My Dog Loves To Eat Possum Poo. How Can I Stop Him?

Finding out that your dog has been eating possum poo can be rather unpleasant. Luckily, it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with your dog.

In most cases the problem can be solved fairly easily, and may involve a simple retraining of the dog's behaviour.

Is there something wrong with my dog?

It's unlikely that your dog is able to distinguish between possum poo and the faeces of any other animal. So, before you jump to the conclusion that your dog has picked up a taste for possum excrement, I'd suggest considering the following advice:

What causes a dog to eat poo?

This is the first question you should be asking yourself. Eating faeces is known as 'coprophagia' and is not uncommon within the dog community.

Here are some possible reasons behind your doing chowing down on waste:

• It might taste good to your dog.
• It might be a symptom of anything from stress to boredom.
• Your dog may be eating faeces because it lacks a nutrient that poop is providing.
• A dog may even eat poop in a misguided attempt to clean up its area and be hygienic.
• The poop maybe the resulted of over-eating. If an animal overeats, its poop often contains more of the original food. You dog might have picked up on this, and mistaken it for food.
• A hungry dog might resort to eating poop.
• Dogs sometimes eat their poop as a way of hiding their scent. They will do this if they are afraid that they may be tracked by a potential predator.

• Behavioural re-training
• Making sure your dog is fed sufficiently and regularly, to establish a pattern
• Making sure your dog's meals are healthy and nutritious
• Seeing that your dog gets enough exercise
• Checking that your dog's living area is clean and poo-free.

If you've tried implementing all of the above without any success, you may want to visit your local pet store. Pet stores usually sell a spray that deters dogs because they find it overwhelmingly unpleasant.