dog eating pooh

[amoney]

any advice please?

When my dog was a pup he used to constantly try (and sometimes succeed) in eating his own pooh [digusted emoticon]

he eventually grew out of it although would sometimes try to munch horse pooh if we passed it while out on a walk...

since he was wormed last week he has started this pooh eating behaviour once again: anyone know if this is a sign that something is wrong with him, should i take him to the vets or is there nothing to worry about?

Anybody have any experience of this and have any pearls of wisdom?

BTW he is nearly 5 years old and is a cross breed - german / belgian shepard with some kind of retriever.

I am particularly concerned because a) it is disgusting and b) i am due to have my first baby in the new year and don't want him licking baby if he's just eaten pooh... my bitch shows no interest in pooh of any sort (oh well, unless its rolling in fox pooh!)

Dead common I am afraid.

Some people think it may be a deficiency in the diet but my personal opinion is that the poo just tastes nice to the dog (not me obviously!)

Because many dogs are feed kibble diets that are not easily digested for the dogs what comes out is pretty similar to what goes in to a dog anyway.

Interesting my dogs have only ever eaten poo of kibble feed dogs that have stayed with us thy do not eat poo of Barf feed dogs as it is more waste material.

However how does all of that help you!?

I doubt there is anything wrong with your dog but you could take him to the vet if you wish. The best thing is to distract the dog the second he has pooed and treat him when he walks forward away from the poo then quickly pick up poo and dispose of it. Do make sure you pick up poo in the garden as soon as possible.

People do say putting fresh pineapple in their food or covering the poo in chilli or curry will stop them., In my opinion of over many years working with dog none of these methods work.

Do not make a big thing out of it eg shout or tell the dog off because then they just eat poo when you are not watching and will hold their poo until you are not around which can cause more problems.

Not really very helpful advice sorry

that helps, thanks

I guess i thought we had combatted it but it has started back again, even the dog walker mentioned it so it must be very noticeable...

I did shout the other day just because of hormones but i'll try and make sure i don't do that any more, cheers

My dog does this. Nothing has worked to prevent it. He seems to do it more when he is bored i.e not had many amazing walks, but he still does it even when he has been walked loads. Its absolutely disgusting, especially when he licks his lips. Boak. We just do what we can to prevent and ignore it now as it was putting me off him and thats not fair.

my neighbour mussles her dog when she walks him so he can't eat it. everyone thinks he's really ferocious, which he isn't

Our dog had a penchant for sheep droppings when he was young - fortunately he grew out of it. A friend who breeds and trains working sheepdogs recommended that we should carry some mustard and give the dog a bit of that every time he ate poo. No idea if it works - personally I didn't like the idea.

He also said if a dog eats its own faeces, mixing some pineapple into its food will stop it.

Thanks all

I know what you mean curlymamma, i usually love having cuddles with him but everytime he does it i just can't bring myself to cuddle him, it really puts me off him...

I am so relaxed about both dogs meeting the newborn and licking / sniffing him etc but not if he's just eaten his own pooh

will try the mustard trick...

In the dogs food add either some pinneapple or tinned pumpkin. May lack protein in the diet, try adding some raw meat to food or look at diet and switch to a different food.

Our younger lab has recently started doing that. I hate it. We are about to change her food to see if that helps. Can't figure out if she is only eating the older dog's poo or her own or both. Really noticed it last week in the snow and not sure if it was because it was frozen.

Thought you meant Winnie the Pooh! Ours don't eat their own, but are very partial to cat, rabbit and horse poo in no particular order. YUK.

My lab does this and I have not found any remedy apart from cleaning up the garden daily and a muzzle for walks. He will eat his own and other dogs. Apart from all the germs and the grossness of seeing him do it I have NEVER EVER cleaned up anthing worse than vomited dog poo!