Viewer Question Topic: Eating Poop (Coprophagia)

My 11 month old pitbull "suffers" from Coprophagia. We have tried "all the cures" from meat tenderizer to vet prescribed food additives, nothing seems to work! Bubba has been "practicing" this "art" since he was approximately 3 months old. He is alone for 6 hours a day and due to his constant chewing we do have to leave him outside. He is house trained! Is there any hope for us?

Coprophagia - or ingesting feces is a particularly offensive habit that many dogs exhibit, especially during the puppy stages. Most do grow out of it, but some like Bubba seem to persist. Although you can use such food additives as Accent or Forbid, a certain amount of training is essential. Keeping him on a leash when walking and preventing him from gaining access to his stools is a good start. You may want to consider crate training rather than leaving him outside on his own. Ask your vet to check him for pancreatic disorders or malabsorption problems too. Good luck.

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