[ericspencer123]

What's a positive solution to a dog that eats poo? Thanks.

[Cheetah]

Leash the dog when you're taking it potty, so you can pull him away from his poop once he's done doing his business. Out of sight, out of mind, so after they're unable to eat the poop for a while, they fall out of the habit of doing it.

Shippo was leashed to me in the yard for a month or two before I could trust him not to eat poop.

A good "leave it" command is also helpful.

[ericspencer123]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

Leash the dog when you're taking it potty, so you can pull him away from his poop once he's done doing his business. Out of sight, out of mind, so after they're unable to eat the poop for a while, they fall out of the habit of doing it.

Shippo was leashed to me in the yard for a month or two before I could trust him not to eat poop.

A good "leave it" command is also helpful.

Ah yes, the leave it command. Good thinking.

[Wimble Woof]

eating its own poo or other animals???
One of mine thinks rabbit droppings are gourmet treats left by the wild treat fairy...
If your dog is eating its own turds, definately take a good look at what you are feeding. Something is lacking.

[Durbkat]

Snoopy will sniff his but if I clap my hands and call him back he will leave it.

[Dieselsmama]

1st, pick up any waste before he gets a chance to go after it, 2nd evaluate his diet to determine what's missing there.

[briteday]

What are you feeding the dog currently? How old is the dog?

[chester]

My dog eats his poo as well. What could be missing from his diet?

[lovemygreys]

The only surefire solution: Pick up the poo so it's not out there for him to eat.

Eating poo is not indicative that the dog is missing anything from their diet. Commercially made kibble contains a lot (is mostly) filler that passes through the dog undigested/unabsorbed by the body. That's why a dog on raw has poop that is MUCH less in volume than a dog on commercial kibble. All the undigested "food" in the stool still smells very much like something edible to a dog, so they eat it. I have never seen our dogs remotely interested in raw-fed dog poop. Kibble poop they seem to love.

You can teach "leave it" - which comes in handy in a lot of situations and is a good thing to teach. But, the only surefire way to prevent it, is just to pick it up.

There are some additives you can add to their food - papaya, pineapple, Adolph's meat tenderaizer. The papain in these additives seem to make poop unpalatable. I've also heard of people using canned green beans...there's several "home remedy additives" out there.

[briteday]

I have had a dog that ate stools and stopped when the vet had us change to a higher protein diet.

She was a shelter dog and had been fed a high grain diet when we adopted her. I was able to switch her to a high quality dog food within a few days and the stool eating stopped immediately within 2 days of the new food.

Our vet said that his clue to her issue was that she was eating cat stools when she could get into the cat box or find them in our pasture. Cat food is higher in protein and so dogs seeking protein will try this source.

However, he also said that some dogs appear to have no particular reason to eat stool and all you can do is pick it up as soon as they go. On that note, if you have to pick up poop often, we have found a great pooper scooper at Petsmart. Don't know if they carry them in all stores though. Designed by a 10 year old boy for a science project, I think. Has an adjustable length handle and you use common plastic grocery bags for the collection. You never have to touch the icky parts or bend over! It even has little forks one the end to help scoop things out of the grass or dirt. You'll know it by the descrition as well as the label since it says something about being designed by a child.

[alous]

I have had success using fresh pineapple pieces (not canned) mixed in with their feed.

[briteday]

I vote for the vet visit for health check and if all is well, go to a local premium food retailer or farm store that carries the premium brands (check out the food sub-forum to see what we are talking about "premium brands", there are some sticky posts at the top of the forum. "food calculator" last post in thread gives scores for some of the more popular / available foods). Once you find a retailer in your area then go in, explain the issue, and they usually have tons of little sample bags to let you try a few brands before you buy.
As RonE said, put food down, leave it for 10-20 minutes, and then pick the bowl up until the next meal. I've had many foster dogs that were weird about eating and none have ever held out longer than 3 days. And no treats in between or getting them to eat their kibble won't work.

[bluesbarby]

With Riley you had to be right next to him, tell him leave it and scoop it up. Now he doesn't even smell it. He's even gotten better with the cat poop.