What makes a dog eat there own stool & how can I stop him?
I heard somewhere that dogs eat their poop because their body is lacking something – like a certain vitamin or mineral. Try giving them an alternate “treat” like a carrot or banana. You can also try working to desensitize him by by giving him the treat with the poop near by – as close as you can stand it. Then you can use some of the paper you used to clean up the mess as a test to see if your dog is still attracted to the area – use more “treat” and re-direct him away from the poop and the smell. Good Luck! Oh, and by the way – this is a very valid problem. So, Matt S. needs to get a life!
First of all, to Padm’e-do you really think the dog is eating his own furniture (stool)??? Now…my dog ate her own poo too when she was a puppy, it was her way of trying to hide the evidence if she had an accident in the house. I eventually had to try this powder that the Vet gave me and put it in her dogfood, made her poo taste bad (go figure..) It helped within a week, but I still had to be very vigilant, take her for long walks to make sure she didn’t have any accidents in the house.
a lot of dogs do this. they often eat other dogs’ stool also. it depends what the circumstances are, because there can be many causes. it may be that he is fed too much, or fed a food that is hard to digest, so when comes out the other end it still smells like food. some dogs with dietary deficiencies (vitamins, minerals, proteins…) will eat their stool to try to get the most nutrients possible, especially because the bacteria in the digestive tract produce nutrients that they might be missing in their diet. you can try changing him to a higher-quality food – check with your vet to get a recommendation for what type and how much, as well as advice on how to properly switch foods (it has to be done very gradually) otherwise it could just be part of his behaviour (some nervous dogs eat their stool to “hide” their scent from other dogs that might come threaten them), and the best you can do is to discourage it. when he tries to eat his stool, call him over, distract him, give him a trea
