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should i consider a shock collar to get my small dog to quit eating her own poop?
Asked by
Guest 641038
on Apr 10th 2009
in Other Behavior & Training
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- Cast your vote for which answer you think is best!
Answers
Many people recommend shock collars, flagging poo, making them eat pinapple...all sorts of things that drive owners crazy. All this to get the dog to stop this gross behavior.
There is a product called For-Bid. You can get it at most vets. It is a tasteless, harmless powder that gets sprinkled over the food of whoever's poop get's eaten. So if your dog eats the cat poo, sprinkle it on the cat food. If your dog eats his own poo, sprinkle it on your dogs food.
When this powder is digested, it does nothing but make the poo taste HORRIBLE. I've never seen an owner have to use this product for more than a week. Every client at our office has loved it and most never have a reoccurance. AND it beats shocking your dog to oblivion, flagging your yard and hours of "NO!!! DON"T EAT THAT!!"
Hope that helps! :)
Boomer
answered on 4/10/09.
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The short answer: No.
Why? Well, first, why would you want to hurt your dog when all you need to do is pick up the dog's feces before she has a chance to eat it? Picking it up immediately is the most hygenic and easy way to fix this problem and best of all? You don't have to hurt your dog.
If she goes in the backyard while you're gone, you can eliminate (pardon the pun) the majority of this by simply taking her for regular walks before you leave for work and as soon as you get home. Again, you then have the ability to pick it up immediately before she goes for it.
You can also try upgrading her food rather than adding anything to it. Most dogs who do this do so because they are not getting enough nutrients and minerals and the food goes through quickly enough that it is virtually undigested when it emerges and looks and smell like food to the dog (if not us humans.)
Bottom line: Don't shock your dog for something you can take a proactive part in preventing.
Jack
answered on 4/10/09.
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One more vote against the shock collar. 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 home.gci.net
Aster
answered on 4/10/09.
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Simple answer: Absolutely not!
Do you bite your nails? Pick your cuticles? Any other "weird" habit? Would you like to be shocked for that?
Most dogs eat their own poop as a result of a nutritional deficiency. If they aren't properly absorbing the food it goes out tasting a whole lot like it did going in.
Look into finding out the CAUSE of this rather than just trying to scare the crap out of your dog, no pun intended.
Bam-Bam, CGC
answered on 4/10/09.
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Chloe use to do this! She ate science diet. I changed her food to California natural and she never ate it again! Go figure! it was the food!
Chloe Chanel
answered on 4/10/09.
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Use a shock collar for this? No. There are only a few cases in which a shock collar is actually needed, and those are very extreme cases such as when a dog is mauling a cat.
People have recommended feeding pineapples and pumpkin to stop this behavior. It could also be a sign of a dietary deficiency.
Burkett's Cookies 'n' Creme
answered on 4/10/09.
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I have and use e-collars for training, along with pretty much any other type of training equipment made, from clickers to head halters to harnesses to prong collars.
In my opinion, an electronic collar is absolutely the wrong way to address the issue of corophagia (poop eating).
Corophagia is among the most common issues facing pet dog owners, and probably one of the easiest to tackle - be a responsible owner and take your dog outside ON A LEASH to the place where you want her to potty. Encourage her to go, then PRAISE her when she does go, and immediately pick it up and dispose of it. Teaches good potty behavior AND prevents her from eating it.
Something else to consider is that many dogs displaying this behavior are fed low-quality diets. This causes a lot more waste to be produced (due to cheap "filler" ingredients), and to the dog, the waste often smells like "dog food" because much of it was not digested. You may want to consider feeding a high quality diet.
Abby K-9
answered on 4/10/09.
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you can put flags in the yard so she wont eat her poop or you can feed her pineapples.change her diet and treats would be a good choice and that would help.try looking at merrick.com it is a dog food website and treat website so maybethats why she is eating her poop it worked on my dog.
Delilah
answered on 4/10/09.
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You can try forbid or deter. But the most crucial thing is to clean up the poo when it comes out.
no treats
no scraps,
meat or products the dog can still smell this in their poo and re eat it.
The shock collar isn't going to stop a determined dog.
But, maybe when the dog goes to eat a pile body block them with direct eye contact and back them up and let them know it is not acceptable with a firm no. But, really cleaning it up as much as you can is going to work with cutting out extras.
Dieta
answered on 4/11/09.
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