French bulldog eating her own poo

Hi All,

After reading various forums and trying their suggestions (so far unsuccessfully) I would like to ask you guys how to get our dog to stop "recycling" and eating its poo.

We have a french bulldog, female 5 years old. We go on walks (try to go every day) but some days we can't.

As is the system in Japan (where people tend to have small dogs that live indoors) we have a toilet mat for the dog to do her business. It's like a paper towel with plastic under it, and after she's done we just replace it, no smell etc.

Ever since our dog was a puppy, she has been eating her own poo. If we are home or on a walk we clean it up immediately, no problem. When we leave the house and the dog is left by herself, 90% of the time she poops it out and gobbles it down really quickly. For example, today I went to the grocery store and was back in less than 10 minutes and she was already done, brown stain on the toilet mat. We try pretending to leave and then coming back right away but she is not fooled. I think her record turnaround is 3 minutes (one day I forgot my cell and ran back to find the brown stain waiting.)

Sometimes (I can't determine the reasoning why) while we are out, she poops on the floor, rolls it around making stains all over, then eats it.

We have tried adding supplements that are supposed to make her stop, but they don't work. We tried yelling at her or making her sit in her house but that didn't work. All the supplements I read about are not available in Japan.

For your information, twice a day she eats "Dr. Harvey's Canine Health" with a topping of raw horsemeat, one of the few things she doesn't have an allergy to. This food was recommended by our vet, and costs more than most of what we humans eat.

Thanks for any advice, and for reading this poo-eating manifesto. We know it's probably not life-threatening, but it's really nasty and makes me not want to play with her anymore.

http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/stop-dogs-eating-dog-poop.html

look here... that's the best i could find.

i saw an episode of it's me or the dog, where victoria trained pugs not to eat their poop, but it was in a lot different circumstances than yours. the dogs used the bathroom outside (and thus she was able to put flags around the poo and then teach them to leave it). this is also done while they were home and able to supervise the dogs...

i don't suggest you use the prong collar/choke collar because those can do damage to your dog.

i think the pineapple idea would be good, or tobasco sauce.

good luck!!

My Boston has allergies (still unknown). We have gone through many types of food. Seems like the richer the food the more likely she eats her poo. When she was on raw food she had dinner twice in a row, if you know what I mean. I have a feeling it's kinda an immune disorder more than a bad habit. But I'm just guessing......

There are medical conditions that can cause coprophagia. But there are also behavioral problems that can cause it. Since none of the supplements have worked, I think in order to stop it, you have to figure out why it's happening in the first place.

Here are some things that will cause dogs to eat their own poop:
Parasites or worms (these steal the nutrients from the dog, so the dog tries to make up for that)
Missing a nutrient in his food that he needs or if he's not absorbing nutrients properly
Boredom
Stress or anxiety
Trying to hide the evidence of his waste (this applies if you yell at your dog for accidents)
As an attention getting behavior
And oddly enough, there are also those who believe that the dog is simply imitating you - he sees you pick up the poop, so he does too.

I hope you can figure out why he does it. I can imagine that getting doggie kisses in your house isn't as pleasant as it should be. :)

I have had the same problem with my dog. i think the hardest part is diagnosing why they do it. I heard it was common in puppies. They say they can be missing something in their diet but I also fed my dog good, very expensive food. I figured out that my dog just likes his area to be clean because I noticed that when I clean the backyard up, he trys to help me by eating it. If she does this when your not around, i can see it being hard to break. Personally, my dog eventually grew out of it. Also, have you tryed putting pineapple on her food before she eats it? Apparently, when it comes out the other end it makes their poop taste awful to them. I tryed it and it worked.