Help!!my dog eats poop!!!

[malteseluvr]

Ok here is the deal i have always owned maltese and last sept my two babies died and well i was crushed, Any how my husband bless his heart got me a shih-tzu just about 2 weeks ago she is about a year old and i have reciently been wondering why she was not going out side to potty or whe she would she wouldn't GO any how if anyone has had a shih-tzu or a dog who eats their own poop :eek: please tell me how to stop this i have a 2 year old and do not want any germs to get her,she also is a little piggy and will eat anything i mean anything she can find.(not for lack of food because she eats all of her food all day ) I am just wondering about this breed,well because i have been spoiled with a great breed (maltese) for so long.Thank you :confused:

[Jenn&Bent]

I have a Shih Tzu...... He's almost 2 years old. I've had him since he was 5 weeks old, and he is the sweetest thing. Shih Tzus are very good breeds..... Anyhow, he used to eat his own poop too when he was younger, but not anymore, so I'm sure he'll stop. Plus, it can't hurt him, because afterall it was once inside him...lol. Oh, and about the eating, Bentley will eat until he exploded if I left food out all the time. So I have had to put him on a schedule, and feed him about a 1 1/2 cup of food a day. Afterall, they are small dogs. But always leave water out. Oh and also, Shih-Tzus are very smart and easily get stressed. So if they are around anger, yelling, loud noises, the usually tend to hide. Oh and another thing, if you aren't planning on breeding it, I'd have it fixed. It is proven that fixed dogs tend to live longer, because they can't get prostate or ovarian cancer if they have been fixed. Yes, they can get cancer just like humans. Sad, but true. Anyways, I hope some of this helped. Good luck with your new little one.
~Jennifer

[Hound Dog]

I have a kennel and raise hunting and field trial beagles and have seen dogs that do this often. Mostly females. Eating their poop does not harm the dogs in any way but is not very enjoyable to see. I was told and since have noticed that females that do this make better mothers. I have seen that females that do not keep their pups real clean never eat poop. This is not a rule as I have observed dogs that do not eat their own poop also keep their pus clean, but dogs that do eat their own poop always keep their pups clean.

Foster & Smith http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=583&Ntt=dis%20taste&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1 sell a product called "Dis Taste" to break dogs from this habbit. I have also herd that if you sprinkel some meat tenderizer on their food they will stop. Hope this helps.

[navyjhawk]

I think it is ok. I have had vets say that when a dog eats its own poop then there is something missing in their diets, but that is only for adolescent and adult dogs. My vet says a lot of puppies eat their poop because they eat everything, kind of like babies. My dog used to eat little rocks and I had to take him to get operated on a couple times and he eventually stopped. My aunt has poodles and one of them used to eat its poop all the time and I used to tell her "Oh, look. He's going for seconds." Really, though, I wouldn't worry. It is pretty common.