I am so disgusted with my young girl. She has picked up the nasty habit of eating her sister's poop and she even eats her own poop. She's not picky.

I'm headed out to the store to pick up some tomatoe sauce for her sister and some yams for my girl who is eating the poop. I heard yams can help with loose stools.

Do poop eating dogs tend to run in the family of dogs ? When the poop eating dog is still young when they start this aweful habit, do they sometimes outgrow it ?

I go outside in the morning and 2 more times during the day but she is a very sneaky girl. If they see me standing out there waiting for them to go poop then they want to play and won't do anything.

My girl has been having very mushy stools for the past month or so and I thought it was parasites so I have been treating her for everything under the sun and her poops are still mushy. Then I saw her eating poop the other day and got to thinking that maybe this is what is causing her to have looser stools than normal.

I told her I was sorry but there will be no more kisses planted on my cheeks until she curbs her disturbing craving for poop.

I have never found anything that stops this. It's disgusting, I don't watch

I have not had any luck with any of the remedies I've tried. I also believe it's a learned behavior. When you have one PE, you may find yourself with several.

I, too, clean up after them several times per day and can often be seen racing them to the poop pile with scooper in hand, yelling, "LEAVE IT!" It must be amusing for my neighbors.

If it is a learned behavior then how did my 1 yr old girl learn it if None of my other dogs eat poop ? I've had other dogs/breeds who also picked up the habit all on their own.

For those of you who have poop eaters, have you noticed if their stools were mushy to on the loose side ?

They are mushy when they eat poop, not when they don't.
It's especially nice when they eat it and then come in and throw it up.
It has a lovely smell the second time around

Oh ya, how about when they belch when they come in.
It's got to be as bad as when they puke.
What's really bad is when you have a girl that will stand there and wait for it before it hits the ground. Yuck!
When my young ones started it, I tried Deter once again. It seems to have helped. I gave it to all the dogs. I haven't smelled any poop breath lately.

Donna

I did not say it was exclusively a learned behavior.

I think it runs in certain lines. I have one bitch who drives me crazy with this. Everyone of her puppies are major poop eaters.

Mike

Ok Question...I have only seen one bitch who did this ever in my life. So wondering from the info on the postings...are bitches more prone to this behavior?
TIA
A

I have 4 girls in our house 3 of which are poop eaters, two different bloodlines. My other girl that doesn't eat poop is a princess dog hates to get dirty, stays away from everything that smells bad, but the three other girls love her poop!! They all line up waiting for her to go. I have to stand there and wait for her to finish so that no one can get to it. So totally disgusting!! YUCK

I have a poop eating girl too....It drives me insane! My boys wouldn't dream of doing it...I love my girl dearly but I could shoot her when I see her out hunting for it in the back yard. I have pretty much trained my dogs to poop on command so that I can clean it all at once before their breakfast and dinner time. This really cuts down on her chances of getting to the steaming piles before I do. I have tried every poop eating remedy on the market, I have spoken to behaviorists about it and they all say the same thing "just clean it up before the dog does" That's the only thing that works!

One thing I noticed before I had the fenced in yard, my girls did not eat the poop. Well now I have two that do it.

My others out grew that nasty behavior but one. she is 11 mos. And the only poop she eats is from our chihuahua's. If they oops in the house. But if i say no to her. Before she gets it before me. she won't so she knows she isn't suppose to do that.
Now of course we have cows right next to our property.That poop is the ultimate hot meal of the day. mmmmmmmmmm good.They all eat that.

I have tried tobasco sauce, digestive enzymes, etc. and have found the only thing that works is to pick it up as soon as it hits the ground.

Miya is a PE but not as bad since whelping. The funny thing was the first time she cleaned up after her pups she got this awful look on her face and spit out the puppy poop. I looked at her and said "You eat poop when I don't want you to and now that I want you too you don't want it". Go figure.

Anyway, her daughter Jazz picked this up (learned behavior?) She is the only pup in the litter that I know of. One other plays with poop sickles but doesn't eat them (male). Jazz is not as bad as Miya but being her daughter she follows Miya everywhere and will join right in if I don't catch them first.

I have researched caprophagia and it is said that it is inherited from the wolves. In the wild if a kill can't be brought down, wolves will eat their own feces to survive.

Have also heard that it is a result of a dog not digesting their food properly and not getting all the nutrients from their food and the reason they eat poop.

Inherited? My sisters dogs don't do this and one is Miya's neice. My mom has a mother and daughter who both do it.

Who really knows? All we do know is that it is disgusting. Especially when you suspect it and peel back their lips to find poop stuck between their teeth

I am convinced this is/can be inherited! I had an interesting experience that convinced me of this.
I have a number of Poop eaters, the queen PE being my a bitch who whelped a litter of 3 babies just 2 days after my "princess" girl, who is disgusted by all things yucky!, whelped a whopping 11 babies.
So, I gave several of her babies to the bitch with the small litter ( PE ), I had no trouble telling them apart as one girls pups were all blks, the others were all yellows. The pups raised by the princess, naturally, are all princes(s), but the princess babies raised by the PE, also were disgusted by poop, but the PE own genetic babies are PE!!
Very interesting experience, and one which convinces me, this can be an inheritated trait! ( too bad my queen PE is so gorgeous, I can't give her up, LOL! )

My experience is that the girls are worse than the boys, but I have two males out of my line of poop eaters that do it too. They don't seem to be as glutonus(sp) as the girls.

Mike

My male is a poop eater too. He wasn't always though. He would watch the two girls and before I knew it he started poking around it and eating it too.

I also believe this is an inherited thing. If I have a poop eater they go to a single dog home. Problem solved. :)

Yes but how many of you would boot a poop eater out of your breeding program ? This is where I am right now. If she outgrows this habit then I wouldn't feel so bad and she is the most beautiful girl I have bred to date. This same girl eats rocks to but I think she is slowing down on that habit which started when she was a puppy.

Don't let the baby out with the bathwater for eating Poop if she is that nice. Don't watch when she does or scoop it be4 she consumes it.

Never let your labs watch you pick up poop.

No Alexandria, Poop Eating isn't just for girls either. I have had boys do just as much PE.mmmm Interesting I have 2 unrelated pups 11 wks and 14 weeks. aaaaaaahhhhhhh they aren't eating poop.

Why?

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Replying to:

Never let your labs watch you pick up poop.

Because dogs will frequently mimic human behavior and you're out there collecting or removing their poop. They learn quite a bit from you by watching. While many of you are out there eager with your pooper scoopers to keep them from munching you are constantly reinforcing their behavior. Of course, once they have learned this lesson it's very difficult to change, may as well wait for the next pup to see if it works. No guarantees though, rich or deficient diets can cause this too.
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Re: Re: Poop Eating Fool

Why?

So how do you propose grabbing the poop before they try to consume it? I have seen some dogs (not to get gross) literally crank their necks around to grab what is just exiting before it hits the ground

I didn't reread this entire thread but I know I read somewhere on the forum that feeding spinach makes the poop smell nasty. You might want to try that.

I also have read in books that letting them see you pick up the poop makes them want to mimic the behavior.

The dog that I did see do this years ago was a neighbors spayed bitch who was an easy keeper who was on a perpetual diet...the books say that it is a way of a dog to re up nutrients in the wild...makes sense. So if they are only trying to do what nature tells them to do, as nasty as this habit may look to us, is this the dogs fault for following natures cue? And how can we try to overrule nature other than spaying a dog if, indeed, this is an inherited characteristic? IS the jury still out on that? Sometimes I think we need to remember that dogs ARE dogs. Just asking...I am glad I do not have to deal with this one.
A

Breeders should move pups to another area or room when cleaning holding pens and when you walk your pup, let them do their business. Sometime, preferably once a day, go out there and pick it up while they aren't present. Not many pups eat poop.

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Replying to:

So how do you propose grabbing the poop before they try to consume it? I have seen some dogs (not to get gross) literally crank their necks around to grab what is just exiting before it hits the ground

Is Poop eating breed related or are there other breeds that gravitate towards this behavior?

My other breeds or mixed breeds never ate poop.

We just had our lab poop outside and poured tabasco on it will let ya know how that goes! today was her FIRST poop outside after trying to train her to poop on a pad in the house, she wouldnt poop where she peed so now its all gonna be outside, its tedious but worth it...She is almost 5 months old, i think it is genetics and easrly puppyhood acquired, if they are together in a pen with other puppies for lengthy periods of time by the breeder, our other lab didnt eat poop.But she was an outside dog,and not purebred like this one. We just want her to let us know that she needs to go out, Is it easy to train her to go to a certain spot?, do you have to stand there with them on a leash? I think she likes privacy..lol, dont we all.....

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Replying to:

Is Poop eating breed related or are there other breeds that gravitate towards this behavior?

My other breeds or mixed breeds never ate poop.

I had a pup that loved Tabasco! I would put it on the lower cupboard door edges because he liked to chew on them. The dog proceeded to lick it off. I wondered if he didn't have receptors for the hot part of it.

That is so funny! Our lab chewed the bottom of our kitchen cabinets also but I found a Product called Yuk! at PetsMart that Worked on them and on the baseboards and the bottom of the corners inside the hallway and living room areas of the house.
I like this forum, you realize you arent the only one dealing with the same problems and that we wouldnt trade out for the best behaved pooches, even if we could, i know i wouldnt!!!! everyone has great comments and helpful advice, you can pick and choose whats best for your situation! Glad I found you Guys!!! Thanks!

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I had a pup that loved Tabasco! I would put it on the lower cupboard door edges because he liked to chew on them. The dog proceeded to lick it off. I wondered if he didn't have receptors for the hot part of it.

I coated the poop with tobasco too and my Abbey wolfed it right down.

also did this on a hamburger that i left on the counter to deter her from counter surfing. That didn't work either.