February is sneaking to a close and I know I for one am excited to be done with the frozen tundra.  I love the snow, the skiing, the tubing, the sledding and snowball fights.  But I HATE "poopsicles."  My dog Tugger has no interest in coprophagia (eating stool) in the warmer months, but those poopsicles are apparently irresistable!  For all those who have tolerated this distressing behavior in their own dogs, I will share some advice that has been helpful in the past.

First, if your dog eats other species poop (cow or horse manure, rabbit pellets or cat feces) this is actually NORMAL.  Not desirable, but normal.  The best way to prevent this form of coprophagia is to simply prevent access to the stool.  Use baby gates to prevent access to the cat boxes and leave your dog at home when you visit the farm.  Some additional creative ides for cat boxes:  try raising the gate so your cat can slide under but your dog can not (good for arthritic cats), purchase a gate with vertical bars and remove one bar so your cat can slip through, or purchase a large rubbermade (tall enough that your dog can not reach over the top) and cut a hole in the side for your cat to enter (cheaper that an enclosed box and if you leave the top off even cats that hate covered boxes will use it.)

Secondly, there is no one fool proof method to prevent stool eating.  Some old wives "tails" that may actually work:
1.)  Add Certs to the poop eater's food and that of any other dog's poop that they eat.  This is supposed to change the taste of the BM...  At least it will help with their breath!  Owners have also had success with meat tenderizer or Forbid (a pancreatic enzyme supplement) added to the dog food.  Literature indicates that this is only about 50% successful but I feel it may be worth a try!
2.)  Many coprophagic dogs are found to eat high carbohydrate, low fat, low fiber diets.  If this is true of your dog's diet, you might consider a higher fiber food or add pumpkin or green beans to the food to increase the "full" feeling your pet has after meals.  You can also add vegetable oil to their food (call us for the amount) to help satisfy their hunger for longer.
3.)  Some dogs (this category includes Tugger) actually use coprophagia as a play behavior.  Tugg likes to throw his poopsicles in the air and chase them around the yard before settling in for a meal.  Eliminating his drive for coprophagia therefore also needs to include increased play time.  Adding 20 minutes of high intensity play - chasing games, fetch, tug-of-war - could help to redirect his drive to play toward more mommy-approved activities.
4.)  I recommend that you use behavioral modification ALONG WITH any of the above techniques to really discourage coprophagia.  This means that you will need to go outdoors with your dogs for about the next month or longer.  Stay with your dog while they (and any housemates) defecate, call them to come, give a food reward, and then put them in the house while cleaning the BM's up.  By preventing access to the stool and replacing it with a food reward from you, owners can sometimes cause the behavior to go into extinction - meaning that the dogs literally forget to eat the stool!  This will take at least one month and may require several!  If you can eliminate stool eating for this winter, it may crop up again next winter and you'll need to re-inforce all of your prevention methods again!

Finally, if you simply can not eliminate the behavior, we recommend a fecal flotation check every 6 months and daily tooth-brushing to help prevent some of the medical complications that come along with the distasteful habit of coprophagia!