# Dog ate his own poop!



## meanddog (Aug 30, 2009)

My puppy shihhtzu ate his own poop! How do I clean his mouth?
Thanks


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

Brushing his teeth will help. Just be sure to use canine tooth paste not the human kind.


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## bully (Sep 16, 2009)

Sorry but that is funny.

This isn't "normal" for sure...


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

Actually, it is. It's very common for dogs to eat their own feces, especially if they've made a mess in their den.


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## LeRoymydog (Feb 25, 2007)

LeRoy is going to be 3 next month and he still eats his. I have to stand outside with him when he poops, otherwise he willl eat it. I have tried everything everyone has told me to use to get him to stop and nothing has helped. 

Quick question, though... where did you get him?


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## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

It's not uncommon. Mine don't eat theirs but they will eat cat poop or "kitty truffles" as they are commonly called.

It is rather gross tho.  But when you consider they clean themselves after peeing/pooping...


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## Bugsy (Jul 2, 2009)

I also heard this is a very common problem. I was actually a little surprised by how many of my friends thought it was unusual though. My cockapoo puppy ate his poop too, but he stopped when he was about 4 or 5 months old. I was told to try to catch him in the act, and use some form of punishment. I gave a stern NO or "ah ahh". He eventually got the idea not to eat poop. But he'd still do it if I wasn't watching. But eventually he stopped it. He still goes back to sniff the poo, but does not lick or eat it. If you're teaching him "leave it", this would be a great scenario to use it.


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## amdeblaey (Jun 27, 2009)

A lot of dogs that eat to fast, like my lab wolfs his food down, A lot of times when they go to the bathroom, the food won't be digested, so they will eat the food from their stool again. See if you can view this website, I've never personally tried it, because I've never had this problem, but it's worth a shot. 

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3307+106+19133&pcatid=19133

If you can't view it, it's from the foster and smith website, it's called dis-taste. You can do a google search for it too I'm sure.


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## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

I saw an episode of The Dog Whisperer on this issue (was a trio of pugs doing it). He did not seem to think it was a good thing.

http://www.pet-comfort-products.com/why-dogs-eat-poop.html

http://www.dogeatingpoop.com/


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## RoxyLucyMommy (Sep 21, 2009)

"they" say that when they eat their poop, its because their food is all the way digested, so it tastes like food. so make sure they eat slow. like pouring little bits of food in the bowl at a time. and i think they said high fiber to help it digest quicker. no, its not healthy, because the things they need dont have time to be absorbed. hope this helps.


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## bondra76 (Feb 8, 2009)

I've heard two suggestions in everything I've read/watched over the years...

a) Pineapple - dogs like it, but after the system digests the fruit it doesn't taste so great the second time around. If I fed this to my dog, I wouldn't get the canned stuff with the sugar syrup (basically would be like feeding your dog junk food).

b) Cayenne pepper - a stool with cayenne isn't so tasty either.


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## lshean (Jan 6, 2009)

Chelsea my Shih Tzu did the same thing when she was a puppy, She grew out of doing it in few months. The vet told me this is very common amoung dogs.


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## cudjo (Oct 3, 2009)

meanddog said:


> My puppy shihhtzu ate his own poop! How do I clean his mouth?
> Thanks


Most experts think they do this either because of a deficiency, eating too fast or boredom. The most common cures are, slow down the eating if they woolf food, higher fiber food, adolph's meat tenderizer (or other enzyme) in food, vitamin supplement, putting something like hot sauce on the poop and the obvious act of watching them poop(spying) , then a loud correction or shocking noise as they start to munch. Of course if nothing seems to be working be vigilant and cleaning up immediately works best.


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