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.
To go directly to “How To Stop Poop Eating” click here ->
Anyway, take a look for yourself, the ingredient matrix I put together is here:
Found this website while doing research to fix poop eating for our 6 month old Labradoodle. Video suggests gut imbalance as the reason for the problem, but then later says its not a dietary problem, but a behavioral one. Isn’t is both? Restore gut health through proper nutrition and you shouldn’t have the problem…I would think?
Well, Cia. You didn’t have to be mean, but as long as you are, I must say that your spelling sucks. It’s there, not their!
I just want to know the side effect on given my dogs to much coprophagia in one day I gave a dose, my husband gave a dose, than my dog sitter gave another dose, they don’t seem to have any problems dogs ages are between 15 years down to 13 weeks
Is it harmful if you have given too much of the for-bid powder at one feeding?
When my Shih Tzu was twelve weeks old she used to eat her poop I got her some Potty Mouth from my local Tractor Supply Store which sell pet supplies I gave her one pill a day plus a little can pumpkin mix in with her dry dog food for a week plus I didn’t leave any poop laying around and I had a set time that she would eat once I got that down I knew when she would poop early in the morning around seven am and ten at night she is now eight years old and do not eat any poop nor will go go near any other pet poop
Daisy…. your comment is really dumb… how Can you pick up yr dogs poop when your not there… Also dogs may stick to thesssir training while you are their but the second you are not looking they will sneak a bad behavior in….
Daisy…. your comment is really dumb… how Can you pick up yr dogs poop when your not there… Also dogs may stick to their training while you are their but the second you are not looking they will sneak a bad behavior in….
We now have FOUR adult Min Pins due to the owner wanting to rehome them. Their behavior looks like they lived in kennels or crates because they have no house training at all. One of them eats her poop as soon as she defecates. Because she goes “at will” and wherever she squats, we can’t be there to intervene. I’m afraid this is a long-entrenched habit brought on by not being able to get away from her poop, so she eats it. She’s been through weeks of Dis-Taste but it hasn’t stopped. For Bid is my next try. I’ve never seen a dog urinate on their bed, but one of them does this. It tells me that they were caged for long periods of time. We hope time will help them realize outside is where you go.
My rescue dog ate poop when I first got him. It took a very short amount of time to stop him, by simply using the “leave it” command. He would drop it immediately, and I would praise him for being a good boy. Problem solved. I had to watch him when we walked at the park because some people don’t pick up after their dogs, and there are always squirrels and other animals that would poop. He still likes to roll in poop, which I have to be cautious of, but he no longer tries to eat it. Try to avoid giving the dog additives. Try the command route. Your dog WANTS to please you. You just have to let him know what you want.
Well Daisy would you mind coming to my house and cleaning the committed dog poop every time it happens. I doubt that will happen so I am going to try these products to see if they will help.
I have a 4 1/2 year old labrador retrieve with epilepsy. My mixed breed lab/? (she was a rescue so I don’t know the other breed) was eating my other dog’s poop. My vet recommended that I give For-Bid to my Lab to stop my other dog from eating his poop. I did that for 3 days. Starting on day 2, he began vomiting after meals. On day 3, he ended up in the vet hospital with pancreatitis. I am wondering if anyone else has had a problem with mixing seizure meds (potassium bromide) with For-Bid (which contains MSG)?
My 16 month old retriever has just recently started eating the poop from my 16 year old retriever. Why? Do I treat the puppy?
this advice is ridiculous and so is this website. Clean up your dog poop every time they go! How hard is that? Teach your dog the “LEAVE IT” command so if you missed a poop, they won’t eat it while you are there. Don’t be a lazy dog owner. If they eat some that you don’t catch, I seriously doubt they will die or will you get a horrible infection. They will have bad breath. Dogs can be disgusting and this is just one of those things to deal with if you want a dog. Otherwise, get a fish. My vet suggest cultured yogurt daily in their diet to keep their gut balanced so they are at least not burping up crap smell all the time. Get over it.
My toy poodle eats her own poo. I am giving her probiotic with 10 strains. It sure helps her digestion & seems to be helping her absorb more nutrients from her food. She has slowed down about eating her poo.
I have used unseasoned meat tenderizer for 2 months and my dog is Not responding at all. I’m online to purchase deter product as suggested by my vet and after reading this article I’m completely freaked out. I have to get her to stop because she is small and quite over weight. I changed her food and the amount I feed her but the added poop i.e. Calories won’t allow her to loose weight. HELP
I purchased for•bid from the vet but was warned at 15 months my dog had made this a habit! (He was walked on a leash for the first 6 months so I could easily restrict him, so around a year of poop eatting.) For•bid was $25 for 12 packets-12 days from the vet, I’ve seen it for as low as $50 for 36 packets online. I was told I’d have to use a pack a day for atleast 2 months then go from there. She also told me she’s had a lot of success with FRESH Pinapple. Not Canned! Also I found Adolphs Original Meat Tenderizer (Ingrediants: Salt,Sugar,Corn Starch,& BROMELAIN-poop eatting deterrent. Note-NO MSG!
I’ve noticed that my puppy eats his poo more often if I change the treats I give him (I used to just use his normal food as a ‘treat’). I think he likes the taste of his poo depending what I feed him!! So I’m going to only give him his normal food and no other ‘treat’ products so that he gets bored of the taste. I also think puppies struggle with house training when they are teething so anything that goes in their mouths right now is appealing.
My puppy is eating her poop i gave het for bid and shortly after she got sick.. Mild diarrhea groaning her body was limp she just wasnt her playful self. I am wondering if. for- bid had an adverse effect ob ger. Today she appears. To be herself.
Is it bad if I gave my 6 and a half week old puppy a Coprophagia soft chew?
Hello Dave, I respectfully disagree with your comment. Please take another look at the list. About half way through they transition to plants that are non-toxic to dogs (where you saw Parsley Fern). If you look closer to the top for toxic plants you will see all of the plants that I mentioned.
None of the plant ingredients you have listed are toxic to dogs. Closest match on ASPCA is Parsley Fern, not the same plant. Be sure to only select Dogs and you see the website changes what plants are shown.
Thank you for informing the public about the ingredients found in store bought products for coprophagia.
This is the first dog I have had that does this, I did no how to stop it.
I appreciate all the time and effort that you put into your articles. Especially the cart of ingredients.
Thank you Vernon.
I have a 5 month old pit bull who likes to eat poop what to do
We are following your diet, already he seems a bit better not smelling the grass so much. The local butcher sells minced meat scraps at a good price so I guess Benji will be spoiled he’s 15 now and quite frail. Regards Brenda .
what do you suggest i give him
Thank you very much for the information.
I went to my local pet store (Pets at Home) here in England and have bought a supplement that is a combination of vitamins and yeast beta-glucans. Its my 11 year old Min Pin that has just started this habit. She’s on the BARF diet. I’ll see if she improves over the next few weeks using Dr. Clauder’s Multi Vital – http://www.dr-clauder.com
I started my puppy,on coprophagia,2 days ago and my dog is acting weird could it be these pills?
Wish I had read this before I tried the 21st Century Coprophagia Deterrence. In less than a week 2 of my previously healthy dogs had a seizure, one of the dogs seizure was so serious it required overnight hospitalization and IV therapy. My vet and I both realized when another of my dogs had a seizure a couple days later it was way too much to be a coincidence. Stopped the product and no more seizures. Unfortunately it was a scary and expensive episode.
For-bid is expensive but an effective deterrent of the habit. However I did sprinkle a few msg on my dogs dry food for a week and the pup who usually eats my other dog’s feces stopped the habit. It is normal for pups and a lot of animals to eat their feces for a lot of biological reasons. Unfortunately this habit should be stopped eventually since eating feces can harbor bacteria et al like salmonella, e coli which is harmful to humans and easily transmitted through thru your dog’s licking on your face or mouth.
@ Becky Jo- I know what you mean about ‘spoiling’ your dogs like kids…lol. We have 3 dogs @ the moment. We have a GSD, a Malinois, & a recently adopted puppy that is a GSD/lab X. My Mal has always been a poop eater -of his OWN poo- the GSD is NOT a poo-eater, but I noticed the puppy poo-sampling. Most of the time, pineapple has worked on my Mal in the past (makes re-eating their food taste bad…) but now since the puppy is so interested in re-eating her food, it has given my Malinois ideas…-also the puppy is indiscriminate about WHOSE poop she eats. Generally, we keep the yard free of waste, but it can be hard to do if we ‘miss a spot’ & the dogs are very fast to get it. I also had the idea that Tabasco may be good to keep the dogs away, but it had the OPPOSITE effect & all 3 dogs came a-runnin to snack on poo. Anyway, we’ll keep trying more solutions, but so far, after spending lots of $$ on Forbid, Deter, etc, pineapple has been a fairly good all-natural poop-eating deterrent.
After reading your “Dog Poop Diet” I calmed down when I saw my puppy eating her own poop before I could stop her. I did not have a clicker, so I started shaking the treat bag as soon as she finished pooping which distracted her enough that she came running for the treat. That gave me time to pick up the poop before she could. I always have a roll of paper towel within my reach for this. Thank you so much for your good advice. I got a small zucchini and a bottle of organic cider vinegar to try.
The one thing I must disagree with is that people say a dog who eats poop is untrained and/or bored. We have 2 GSD’s. They are brother and sister. She does and he doesn’t eat poop. We have spent well over $1,000 on professional training as well as additional service dog training. Being we have no children, they are our children and get a TON of attention. My goodness, they have a 42″ TV in their own room (with the dog door) when we do have to go out so they can watch dog TV. They eat Orijen food with Instinct Raw daily boost. So they get the best food, plenty of exercise, a ton of attention and they are never lonely because they always have each other. So what other thoughts are there because none of the normal ones fit our situation!!
Our puppy eats his own poop so quickly after going I doubt any deterrent would even work – he is gobbling it down without even chewing so he doesn’t even taste it!
I just submitted a comment but it was Forbid and not Distaste that I bought. Sorry for the confusion. It is the one with wheat gluten.
I just bought the distaste powder and it has wheat gluten. Now, I am concerned this could be harmful to my dog. Is it? Should I continue to use?
My vet told me to go to the grocery and buy Adolph s meat tenderizer as opposed to paying big money for the for-bid product. So far not helping. Sneaking out when I can to sprinkle Tabasco on it is helping along with recall with a “leave it”, clicker and treat in my hand. Since she was clicker trained as a puppy she knows what it is and responds. If no Tabasco she thinks its a game.
The dogs are bored and it is just something to do. an active dog with owner attention has less problems.
I read your list and it confirms the frightening labels I have been reading for a couple of hours. There chemicals banned for what they do t a body had people have died. Yeast? Bad especially if you have dogs prone to feet or ear infections….MSG and more that could cause damage to mitochondria in dog or human. I have just ordered your information so am not sure what it has. But your chart is heart breaking if you really love and care for your animals.
Since the main ingredient in most all of these is MSG, wouldn’t it be more cost effective to purchase some at the grocery store, and sprinkle it on their food? Would that deter them from eating their food? If not, why would it deter them from eating their poop? I’m confused.
I buy some well known (and supposedly very healthy) dog treats that contain chamomile and parsley. Why would so many dog products (especially ones who’s makers have studied and purposely added these ingredients for supposed health benefits) contain these if they are really bad/toxic to dogs?
I just caught one of my dogs eating poop straight from my other dog as she was pooping ! It’s probably not the first time she’s eaten poop but it’s certainly the first time I’ve caught her doing that ! Any idea of the most likely reason for that behaviour ? Thanks.
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.