she keeps eating her poo!

ok here goes i am so embaressed but lady keeps eating her poo its been happening for the past two weeks and i really need some advice it really turns my stomach. It all started when i went to visit my new little nephew he's ony 2 weeks old and we took lady with us and she hated it when i held the baby and kept trying to jump up on my knee and kept crying she looked so upset. We kept her busy with toys and praised her like crazy when she started to settle down. She pooed on jason's sisters floor and shouted at her someting that we have never done because as far as i am concerned it was my fault that i missed the signs she needed to go. But ever since she has been eating her poo. The first time she ate it she was in her pen for a time out because she had been biting us really hard. And saying ouch wasn't working. When she has a poo we keep praising her for leaving it alone and we give her a treat. This has been working really well but she still does it sometimes maybe once every couple of days. Does anyone know why she could be doing this, we start puppy classes tomorrow so hopfully we can ask the trainer for advice.

Molly does this too - it's quite gross!

The only solution I've found is to pick it up straight away.

I think there are solutions you can add to their food that makes the poo not so appealing to them but I've never tried that. I go with the old fashioned method of cleaning it up before she eats it :roll:

Good luck.

I have had this problem in the past too. My trainer told me that bascially what they are doing is "destroying evidence". They know it is wrong to go in the house or the pen but if they do they want to get rid of it before you see it and they are in trouble. I have also been taking the clean it quick approach which has really eliminated the problem. As gross as it is, they may just be doing it to please you, although it would please you more it they didn't do it!

my lab did it for 15 yrs straight. many animals not just dogs do this. she knew I didnt like it - and it was shortened how often by me banging on the kitchen window shaking my finger no. at least then, she used to look to see if i was in the kitchen first :roll: Sometimes it means they are lacking something in their diet but mostly its a doggie kind of thrill :yikes

Good news so far so good she has not eaten her poo yet. I googled it and it said that dogs can do it because they are missing some kind of nuetrient in there diet we feed her jwb kibble and then give fruit and veg as treats. Has anyone tried deter or similar products to make the poo taste nasty i was thinking if she tries it again and it tastes nasty she might stop or is that just wishful thinking.

If you pick it up.....problem solved.

Dogs will eat the poop from any other animal as well....not such a good idea!!

Simply get it up before she can get it and don't let her do it...IMO.
:flwr: :flwr:

I found this article and links:

Poop Eating Pets - Coprophagia Links

The subject lines say it all "Help! Turd Eating Dog!" cries one; "Another faeces problem" laments another; "Stop my dog from eating sh*t!" shouts still another. Some describe it more delicately than others, but it is a common problem and one people find to be very distressing.

Dogs like to eat poop. That's really all there is to it. People find it disgusting, dogs find it delightful. Still most people want it to stop. With that in mind I put together a short page full of links to other people's ideas about the causes of poop eating (more elegantly called "Coprophagia") and ideas on how to stop it. I didn't really use much editorial discretion on the subject because I haven't really studied it enough to have a strong opinion. Thus different sites disagree. Oh well.

Here are some links on the subject of eating feces:

Coprophagia
http://www.erinet.com/ghost/coprophagia.htm
Behavior - Coprophagia - feces eating behavior
http://www.vetinfo.com/deatpoop.html
A Dog and Cat Behavior and Training Center by Perfect Paws
http://www.perfectpaws.com/copro.html
Coprophagia in the Canine
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/pets/_archive/study.htm
Dr. P's Dog Training Library - Behav. Probs.
http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-prob.htm#copr
Coprophagia or Eating Feces
http://www.vetinfo.com/dencyclopedia/decoprophagia.html
Coprophagia (Stool Eating)
http://www.thevet.com/vetbhv22.htm
Keeping the K9 out of the Kitty Box
http://www.dog-play.com/kittybox.html

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Here's a product that when sprinkled on their food, gives poop a bitter taste so dogs won't be attracted to it. It's called S.E.P for Stop Eating Poop. http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/product_detail.aspx?item_cd=140110&click=5&s_kwcid=stop%20dog%20eating%20poop|
Sorry about the long link. Wish I knew how to shorten the display somehow.

My Lhasa has done this her whole life. We tried everything, the stuff you put in their food did not work. My Vet told me that if you have a dog that does this, they will pretty much do it their whole life, and he was right with my Lhasa. It is gross and I had never had a dog do this before, thank goodness Lily doesn't do this. I agree with the other's, best thing to do is pick it up asap. Good luck.

Some dogs do it when growing up. Holly did it for a few months until she was about a year- now she doesn't. Amber, thankfully, has never done it.

she ate poo today she pooed in the house and ate it so fast i couldn't get to it in time. i feel like its one step forward and 5 back.

Merlin did it a few times before the age of one but not his own - only next doors kitty nuggets :grnyuk: Thank fully my new neighbours have a dog! So Oakley has not had the opportunity to taste kitty nuggets

I never let them out on their own, so when they both do a poop I'm there ready and waiting with poop bag to "scoop that poop" :lol:

yep that's what were going to have to do make sure that i pick it up so she doesn't get chance to eat it.

My trainer told me that bascially what they are doing is "destroying evidence". They know it is wrong to go in the house or the pen but if they do they want to get rid of it before you see it and they are in trouble.

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If dogs had that much self awareness to be plotting ahead to removing evidence for something they know is wrong and fear you will, at some future point, see, they would have a level of consciousness well beyond almost any creature outside of a primate! :lol: If this degree of reasoning ability could be proven, there would be a major scientific publication in the offing. I am actually quite serious about that -- this is just an *impossible* level of thinking for a dog.

Dogs live in the now. They do not have notions of revenge or hiding evidence. They don't even know it is wrong to go in the house. If they go there it is because we haven't made SURE they never get the chance to go inside -- which is what has them thinking it is sometimes fine to go inside as well as out. To them, inside or outside -- hmmm, little difference! We have to be responsible for teaching them the whole house is off limits, gradually and thru reward; just as their mothers taught the pups to keep the whelping box clean as soon as she could. We are basically continuing what their mum taught them, on a huge scale. That's why housetraining takes time and is hard and usually there are accidents we cannot avoid, no matter how hard we try to keep an eye on them. Not the dog's fault, our fault for not watching carefully enough and reinforcing the *desired* behaviour.

The reason dogs eat poop in most cases seems to be: they simply like to eat their poop. They don;t just do it in the house, they do it outside, on walks, and many happily indulge in other dogs' (and other animals') feces. They are hardly hiding all the evidence of all the crap out of shame for those other creatures too. :lol:

No one seems really sure why some dogs like poop and others don't. Some like their own, some like only other dogs' some like other animals but not dog poop. Sometimes it may be related to a deficiency in something in their diet but I just think some enjoy it. Mothers eat their pups' feces for the first few weeks of the puppies' lives so it doesn't really seem an issue for them.

Best approach is simply to clean up poops before they can be eaten and teach your dog the 'leave it' command as soon as possible.

Karlin said:

[The reason dogs eat poop in most cases seems to be: they simply like to eat their poop.

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My goofy little Shelby LOVES her own poop! We have to pick it up before she can get to it. I'll catch her licking her lips and hovering, call out a quick "ah ah...leave it" and she's walks away bummed out. Luckily she doesn't anyone else's...just her own.

Why does she do it? For the same reason Jake licks himself silly...cause they can and they like it :roll:

Sometimes Jack will poop walking in a circle because he is trying to catch it falling out of his behind!!!! I know it is completely disgusting but it is so funny. :lol:

juile that mad me laugh i could just that happening :lol:
And yes were trying to teach the leave it command as recemended by our trainer so that should help. Were picking the up the poo straight away and she hasn't done it for a couple of days thankfully i agree with you cathy T maybe she does it because she can.