# My dog has poop breath **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 9, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728 "2004-01-09T21:57:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/21 "2004-01-11T00:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by county \* > \*\*Coprophagia: > Although most people find it repulsive, it is quite natural for dogs, especially puppies to eat feces. (Feces found in kitty’s litter box is an especially favorite treat.) Fresh feces closely resemble the first solid food the puppy ate: warm, semi-solid, semi-digested food that mom regurgitated for her pups to eat. > Often this behavior will just go away when the pup matures. In the mean time, keep the pup’s toilet area as clean as possible. Be sure that the puppy is checked for worms and other possible problems such as something lacking in the dog’s diet. It is a good idea to have the dog’s diet approved by your vet, or switch to a nutritionally complete dog food sold by your vet or pet store. > > ## Many owners have had success in stopping this behavior by supplementing their dog’s diet with one spoonful of canned pineapple or a teaspoon of spinach or a dash of MSG. There are products on the market such as ‘Forbid’ that can also be added to the dog’s food to help stop the problem > > There is another theory that I subcribe to. It is a neurotic compulsion on the part of the dog and stems from the way the dog is treated. It is difficult, if not impossible to stop a dog from eating it’s own feces (once he begins), am unsure about the cat shit. \*\* **County** I _love_ how you’re able to offer helpful advice and then imply that all these posters are somehow mistreating their animals. One of Ardred’s parents’ dogs eats the feces of all the other dogs (five total). She is in no way mistreated. My dog rolls in fresh poop and then jumps on the bed. Fun. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/22 "2004-01-11T07:47:54Z")
I’ve managed curb our pups’ forays into the kitty crunchy jar by getting a hooded litterbox, and turning the opening toward the wall. There’s a gap big enough for the cats to ooze through, but not big enough for the dogs to shove their heads in. They’ll sometimes shove the box away from the wall and gorge themselves, but that takes care of the worst of the problem. You might try putting Forbid in Kitty’s food next time she’s going to be at home with you guys for a while. **county** : neurotic compulsion, my ass. Carnivores have pretty inefficient digestive systems, so there’s still lotsa nutrition in dog and especially cat poop. Dogs are scroungers; they’ll hunt if needed, but if there’s food right in front of them, they won’t bother. Some dogs, like my Dolly, are gluttons on top of that. That means they see a perfectly good and tasty source of nutrition laying in front of them, and by God they’re going to eat it, just like that cornbread you left laying out, and that entire jar of treats you forgot to put up, and the fish food, and your Godiva chocolate sampler. ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/23 "2004-01-11T13:06:06Z")
## Coprophagia sounds like a breed of dog. I’d like to see that at the next dog show: “Well the coprophagias have lined up, and the spaniels have left a few nuggets, so, lets see who chows down”!! I once dog sat for my brother, and he didnt tell me his dog ate crap(and I don’t mean french fries and twinkes) so I took him to the vet and the vet said I could put something on it to make it taste bad…?? So I though, well, chillie powder and coreander (sp). Even if you call it celentral(sp) it’s nasty. So I’m out there sprinkling the “nuggets” and I hear my meighbor say "Mona, you arn’t going to believe this, not does that guys new dog eat shit but now he’s out there spiceing it up for him!!! Spelling and grammer subject to change with out notice. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/24 "2004-01-11T13:16:57Z")
[The Great Cycle of Life](http://www.ucomics.com/rallcom/2003/12/01/) ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/25 "2004-01-11T13:23:35Z")
I’ve managed to train my dog to quit chasing the chickens, but no matter what I do I can’t get him to quit eating the chicken shit.:rolleyes: You may not have to be a genius to tell chicken shit from chicken salad, but I guess you can’t be a dog… ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/26 "2004-01-11T13:45:24Z")
Actualy my brother told me that story, and I don’t think it was original with him, but I like it * * * Spelling and grammer subject to change with out notice. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/27 "2004-01-12T00:42:21Z")
If I really lived up to my screen nickname, well, I’d have some really disgusting fetishistic habits. Beagles are evil. Say it with me, Beagles… Are… Evil! To wit, garden tub becomes litter box annex. Yes, we sacrificed our bathtub to prevent the dogs from eating the cat crap. Some day this will all make sense to me. Cats, fine. Dogs, fine. Dogs and cats _living together_, not fine! I’m sorry, it’s just unnatural. It really is something half of all dogs do if given the opportunity. It’s nature. Nurture does not even enter the picture when a nice juicy cat turd enters… Ugh! I can’t even joke about it. Too many horror stories. Someone give me a sharp stick for my eyes! ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/28 "2004-01-12T06:04:35Z")
Mistreatment doesn’t enter into dogs eating poo of all varieties. Our Aussie, Princess, is the most spoiled farm dog in the world. She gets liverwurst, which is nasty enough in itself, as a treat every morning. She also will get the odd pieces of bacon, pizza crust, sugar cookie – basically anything she begs for. As a result, she’s rather fat, since she got kicked in the head twice this summer by cattle and is now afraid of all things that say moo. She’s a cowdog with a phobia of that which she must herd. She’s rather pathetic, but still enormously loveable, in all her quivering fuzzball fear. That being said, she will go to all lengths to eat manure: calf, steer, full grown beast, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s come out of the stinky end, she’ll eat it with great vigor. She seems to enjoy the yellow scours that calves get they’re sick the most. She also tries to eat her own fur when your groom her, as if we’re stealing it from her and she’s losing some valuable commodity. She’s one weird dog, in total. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/29 "2004-01-12T11:31:41Z")
Sometimes, if the dog has been house-trained in a negative way, dogs will eat their own poo in order to hide the evidence. I don’t see that that would carry over to other house animals though, unless he thought he was doing the cat a favour. “ROhhh nrooooo cat, rou’ve roooped inride, rron’t wrorry, I’ll take care of that rittle mess for rou, just ron’t ro it again!!” ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/30 "2004-01-12T11:56:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 1920s Style Death Ray \* > \*\*“ROhhh nrooooo cat, rou’ve roooped inride, rron’t wrorry, I’ll take care of that rittle mess for rou, just ron’t ro it again!!” \*\* This cracked me up! Thanks for a bright spot on a _groan_ Monday morning. I’ll be giggling about this all day! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kp\_72110](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e68b1a/32.png) [@kp\_72110](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kp_72110)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/31 "2004-01-13T18:29:05Z")
There are doggie mints you can buy. But I think in this case you need Listerine and a doggie tooth brush. On a much sicker note… My dog Sam, being the sick bastard that he is, seems to enjoy my gf’s daughters bloody, used “rags”. Apparently she wraps them in TP, puts them in a ziplock bag and disposes of them in her bathroom trashcan. We came home one day to a floor covered in ziplock bags with the corners chewed off and the contents gone. He shit kotex for 3 days. Bad dog! ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/32 "2004-01-14T01:33:01Z")
Cat poop, horse poop, dirty underwear–all are delicacies for doggies. Mine are perfectly well-adjusted and were housebroken without issue. Yet they still love to dine on a lovely poop treat when available. Dogs just eat discusting things. Most dogs I’ve known will eat horse poop. When it’s frozen, horse poop must be especially tasty. We call the frozen turds “poopsicles.” Breath chewies help, as does just keeping the poop out of reach. No amount of training could keep my gluttons from feasting from the cat box. Word of warning: You do have to be careful with the horse poop. A friend of mine had a pony that recently had a minor episode of colic. To get the pony to poop, they gave him an inert oil. The pony promptly pooped–and my friend’s dog promptly ate the poop, with predictable results. Dog tummy plus inert oil equals lots of doggie diarrhea _all over the place_! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/33 "2004-01-14T18:19:03Z")
Fresh poop update: I found out _why_ yesterday. Or at least a very plausible explanation. This is a part of doggie-ness that we haven’t been able to out-breed (if that’s a word). Dogs roll in poop and eat it to hide their own natural smell, so they can sneak up on prey. Evidently some dogs, for no appearant reason, are closer to their origin than others, hence poop eating. ---
**Author:** ![Ferris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferris/32/11573_2.png) [@Ferris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferris)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/34 "2004-01-14T23:13:30Z")
Great thread, folks! Am now off to lunch, but nearly wasn’t… ---
**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:** [January 14, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728/35 "2004-01-14T23:54:32Z")
Our new kitty is disgustingly flatulent. Does that count? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dog-has-poop-breath/223728.md?page=1)