We have a 7 month old puppy who is very well behaved. My problem with her is she is a cat poop eater. I have never had a dog who eats cat poop. Is something wrong with her? Will she grow out of it? Anyway to stop her from this gross habit. She gets into the cats litterbox and then I find a litter trail throughout the house (gross) but she also finds the cat poop outside. The cat gets mad when she smells the dog has been in her box and will not go in there for a while (luckily for me she often goes outside) but I'm afraid she will start "going" in the house because the dog gets in her box. There is no where else I can put it and no way of blocking the dog access to it without also blocking the cat so I need something that makes it less attractive to the dog or something. Any ideas and suggestions would be welcome. Thanks moms!
I put a baby gate at the door in the utility room where the litter box is. The cat jumps over it and the dog cant get through.
Ditto!! We have a boxer who is 3 and so is Miss Kitty.
I was told once by a vet dogs eat poo even their own all the time. If they can't eat it they roll in it. He said to put a box over the litter box and cut a hole only big enough for her to slip into. They make litter box covers at Walmart and Meijer here. Some cats will tolerate this other not. She didn't like it. So I moved the litter box to the bath room and only left the door open enough for her to slip in. He got yelled at until he stoped trying to get in. It also help that there was barely enough room to slip her Potty box (as we call it) between the toilet and tub.
My dog did the same thing (ate poop) but not all the time. So I took her to the vet. to get her annual shots and I ask the vet. about this.
In my case my dog was not getting all the vitamins that she needed. Some puppy will do this than out grow it but it would be best to ask your veterinarian about this problem.
This is a very common dog behavior. Some dogs eat poop because they are not getting enough nutrients in their food (dogs that have been neglected or abandoned are often poop-eaters), but honestly, most dogs do it just because. You could try switching your puppy's food to something very high in nutrients (Nutro, Blue Buffalo, and other holistic foods tend to be very high in nutrients and low on the fillers that are often found in Iams, Science Diet, and Purina, etc., so check out your local Petsmart), and see if it makes a difference, but most likely, it won't.
If it doesn't, I recommend training. This makes more work for you initially, but hopefully will cut down the work in the long-run. I used to foster dogs for the rescue I work with, which means every few months, I had a new dog coming into my home and needing to relearn the rules (including - no, you can't get into the kitty litter!) Your puppy should never be allowed in the room where the kitty litter is unless you are there to supervise. You cannot potty-train a dog if you let it go all over the house and scold it an hour later, and the same goes for poop-eating. You have to catch the dog in the act every time. Consider using a baby-gate to block off the room, since most cats can jump/climb them. Then, when you do let the dog in the room, watch carefully. If she approaches the litterbox, make a loud noise (I like to use "UH-uh," but it doesn't really matter). When the dog moves away from the litter on her own, praise her. Try to avoid the word "no," unless the dog actually gets into the litter. Then approach, say "no," and distract the dog with something else. You'll have to do this repeatedly over the course of several weeks, because cat poop is particularly alluring. Eventually, though, the dog will learn that you don't want her over there, and you will be able to take down the baby gate. This training method worked with all of my fosters, and also works for food that is on the ground, etc. Good luck.
Try switching to a generic cat litter. When we had a cat our dog did the same thing. We switched to a generic cat litter. Then it got better!!
My dog is 5 and still eats other dogs' poop on occasion. The things that were recommended to us for when she was eating it all the time was putting meat tenderizer in the food our dogs ate to make the poop taste icky (i don't know how that would work w/ a cat) and to feed them pineapple for the same effect. The vet also had a powder to go into the food but that got really expensive. Now we just make sure to keep her eating habits right on track and give her enough so she is not hungry. Good luck, most dogs do grow out of it I have been told but after 5 years I don't think mine will.
I keep the litter box in a place the dog can't get to it. Do you have a gate you could put up?
J.,
Our dog did the same thing and we tried the litter box with the cover, but our dog still managed to get in. I don't know how big your dog is or will get. Our dog is a small dog. We put the liter box in a large Rubbermaide contianer. Our dog was to small to jump in the box. It solved our problem so maybe you could try it. T.
A couple other people mentioned getting a litter box with a cover. I would try that and also find a spot that is harder to get to. Maybe putting it up somewhere or something. It may just be a phase and the puppy may eventually grow out of it. Good luck!
Cats pass tons of protein in their stool so its very appealing for dogs, ugh...you told your story and it reminded me of my dog! You can try getting a litter box that has a cover, it worked for us! Also, just keep disciplining him for doing that and it should help also. You aren't alone.
I don't have any suggestions but my 14 yr old dog has started doing the same thing and I'm just curious what the other mothers will say.
Our dogs did the same thing. We moved the litter box into the basement and put a babygate at the top of the stairs - about 6 inches off the ground so the cats could slip under but the dogs couldn't. After about 6 months we took the gate down and the dogs haven't been down the stairs since.
all I can tell you is no, your dog is not the only one! whenever my inlaws come to visit, their dog goes straight to the litter box and chows down. Also my brother in law's dog does the same thing. Our dog does not, but he is a picky eater :)
All we can do is put a kichen chair in front of the litter box, the dog is too big to go through the legs, but the cat is not. (It is a covered box, so there is not a huge opening)
Good luck - sorry I don't have any better advice!
A friend's dog did the same & she had to get a litter box with a "lid" on it ~ one the cat can get in & out but the dog can't. Hope it helps!
Yes it is gross. This is going to sound weird, but dogs love eating cat poop. My dog did the same thing. The Vet told us they do this because of a cat's diet which is high in fat. The only way to stop this is to either put a cover on the cats litter box or block your dog from going near the litter box. Both options were not good for us, so we would just clean the litter box twice a day.
That's actually pretty common and you are very lucky you never had to deal with it until now! We've used several methods depending on where were living at the time and the layout of the house. In our current house, the litter box is a small closet in the laundry room. It's just used for storing cleaning supplies. It has a sliding door that we rigged so it will only open 4" unless you move a latch. That way it stays open for the cat but the dogs can't get in by pushing the door open with their nose.
In one apartment, we put the litter box on the counter of a seldom-used bathroom. At another place it was simply on a small, child-sized folding table (about 2 feet off the ground -- but it's like 30 years old and much more stury than the ones they make today). We've also used baby gates before - those are the best if you want to block off an entire room, like a utility or mud room, because cats can easily jump over them but dogs can't.
