[Lara's mom]

I've been using Forbid for three days now - so far, no change. I bought a tin of crushed pineapple. The puppy wouldn't touch it.

[cigwyllt]

What is "Forbid" - don't know if we have that here in the UK. The only thing I can suggest is to watch the litter tray like a hawk and if the cat poops then remove it straight away. I doubt if you could sprinkle pepper on it as then the cat wouldn't want to use the tray.

So will Lance not eat the pineapple at all then?

[Lara's mom]

Forbid is a powder that is supposed to make poop taste bad to dogs...I have to wonder, being that what Lance is "into" is cat crap. What would it take to make it taste worse? The lousy powder isn't working...Either is pineapple which I have attempted to stuff down his gullet with no success.

[cigwyllt]

Does he eat his own as well then? It can be such a problem. It's easy to say "Pick it up as soon as he does it" but then he sees it as a resource that you are trying to hoard so he wants it even more! Can you move the cat tray to a place where he can't get at it? To a room he can't access perhaps behind a baby gate? Won't stop him eating his own but will stop him eating the cat's.

[Lara's mom]

He only eats the cat poop. For whatever reason, he isn't interested in his own or that of other dogs. Lance is a JRT and can sail over baby gates.

I have been trying to watch the litter and clean it right away but somehow he always beats me to it!

[cigwyllt]

Why do they think pussy cat tootsie rolls are such a delicacy LOL! You don't need to worry about the pineapple then - that would only make his own poop unpaletable - unless you can get the cat to eat it?

[Lara's mom]

Do you have a cat? I have yet to find a method of making a cat do ANYTHING that she doesn't wish to do, especially eat crushed pineapple!

Someone suggested sprinkling tabasco sauce on the cat turds...

[cigwyllt]

I was slave to a cat for many years. I never attempted to make her do anything. I knew my place! Cayenne pepper is also a good deterrent when sprinkled on the poop but if you are going to do that you may as well just scoop the poop and be done with it. I wouldn't think the cat would want to use the tray if it was coated with tabasco or cayenne anyway.

[CorkyMax]

Found this while searching in here for something else. Don't know if it will help but here it is:
Reasons for Eating Poo

[Ward9320]

They make a sour apple spray that is used to discourage dog chewing on things that you don't want them too. I would say to give that a try

[Grimace17]

A lot of times when dogs start eating feces they find outside it means their diet is incomplete and they are searching for the nutrients they are missing. Of course the feces don't fill in the missing pieces but the dogs dont know that. The result of eating feces can be parvovirus which is really nasty. Try giving your dog a supplement and see what happens. I've found a lot of info on the site I get my dogs vitamins from and they have some info on parvo:

"How Dogs Get Parvovirus

Parvovirus is a killer of young dogs. A highly contagious viral disease that attacks the intestinal track, white blood cells and in some cases, the heart muscle. Parvovirus may be closely related to the cat virus panleukopenia.The virus is spread by the ingestion of fecal materiel from infected animals. A dog may become infected by eating the stool of infected animals, or simply by walking in the infected feces and later licking his paws, thereby, becoming infected. There are several different strains of parvovirus that cause varying symptoms. Generally, the signs of parvovirus are lethargy,diarrhea, vomiting, and refusal of food. The diarrhea is usually watery and may have streaks of blood. The dog may also have an elevated temperature. Parvovirus is serious and rapid treatment should be taken to replace the fluids lost from the vomiting and diarrhea. If your dog shows these symptoms, she should be taken to a veterinarian.

Dogs Nutritional Instincts and Parvovirus

A dog’s habit of eating feces is caused by an attempt by the dog to satisfy a nutritional void. So feeding your dog a nutritionally balanced diet is an important factor in preventing the animal from becoming infected with potentially dangerous toxins like those causing Parvovirus. A dog needs a strong immune system to fight off disease and poisons, and his immune system needs extra nutritional support, including a good multi-vitamin-mineral supplement for dogs like IN®."

I'd say try a supplement with a lot of vitamins and see what happens. Your dog would definitely benefit from them anyway and it could stop this awful behavior quickly. I can't tell you how many issues I've been able to eliminate and prevent simply by giving my dog vitamins, even when the vet has had no idea what to do.

[Ghst]

I have to admit I'm finding this topic quite amusing, In Lara's Mom havin to find a way to make a cat turd taste even more "crappy" to her Jack. This is great stuff! I can picture the JRT dashin thru the house, and Leaping the doorway blockade, and eatin the cat crap from the litter box, just ahead of the chasing, Lara's Mom. Seriously tho, despite our heroic efforts, and in most everything that evolves them......Touche'

[Taming Rover]

I would have to agree with Grimace17, I think that most likely your JRT is trying to say that he is missing something out of his diet. Maybe check the ingredients and nutritional info in the cat food and look at the difference in the dogs food. Obviously cat and dog foods are formulated much differently as they have different needs, but you might get a clue like perhaps the amount of protein, for some reason I seem to remember hearing that cat food often has more protein and that dogs could be looking for that... but not 100% on that one.

Have you tried changing his food brand? Look for a food that has little or no grain products, and a good source of protein. The first 5 ingredients are the most prevalent in the food so if you see grain products in the first 5 that means there's probably quite a bit of grain filler in there. Also your meat/protein should read for example; "Chicken meal" not "Chicken meal byproduct" or even worse, "Meat byproduct". Check out your protein amount in his current food and see if upping it to a medium high level (like in the low 30's percentage) might help his... um... cravings...
lol

Also, I just want to add that 1)Taking away said poop as soon as possible might solve the problem in the short term being that he can't eat it because it's not there. But you've already run into the problem of if he gets to it before you... 2)Putting some distasteful substance on/in the poop might work IF he assumes that because he ate it once or twice and didn't like it that it will always taste this way. But my thought on this is that it will only work if he got the bad taste consistently since you started putting it on there because if he got one bad one and then one "good" one, then another bad one, it's quite possible that since their smell is so keen he will know weather you put the sauce/pepper on there and only go for it when you haven't.

If this were my dog I would definitely set him up for this. I don't know what you've been doing when he goes for the box or after he's gotten into it, but weather there has been an attempt at a correction or not, he's obviously not respecting that this is a rule, and/or he has figured out that he can "get away with it" when your not looking. SO, if you figure out a way to make the BOX itself the "Bad guy" (what's termed as a remote correction; a correction that the dog cannot connect to you) then he will be so spooked by the cat box itself and regardless if your there or not, he wont want to go near it.

I would set up some sort of situation, (I don't know the layout of your house but be creative) where as soon as he gets his nose near the poop itself, some big scary noise happens, for example, a few pop cans with pennies inside tied together with a string and the string strung up in some way that you can operate it from another room without him seeing you, then you pull the string and these loud cans come flying out of nowhere into the box or something. You could even tie a string around the box itself and also to some cans so that when you pull the string the box moves and noisy cans fall down...

Either way, it's very important he does not realize that this came from you so when he comes running back where you are, it's vital you act like nonchalant and do not acknowledge that something scary just happened. We don't want to create a nervous dog, just to spook him away from that one particular thing. Also, dogs are SOOOO smart! make sure when your setting this all up he is in another room our out for a walk with another family member or something, and it can also really help to wear gloves so he doesn't catch your scent from the cans or rope. Also after you set it up give it a try yourself first when he is well away from the area to make sure it will all pan out as planned.

You may have to do this once or twice but if he goes back for it after a max of 3 times then it has not been effective enough and whatever you used was not sufficient to "spook" him.

Please post on the results if you decide to give this one a try ;o)
Either way I wish you luck on this!

[jameserickson80]

It's awful to see your dog eat a cat poop or even their own. I guess you have to make sure that your dog is well-fed and keep their surroundings clean. One technique that might work is to put vinegar and cayenne pepper on the poop, in that way dogs don't eat it.

[muttsneedluvtoo]

We have 3 dogs and 2 cats. Our solution to keeping the dogs away from the 'cookie jar' was to put the litter tray either facing a corner, so only the cats could get in, or up on the dryer/deep freeze/table....where the pooches couldn't reach it. Your cat will jump up to use the potty, so take advantage of their agility.