How To Stop My Dog From Eating Poop? PLEASE HELP!

[BeingMe]

My lab and sometimes my rottie are eating each others and their own dog poop. I have a 8 month old who they like to lick and I need to stop them from eating the poop. Plus they burp really nasty smells. We've tried pumpkin, tomato, etc and nothing helped. Please share any ideas.

[EastonsMom]

have you tried meat tenderizer, that is what I always recommend. Good luck! We have this problem on and off too. Do they do it when left out and are bored? Try hiding real treats and toys around the yard and see if that helps. Dogs like to search for there food, it is instict. There is NOTHING worse than cleaning up poop puke :Puke

[BeingMe]

Is meat tenderizer ok for them to eat? If so I will give that a try. Otherwise my only last choice is to use a remote shock collar and watch for them to do it. I don't want to but I can't have the poop eating.

[k9rider]

Meat tenderizer is safe for them to eat, yes. Otherwise, invest in a pooper scooper and scoop daily

[mags]

Also, one other thing to ponder. Maybe your dog needs a daily vitamin supplement. Dogs (and ppl, esp anemic or anemic pregnant women), will sometimes eat odd things, b/c it's their body's way of exhibiting a nutritional deficiency. Also, why not call your vet's office, I bet they deal with this question quite often. There are some dogs though, who just seem to enjoy the taste of poo... my parents shih tzu is like that. She's a cute dog, but I do NOT want her to give me kisses!

[Starflower]

I second the idea of calling the vet and using the pooper scooper. Nasty habit. My dog sometimes does this too. Yuck!

[AngelBee]

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[ASusan]

I'm not a dog person, and I don't know why dogs do this; however, I have a thought --

If the dog is instinctively looking for food - and eating poop - could it be the case that there is a lot of undigested food in the feces? So, the feces would still smell a lot like food.

Lesser quality pet foods are not as well digested, and there are more "fillers" in them. This I *do* know, based on info from my vet (in respect to cat food) and experience. When I feed my cat high quality foods, there is a LOT LESS in the litter box. (Pet food is directly correlated to price, according to my vet: higher price = better quality.)

SO, could you switch them to a higher quality food, in hopes that more gets digested (and therefore smells less like food?). At least there would be less for them to find and eat!!

[BeingMe]

Actually we use Canidae. So I don't believe it has to do with nutritional deficiencies. More so boredom, and bad habits. I tried the treadmill but they won't go on it. Like in the dog whisperer, maybe I need him

[Sarahbunny]

I've heard two things about this type of behavior - 1) that you can buy something to put in their food to make the poo not smell "good"(!) to the other dog or to themseves and 2) that they may be missing a nutrient so they are eating it for that. Iwould definitely call the vet if I were you. Yuck!

Now, I wish I could figure out how to get Chompers to stop peeing on Scooter! :

[LittleRockstar]

Crushed Pineapple has worked for many, but not all of the dogs I know. If they're already habitual poo-eaters sometimes they're just thankful for the pineapple flavored poop though. It's still worth a try. Definitely check their diets too. Is kelp supposed to help with this or am I making that up? I'll try to do some checking.

[Sailor]

Practically every dog eats poop. It's a dog thing. Yea, it's disgusting, I agree. But, you do NOT need to use a shock collar to train it out of them!

I'd try 2 things: 1. re-train them to go potty at your command, and only in one area of the yard. At which point, you can pick it up and toss it in the garbage. You can leave a garbage pail out there, by the spot, so you don't have to bring it into the house. Yes, it's a pain in the butt to retrain and then pick up after them. But, no poop = no problem. This is what I did with my dog, from the time I got him. He goes in one spot, that I indicate on command. I pick up after him, and that's that.

2. Teach them the "leave it" or "drop it" command. Once they know it, without fail, try using it on them each time you see them pick up poop.