Echo's Eating Her Poop. Now What Do I Do?

[Guest Shermanator]

We noticed over the past 2 days, Echo is eating poop.

She's a fan of the cat box (which is now baby-gated in another room, so she cannot get it, but she has started to eat both her and Travel's poop in the back yard. UGH. We have a dog door, and she can come and go as she pleases. On Tues, she got sick and it smelled like poop, which is when we first realized she's eating it. Then last night, she did it in front of us. She was obsessed- we scolded her, and she didn't care, and when we picking it up, she was bouncing at it, almost like begging.

They have unlimited access to our backyard all day and night, but its not an option to shut off the dog door. We both work at home, but are tethered to our offices, and if we are busy on a call, issue, etc, we cannot have the dogs bothering us, begging to potty.

 

So how do I deal with this? I've done some reading that the supplement you can add to their food doesn't always work, and we are cleaning up the backyard as soon as we see poop out there, but she still might be eating it, getting to it, before we can. There has been no other behavior changes, she's eating the same food she's been eating for months (Kirkland's Chicken and Rice w/ a little of their wet food,) without a problem. She eyes are bright, her coat is healthy, and she is showing no signs of a health problem.

 

Hurl. What can I do? What is your experience with this?

[macoduck]

Two easy things to try first:

Muzzle Echo. Put a stool guard on the muzzle or tape the end.

Add pineapple juice to the kibble of all your dogs. They won't mind licking it up with their food but it does something to what comes out the other end making it less tasty.

[Guest KennelMom]

There's only two "sure fired" ways to stop poop eating: make sure it's never in the yard or make sure the dog who eats poop doesn't have access to it whether it's because you stool guard them or monitor turnouts. I would not recommend leaving a dog unattended with a stool guard on, so since you have a dog door this presents a problem.

 

We have some world class poo eaters in our crew. Our old guy, Bucky, can't control his bowels so a few times a week, we'll some poop laying behind him on a dog bed. He has firm poop so it's not really a big deal, though it was one of the reasons he was bounced. Enter the poop eaters. Literally, by the time I get to the kitchen to get some paper towels and get back to the living room, the poop will be gone. Now I just laugh...I don't want them eating poop but, well, it is kinda handy to have dogs that clean up after each other.

 

Oh, just thought of a third one: a raw diet. I don't recall ever seeing one of our dogs eat poop from a raw fed dog. Most commercial kibbles are fairly indigestible so it pretty much goes in one end and out the other fairly unchanged, so the poop still smells like food (to the dog). The more digestible the food, the less desirable the output because there's just not much left in there to tempt other dogs.

 

eta: the common additive most "stop poop eating" supplements have is the enzyme papain (pineapple juice, papapya, Adolphs's meat tenderizer)...in theory, it can help make food more digestible which would mean the output would be less appealing. Results definitely vary, but it's an inexpensive thing to try. The other one I've heard is green beans, though I can't think of why that would work. Maybe the extra fiber would slow down digestion, giving their body more time to absorb nutrients

Edited November 12, 2010 by KennelMom

[6greyhounds]

EZ eats his poop but only in the house. He has been pooping and peeing in the house when I am not home. I wonder if this is a revenge thing that he does not want me going out. I don't know what to do with him but will try the pineapple juice, cant' do the tenderizer bit as he is an Epi and on KBr and was told not to give him salt.

[Guest KennelMom]

I wonder if this is a revenge thing that he does not want me going out.

 

Highly unlikely. Pooping and peeing when left alone is usually stress induced, not intentional. They, literally, can't help it. Dogs do not normally want to eliminate in their den area, so cleaning up after himself is more likely instinctual.

[6greyhounds]

This only recently started and there are days that he does not do it and days that he does it within minutes of me leaving the house. I have seen his poop before I leave the house plus pee but I will come home to a mess and he does poop on beds.

 

He was a bounce and I was told it was due to seizures and someone having Altzheimer in the house. I am now wondering if it was aslo this poop/peeing thing

[Guest zombrie]

Caesar used to be a hardcore poop eater. We tried everything and we couldn't get him to stop. Then one day we were told that he may be eating to fast. We got him a break-fast bowl, which forced him to eat slower, and he stopped and hasn't eaten poop since!

Mira was eating poop for a little bit and we realized it was because she was just plain hungry. She had the big D really bad so she was on a hamburger and rice diet. After we put her back on her normal kibble diet she stopped eating poop.

[6greyhounds]

EZ does inhale his food in fact when my dh was alive he used to call him the hoover. Maybe one of those bowls might help some, but I need him to stop pooping in the house on beds.

[GeorgeofNE]

EZ eats his poop but only in the house. He has been pooping and peeing in the house when I am not home. I wonder if this is a revenge thing that he does not want me going out. I don't know what to do with him but will try the pineapple juice, cant' do the tenderizer bit as he is an Epi and on KBr and was told not to give him salt.

 

Dogs have no concept of "revenge." That just isn't how they think.

 

If they did, I assume everyone who puts hats on their dogs would have been murdered in their beds by now!

[Guest greytgravy]

EZ eats his poop but only in the house. He has been pooping and peeing in the house when I am not home. I wonder if this is a revenge thing that he does not want me going out. I don't know what to do with him but will try the pineapple juice, cant' do the tenderizer bit as he is an Epi and on KBr and was told not to give him salt.

 

Dogs have no concept of "revenge." That just isn't how they think.

 

If they did, I assume everyone who puts hats on their dogs would have been murdered in their beds by now!

 

Can't kill us. Who would buy the food? Or make it? Or fill the endless water bowls.

 

Cam does the same thing, the poop eating, but since I changed his diet to part Wellness, he's doing better. And I started wetting his food so he couldn't inhale it in 30 seconds flat (seen it happen). I don't make it soggy, but I make it where he'll have some wet bits and some dry. Causes him to stop and swallow while figuring this new idea out.

[Guest avadogner]

I went through this with a couple years ago. My vet said it's due to the high end foods we feed our hounds. The better the food, the more appealing the poop. Ava was a big fan of "poopsicles". Her favorite were frozen ones. We did the pineapple juice, the copapahgia meds, meat tenderizer. We ended up using a muzzle with a poop cup in the end. It all stopped when we adopted our Augie. My vet said it was most likely a boredom thing. I would have prefered her to eat shoes instead of poop though. I feel your pain and embarassment. I also recommend freqent poop scooping or atleast spraying the piles with bitter apple chew deterent. I also found spending more time with her working on her tricks helped too.

Good luck!

ava (former poo eater) and augie's mum

[6greyhounds]

EZ eats his poop but only in the house. He has been pooping and peeing in the house when I am not home. I wonder if this is a revenge thing that he does not want me going out. I don't know what to do with him but will try the pineapple juice, cant' do the tenderizer bit as he is an Epi and on KBr and was told not to give him salt.

 

Dogs have no concept of "revenge." That just isn't how they think.

 

If they did, I assume everyone who puts hats on their dogs would have been murdered in their beds by now!

 

Can't kill us. Who would buy the food? Or make it? Or fill the endless water bowls.

 

Cam does the same thing, the poop eating, but since I changed his diet to part Wellness, he's doing better. And I started wetting his food so he couldn't inhale it in 30 seconds flat (seen it happen). I don't make it soggy, but I make it where he'll have some wet bits and some dry. Causes him to stop and swallow while figuring this new idea out.

I wet the food also but he still inhales it. I cannot give him his KBr in capsule form but have to sprinkle it as if I give in capsule form he upchucks it.

[Guest sheila]

I had a dog that was a big fan of the 'kitty roca' and someone told me to put green beans in his kibble. I thought that was the goofiest thing I'd ever heard of, but what the heck? Couldn't hurt I figured. I started putting 1/2 can or so into his food each night and I'll be darned if the litter box raiding didn't stop. When I ran out of green beans I'll be darned it it didn't start right back up. When I began adding them again, it stopped. It was the kookiest idea that ever worked.

[Guest kelli123]

EZ eats his poop but only in the house. He has been pooping and peeing in the house when I am not home. I wonder if this is a revenge thing that he does not want me going out. I don't know what to do with him but will try the pineapple juice, cant' do the tenderizer bit as he is an Epi and on KBr and was told not to give him salt.

 

Dogs have no concept of "revenge." That just isn't how they think.

 

If they did, I assume everyone who puts hats on their dogs would have been murdered in their beds by now!

 

Can't kill us. Who would buy the food? Or make it? Or fill the endless water bowls.

 

Cam does the same thing, the poop eating, but since I changed his diet to part Wellness, he's doing better. And I started wetting his food so he couldn't inhale it in 30 seconds flat (seen it happen). I don't make it soggy, but I make it where he'll have some wet bits and some dry. Causes him to stop and swallow while figuring this new idea out.

I wet the food also but he still inhales it. I cannot give him his KBr in capsule form but have to sprinkle it as if I give in capsule form he upchucks it.

 

Try putting his food in a cup cake pan, a little in each whole and he will have to work for it and it definitely will slow him down. He must now be fully eliminating him self on his first poop in the morning. And saving the rest for when you leave. I would stay out with him longer and see if he has to go twice .

[Guest Energy11]

Our Godie will eat the poop as it is coming out of the others' butts!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She will also eat her own! NOTHING works, but us being right out there with her. A doggie door for us here isn't an option, as we have too many wild varments up here, AND, she will eat poop till she drops, if we don't pick up right away. Forget the muzzle, too. If SHE is muzzles, the other four got nuts, thinking we are going someplace, as that is when we muzzle ... UGH!!! It is a never-ending battle! ONE theory for HER problem is, she is on protein restricted food, so I feel, maybe, she is craving the protein in the poop?? Just a theory.

 

Good Luck! It is never fun!!!

[Guest greytgravy]

EZ eats his poop but only in the house. He has been pooping and peeing in the house when I am not home. I wonder if this is a revenge thing that he does not want me going out. I don't know what to do with him but will try the pineapple juice, cant' do the tenderizer bit as he is an Epi and on KBr and was told not to give him salt.

 

Dogs have no concept of "revenge." That just isn't how they think.

 

If they did, I assume everyone who puts hats on their dogs would have been murdered in their beds by now!

 

Can't kill us. Who would buy the food? Or make it? Or fill the endless water bowls.

 

Cam does the same thing, the poop eating, but since I changed his diet to part Wellness, he's doing better. And I started wetting his food so he couldn't inhale it in 30 seconds flat (seen it happen). I don't make it soggy, but I make it where he'll have some wet bits and some dry. Causes him to stop and swallow while figuring this new idea out.

I wet the food also but he still inhales it. I cannot give him his KBr in capsule form but have to sprinkle it as if I give in capsule form he upchucks it.

 

 

With lumpkinhead, I found that putting a little water on the bottom of the bowl helped when I wet it. I feed him in the kennel, so he leaves the foster dog's food alone and I can shower before taking them out in the morning, and he can't get water until he gets in from pottying. (It also forces him to actually do both before getting to come back in.) The water seems to help him calm down. I have to give him Reconcile in a pill pocket almost every day (sometimes I skip, if money's tight, cause that's 50/month). If I put it any capsule sprinkled his food, he says no thanks and refuses to eat.

[6greyhounds]

I have watched him poop so I think I am safe but I swear he always has a reserve. I have seen him poop in the am and after his 4 pm feed but if I leave for an hour or so after 7 pm I will find poop on the bed I have in the room where he is. I keep him in the living room and the other two in the dining room with a gate up just incase he has a seizure while I am not home....