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My 7-month-old puppy eats poop. I've tried everything, what works?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Great Dane | Male | unneutered | 6 months and 5 days old | 35 lbs

7 month dog. How to get dog to stop eating poop? He was diagnosed with hookworms a few months ago. I have tried the ForBid, Adolfs meat tenderizer, and I keep a good eye on him and clean up the poop as soon as I see him go, but sometimes I'm not fast enough. And sometimes it's not just his poop he is eating. What else can I put in his food to get him to not eat his poop. And yes even the other dogs poop he is eating had the ForBid or Adolfs meat tenderizer on it.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on September 26th, 2017

It really sounds like you have pretty much done everything we recommend in these situations. Often times dogs will "outgrow' this behavior but there is no guarantee. There is an old wives tale that says dogs do this due to a nutritonal deficiency. That has never been proven so I don't necessarily believe it but you can try giving Chaplin a multivitamin (like Pet Tabs) to see if that helps. This article has some other ideas you can try. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1613 My other recommendation would be to add a probiotic to his diet like Fortiflora (the best one in my opinion). https://www.walmart.com/ip/Purina-Pro-Plan-Veterinary-Diets-FortiFlora-Probiotic-Supplement-30-CT/43284986 Finally, if he is eating inappropriate things (other than the feces) you can try putting basket muzzle on him when he is unattended. He may be able to still eat feces through it but depending on which type you get you can minimize that. Don't get a regular tight fitting muzzle on the snout. It needs to be the kind where he can still pant and drink water through it. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=basket+muzzle Hope this helps. Best wishes.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Jeffrey Milner

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 6th, 2017

    I wouldn't necessarily call this a strange behavior as it something that we see quite often in puppies and adult dogs. Sometimes we are unable to figure out why dogs are doing it while other times adjustments to the diet can help. There is a also a supplement you can give called Coproban that is meant to make dogs not want to partake in this undesirable habit.

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