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Permalink Reply by Linda on April 9, 2013 at 10:25pm

I will be very interested in any answers you get.  I have the same problem with Katie but it's really in our own yard..hers and Max's.  Ick.  She is the first dog that I've had that has done this and I've no success in stopping it.  She knows leave it in the house also but out in the yard...forget it.

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Permalink Reply by Nina & Nellie on April 10, 2013 at 2:01am

Nellie eats her own poo too, if she gets the chance. I usually pull her away from it before she can and she doesn't seem to be interested in dry poo, but wet she is all over it. Being a puppy she isn't good with leave it yet but I'd like to know if there's a good way to train it out of them.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 10, 2013 at 9:06am

Mine must see poo as a delicacy as they get chicken, rabbit, goat and cat . They usually don't eat other dog poo but will occasionally. I do worm them due to this at least every couple months. I can't be out there on 8 acres telling them "leave it".

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Permalink Reply by Tracy Marie on April 10, 2013 at 1:00pm

Oh man, I have EXACTLY the same problem. What I've been doing is the same as you, except I don't take him on a full fledged walk (until after training). So I go outside, find some poop (usually in my own front yard, thanks neighbors!), and teach him leave it. If he does, he gets freeze dried beef liver. For Loki, that's the highest value treat, but it doesn't always work!

If he doesn't listen and tries to nibble on the poo, then we go in the opposite direction back to the house and in his fenced in area for "timeout." Wait 5 minutes, let him out and repeat until he gets the gist. Some dogs just need extra incentive not to eat poop - like he doesn't get to go for a "walk." Yours (like mine) is probably one of them. Loki does pretty well with this, but every now and then he gets that gleam in his eye - "naaaah, I'd much rather have poop than a tasty treat."

Oh, and I know it sucks, but if they get ahold of the poop, we were told by our trainer to just let Loki have it. Loki has food aggression, so if we try to take it away from him, he thinks that we are being quite rude. It's food that he's found! How dare we take it away from him. UGH, so gross, lol. Best of luck to you. Try to keep it in perspective - there are WAY worse habits your pup could have!

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Permalink Reply by Marcie on April 10, 2013 at 5:19pm

LOL, today she upped the ante. We were walking through the woods with Becca off leash. I was practicing recalls. She was fabulous...until she found poo to roll in. I don't know what it was. Since we got home the cat has been following her all poofed out.

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Permalink Reply by Dora & Rocky on April 10, 2013 at 5:51pm

Just out of curiosity, how old is your dog?

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Permalink Reply by Marcie on April 10, 2013 at 5:57pm

Becca is 21 months. She developed her poo addiction over the winter when it was all just frozen and lying there.

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Permalink Reply by Curt, Griffin and Violet on May 4, 2013 at 11:01am

Hey all,

Turns out our little girl Violet (6 months) has this habit, too.  I know this a relatively old thread, but thought I'd chime in.  We have Griffin, too, our 3 year old male (he doesn't have this issue).  She was interested, mostly, in Griffin's fresh droppings, but she also has started to go after slightly older stuff, and upon occasion, her own.  We have tried all the pills, etc., and discipline and have had no luck.  One thing we have considered, but have not tried, is spraying the poo with a scent that supposedly, doggies don't like (what would be worse than poo????), but to me, that's as much work as just picking it up.  So, the only thing we can do is to make sure she is on a leash when going outside when poo is around, to keep her away from it, and picking up poo as soon as it's down, so there is nothing for her to go after.  We're hoping this is something that she grows out of.

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Permalink Reply by Kat Lampkins on May 5, 2013 at 12:55am

LOL My mom's puppy showed my pup hey look at this GREAT stuff (the litter box) up until then she'd never touched it.We can't move the litter box anywhere but where it is. My mom says it's really*OUR*  problem.. they're dogs. We keep wanting them to be people. THEY don't think it's gross..we're the ones with the problem.

I think we can only do the best we can do.

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Permalink Reply by Marcie on May 5, 2013 at 7:21am

I have been really paying attention when we walk. She has the advantage of her nose and being low to the ground. I think that she is only eating the poo of one dog out of the several in the neighborhood. Of course it is owned by  the person who never cleans up after it. I'm wondering if the dog is on a high protein diet and the poo is attractive as cat poo.

All of my leave it work is showing. Now she will find a poo, touch it with her nose then come and want a treat. (Unless it is from the above dog, or a cat.)

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