2 Year old Won't Stop Eating Feces

[TooLabs]

This is the first dog that I have had that has this issue. I am now calling it a behavior and not a dietary concern as I have read some have. When he was a puppy he did not do this at all. It was when he turned a year old and maybe a bit longer he started eating the dried dog feces (his and my other older lab) that was either overlooked in yard cleanup or not yet cleaned up. We have worked on the leave it/firm no even went so far to bring back the e-collar when he goes out to potty. Some times he is good and other times it is as if he can seek out and devour it despite the leave it and no's. I have debated on using the pills I see that you can buy and only am concerned because I read good/bad about them.. plus it seems to take a heck of a lot of pills- like 1 pill per 10 lbs and he is 90 lbs. At his last check up in spring, he was tested and no parasites were found. Told vet at that time and vet didn't seem too concerned just said some dogs do that... that kinda was unsettling because I don't want my dog to do that! It's gross! Yes we try to keep the yard cleaned up as frequently as possible. But with busy lifestyles and 2 dogs sometimes it gets overlooked or a hidden gem is always uncovered by him! His diet consists of the Fromm 4 star grain free rotation, salmon oil daily, snacks include carrots, melon and occasional grain free biscuits. I am just at a loss on how to break him of this as my other dog has never done this and he started after hitting the 1 year old mark. Suggestions or advice welcome especially with those that have dealt with and hopefully overcome this disgusting habit!!

[Tanya]

clean-up. i have a poop eater, he started when he was around 4. he does it, as best i can determine, cuz he likes it. it's self rewarding. most of their "business" is on our walks and I always supervise in the yard and pick up immediately if they do go in the yard. yes in the winter as well. my yard is always clean!

ETA: he is now 11 and still as bad. it's the only thing he does when offleash it seems, search for and eat poop. it's obsessive even.

[Snowshoe]

We tried the pills that were supposed to make the poop taste bad. Didn't work. I think they do work for some but not for us. What did work was diligent cleaning up. After about a good year it seemed the habit was broken and Whisper didn't eat her own poop any more. Whisper was starved before we got her but, ironically, it was after she started getting good, reliable meals that she started this. Only one dog, she ate her own, so easier than for you. Good luck.

[Annette47]

Yup ... either clean up or turn your head and ignore it. Some dogs just are poop eaters and there’s not much that can be done about it.

[Tanya]

Yup ... either clean up or turn your head and ignore it. Some dogs just are poop eaters and there’s not much that can be done about it.

sigh. it took me about a year or so to get to the point I could do this. the first year i was revolted by it and my stomach turned. but you DO get to the point of being able to just suck it up and not feel TOTALLY ill by it (not that you appreciate it but it doesn't turn your stomach anymore). as gross as it is I now just tell him he is a gross old man and move on. and brush his teeth when we get home :P

Honestly trying to get him to stop ruined his recall (for a few reasons) and leave it was useless because the reward of the poop was higher than anything I had/could use (plus our issue was mostly at the dog park or other public places not at home).

[ZoeysMommy]

My corgi is a poop eater, like Annette said clean it up immediately or learn to turn your head

It is so gross, my corgi is also a heavy licker, she loves giving kisses, that really makes my stomach turn when she sneaks a kiss on my face and I know she just had a turd snack

[POPTOP]

Through the years with multiple labs and now a GSD, I've tried everything. Pills to make it taste bad as if it doesn't taste bad enough already.

The only thing that works is picking up. I can get Archie to leave it, Mardi plays deaf to the command.

[PinkDragon14]

My corgi is a poop eater, like Annette said clean it up immediately or learn to turn your head

It is so gross, my corgi is also a heavy licker, she loves giving kisses, that really makes my stomach turn when she sneaks a kiss on my face and I know she just had a turd snack

I laughed out loud, I'm sorry

Luckily Murphy isn't a poop eater (knock on wood), but he does enjoy eating duck turds and sniffing his own. Like others said, it's self satisfaction to them. When he sniffs it, I like to say, "That's yours! You made that!" and he just looks at me like "Huh???"

On a more serious note, I've read that the bitter apple spray has helped some people. Usually the smell of the spray is enough to deter them away from the object. But if you've tried everything, I guess all you can do is ignore it or clean it.

Do your dogs go in one set area or around the yard? If you could lead them to one location, this would make clean up a lot easier and you'd be able to find the piles faster (I know it's tough to move their "spot", but in the long run, it may help things)

[barry581]

Bruce is a poo eater. If he poo's in the yard, and I didn't see it, he'll chow right down on it. I do clean it up as soon as they go, but every now and then the stinker will do it when I run into the house and don't see him go. I'm lucky that Sophie won't poo in the yard, only on our walks around the neighborhood.

[SunDance]

We had Kiku the Akita (adult), Brutus the Lab (adult), and Hershey the Lab (4 mos. at the time) when we rehomed Honey the Lab (almost 4 mos. at the time). Honey had apparently originally been from an Amish puppy farm (we took her from a family who had her only a week before advertising her for sale) and had a gazillion bad habits, including eating poop. I never did believe that family when they said their children proved to be allergic to her (especially since all 4 were playing with her when we showed up to meet her and no one was sneezing, etc....they just didn't want to cope with Honey.

None of my dogs had ever shown the slightest interest in poop except to roll in "exotic" poops on occasion.

And Honey taught Hershey the joys of eating the poops of the older two dogs. When we no longer had those two, they started eating their own and each others'. Lovely.

We tried pills...from the vet and from the store...all they did was nauseate the older dogs (to the point where neither dog would eat). We tried meat tenderizer sprinkled on top. We tried enzymes, including canned pineapple. We tried hot sauce. We tried everything we heard of...nothing worked.

We became much better at instant clean up...and I do mean instant because they'd sit and watch each other squat and attempt to intercept the stuff before it hit the ground. Hershey tried to hide his to save it for later. It was incredible the lengths they'd go to in order to satisfy this urge.

Neither dog really got much better with age but Honey did get less cunning after we lost Hershey.

Most of those pills contain capsaicin...hot pepper...and do a number on the dogs' insides. Something to keep in mind.