Dog eating feces

[BellaKia]

I'm looking after my parents Bichon Frise and he's got this lovely habit of eating feces. He's not picky who's it is, whether it be his own or my dog's. He eats well and is a happy dog...is he missing something in his diet that we could be supplementing? I don't think it's hurting him but it's a pretty gross habit.

[Loves Labs]

Hello - this seems to be a pretty common problem around here.

I posted this same problem a while back, you can take a look at the suggestions and advice I received here:

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=36626

[jessi76]

eating poo - especially from another dog is dangerous. your dog could very well pick up a parasite this way. so aside from being gross, it can lead to health problems.

my mom's dog does this too - well, DID this. she's been using Solid Gold's S.E.P. (stop eating poop) and her dog has in fact stopped doing it. she got it at a pet supply store for about $14 a jar. one jar lasts a long time.

[Spirit]

Coprophagia is often created by shoving the dogs face in the mess (during housetraining), or leaving the dog for too long in a soiled area like a crate (which creates an innapropriate way for your dog to eliminate the mess). It's also been linked (in recent studies) to puppies who used a litter box in the whelping pen (by watching the mother clean it up).

Certain foods (ie cabbage) works well to change the taste of the stool, but if the dog is eating other dogs stool, then a change in diet isn't likely to help (unless of course there's a negative association). The easiest way to deal with this is to make sure the dog is on a leash at all times, and to correct any stool "curious" behaviors (dog even looks at stool, he gets corrected). The training is similar to the "leave it" technique, but coprophagia is psychological as well, and so it can take a bit longer to elimnate the problem.