Dear Cathy, 

What can I do to discourage my doxie’s occasional dog-poop eating? I try to pick it up every day but sometimes she gets back outside before I do. Also, my daughter can’t clean her yard every day and her dog “snacks” as well, sometimes bringing dried poop back inside – yuck! Is there anything we can add to their food that will make their poop unappealing? We both reprimand them when we see it happening but that hasn’t seemed to do the trick.

– Malinda, Tucson, Arizona

Dear Malinda,

Unless this poop-eating is the result of a health problem, reprimanding the dogs won’t change this behavior, which is called coprophagia. Some remedies that are not necessarily proven effective have included adding pineapple, cottage cheese or yogurt to their food to alter the taste of the poop. But I recommend one of the over-the-counter coprophagia products that can be given to all the dogs to make all the poop in the yard unpalatable.

Picking up poop every day is a must, but also training the dogs to come for a treat every time they poop can reduce access to the remaining poop still in the yard.

Cathy M. Rosenthal is a longtime animal advocate, children’s author, syndicated pet columnist, and pet expert with more than 30 years in the animal welfare field. Send your pet questions, stories and tips to [email protected]. Please include your name, city, and state. You can follow her @cathymrosenthal