My dog eats poop

• Eating manure from herbivores (cattle/horses) is actually normal.
• Eating dog feces is often seen in young dogs that did not receive enough stimulation as puppies and/or were (or are) housed in a kennel.
• This often applies to neutered animals (both males and females), due to their increased appetite.
• The smell of the feces determines whether it is appealing to eat.
• That's why dog feces from dogs that eat canned food are preferred; these often still contain a lot of flavor enhancers!
• A female dog that eats her puppies' feces is exhibiting normal behavior!

Owners are often at their wits' end. Some even ask for euthanasia!
This undesirable behavior often begins during a dog's youth and can become a deeply ingrained habit if left unchecked.

• It is often seen in animals that were exposed to too few environmental stimuli during their (early) youth and were left alone too often and for too long in the presence of feces; in other words, left alone for too long without their feces being cleaned up.
• Animals with an increased appetite may be more prone to developing the habit of eating their own feces. This includes neutered animals (males and females) or animals with certain medical conditions that lead to an increased appetite.
• Sometimes this is the result of improper potty training: in particular, rubbing their snout in their feces can cause them to become accustomed to the taste of feces.
• Punishing accidents can also lead to undesirable behavior: the animal learns quite easily that it can clean up the “evidence”!
• Malnutrition: Just as some owners overfeed their young dogs, there are also many who are so afraid that their dogs will become overweight that they don't feed them enough.
• Finally, certain medications can also lead to an increased appetite, and thus to coprophagia. Incidentally, these are usually medications that should not be given to young animals, so this cause is very rare in young dogs!

As will become clear from the following, a significant portion of the “tools” needed to address this extremely annoying and unpleasant behavior can be provided by your trainers at the dog club: they can explain and teach you the best techniques for correcting and rewarding a dog.

• Walk them on a leash so you can correct them right away.
• Check (or have someone check) whether the power supply meets all requirements.
• You can often curb your hunger by adding vegetables to your diet; green beans are, of course, a classic example!
• For dogs that eat their own feces, changing their diet often helps; especially dogs that are fed canned food and then switch to less palatable kibble often stop this behavior. For these types of dogs, a consistent feeding and walking schedule often helps predict when a dog will relieve itself: you can then anticipate this and thus prevent the dog from eating its own feces.
• Don't let your dog run off-leash in places where there's a lot of dog poop.
• Clean up after your dog in the areas where it spends time.
• Try to improve the dog's obedience by using the right training method and rewarding good behavior with treats.
• For dogs that do not compulsively eat feces (i.e., the milder cases), you can give the animal a little more freedom by walking them on a long leash or by keeping them near the owner on command. When the dog is about to slip up and eat a poop, you can use a distraction tactic, such as toys. Stopping the behavior should be rewarded immediately!
• Young dogs can often be corrected for undesirable behavior simply by using your voice. The most important thing here, however, is a good relationship between the owner and the dog! As soon as the dog stops the behavior, you should immediately give it a generous reward and a treat!
• Being actively engaged with the dog—playing, working, training, etc.—and the rewards that come with it often provide a dog with
• so much distraction and entertainment that the undesirable behavior is, as it were, automatically pushed into the background.
• Eating pineapple ruins the "delicious taste" of your own poop!
• Animals with a compulsive form of coprophagia can often only be weaned off this habit under very strict supervision and with the help of medication (yes, antidepressants).

• Make sure your dog has a well-balanced diet, especially if it's a puppy.
• Keep the areas where the dog spends time free of feces—this is especially important for puppies. So be sure to clean up that poop!
• Make sure puppies have plenty of stimulation and activity, and limit the amount of time they have to spend in the unstimulating environment of a crate or kennel, where there is often feces on the floor.
• Make sure the animal fully trusts its owner, so it can be trained from a young age to ignore poop.

In milder cases (which are the majority): good. More severe cases require a lot of effort on the owner’s part, but they do lead to results. However, the risk of a relapse remains!