Eating own poo???

[ladywales]

Hi  
We have just taken on a 1 year old called Starr who apart from the normal settling in things has been great.  She was not properly toilet trained whne we had her but overall has been very good with toileting outdoors with only the minor accidents indoors!  
However we have noticed that once or twice in the evening she has disapeared upstairs and we can then smell the dreaded smell of poo... :roll: When we go to investigate we can never find it, but discover that Starr's breath smells distinctively of it??? :shock:
We can only assume that she has eaten it.. Does anyone have any suggestions on what we should do to stop this?? :?
She was brought up in a breeding kennels, we obtained her from them as they are now winding down the kennels and we offered her a pet home.  Not sure if this would have any bearing on this matter?
Any tips appreciated                    

[shonajoy]

Indie does this sometimes too.

Someone gave me the advice that the better quality dog food you feed, the less waste there is, meaning their poo doesn't appear so appetising for them, for want of a better word :oops:

Since we changed him from Bakers to Burns/Naturediet, he's been doing it much less often, so I feel there is some truth to the diet link.

I have also heard of people adding stuff to their food, to help prevent it, but I can't recall what. I'm sure you'll get some great advice here though.

Shona                    

[ladywales]

We feed them Burns anyway, have done since our other boy Bobby started to have funny tummies!  Maybe its something she has picked up in the kennels, only time will tell I guess! :?                    

[Jane S]

Poo-eating or coprophagia to give it it's posh name is quite normal canine behaviour though it seems pretty disgusting to us Some dogs do it as youngsters & grow out of it but others have a tendency to do it all their lives. Cheaper complete foods can encourage the habit but as you feed Burns, this wouldn't apply here. As Starr is a former kennel dog, she may well have always had this habit. You could add pineapple chunks to her food as this is meant to cure coprophagia - worth a try anyway                    

[Loraine]

Candy also does this.  She is 18 months old and is showing no signs of ever stopping.  I tried pineapple chunks but alas these did not work.  I also tried the tablets from Pets At Home (can't remember what they're called) and they did not work either.   Wherever possible I try to pick it up before she gets to it.  As disgusting as it is to think about it, so far she has suffered no ill-effects so I don't worry to much about it anymore.

Loraine                      

[Mary]

Yep...unfortunately Lottie has also done this   She used to do it immediatley after she'd pooed but she doesn't do that anymore luckily.  I would always be at the ready to clear up immediately after her :wink:

She occasionally shows a bit of interest still but seems to have got a liking for cats poo instead :roll:  :x                    

[Pammy]

Buddy used to do this too - then want to give you a smacking great kiss - yeeeeeuch :oops: He grew out of it farily quickly.

One of the tricks is to clean up after them immediately - don't leave them anything they can then dine on later :wink:                    

[PennyB]

One of the tricks is to clean up after them immediately - don't leave them anything they can then dine on later :wink:

Trouble is Wilf has learnt that every time the cats go out (and that they only seem to go out to the loo now that its cold) they leave these 'yummy' parcels behind so he races through the catflap after they've come in to dine on their poo (yes my cats poo in their own yard!). Now cat poo breath really is disgusting                    

[ladywales]

Well thank you all for your replies
I shall give the pineapple chunks a try, but feel a bit more at ease now that I know that some of your dogs do the same!!  
She is fine when she toilets outdoors, she doesn't bother eating it then  :? Only when she sneaks off upstairs...Guess I will have to be quicker behind her!  :roll:
Thanks again.  We are off to the vets today as she has a bad dose of fleas!!! :shock: Looks like she was not de-fleaed at the kennels either!