My dog eats her poop

[squeakyquynh]

My Dog Sophie, a 5lb maltese pomeranian mix, 8 years old, eats her own poop from time to time. We feed her good food. She was eating Purina Proplan Small Breed formala, and we've tried transitioning her to royal canine special mini to see if a change in food will help but we just caught her eating her poop again! We take good care of her, I even hand feed her because she seems afraid of her food bowl, and yet she still eats her poop like a starving and neglected stray!  We've also tried anti poop medicine. Do you have any advice to rid her of this disgusting habit? Her sister, Chloe, who came from the same litter and gets the same types of food doesn't have this problem at all.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

This is a multi-factoral problem.  Some dogs just like the taste of poop.  She may have Inflammatory bowel disease, or an insufficiency of digestive enzymes,  or gluten intolerance, or Spleen Qi deficiency (Chinese diagnosis), or...she may just like the taste of poop!

You may have already tried putting "Accent" in her food, but if you haven't try sprinkling Accent brand meat tenderizer (available in the spice/baking isle of grocery stores) in her food.  Accent imparts a horrible taste to the poop that deters most dogs.

If you have already tried Accent and it was not effective,  than you can try "baiting" your dog's poop by placing the Hottest Red Hot Chili sauce that you can find on her poop.  Once she takes a bit she may never go near it again.  Other products that you can bait poop with include: over the counter topicals such as Bitter Orange, or Coptis powder (available online as Huang Lian Coptis, or simple as Coptis).  Coptis powder is non-toxic but is extremely bitter.  

If all the topicals are ineffective, than you can try giving your dog a probiotic supplement (acidophilus) which replenishes the gut with helpful bacteria, that will help your dog absorb nutrients better.  If  this is still not effective after several weeks,  than try a digestive enzyme, available over the counter at a good health food store.  You will need a very low pediatric dose for your dog.  They may sell one specifically for dogs also.  You can also try a grain-free diet manufactured by Inova/Evo, or Wellness, among other brands.

[ibizan]

my first male greyhound did this..he liked the taste of his poop! i tried may deterrents...none worked...the best cure i found was scooping it up immediately after he pooped..i am a compulsvie pooper scooper...also steered away from ACcent or meat tenderizer..it is loaded with MSG and i did not want that in my dogs system!

[squeakyquynh]

Thank you for all your advice. One question though, I couldn't find Accent Brand Meat Tenderizer at the grocery store. Does the meat tenderizer need to be Accent Brand? Could I use another brand? There was an Accent Seasoning - is that the same thing?