Has anybody conquered Poop eating and if so HOW!! Please Share!

Bunny has a determined personallity and pursues everthing with gusto including her search for dried poopies that she eats with glee.  I cannot express to you the nastiness this produces in her breath, flatulence and occassional up-chuck.  We are actually considering making her a yard dog during the day and only in at night.  Its that gross!

Our dogs are on a high grade food (Science Diet Naturals) and get daily vitamins too (started that when we realized we had a poop eater.

We have tried with little success.......

-- feeding Pineapple to all dogs

-- scooping the yard poop but very hard to keep up with 3 dogs on an acre of property

--  starting our 3rd (and expensive) month on "forbid" tablets for all dogs.

-- cayenne pepper works if you put it on a turd she brings to the porch

I hate to tell you, but Science Diet is actually a very low grade food and could be contributing to her poop eating habits.   Lots of by-product, low meat content and fillers.  It may be causing her to lack something in her diet that she is trying to make up for.

Here are the ingredients:

Ingredients:
Brewers rice, ground wheat, turkey meal, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, animal fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), chicken, vegetable oil, peas, carrots, chicken liver flavor, dried beet pulp, flaxseed, dried egg product, l-lysine, iron oxide, l-tryptophan, preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid, minerals [salt, potassium chloride, magnesium oxide, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite], rosemary extract, beta carotene, vitamins [choline chloride, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (a source of vitamin C), niacin, thiamine mononitrate, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement].

(from dogfoodanalysis.com)

  Pros:  Third ingredient is a named meat product. 
Cons:  Inadequate meat content, use of low quality grains, soy, fat of unidentifiable origin, other controversial filler. 
 

The first two ingredients in this food are low quality grains. Brewers rice is a by-product of the alcohol industry for which the AAFCO definition is “the dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in an amount not to exceed 3 percent.”

The use of wheat is a significant negative: wheat is believed to be the number one cause of allergy problems in dog food. This is another ingredient we prefer not to see used at all in dog food.

The third ingredient is a named meat product in meal form. This is the sole meat product in the food and too far down the ingredient list to constitute an adequate amount of meat.

Corn gluten meal is another low quality ingredient. Corn is a problematic grain that is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog food. The AAFCO definition of corn gluten meal is "the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm". In plain English, that which remains after all the nutritious bits have been removed.

Soy is a poor quality source of protein in dog food, and a common cause of allergy problems. Some believe that it is the number 1 cause of food allergies in dogs (outstripping even wheat).

Animal fat is a further low quality ingredient and is impossible to determine the source. Unidentified ingredients are usually very low quality. AAFCO define this as "obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative".

Beet pulp is filler and a controversial ingredient – it is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required. 

At one time I bought into the Science Diet brands too. The dogs seemed to love it and I bought it from the vet so it seemed perfect.  I purchased one of the perscription varieties from my vet recently when she prescripbed it for my elderly chihuahua. I haven't even opened the bag. I was a whimp and didn't want to argue with the vet. I would rather she die of natural age-related diseases than to die as a result of what I feed her.

I have a poop eater too. I don't believe it is diet related - my Daisey learns from other dogs and I believe she saw her mamma do this as a pup. We've tried all kinds of remedies as well but the best seems to be to watch her and make a loud noise to distract her when she starts sniffing at her poop. Luckily she will only eat "freshly produced" poop and only her own. If we distract her she loses interest. because she only likes it fresh out of the oven, LOL. An hour later it seems to hold no interest to her.

Vickie

I do not think in this case that her poop eating is diet related First because none of my other dogs exhibit this behaviour and Second as she came to us eating the breeders pet food and we where at that time feeding Diamond Natural which is the high end corn free diet of Diamond foods but she had awful gas that we attributed to the food and switched every body to Natures Best and then figured out later that she was poop eating and apparently had been since we brought her home.  So she has had this behaviour through 3 different diets.

And I do hear what you are saying about Science Diet because I feel the same way about their original products that have WAY too much fillers but "Natures Best" is a new product from Science Diet that is Corn Free which we seek out because foods with corn cause Boogie to vomit.  It may not be the Limosine of pet foods I know but living in a rural area limits you to what pet foods you can get without extra costs for fuel or shipping.  I compared the ingredients with other natural pet foods and thought it was comparable.  What product did you get the ingredient list from?  here is the list for their Nature's Best Chicken and brown Rice for Puppy's

the Ingredients are:

Chicken, Soybean Meal, Chicken Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Brown Rice, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Brewers Rice, Dried Egg Product, Powdered Cellulose, Flaxseed, Natural Flavor, Whole Grain Oats, Apples, Cranberries, Peas, Carrots, Fish Oil, Soybean Oil, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Broccoli, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), L-Threonine, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, DL-Methionine, Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Lysine, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, L-Tryptophan, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Thanks for the information on the food ingredients.  I am very discouraged now about finding a food.. no fault to you guys.. Its just such a sneaky industry that tries to fool the consumer - just crazy.  I will  check out that site.   - - Back to the pet food drawing board... *** Sigh

Bunny will be 9 mos the 24th of May.  We have been using the tablets that you feed when they eat to make the poo unappealing (Forbid or Deter is the name) We have been doing that for 3 months now and she still looks for the poo.  I wonder if because she seeks out old dry ones that the product is not as effective as it might be if she was hunting fresh ones.  I dont know - its frustrating.

Thank you for that link!  I went there.. did some reading and looked at what they had listed for the grain-free foods and found a Diamond Dog foods product... "Taste of the Wild"  AND we can buy it without driving to Houston!

There is a feedstore listed as a supplier in the town that Steve drives to everyday for work.  my only concern is that they only have one formula so what to do for puppies/nursing females I am not sure.  ALthough Diamond does have the puppy food in their Naturals line. 

Still have a poop eater but now I have a better foods solution to look into as well -Just goes to show you that an old dog (im not saying how old though) can still learn new tricks... thanks ya'll

 Also, Coprophagia (the condition were dogs eat feces) is actually completely normal, at least for wild dogs. "Abhorrent to us or not, the behavior is normal and allows food absorption to be maximized which would have a survival value in times of hardship in the wild." It could that she is bored, or perhaps it is some underlying medical condition.
 You said you've been thinking of making her a 'yard dog'. Do you keep her outside for long periods of time? Because keeping a dog in a small area ,might actually make the problem worse, because the dog may eat it's own poo to 'clean up it's own space'.

 Here's a page on Coprophagia I was looking for that I found a while ago:

www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/stop-dogs-eating-dog-poop.html

No she is never confined in small spaces unless its the kennel when I am away.  I work from home so the dogs are in and out much of the day, mostly indoors during day but not confined.  They hang out with me in the office and ask to go outside maybe 3 or 4 times during the course of the day.  We live on an acre and about 2/3 is under fence so when they are outdoors there is plenty of room.   She will ask to go outside and run out the door nose to the ground and hunt for poop.  Diversion works when you can catch the act.  Our best defense so far has been picking up the poop but as I said before - with 3 dogs and an acre to search its hard to keep up or find it all.

Isnt the prairie formula the one with the Bison/venison?  Thats the one I was leaning towards.  How is their poop on this diet?

you know - that might be a good way to go.  When we pick up the poop in our yard we dump it all over the fence between our back lot and a an ajoining pasture - maybe that will help get her tuned to that spot.  I will think on this - thanks