Dog eating poo!

[hubbyhateshorses]

My hubbies 12 month old lab is eating poo when I take him out on walks. Hes vaccinated, wormed regular and is on a high quality complete dry food. He is being trained at the moment to work on the feilds. Its not horse poo......it is other dogs poo, its disgusting. When he goes out with my hubby he is walked and trained on non public feilds, but if I take him out on the public footpaths he cannot resist and will eat poo. I had him on the lead before and he did this and s*** is all over his face, it cant be healthy. He has a very good diet and is healthy, but he does not get tit bits and is very greedy. He has the massive chews to knaw on. anybody any suggestions?

[Deleted]

My labrador poos turns round and eats it. You have to be quick off the mark with him. Other dog does it to but she eats cat poo. Lovely subject. Spoke to two separate vets that said its a lab thing. A lot of my friends labs do it too. I've had numerous goody goodies tell me he's not fed right he's lacking something, he's an attention seeker and all that. He's on food for elderly dogs, has joint supplements and wants for nothing. He's just a old man who likes poo lol.i

[Tralala]

This is a condition called 'Coprophagia' and is very difficult to stop/prevent. Google it to find out more info.

[hubbyhateshorses]

Thanks guys, just googleing it now, Labs are lovely, but my god hes greedy. Its reasurring to know its common, I thought he was ill when he did it today, I even suggested he wasn`t getting fed enough ;D. Thanks again x

[Cockers Cats and Cuddly Ponies]

I have cockers, have bred them for years an most of mine do it. It drives me mad, they also have an obcession for clearing the cat litter trays out. I have given up on trying to cure the buggers an look on the positive side an think its less s**t to clean up!!!! Good luck but I think you will be very lucky to cure him/her. Some say its a vitamin defeicancy an I did add SF-50 which did help an dramatically reduce the poo they ate. Only need very little an is about £8 a tub but lasts months. Maybe worth a try.

Tasha

[AnnieRoseSplash]

You'll probably never stop this behaviour, yep its revolting when they do this, but its a dog thing, our GSD did this from being tiny till the day he died, my mum's chihuahua and bro's springers do it.
we kept the garden poo free at all times, watched him like a hawk on walks and if he did get a sneaky bite of poo he'd end up in the garage cos his breath smelled so bad and the next day have the runs/sick, he never learned and we just did our best to prevent him having the oportunity to eat any. Fresh pineapple in meals helped, seemed to stop him wanting to eat his own and I think we tried some herbal product off internet but can't remember what it was?
Tell you what though, I'd rather be sat here typing that he was still doing it, make the most of your dogs, ours died in april after 12 fantastic years and I miss him every day!

[hubbyhateshorses]

Thanks so much for all this advice, I never had a dog do this before and its only when I take him out for a pleasure walk that he does this. My hubby is training him to be a gun dog and he behaves so well for him so hubby has never seen this done. I only told him yesterday as I thought he would go mad that I had been taking him out .
Not bothered about him smelling as the gun dogs live out, however hes so affectionate and is always after kissing anyone. Be a great burgular deterant, dog eating poo then liking the offenders face .
I will show hubby all your advice and he can take it from there.

[hubbyhateshorses]

This is the offender! He's a show type lab currently being trained as a shooting dog, going well so far! We got him off preloved as someone bought him and never took him out consequently he's started chewing. We've had him about seven months now and he's really good. He even runs at the side of the carriage wheels when we're out driving, he's really good.

[vikki85]

Awww he's lovely!

[Tralala]

Very handsome! Most blokes have some bad habits and at least, apart from having pooey breath, it wont do him any harm! x

[jeanslater]

Coprophagia , is the term used for dogs eating their own faeces. I think many people look on dogs as carnivores, when indeed they are scavengers and as such need for their stomach to contain bacteria that will break down any 'foods' eaten. Some dogs do it some dont have the need for it, I have only ever had one of these dogs in my kennels, pretty yuk, and I never let her lick my face !! she was fine, its a bit like them rolling in sheep or other dirt, to a dog its like channel no5 , its a natural smell that disguises their own smell - trace elements of wild dogs survival instinc which still exists today as do their characteristics , its all normal and quite natural, just pretty naff!! dogs will be dogs.

[dogandbone]

I too have two out of my 6 dogs that do it - You can stop it altogether if you use Copro - Nil.
You have to put the powder on their food. It makes the poo smell horrid to them, however if they are eating other dogs poo out on walks, it isn't going to be very successful I guess lol
After using it faithfully for a month or so, it does seem to break the habit completely.
Hope this helps somebody!

[hubbyhateshorses]

Thanks for all the replies, its great knowing there are some helpful people out there , we have always had dogs but we are first timers for Labs.
I just panicked when I saw him do it.......hubby doesnt really like me taking out his lab and cocker out , he says I ruin them.
Theres some knowledgeable folks on here, I knew somebody would know lol.
Thanks Again

[Deleted]

I have a Border Terrier puppy who loves horse/cat poo, I've never seen him eating his own, but he regularly attempts to eat horse poo! Think it's just a 'dog thing'!

[baggygirl]

Usually, if dogs or horses etc are eating poo then it would be that they are lacking some vitamins and minerals in their diet and crave for it therefore they eat poo, same thing when horses lick a lot of stuff like wood etc

[nia2311]

Labradors are greedy and will eat anything! Ours used to raid the kitchen bin if you left him in there unsupervised and would rifle through bags looking for food in the car as well. There are deterrents to stop them eating poo, but it shouldn't do him too much harm. Ours used to do it sometimes and he lived a long and healthy life!

[dogandbone]

I meant to say that the Copra - Nil is herbal, so perfectly safe!

[fanfarefan]

Our JRxPOM , only started eating our other dogs poo after he had haemoragic castro enteritis , i assumed it was to forfill something lacking in his diet after being ill , hes not toooo bad now , but the delicasy has to be warm!!!!!!