Dog eats own feces

Question
My brother has a 1 year old German Sheperd who eats her own feces.  Sometimes even brings it into the house and lays it on the floor to nibble on later.  They have tried verbally correcting her when they catch her but can't always have the yard pickup immediately.  Any suggestions on why or what they can do to stop this behavior?  Thanks

Answer
Hi, dogs eat their own feces, it is believed, for a couple of reasons.  One is believed out of boredom, another is because they may possibly lacking some sort of nutrient in their food.  Since there really is no true way to find out why she is doing it, you can try a couple different things.  Giving her rawhides, pigs ears an such to knaw on during the day might help.  Putting cayene pepper on top of some of the stools sometimes deters them from grabbing them.  You don't have to do it on all them as they will associate the taste of the cayene pepper to their feces.  You can also purchase over the counter products that are put in the dog's food to try and get them to not pickup their feces.  Basically you have to try different things until something works.  Hope this helps, and if you have anymore questions, feel free to give me a holler.

Good Luck,

Dawn