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Recently I put up an article about coprophagia, or as it’s more commonly described, dogs eating feces or poop. I got some helpful feedback from several readers, which I am putting here with their permission.

First, someone wrote me to point out that spinach contains oxalic acid, not good for dogs, so don’t try it as a deterrent. I had it in that article and have removed it. Sorry!

Here’s one comment:

I can say one thing on this eating poop matter. I was told once that
puppy mill dogs are the ones who do this the most. Because they are either
lacking something and that point was already mentioned in here. But another
is because they never get out of  a cage until they are sold either from the
breeder or the pet store. And these puppy mill dogs may not get enough food
as they are all piled in crates together at the puppy mill. I had a dog like
this and it was purchased from a pet store and that meant  a puppy mill dog.

Everyone says do not buy a puppy mill dog but rescue one from a pound.
Well these puppy mill dogs needs homes too.

You just may feed your dog too much if you think he is doing this because he is hungry. He may be fed enough from you but had not been fed enough before you. Hope this helps.

And here’s another, from Ginny:

 I have shih-tzus. My very first two, 20 years ago, never, never ate poop. When I got two littermates (boy/girl) in 1995, they both ate their own poop but never that of other dogs. I simply had to pick up all of their waste asap. I tried a variety of deterrants, none of which seemed to work.

Both of those sweet babies have passed (at age 11 1/2 and 12 1/2), and I now have two 7-month-old littermates (boy/girl) shih-tzus. The boy pays no attention to the poop, but the girl pounces on their poop. I am currently trying sprinkling a little bit of meat tenderizer (Adolph’s was recommended but my grocery store had McCormick’s) which is said to make it taste bad. I’ve done this for about two weeks. I am not certain if this has helped at all, as she will “rush” to get to it before I can pick it up, and I always get there first.

I highly doubt that it is caused by some deficiency in their diet, as I am very particular about what I feed them and use excellent quality dog food (currently Dynamite products). I give them treats of carrots, a green bean now and then, a piece of bell pepper.

ANOTHER RELATED PROBLEM: We live near a duck pond. Ducks eat grass. All  of my doggies love the duck/geese poop; they actually pounce on it and try to run off so I won’t get it out of their mouths. Therefore, I have to walk in other areas where the ducks do not hang around because I am afraid this will be bad for them if they get too much of it.

So, my bottom line conclusion is that some dogs will do this, others will not, as my veterinarian says, “Dogs do this…” and for those with the problem, we just have to pick it up quickly or get them away from the area where they commit this crime!

If you have further thoughts, please feel free to add your comment! There is a time delay till comments are posted, as I check them manually.

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