Poop eating Puppy

[Shelly]

My 4.5 month old Shih Tzu eats his poop. How can I get him to stop? He is never unsupervised outside, but if you don't get his attention quick enough after he has pooped he tries to eat it. Having a treat ready seems to be helping in this area. Now in the house is another matter. If he should happen to have an accident in the house he has eaten before we even noticed that he has pooped. The only tell tale sign is the smell, so we go off in search of it and usually only find a few poop smears on the floor. The rest is gone. YUCK So any suggestions an how to get him to stop eating his poop would be greatly appreciated.

[Dukieboy]

my co-worker has this to offer: she was told by her vet that the reason they are eating it is because they haven't digested it properly it still smell like food and you should change what they are eating? ask your vet if this is true cuz I really don't know.

[Writing4Fun]

There are products you can buy to help stop this habit. I'm not sure what they're called, but I'm pretty sure my sister got hers from her vet. (the name "Forbid" comes to mind??) Good luck!

[schape]

When my dog was a puppy she did same thing, ate her own poop. I got an advice form a friend who has 20+ years of experience with dogs and puppies (she's a breeder). She told me to give my dog 1 tablespoon of canned pineapple with every meal. I did that for couple of weeks and it helped, my dog stopped eating her poop. I guess pineapple makes the poop taste bad or something.

[Schwinn]

You know, there's another thread about the same thing, and I'll say it again...

The worst thing anyone ever eats makes people say, "AUGH! That tastes like..." you know the rest. So how can they make it taste worse??

That being said, I also heard about possibly putting tobasco sauce or cayanne pepper on the droppings. It sounds like the problem you're having, though, is finding the droppings before they become puppy buffet. Are you using training pads (if you don't know, they're for house breaking pets, and for some reason, the dog will always go there to do thier business. We've used them with three dogs, and it works every time!) Maybe try that, and when she goes, then put the pepper on. The tough part? You'll have to actually let her eat it, so you might not want to watch!

[schape]

Originally Posted by Schwinn

It sounds like the problem you're having, though, is finding the droppings before they become puppy buffet.

I agree with this one. You have to go and pick up the poop as soon as it lands on your lawn before your puppy decides to make it a culinary experience.

[Shelly]

Thanks for the replies, I will definitely look into all of your suggestions.He very rarely ever gets the chance to eat his business when outside. I'm always right there watching him, but if I wasn't there he would eat "It". It's in the house that's the problem. He is about 80% house trained, so he does still have accidents in the house on and off. He can hold it all night long.The problem is, that he sneaks off to have this poops in the house so we do not know he is doing it. (this doesn't happen everyday) When we realize he is no longer under foot we either find him eating the poop or it is already gone. I was just hoping that someone out there had a solution to get him to stop eating "It".