Eating poop

[Rollo58]

Archie’s toileting is coming along nicely and he has access from the conservatory to the garden when we are home as the conservatory door is left ajar.We still watch him for the signs that he’s about to go and perform but obviously can’t watch 24/7 if in another room.Problem is he has taken a liking to eating his poop immediately on 3occasions that we’ve seen.
We collect his poop immediately when with him.
Would there be something I could put on his poops to make them unpalatable?
He has a good quality Purina puppy dried food so don’t suspect his diet.
Thank you

[Patp]

I have heard that adding pineapple can make it taste undesirable (if it could ever taste desirable!!)  No other experience sorry

[bizzylizzy]

Is the poop that he‘s eating inside or in the garden? If its inside, he could be an indication that he‘s already latched in to the need to keep his territory clean. My old dog did it a couple of times when he‘d had a tummy upset in the house.
I have also heard of using pineapple but I think if it was me, I‘d try to  concentrate more on trying to break the habit. You’ll obviously need to watch him a bit more closely, praise him for his pooh, then lure him away with a super tasting treat for now and then start to train a Leave command as soon as you can. . If it does develop into a habit, you won‘t want to be feeding him pineapple for the rest of his days  (although, to be honest, I think you‘ll probably find its a passing phase anyway)

[Mudmagnets]

Some pups do it and then the taste for it seems to just fade as they grow older. But some do continue the habit into adulthood and to eating other dogs, horses and foxes poo too whilst out and about. I have one dog, that will, given the opportunity do just that, he has to wear a muzzle whilst out to prevent him - but at the same time give him the freedom to have the exercise he needs


 There have been very many theories as to why they do it and how to cure it, but I think as bizzylizzy says stopping it b4 it becomes a potential long-term habit is probably the best way to go...I wish you luck

If you are going to feed him pineapple I would worry about the acid in the pineapple on his stomach at such a young age, but then again would that be any worse than his poo.

[lescef]

I was reading about this on the fb dog training page recently. ( I was reading about barking but got side tracked!)
One of the trainers said she stopped her puppy doing it by clicker training. So.... Get them used to the clicker first,  then on lead as soon as they go near it click and give a really tasty  reward. Eventually they should look up for the reward rather than eat the poo. Make sure they don't get to eat it whilst you're training it.
 Good luck it's a disgusting habit to us. One of mine eats sheep poo and sadly human poo too when we're walking in the hills and I can't train that out of her as she sniffs it what seems like miles away. 

[Gerryjane]

I think many dogs have a taste for poop .... ours certainly has for sheep poo  not his own though.
I also read the advice re training using a clicker .... Kay Bradnum on that fb page has done it successfully and their advice is usually really good.
I think the pineapple thing is a bit of an old wives tale though 

[julie1]

Never been successful & she is now 9 
It only happens very occasionally so I wonder if it's if her tummy is off, like when they  eat grass.

[Rollo58]

I have heard that adding pineapple can make it taste undesirable (if it could ever taste desirable!!)  No other experience sorry

It has been in the garden but I’ve been watching him more than ever and having added pineapple to his food waited to see if he was still attracted to it before picking it up.
Good news on that front.
Problem now is he is pooing during the night on the newspaper in his crate and eating that.
He doesn’t seem to want to empty himself in the garden after his 6 pm feed as there are too many distractions. I am now trying keepers mix in his food from Dorwest Herbs.

[bizzylizzy]

Sorry, lost track of how old he is - is he going for walks already? Perhaps if you let  him have a bit of exercise between his last feed and bedtime to give him an opportunity to relieve himself outside what he sees as his territory if might just help, sometimes the exercise helps move things along a bit - (Humphrey will only go in the garden if absolutely necessary). If he‘s eating poop in his crate, it could really be the case that he‘s not happy about having soiled it.......Also, its useful to praise and give a cue while he‘s actually relieving himself so that eventually he‘ll learn what he‘s supposed to be doing outside (apart from sniffing around! ). It will all fall into place eventually, we‘ve all got various house training stories to tell, and they‘re all different, but they always get  there in the end!! 

[Gerryjane]

Good point from busylizzie above.
Have you tried feeding him later to help him through the night? Might help.
If he is soiling his crate it is often a sign of being distressed either by the crate or being alone .... if there is no medical reason ..... could it be either of these. I don’t know how old he is. I would also try taking him out in the night if possible to reteach toiletting. Every time he soils his crate he learns that is where he should go.

[Rollo58]

Thanks so much for the fantastic advice.Prepared to try anything as the problem seems to have shifted to his crate.Archie is just over 4 months old and the garden problem now pale into insignificance.He has newspaper in his crate to soil and has worked well until now.There is clear evidence of poop having been there in the morning meaning he’s eaten it overnight.He has taken to actually pooping on his bed and having walked him late last night and straight to the garden afterwards no signs of him going.Then.......straight into his bed in the crate to perform!!
We’re making great progress at puppy classes and responding to sitting,watching,waiting,leaving food etc but this is weird.
Thought of doing away with the toilet area but he is crated for 4 hours 2 days a week and can’t see him holding it that long plus if he’s keen to soil the bed now he probably won’t mind there being no paper.
I know they like routine just getting the right one I suppose?

[Catie74]

Just been reading this as my 4 month old Bertie has become rather partial to eating his poo. I’m also having problems with toilet training. He goes outside but will then go inside 10 minutes later. He seems to wee an awful lot and I don’t remember Archie being like this.

[Rollo58]

Archie did and still does wee a lot Catie74,and he has also been prone to go outside and just when you are thinking the penny has dropped he has done one inside after 10 minutes.
What I can say is stay positive as many posts on this super forum have said you will get there in the end.
We add keepers mix to his food and am pretty sure he isn’t eating his poo in his cage as he is consistently going outside to perform and also leaving it allowing us to collect it immediately.
He’s regularly and consistently going out through the dog flap in the conservatory and is reward and praised accordingly.