# Dog eats his poop and cat tootsie rolls **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486 "2011-04-07T02:55:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alicia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alicia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alicia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/1 "2011-04-07T02:55:06Z")
Our little puggle dog eats his own poop all the time. Why?? How can we stop it? His breath is killer. Plus, then he has to poop twice as often. We’ve tried all the usual veterinary suggestions. Like have him on a leash and correct when he goes for it. But sometimes you just have to let them out alone to take a dump, like when you’re on an important call or you are undressed. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/2 "2011-04-07T03:10:27Z")
I have to keep a child gate across the basement steps so the dog can’t get to the cats litter box. There’s a rabbit that grazes in my back yard at night. When I let the dog out she runs out and chases the rabbit off. Then she sniffs and sniffs the patch of clover the rabbit favors. Then I figured out she was actually hoovering up rabbit turds. I try to not think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/3 "2011-04-07T03:21:22Z")
Captain eats the cat poop from the litter box. He’s unstoppable. Seriously, I scoop clumps of pee but never poop. We just use some brain bleach and try to forget. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/4 "2011-04-07T03:40:18Z")
Congratulations! You have a dog! We have to block off the litter box room to keep Daisy out of it. Dogs are disgusting. Cute, but disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/5 "2011-04-07T04:06:21Z")
Those making the litter box inaccessible are right. The best solution to stool eating, coprophagy, is cleaning them up before the dog has a chance. You can try food additives, the home remedies pineapple juice or canned pumpkin or the commercial products Forbid or Deter. Why dogs do it is poorly understood. It may be diet related, but changing the dog’s diet might cause worse problems. Whatever problems it causes for the owner, it doesn’t seem to hurt the dog unless you are trying to clear up a worm infestation. For more information see [http://home.gci.net/~divs/behavior/coprophagia.html](http://home.gci.net/~divs/behavior/coprophagia.html) Leave some pineapple or pumpkin out for the rabbits? Clean the yard up before letting the dog out for the morning? DUH! When I would take Aster to the woods, I had to keep a constant eye on her to keep her from cleaning up after the rabbits and deer. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/6 "2011-04-07T07:29:36Z")
Reminds me of a joke the late, great, dead-pan comedian Drake Sather told: _“You see these dog biscuits that say, ‘In case your dog has a breath problem’? I can’t imagine why my dog would have a breath problem. Maybe of he didn’t eat his own shit all the time…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/7 "2011-04-07T12:44:00Z")
Coprophagia tablets (e.g., [NaturVet](http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=coprophagia+pills&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=17342830468203657896&sa=X&ei=0LCdTcfMDNGdgQf-n_nKBA&ved=0CDYQ8wIwBA#) or [PetCo](http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=coprophagia+pills&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=8031912457364954244&sa=X&ei=0LCdTcfMDNGdgQf-n_nKBA&ved=0CEEQ8wIwBw#)) have helped the problem with our dogs. They get crushed up, mixed with some vitamin supplements, and added to each meal. Note that I said “_helped_ the problem”, not “_fixed_”. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/8 "2011-04-07T13:27:18Z")
One more reason, I don’t have pets. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/9 "2011-04-07T14:40:10Z")
When we had both a dog and a cat, we would keep the cat’s litter box in the bathtub in our guest bathroom, to keep the dog from being able to get at it for those Tootsie Roll treats. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/10 "2011-04-07T14:50:16Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > One more reason, I don’t have pets. One more reason you don’t have dogs. 🙂 My gecko not only doesn’t eat his poop, he even has a “poop corner” in his tank, and he poos in the same place all the time, as far away from his lair as possible. It amazes me how geckos can do this and dogs can’t, but I read somewhere that the reason dogs eat poop is in the wild, wolves eat their pups’ poo so they can’t be found as easily by predators. As for the OP, I have heard that feeding the dog pineapple works wonders. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/11 "2011-04-07T15:40:14Z")
My wife was a vet tech for years, and from what I understand a major contributing factor can be sub-standard or improper food. If it isn’t digested properly, it can make it more appetizing. Cat poo though, you just have to keep inaccessible. Not too long ago I noticed the dog (who does not eat her own poo) had puked on the comforter, and it had a little bits of wood in it. Ok, well it’s not uncommon for her to chew on sticks and swallow some, so I though nothing of it…until I came back a little bit later and smelled the cat poo. Connection made: Cat poos in mulch under trees, dog digs in mulch to get at cat poop. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/12 "2011-04-07T16:17:42Z")
Our golden, Cooper, doesn’t eat his own poo, but he views any litter box as his own private Almond Roca machine, and LOVES Goose poop. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/13 "2011-04-07T17:10:18Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > My wife was a vet tech for years, and from what I understand a major contributing factor can be sub-standard or improper food. If it isn’t digested properly, it can make it more appetizing. > > . Not really so. There may be substandard dog foods out there, but most of the common ones exceed the AAFCO recommendations for all the essential nutrients. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/14 "2011-04-07T17:12:45Z")
When I first got a dog last year I thought she was a pervert for wanting to snack on the cat poop. Then I found out from other owners that her behaviour was not unusual. Uggh. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/15 "2011-04-07T17:20:51Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > Not really so. There may be substandard dog foods out there, but most of the common ones exceed the AAFCO recommendations for all the essential nutrients. Not trying to be argumentative, but nutrients are one thing; digestability is another. Just saying it might not hurt to try a food a little higher on the quality scale if Ol’ Roy isn’t working for your dog. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/16 "2011-04-07T20:01:17Z")
That ignores the reality of all the dogs doing great on common brands of food. Also the AAFCO requirements for availability. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eats-his-poop-and-cat-tootsie-rolls/577486/17 "2011-04-07T20:05:46Z")
Of course it doesn’t…it’s just like people with sensitive digestive systems. They have to be careful what they eat or stick with foods that they can handle. Plenty of dogs can eat store brand food, no argument there. Some dogs do better with different food.