My Staffy eats other dogs pooh!

sickofusernames

Hi, my 15 month old Staffy female started eating other dogs pooh when taking her for a walk. She doesn't always do it when I take her for a walk though but I'm starting to get a little annoyed now as she puked up on our sofa and it was just pure dog mess, the smell has horrid!

Having searched the web, most info i've found is that they get out of that habit eventually and she seems a healthy, happy dog so don't want to seem like i'm panicing by taking her up the vets. Apart from shouting "NO!" when she eats it she sometimes listens and runs off then the crafty sod runs back for another munch.

Any ideas?

UKTigerlily

sickofusernames wrote: »

Hi, my 15 month old Staffy female started eating other dogs pooh when taking her for a walk. She doesn't always do it when I take her for a walk though but I'm starting to get a little annoyed now as she puked up on our sofa and it was just pure dog mess, the smell has horrid!

Having searched the web, most info i've found is that they get out of that habit eventually and she seems a healthy, happy dog so don't want to seem like i'm panicing by taking her up the vets. Apart from shouting "NO!" when she eats it she sometimes listens and runs off then the crafty sod runs back for another munch.

Any ideas?

It's called Coprophagia & is common apparently, I think putting pineapple in her food can help but i'm not sure, never fear tho the Vet is about somewhere I just know it! Simonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn?

Rachel83

Doesn't the pineapple thing only work if she eats her own poop? It's an enzyme in it that makes poop taste funny i believe.

UKTigerlily

Hmm good point, yeah probably! Is it another Dog owned by you, OP, that she's eating the poo of? If not it should be easy to stop? Mine doesn't get to go near other Dogs poo as it's just her

Ok read it again, when walking, concentrate Lily! Ok I guess she's off lead when she does it? If on lead it shouldn't be an issue, so I dunno, maybe muzzling her while off lead will sort it?

foreign_correspondent

sounds like training her the command to 'leave it' would be a good start here!!

In the meantime either keep her away from it with a long line (on a harness, not a neck collar) - or you could try a muzzle, but she may dip it in the poo in an effort to eat it!! (sorry!)

What does she eat? (I mean - other than the obvious!)

Kavanne

Leave it is a way better command than no.... no what!? she will be thinking

sickofusernames

Thanks for the replies, I meant to say that I tell her to "Leave!" and not just "No!". She still doesn't listen, although she does obey that command in other circumstances.

It's quite funny at the moment as she's looking at the screen as i'm typing this, she must know she's being talked about, hehe.

Anyway, she usually seems to eat other dogs pooh from the same stretch of grass, it's in a long walkway from one park to the start of another park and owners must just let all their dogs pooh there, it's disgusting as the grass is covered with poop. It's a long walk around for me to avoid the walkway so I'll try putting her on her lead going through it for now to see if she pulls me towards any pooh.

Also, there is a dog bin right where all the dog pooh seems to be -it doesn't take much effort to clean it up does it!

Kerriebaby

a lot of dogs eat other dogs poo, to us its gross to them its not ( lets face it, they lick their own genitals, and others if they can! )

One of the best things I found, is to simply ignore the behaviour as much as possible, you yelling at her ( whether its "NOOOOOOO" or "STOP" ) you are giving her attention, ( regardless of whether its negative or positive )

I would teach this dog a really really good leave command, combined with a good recall ( should be able to recall her from anything ) anytime you see her approaching a pile, and looking like she is going to eat it, distract her with a toy, some yummy treats, or you running like a loony in the opposite direction

foreign_correspondent

other dogs poo can carry worms, so may be worth worming her quite frequently too

Topdogfran

If she's only eating from one area, it could be that one dog whose walked there is fed an inaproriate diet, either too rich/frequent or full of indigestible proteins. Pineapple can help if she is suffereing from an enzyme defficiency.

I'd go down the 'leave' route too. If she has already been taught 'leave' then it shouldn't be too hard to get her to understand it means poo too!

Kerriebaby

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

other dogs poo can carry worms, so may be worth worming her quite frequently too

Most dogs have worms, the only time your dog is ever worm free is the day after it was wormed!