Is my dog eating his own poop normal? Does it affect his health?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would not be concerned by this. He should be fine after eating his own poop. If this is a behavior that you would like to try and stop, you can try a product called Forbid, which can be found online quite easily. You can also try and put bitter apple spray on his poop and see if this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

The next best step here is to make his poop taste bad. You can do this by purchasing a product called Forbid, which can be bought at your local pet store or online and give him that as instructed on the box for up to 2 weeks. You can also try 1 tsp of meat tenderizer added to his food daily. Most pets will grow out of this habit, but it is best to pick up the poop immediately after he defecates, and only leash walk him outside so that he does not have free range to eat feces. I wish you all the best with Geno and hope that you can break him of his bad habit. Best wishes and take care! : )

Hi there and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Delilah is adorable! Unfortunately most of the time when a dog is eating it's own feces, it's just because they've developed the habit and decide that they like it. Obviously it's a pretty gross thing to do and can lead to reinfection with GI parasites so it's a behavior we want to try to stop. First you should do regular and immediate removal of feces in the yard so Delilah has less of a chance to get to the poop. You can also try feeding something like Forbid (a product you can purchase) or a small amount of pineapple juice mixed in with her food. This will sometimes stop a dog from eating their own feces. Very rarely this behavior can be a sign of a nutritional deficiency so if it continues have Delilah evaluated by your veterinarian. And bring a stool sample for evaluation as well to ensure she has not picked up a GI parasite. Hope this helps!

This is a repeat question so I will copy and paste my previous response since you deemed it a helpful answer. Giving the pet 1 tsp of meat tenderizer in the food daily sometimes stops the pet from coprophgia (eating of ones own stool). You can also easily purchase Forbid online (i.e. Amazon). I am unsure if his stools are loose or normal, but if loose I would also recommend deworming him (i.e. Fenbendazole) for possible intestinal parasites. Pets that are underweight should be checked and treated for parasites as the first step. If parasites are not the cause then other possible causes are: exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, Addison's disease, and Vitamin B deficiency just to name a few. It is unfortunate that you don't have a vet available because none of those disorder would be able to be detected and treated without medical care. If you find yourself at a dead end and nothing is working and your pet is ill because of this continued issue, then perhaps flying your pet out for care elsewhere, or making a road trip to get your pet the care he needs, is the next best step. I wish you all the best!

This is such a common question for a gross, but unfortunately common, issue. Unfortunately, there isn't a great way to get them to stop. Adding excessive MSG (food seasoning) can make some dogs stop because their stool no longer tastes good (such as "For-Bid"). However, we don't know if there are negative effects for our dogs eating a lot of MSG. Trying to walk him for his bowl movement so you can pick up the stool right away is another way to manage it - you may need to have a treat ready to give him right away after he defects so that you have a moment to get to the stool. Good luck and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Charlie Boy. This is a common habit in puppies. Many dogs will outgrow the behavior as they age. In the meantime, scoop the yard as frequently as possible. You can also try applying Forbid powder to his food. This can help to break the habit. Eating his feces can place him at a higher risk for reinfection himself with parasites. I hope this information helps!

There are 2 ways to try tackling a coprophagia habit. 1 is to get him on a medication called Forbid. The other is to try adding 1-2 tsp of meat tenderizer in his food daily. The idea for both is to try to get his poop to taste bad so that he won't want to continue eating it, since it seems some dogs just really like the taste. I would do either option for at least 14 consecutive days. I hope that this helps you curb Rocky's habit of poop eating. Best wishes and take care.