,wolves often seek this out for the enzymes,bacteria etc it contains,however our domestic dogs should be recieving these things already at home in a well balanced varied diet and supplementation if needed :)

Totally agree, sara.

Sarah,

"Cairnmania pica is most certainly associated with dogs,it is an illness that can be treated succesfully"

True, however, a dog that eats its own poo is NOT exhibiting pica.  A simple web search for "pica and dogs" should clear up what is meant by the term pica.

Poo eating is undeniably disgusting (at least to me), but it is not abnormal.  If it was abnormal it would be the most common "abnormal" behaviour ever observed. 

Cairnmania i am aware that poo eating is not Pica. Its just that your post came across as dogs dont suffer from pica as that would be anthropomorphism,well to me it did anyway :)

Hi Sarah,

Sorry, nope.  I didn't mean that dogs do not suffer from pica.  They do, unfortunately

Stacey

Many ideas have been proposed by various experts but none have been proven or disproven.

In addition to comments already posted, some 'theorise' that the behaviour may sometimes be attention-getting or perhaps stem from frustration or anxiety, or begin as boredom or curiosity or even hunger and become ingrained as a habit.   Of course there is lots of other 'theories' going about too. 

We must bear in mind that dogs are much closer to nature than we are and therefore may have a 'natural' tendency to feces eating scavenging behaviour that may be activated by environmental triggers, depending on case.  For example, a nice tasty morsel of poo lying around for the taking can be a trigger for some.  Some dogs will roll in it too. 

That may not make it normal or abnormal to a dog but no doubt can make it a problem to a human.