QuestionHi! I hope you can help. I just adopted a 4 month old male Pom - already neutered, and very loving and well behaved, although we are struggling with housetraining. One of the issues is that he eats his poop, and tries to eat poop found on our walks (of course he's on leash and not allowed). He has had giardia (sp?) and now relapsing because of this. He always poops only in the kitchen by our back door, so that's progress, but I don't always catch him in time. Any ideas? Many thanks in advance!
AnswerThsi is VERY common in dogs.
Sometimes it is behavior issues and sometimes it is becuase there are still nutrients in the feces that makes it seem palatable.
For eating his own you can buy some over the counter stuff to add to his food that should make his own feces unpalatable but this does not always work. You can try new foods that are higher in quality so that he is digesting more and "throwing away" less. You can try a raw food diet which is better absorbed by the body and makes less waste.
Some training tactics work but not always. It is just something some dogs do all their life.
Some helpful links-
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/pets/_archive/study.htm
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1613&S=0&EVetID=0
Best of luck.
-Trish
