eating poo....

[Blue-bear]

My JRT eats his own poo?! is there any reason for them doing this or would this possibly stem from boredom/kennel behaviour.
Im aware that with the horses normally if they eat poo its because they are lacking something, would this be the case with dogs????

 

[alison247]

our gsd ate her poo when she was a pup. We gave her pineapple cubes which stopped her as it makes the poo taste horrible!
Not heard of it being a lack of nutrients in the diet tho!

 

[joeanne]

No idea but Bear will eat any crap going.....fox.....horse.....and he is certainly not deficient to my knowledge!
But he doesn't restrict himself to poo, dirty socks, and horse hoof trimmings from the farrier all rate fairly high on his list of things to eat!

 

[Paddockornament]

It is generally diet related. My pup did this and the vet told me that she was basically not digesting all her food so when it came back out it was like dinner all over again but heated.

Changing the diet will usually work. I changed to a premium dog food (Royal Canin) and had no more problems.

 

[Wasrandyra]

Very common in young dogs particularly terriers. i have had two that ate their own and the other dogs. Pineapple can help but I have foiund supervised toileting the best way. Mine would rather eat the other dogs while shes doing it - she hates it and started not going. I let him out first and supervise him, then let her out without him so he cant do it. Disgusting creatures but they are scavangers at the end of the day. Good luck x

 

[Sooty]

It is revolting, and it is more habit than anything. Best way to stop it is to remove the opportunity. As soon as your dog poos, pick it up. If it is in the garden, put the dog indoors first, as it is possible they will see the poo-picking as a game they wish to join in. I had a GSD that was deterred (ooops! no pun intended...) by nothing; all I could do was beat him to it. With current dog, she went through a phase as a puppy. We tried the pineapple which failed miserably, so we went for the instand turd gathering option and now she has totally stopped doing it.