Hi

I haven't logged on in a while but was hoping for some advice on my four year old Goldie eating other dogs poos.  When he was a pup he would eat his own and quickly got out of the habit.  Over recent months he's started to eat other dogs poos when out on a walk, I've tried everything to stop him from telling him to leave, to keeping him on lead but to no avail.

Can anyone recommend anything I can do that will break him out of this habit once and for all?

Thanks
Lisa

There must be something only partially digested in the first one he tried and now he has got into the habit of trying them all, if only folk would clear up after their dogs.

I can't think of anything else other than giving him something to carry, toy etc., on your walks, keeping away from the edges where other dogs are likely to have left their deposit or giving a high value treat[small cube of mature cheddar cheese,only need a small amount to get the taste] when he " leaves it " on your command,

Have you tried changing his diet?

I have read of 2 dietary reasons for eating other dogs/animals poo. One is to gain intestinal bacteria - so it's recommended that you add probiotic yoghurt to your dogs food. The other is that the dog is lacking b vitamins - so you can try adding marmite (though only a small amount as it contains salt)

I found marmite greatly reduced ( though hasn't completely eliminated ) my boys fox poo eating.

> Can anyone recommend anything I can do that will break him out of this habit once and for all?

A muzzle?

But what source did you read things from Toon? I have never heard of anyone having any solution for this beyond try this & that & see if it works!

I have never found a solution either, and find dogs copy each other. Hence I think I have just 4 dogs that do NOT eat the others' poo. Never seen them do it during walks, they are usually too busy then (and I always have pocketfulls of treats and given a choice, they prefer the treats) but they do it at home. They are raw fed and I don't think I have lots of dogs all with the same deficiency. I definitely notice new pups copy the others unfortunately, but have never managed to work a way out to stop it. It's not even as easy as to always clean up as they have learnt to stand and wait when one dog is having a poo!!

But what source did you read things from Toon? I have never heard of anyone having any solution for this beyond try this & that & see if it works!

Yes, that is exactly the sort of advice I was offering - try it and see. Sadly there is no one size fits all solution.

The yoghurt suggestion came from a dog trainer's website ( though I've also read it elsewhere on the internet). It didn't help with my dog, but it's worth trying as it does no harm.

The marmite solution was posted on another forum by someone who had found it had eliminated the problem for them. There was some scientific reasoning given for it - to do with b vitamins not all getting absorbed in the bowel so being present in faeces. I have found it did make a difference - and it makes an appealing 'leave it' treat. However, if it is a lack of b vitamins, then it could be worth trying a different food instead.

The reason I looked at nutrition as a possible solution was that it helped with my last dog. She didn't digest kibble well and ate her own poo. When I switched her to raw the poo eating stopped after a few weeks.

A strong 'leave it' will help, but unfortunately if your dog finds poo in undergrowth they may well have started eating it before you see them and get the chance to tell them to leave it.

My 7 year old lab started to do this about a month ago, his own and my other dogs, normally he won't go anywhere near a dog poo, not even his own. I had noticed he was eating a lot of grass too so decided to take him to the vet. He was diagnosed with having an infection in his stomach, was given some tablets for a week and he has not done it since.

If this is a recent change I'd look at diet - some foods seem to trigger it.  Other possibilities are problems digesting their food, in particular digesting protein (I believe this is partly why the pineapple trick works for some dogs - not through the taste, but because the bromelain enzyme in pineapple digests protein very well so helps the dog digest it); there could be other deficiencies too.

Or, some other medical problem causing his appetite to spike so he's looking for whatever he can find that's vaguely edible - I've had this with my oldie, eating poo to satisfy a crazy appetite.  With her I don't know what's causing it (and it's not constant, it just spikes sometimes), but she is old and tired so not up to any more investigations now.

Paige also started doing it recently - she needed worming and has stopped since that was done.

So there's no one cause or one answer - one thing that is pretty constant is their response to how we react.  So that is important - do NOT get angry or try and shoo him off as he could start seeing the poo as more valuable and try harder to munch it before you get there.  You could also trigger anxiety over it and end up with a dog that tries to hide it - I think that's how Tia started originally (my brother used to kick her for pooing indoors, I found her recently and she never ate poo before that).  Best thing to do is distract with something really high value and reward for coming away or not going over to it to start with, and get a solid 'leave' going.

> do NOT get angry or try and shoo him off as he could start seeing the poo as more valuable and try harder to munch it before you get there.

So right!  I have one dog that had picked up another dogs poo, and, having a huge garden, I was too far away, and scolded "leave" as I raced down the garden.

Dog gobbled it up really fast, as she wasn't giving up her prize!  :-(

My nearly 6 yr old dog has just started to eat my other males poo as well as out on walks if he can spot any before I can LOL, never ever done it before. It started after he had a seizure (had been epileptic for a year without him ever doing it prior) but after he came round, disorientated in the garden found one I hadn't picked up and ate it. All very strange must be behavioural as can't be lacking, been on same food for years.  Just tried it and got the taste for it, suffice to say very vigilant now :0)