He's 5. I got him at the pound in november of 2021. He's been pretty decent. but I just realized a week ago that he's now starting to eat his own poop.

My ex-wife's Shepard eats other dog's poop but never her own.

Is there something I can put in his food to stop this behavior?

I feed him twice a day and he's been good.

There are a lot of reasons dogs will eat poop, either their own or another's. Most often in my experience it's because they are hungry. If he is very food driven and a chow hound this could be the cause. This will also be even more the case if he's hungry because he isn't fully digesting the food he's being fed and he can tell there's still value in what has already passed through his system.

There are several deterrents on the market that come in the form of treat-like chews for Coprophagia. Zesty Paws, Solid Gold, NaturVet, and PetNC are some of the more common ones you can find at Petsmart or Chewy.

It can be hit or miss on if any of them are enough to deter him depending on how strong his motivation is. The only real way to stop it is to clean up the yard after any animals so there's nothing out there for him to eat.

I had to go looking for an answer to this one.  I have a coprophage (an animal that eats others feces) in my house who's 11+ years old but there's never been a problem of him eating his own stool just that of donkeys and rabbits that live in the desert around us.

Part of the reason I had to go looking is that I've never had the experience of them eating their own feces, just that of other animals.  Note that I have two dogs and have never seen them eat the others dogs feces.

So for an answer, sort of.  One of my favorite sites is webmd who always seem to have appropriate articles.  Take a look at the one I referenced and look at the bottom ...

To answer the other half of your question, hop on over to vetrx who have several options that might work for you.

Good luck, it grosses me out when Avalanche decides that that pile of donkey stuff is just *soooo* appealing ...

Why do people do this? They joined on 04/17, posted one message and have never come back to see if there were any answers / comments. I know life get's busy but geeze .....

I think it's a see where I get an answer first, forum or google situation. We just not quick enough on the draw.

I’m here. I didn’t receive any email notifications.

I think my boy is just hungry. I’ve been giving him a cup of food twice a day. Perhaps that isn’t enough.

Sorry, but sometimes it gets frustrating.  As with your question I had to go looking for information that I didn't have on the tips of my fingers.  Add to that you've offered a seldom seen problem that may affect his health and I'd like to see that you get the help and information you need to solve your 'dilema.'

Did you look at the offerings at vetrx (link in the earlier post) that might offer you a solution.  You didn't mention a weight but I feed my two 50 pound animals about 2 cups a day, which is normally plenty ... but they've been leaving about half of it as the temp has turned rapidly hot!  That'll settle down when it becomes a little more regularly warm.

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Thanks. I got this notification.

I think he’s about 80-85lbs.

Okay, he's a Malamute but he's a big boy -- at least compared with my Sibes and historical Labs.

I think you're right, two cups may not be enough for him, but as you raise it, gradually, I'd keep an eye on his stools. With most dogs the first indication that they're getting too much to eat is loose stools.

Glad you're here and not overly offended by my comments earlier.

Yeah his dna test said 68% husky and 30% malamute. but he's def bigger and looks more like a malamute to me.

My husky who is full blooded but massively oversized at over 90 pounds gets around 4 cups of food a day. Food can get in the weeds a bit. If he is in good weight health where he is at and feeding more ends up putting unwanted weight on you may need to look at a different food. Something with more filler so that he can eat more without putting on weight. Weight loss foods tend to have a decent ratio where they can eat quite a bit without gaining, or adding things like chunks of broccoli or green beans to meals since dogs don't really digest much from vegetables. But as always monitor stools for changes.

Thanks