Wyndie Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Sorry for the gross title but I figured it was a good enough warning. :D My mom and dad recently got three shih-tzu puppies. Yes, three. :willy_nilly: One is a 2 year old but the others are 12 weeks and 13 weeks respectively. The 12 week old eats her poop... or anyone else's who happens to be nearby. Puppies are not house trained yet although they're almost paper trained. My mom is going insane trying to catch the little one before she eats her poopy snacks. Does anyone have a good idea to help this problem? I think it's a deficiency of some sort but her vet (holistic) didn't have any ideas for her. DH and I were thinking of helping her by taking one of the puppies but we're NOT taking a poop eater. :tongue_smilie: If she can get that under control, we'd take her. Oh, and puppies eat the BARF diet. They were on kibble until my parents got them so they've been raw about 3 weeks now. Any ideas are MUCH appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Talk to your vet. They will have a powder you can sprinkle over the puppy's food that will stop them from doing that. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Totally irrelevant but Rabbit droppings are a delicacy among canines as well. Ask our dog! :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyndie Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 Talk to your vet. They will have a powder you can sprinkle over the puppy's food that will stop them from doing that. HTH My mom did talk to the vet and she said to consider sprinkling cayenne pepper on the poop but that is might traumatize the puppy. Mom is trying to avoid trauma. ;) Totally irrelevant but Rabbit droppings are a delicacy among canines as well. Ask our dog! :glare: I'm sorry to hear that you know it. Kinda makes doggie kisses a little grosser doesn't it??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellyinPA Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I read somewhere (AFTER we brought our Shih Tzu puppy home!) that this very common among this breed. Lovely, huh? Ours did this too but now that she just turned 1 and is trained (mostly:tongue_smilie:) she doesn't do this anymore. Thank goodness for small favors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Mouse Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 They need to feed a high quality food (I have heard that low quality food just passes through and smells the same to the dog :ack2:). Also, I second the recommendation for the powder, that is supposed to work wonders. Good luck! P.S. My dogs also like rabbit poop, goat poop, chicken poop..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 My mom did talk to the vet and she said to consider sprinkling cayenne pepper on the poop but that is might traumatize the puppy. Mom is trying to avoid trauma. ;) I'm sorry to hear that you know it. Kinda makes doggie kisses a little grosser doesn't it??? Hmmm, I'm surprised the vet didn't mention the powder - it isn't cayenne. It was a white powder and the vet said it would make the poop really bitter tasting to the dog so they wouldn't want to eat it. Maybe if you talk to your vet you could get some from him/her? When we used it for our dog, it worked within a day. I was amazed ( and relieved! It was so disgusting to look outside and see the dog having a snack - ick!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyndie Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 Alright, I'll have her talk to her vet about the powder (we don't have a vet - no pets here other than a fish). ;) That may be just what she needs. Thank you for the recommendation and commiseration! Hopefully it will work magic for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I think the powder mentioned is digestive enzyme (the pineapple one is often used - bromelain, I think) You put it on the food, not on the stool. I would not be freaking out yet about the bhvr in a pup. They can outgrow this. They usually learn it from their mom who cleans up after them when they're little. 12 weeks old is still young. What this dog needs is constant supervision. She needs to be watched & the moment she goes poop, you praise & reward with a yummy treat while scooping up the poop. There must be no poop on the ground ever. It can be a sign of boredom or anxiety or OCD bhvr. But with a youngster, I would not leap to those conclusions yet. Begin teaching a leave it command. Here's a good article explaining the steps. http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/leaveit.htm It will take some time for the pup to learn it though & people have to be careful to not be screaming 'leave it' once Fifi is diving for the poop. If she's already got her face on it, it's too late & until that command is ROCK SOLID, it can't be used. You just weaken the command & it starts meaning nothing. I know some people who use a muzzle outside for obstinate snackers & that's an option too - esp if they get sick from their buffet eating (not all dogs do.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyndie Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 Thanks Hornblower. They are trying to supervise but my parents are older and it's just wearing my mom out. I will give her your whole post if you don't mind. She just needs knowledge how to train; out of all the dogs they've ever had, this is a new thing and it's just bad luck that it was the last pup they bought. If it had been the first, they wouldn't have gone for three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 (edited) 40370]I think the powder mentioned is digestive enzyme (the pineapple one is often used - bromelain' date=' I think) You put it on the food, not on the stool.[/b'] I would not be freaking out yet about the bhvr in a pup. They can outgrow this. They usually learn it from their mom who cleans up after them when they're little. 12 weeks old is still young. What this dog needs is constant supervision. She needs to be watched & the moment she goes poop, you praise & reward with a yummy treat while scooping up the poop. There must be no poop on the ground ever. It can be a sign of boredom or anxiety or OCD bhvr. But with a youngster, I would not leap to those conclusions yet. Begin teaching a leave it command. Here's a good article explaining the steps. http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/leaveit.htm It will take some time for the pup to learn it though & people have to be careful to not be screaming 'leave it' once Fifi is diving for the poop. If she's already got her face on it, it's too late & until that command is ROCK SOLID, it can't be used. You just weaken the command & it starts meaning nothing. I know some people who use a muzzle outside for obstinate snackers & that's an option too - esp if they get sick from their buffet eating (not all dogs do.) Yes, thanks for clarifying that! You sprinkle it on the food, the puppy eats the food, the puppy poops, the poop then tastes super bitter because of the powder and the puppy will not want to eat the poop. ick Edited August 9, 2010 by Mothersweets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 we had a dog that would eat COW poop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 We had a Chihuahua that did this too. We bought the powder and sprinkled it over his food. It helped a lot. That and growing out of puppyhood. Gah. Dogs are gross. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 we had a dog that would eat COW poop! Yup. And horse poop is apparently yummy. Dogs are opportunistic scavenger omnivores. I know someone who occasionally trains with sheep poop. It's her dog's ultimate reward & it's easily portable & pretty inoffensive to us. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 It is called For-Bid and Aldolf's meat tenderizer is used the same way as well. Their is anew product out this year for coprophagia but i cannot recall the name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Totally irrelevant but Rabbit droppings are a delicacy among canines as well. Ask our dog! :glare: I think you have it lucky. We have horse and llama droppings galore, but the pig poop is pretty much left alone. :lol: Does anyone realize how BAD cat poop smells? What's so appealing about it to a dog, I don't know, but it's NASTY when they get a bit of it and then want to come sit by you or in your lap. My vet told me to use meat tenderizer and it did work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 My dog favors dirty diapers and feminine hygeine products. :ack2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest janainaz Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I had a Shih-tzu/poodle mix dog - cutest dog on the planet (he looked like a combo of Chewbacca and an Ewok), but I'd watch him sitting outside eating poop. It drove me crazy and I could not let my heart warm up to him because of it! It was so gross! My sister and I looked up some reasons why dogs do this, and could not stop laughing at some of the solutions. Apparently, if you are a good dog owner, you should be able to give the command, "Leave it!" and the dog will stop. Mine dog did not. He did not respond to, "Leave it, Jack!" He just continued on. Needless to say, we traded him in for a non-poop eating dog. http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_PoopEating.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddysmom26 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 gross! :ack2: I actually have 2 labs and the black one does this. He actually hasnt done it lately that Ive seen, Because I take him out on a leash and watch him every second. Im hoping hes over it.. it totally grossed me out , when I caught him in the act.. Lab poop can be quite large.. :ack2: yuck.. I will be sure to ask my vet about it though when I take him next month for his check up. When we move into my new house I will be putting a fenced in yard, so he wont be as supervised.. ugghhh. Some one said, dont yell at them, just keep it cleaned up so that they cant do it. Uggg.. you know what that would be like.. a really bad second job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddysmom26 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 My dog favors dirty diapers and feminine hygeine products. :ack2: my brother had a dog like that years ago.. double ackk.. :ack2::ack2: and kind of embarrassing at times! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Apparently, if you are a good dog owner, you should be able to give the command, "Leave it!" and the dog will stop. Mine dog did not. He did not respond to, "Leave it, Jack!" He just continued on. Well, you do actually have to TRAIN a leave it command. Dogs don't speak English. I posted instructions for training a 'leave it' above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Some one said, dont yell at them, just keep it cleaned up so that they cant do it. Uggg.. you know what that would be like.. a really bad second job! Lol - I have two of my own & a third foster. Two are 80lbs & one is 50lbs. Lots of pooper scooping here :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 My dog favors dirty diapers and feminine hygeine products. :ack2: I've read too many stories of surgery required to remove tampons & used pads from a dog's stomach - I'm more :scared: than grossed out. Poop will just go through & won't usually result in anything except the occasional upset tummy. Stuff like this can require a $$$ vet bill to fix. Though the dolittler managed to get this dog to barf them up: http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2006/july/why-tampons-do-not-make-good-dog-toys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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