My boss recently got a beagle pup for his mom's birthday. Snoopy (yes, you heard me right) was every bit as cute and adorable as any puppy out there, always curious and sniffing around the office when my boss brings him around. I love cuddling him, even though he smells quite a bit and everybody likes him. Everybody but my boss' mom. Apparently, Snoopy has this habit of eating his poop everytime he deposits it somewhere and she doesn't like it. They've already taught him where to pee and poop, but he still eats it. I had the same problem with our male lab when he was still a pup, but he stopped after we switch to a brand of dog food which had lower protein content. It has already been months now and Snoopy still has this poop-eating habit. My boss' mother is really annoyed now and has stopped taking care of the pup. She wants to give it away instead but my boss has come to love Snoopy and wants to keep him. But he also doesn't want to deal with the poop-eating. Is it normal for beagles to eat their poops? Or is there any other underlying problem?

I'm not sure if poop-eating is normal for beagles, but I do know my mom had a puppy that did the same thing until she switched to a lower-protein dog food. I used to have cats, and Mom's dogs would always eat their poop. I did some research about it when I was in school & discovered that dogs eat cat poop because cats don't digest all the protein in their food.

So I'm guessing, just a guess is all, that the reason Snoopy (and your lab when he was a pup) is doing it is because he's not digesting all the protein the first time through. Have you suggested to your boss switching dog food, to the brand you use? That may clear it up.

There are also additives, such as Forbid, that can be sprinkled over the dogs food to break him of the habit. Its common for puppies to eat their own feces, most of the grow out of it but it can become a habit for others.

You can also walk the dog, and pick up the deposits when dropped.

My dog s almost a yead and a half and she still does this sometimes if she goes in the house. We think it is because she is trying to hide the evidenece, but don't know how to stop it.

Originally Posted by DoxieMomX2

My dog s almost a yead and a half and she still does this sometimes if she goes in the house. We think it is because she is trying to hide the evidenece, but don't know how to stop it.

Ask your vet about the food additive....this is supposed to make the feces very unappealing to eat.

Originally Posted by opokki

Ask your vet about the food additive....this is supposed to make the feces very unappealing to eat.

I have never heard of that. Are there any side effects involved? I have always combatted the problem by just disposing of all the deposits right away.

I'm not sure what the reasoning is, but definitely seek some professional help like a dog handler or dog trainer to figure out if it's a deficiency in his diet or just a behavioural problem!

My dog ate poop as a puppy and grew out of it. She stopped eating poop when I put Lawry's Seasoned Salt on her food. Dogs like the seasoning, and it makes the poop smell and taste bad to them. I gave this to her for several months. She never ate poop again.

Originally Posted by danelover

My dog ate poop as a puppy and grew out of it. She stopped eating poop when I put Lawry's Seasoned Salt on her food. Dogs like the seasoning, and it makes the poop smell and taste bad to them. I gave this to her for several months. She never ate poop again.

Is this regular seasoning humans use, or do I get it at the pet store?

I actually used meat tenderzier (without onion powder), I wonder if it has similar ingredients to the seasoned salt.

The Lawry's is the same as you get in the grocery store. I hope it works for you. You should sprinkle some on each meal. It doesn't take very much. I sprinkled enough on the food so that I could see the little red specks. I didn't come close to finishing a container before she quite eating poop.

Thanks for the advice. We are going to get some of this and try it right away!

My lab does this with cat poop. I always thought it was pretty gross. She goes at it too. I have a vet visit scheduled here in the next couple of days and I am going to ask her what I can possibly do about it. It just doesn't seem healthy to me. Can't they pick up worms like this, too?

We put carrots in with the dog food and that helped. Alternatively buy a horse. If your dogs likes the taste of his own poop - he will love horse poop and the smell is so much better!

I have also experienced this same problem. It is so frustatrating. I've tried all the products, including "FORBID" and even used "proenzyme" (recommended by the breeder to improve his digestion). The only thing I found that helped ( not cured )was catching him in the act of misbehaving. We have a special place that "Reo" goes out to make. We would observe him and if he picked up any stool, immediately yell "WRONG" in a a very strong tone. He would drop the stool and run away with his head bowed. We even had to observe him when my other dog would go out. Having caught him eating our other dog's stool. He now will go out and I tell him that "Mom is going to clean up". He'll leave the stool alone and walk away. He does on occasion still eat stool if we don't catch him immediately.

My puppy eats her own poop, does anyone know why dogs do this????

Well, my dog did this right after we got him as a puppy. He only did it when he went inside though, and we assumed he was hiding the evidence. The seasoned salt idea sounded good. Most should grow out of it too.