Hi Teresa,

Thanks for your question.

The condition you’re dealing with is canine coprophagia. It’s common and thought to occur as an evolutionary dietary strategy of some animals. There are nutrients that can be produced by the bacteria present in the hindgut which if eaten, can be absorbed in the foregut. This doesn’t necessarily mean your dog has a nutritional deficiency, but Badger could be manifesting the behaviour for other reasons. You could consider adding a probiotic to the diet, a vitamin mixture, or discuss possible behavioural concerns with your veterinarian. Most cases of stool eating in dogs don’t result in an answer but it can be treated non-specifically anyways.

There are products to stop coprophagia that you can get from your veterinarian. It’s a powder you add to the food that is tasteless but when it gets digested, it comes out in the stool and makes the ‘poop’ taste awful. When your dog eats one of their own poops, it will taste horrible and a concept of ‘taste aversion’ will kick in. You’ll need to give the product to your other dog because Badger is eating their poop. It should be enough to put Badger off of them for life as long he samples the poops while he and your other dog is being given the product.

Good luck.

Dr. Clayton Greenway