Coprophagia
Coprophagia (poo eating !) is a much more common problem than you may think. It is not something to be embarrassed about either because in most cases we can bring the problem under control very quickly.
We find three common reasons why a dog will eat its own faecal matter or that of other dogs: 
- Instinct
- Nutritional value
- Observed behaviour
It is easier to understand this problem if we look at a little doggy psychology: In the wild, stool odours would attract predators to the young. If the mother eats the stools (and deposits her own faecal matter away from the litter) predators are not alerted, so the young pups stay out of harms way.
So, if the underlying problem is this instinctive behaviour, we need to ensure that the faeces tastes and smells unsavoury in order to break the habit.
The task is to have a formula that is palatable when added to their regular food yet would deter the dog from eating it again after it has passed through the digestive tract.
Certain ingredients are well known to be effective in this respect, which we have included in Deterrent Powder:
- Pineapple extract.
- Garlic extract – due to its odour.
- Capsicum Oleoresin – which is very hot to the taste.
There are then two other common causes of stool eating: dogs lacking certain nutrients in their diet or poorly digesting their food will also eat the faeces for its nutritional benefit. Other dogs learn the habit by observing other offenders!
Rather than deal with these issues separately, we have formulated Deterrent Powder to deal with all three problems at the same time. Due to this the formulation also contains the most common vitamins,minerals and digestive enzymes that we have found to be missing with such behaviour.
These ingredients are then blended with more palatable ones to form the most effective formulation we could provide for breaking the stool eating habit.
Poo Eating Puppies!
Coprophagia is quite common in puppies, particularly when the stool has been deposited in the home. Deterrent is suitable for pups, however smaller amounts are used initially.
How to use Deterrent
The product comes as a powder that contains a measuring spoon. You simply mix a small amount into your pet's food and slowly increase the amount each day until the habit is broken. Just as Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate when it got to meal times, you can train your dog what should and shouldn't be on the menu!
Dry food diets and coprophagia
We find that a high percentage of our customers' dogs that eat their own stools are fed dry food diets. Whilst no official scientific explanation exists for this, we would speculate as follows: as dogs are carnivores and their digestive systems have evolved to digest raw meat, part of the dry food may pass incompletely digested. The faecal matter may therefore have an appealing odour to them.
As Deterrent powder is very fine we would suggest soaking a small portion of the dry meal in warm water and mixing the powder into that portion. So that the texture of the meal does not change substantially the two portions are then mixed together again. The logic of this is to avoid the dog sniffing the dry powder up their nose!
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150 grams Deterrent powder now just £9.95 plus postage and packaging of £2.95.
Feel free to contact us 0843 289 7355 ( Standard call rate )
This product is made for and distributed by Fresh Pets Ltd