Problem with my dog - Gross Alert!!

We have two Golden Retrievers, Zoe is almost six years old and Gus is now 6 months old. Gus is a great dog, very smart, really pretty calm for a puppy, in general couldn't ask for much more. The problem is that Gus is a poop eater. I've heard about dogs doing this but I've never had a dog that does this. We keep the poop picked up in the yard but I can't keep up with him sometimes. No quicker does he get it out the back end he spins around and starts to gobble it up. I already feed both my dogs anti-poop eating pills (Gus will eat any poop available) that I bought from the pet store which is supposed to discourage this activity but it doesn't work. He will come in from outside and his mouth and breath reeks so bad, I can't be around him sometimes. Anyone had this issue in the past with your dog and any possible remedies?

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One of my labs love goose poop and I solved the problem with a shock collier. Zap, and he drops that shit on the spot.

I thought my dog was eating poop because his breath smelled so bad. I would get so angry at him when he'd come in the bed I'd kick him out. You could smell his breath if he was on the other side of the room.

I did catch him red handed (or poop mouthed) eating poop once or twice over the years, but it turned out half his teeth were rotting, and that's what the smell was about. I discovered it when I had enough and decided to start brushing his teeth, and he really yelped. We took him to the vet, they pulled about half of his teeth, and now he is super happy and his breath smells great.

I think dogs that eat poop are deficient in nutrients that they are needing in their normal diet. I think cats will eat grass if they are having digestive problems,too. Talk to your vet. Don't think it's anything to be too alarmed about. Just remember, no doggie kisses in the mouth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprophagia

Many dogs practice coprophagia and it is more common in some breeds than others. Some of the causes are dietary, others are learned, and still others can be part of the dogs personality. Some dogs can be deterred from the practice and others will never stop regardless of what you do to stop them.

It sounds like you are doing the best you can by picking up after your dog as quickly as possible. That is about all you can do with some dogs.

We still love our poo eating beagle. We just don't let him get that caca tongue near our faces [pileoshit]

Get him fixed. Don't let him produce little poop eaters.

Shock collar? Keep the remote near the window.

Shocking cured our dog of eating wires and cords

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Originally Posted by KS63

I think cats will eat grass if they are having digestive problems,too.

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Cats tend to eat grass as a way to induce vomiting to get rid of hairballs.

Talk to your vet and find out if Gus has any dietary deficiencies. Despite high-quality food, he may need an extra boost of vitamins, minerals or something.

There are more types of anti-poo-eating options besides one type of pills. If the ones you're using aren't doing the trick, try a different route.

I've heard feeding them fresh pineapple will deter it as well.

Can I borrow your puppy to help pick up poop?


Sent by a free-range electronic weasel, with no sense of personal space.

As others have stated it may be a dietary deficiency. Training may be the way to go in that you put him on a leash and go out with him when he poos. When he tries to et it, snap the collar and give a command like "leave it". You'll. probably have to this for few days....

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Originally Posted by Monky

Can I borrow your puppy to help pick up poop?


Sent by a free-range electronic weasel, with no sense of personal space.

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That's just sooo wrong! LOL

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Originally Posted by Monky

Can I borrow your puppy to help pick up poop?


Sent by a free-range electronic weasel, with no sense of personal space.

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Uh, don't you have a bathroom in your house for that?

Another cause- and this may or may not explain- for animals eating their own feces, is that poop is a great way for a predator to tell what kinds of prey are in the area and, judging by the freshness, how close to prey they are. Dogs eating their poop can sometimes (not often) be explained that they are either in a new environment, or there are potentially predators nearby and the dog is simply trying to conceal it's presence. This may not make sense, but there is science behind this activity that explains it occasionally. Seeing that the OP lives in Highlands Ranch, I have to ask, did any Asians recently move to your neighborhood? [Coffee]

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Originally Posted by TheGrey

Talk to your vet and find out if Gus has any dietary deficiencies. Despite high-quality food, he may need an extra boost of vitamins, minerals or something.

There are more types of anti-poo-eating options besides one type of pills. If the ones you're using aren't doing the trick, try a different route.

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We give him high quality food but I have heard that they could be missing something. I'm going to check with his vet to see what they think and if they have any suggestions outside of the pills I'm trying. He's been a shit eater since day one so I'm guessing that he's just wired this way.

^^^^^^^^ gave me a good laugh. My Chessie only eats cow turds, the fresher the better. Ever since she was a puppy when we would go fishing she couldn't walk past a fresh pie with out taking a big bite out of it. Never has stopped. End of the day talk to a vet and go from there. Our vet said there is zero issue with it. But then again she doesn't get close to licking me either after all the things I have seen go in that mouth.

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Originally Posted by Monky

Can I borrow your puppy to help pick up poop?


Sent by a free-range electronic weasel, with no sense of personal space.

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If I look on the bright side the advantage to this is less yard clean up for me. Downside would be that the other night he apparently got more than his fill and barfed up a huge pile of crap on my living room carpet. He got about half back down before I could pull him off of it. I have a pretty strong stomach but I'm not going to lie that one was tough...

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Originally Posted by mackbamf

If I look on the bright side the advantage to this is less yard clean up for me. Downside would be that the other night he apparently got more than his fill and barfed up a huge pile of crap on my living room carpet. He got about half back down before I could pull him off of it. I have a pretty strong stomach but I'm not going to lie that one was tough...

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Wait until he does that when you have company over...

My lab also has a thing for goose poop. I broke that habit by following him when he would be approaching the goose poop. Then when he would start to pick it up I would throw a set of keys at him and tell him to leave it. Now when he thinks about going after some I just say leave it and he will keep going.

Some puppies do that . . . never heard of any pill to prevent it. Might be related to a nutritional deficiency, might not be. That is dangerous because it can lead to infestation by parasitic worms as well as other diseases if he eats scat from coons or foxes. Get him a good multivitamin from the vet and change his diet up a bit: no canned food or cheap corn based kibble. Only let him outside on a leash for a few weeks, and if he tries to eat poop smack him on the bottom and tell him NO. Take a stool sample to the vet to test for worms too.

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Originally Posted by Ronin13

Another cause- and this may or may not explain- for animals eating their own feces, is that poop is a great way for a predator to tell what kinds of prey are in the area and, judging by the freshness, how close to prey they are. Dogs eating their poop can sometimes (not often) be explained that they are either in a new environment, or there are potentially predators nearby and the dog is simply trying to conceal it's presence. This may not make sense, but there is science behind this activity that explains it occasionally. Seeing that the OP lives in Highlands Ranch, I have to ask, did any Asians recently move to your neighborhood? [Coffee]

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I may have peed a little...

I hate poop eaters! <shudder>

The ones I've know would puke it back up, usually inside. Good luck correcting the problem.

[shit-happens]

Have you tried mixing Tic Tacs into his dry food?

jk

Change the food. You get what you pay for. Another option is to spray cayenne pepper spray on some shit and see if he still likes it. If that doesn't work, try more training or shock training.

Just check his teeth and gums first. I was 100% positive my dog was eating poop, and he wasn't at all. I feel terrible that I let him suffer for so long and got mad at him so frequently. The couple of times I saw him pick up poop threw me off big time about what the real problem was.

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Originally Posted by generalmeow

Just check his teeth and gums first. I was 100% positive my dog was eating poop, and he wasn't at all. I feel terrible that I let him suffer for so long and got mad at him so frequently. The couple of times I saw him pick up poop threw me off big time about what the real problem was.

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I know what you are saying but dude trust me, its not his teeth...[pileoshit]

Introduce a girl dog so he develops some self awareness.

Shock collar and new food will fix that right up.