If you look at the pet products marketplace, there are 11 major brands of commercial coprophagia products. I thought it might be interesting to compare and contrast the various brands by ingredient (see the matrix below). In doing so, I found some pretty interesting things:
- Several brands contain Chamomile, Yucca, Garlic or Parsley, all of which the ASPCA claims are poisonous to dogs.
- The most common ingredient in coprophagia remedies was Monosodium Glutamate / Gluatmic Acid. In fact, 7 out of the 11 brands use it. Some dogs (and many humans) have bad reactions to this chemical.
- Seven of the brands had Thiamin or other B Vitamins.
- Another five of the brands contain Yucca Schidigera, a flowering plant that grows in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. This plant is used as a deodorizer in many pet foods and preparations.
- Those same five brands also use parsley, which is another deodorizing agent used in pet foods (and not good for dogs, as I pointed out above).
- Excel Deter and Drs Foster & Smith Dis-Taste have very similar ingredients.
- 21st Century Coprophagia Deterrence, NaturVet Coprophagia Deterrent and Nasty Habit are also very similar to each other. Two of them have almost identical formulations.
- Interestingly, For-Bid only has two ingredients: MSG and Wheat Gluten.
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Anyway, take a look for yourself, the ingredient matrix I put together is here:
photo credit: e-magic
My name is Vernon Lee and I've been training dogs for nearly 30 years. Over that time I have had countless people ask me what to do about coprophagia.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I used the naturvet coprophagia deterrent on my beagle boy and my jackabee girl and they had bad reactions to it. They both had frequent urination problems and dihreah, and my boy also had nausea. I suggest just training and enforcing instead I will not try any more of these products.
@ ColleenS: Good point. Both garlic and onions contain sodium n-propylthiosulphate which can cause haemolytic anaemia in dogs. This is often fatal. Onions are MUCH more dangerous than garlic to dogs. Garlic is said to be tolerable in small doses, but I really don’t think feeding a dog something that’s even mildly poisonous is a good idea.
I think the ASPCA also considers garlic (in 3 preparations above) a poison to cats and dogs but I’ve also found it in cat and dog foods. Some holistic foods contain it??? Amebic Disentery in humans has been treated with arsenic.