8 Natural Ways to Prevent Your Dog from Eating Poop

Last updated April 17, 2025

We talked about the potential causes for unsavory behavior like stool eating in a previous post on dogs eating poop. To recap: Coprophagia is usually a behavioral issue, meaning your puppy might be exploring the world, copying his mother, or he might be bored (another argument for providing good enrichment!) or stressed. Other behavioral reasons for dogs eating poop include anxiety and or even disposing of the evidence.

However, there can also be medical causes that require veterinary diagnosis and treatment. For example, diabetes, Cushings, or other diseases like pica that cause poor absorption of nutrients (or even parasites), and some medications can lead to dogs eating poop. Dogs who are put on calorie-restrictive diets or don’t have the right combination of nutrients will also be known to eat poop.

We have a lot of experience with curbing poop- consumption at this point in our doggy-filled pet sitting lives. Of course, we favor natural, home remedies and prevention for most of our dogs’ worries and needs, and so we’re sharing what we’ve done for our pet sitting clients below.

How to prevent your dog from eating stool

1. Prevention is Key

This is a no-brainer, but so many people skip the most important step of prevention and training! Please pick up your dog’s poop right after she’s done, and keep her well-supervised when on walks. You can avoid her eating peacock poop and other “delicacies.” If you have a cat at home and your dog likes to eat their poop, check out our blog post on how to stop your dog from eating poop out of the cat’s litter box. 

2. Feed Your Dog a High-Quality Food

Barring medical reasons for coprophagia (e.g., diseases and parasites), a crucial step in changing this habit is choosing the right food. A high-quality diet, as we see it, is essential for dozens of reasons. In this case, dogs with a poor quality diet won’t get enough of the good nutrition they need and will look for “supplements” in unsanitary places. Your pups must absorb the nutrients properly, so you might want to change their diet to one with high absorbability and more fiber to keep them full longer.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

Update: Ask your veterinarian before adding apple cider vinegar to your pet’s diet, and always make sure to dilute it. Adult stool eaters may have a deficiency in hydrochloric acid. One possible home remedy is introducing apple cider vinegar to their food. You may add about one teaspoon of vinegar directly into food per 25 pounds of body weight, if the pup will eat it. Other digestive aids we’ve read about: meat tenderizer in proper doses and raw zucchini. We’d go with the raw zucchini first.

4. Digestive Enzyme Supplements

If your older dog is indulging, it could be a sign of some other deficiency, such as a digestive enzyme deficiency. To solve that problem, offer your pooch a digestive enzyme supplement containing proteolytic enzymes might increase protein absorption. One company that’s been around for a while is Prozyme. This will help break down the food so your pup can obtain more nutrients. Remember, an animal with poor digestion can’t absorb nutrients well and will supplement from other sources.

5. Environmental enrichment

An overlooked, natural way of curbing dogs eating poop includes traiing and natural environmental enrichment. Buy your dogs a food toy like a food puzzle, snuffle mat, or food dispensing toys like a Toppl.  Increase the amount of time they spend eating and make it interesting. You can also redirect them when they are in the backyard. Have them do tricks for treats.

6. Pass the Pineapple

JJ Diaz of Animal Crackers also has a tip up his sleeve to help the dog that eats everyone else’s stool and his own. If everything else is in tip-top shape, “the way you break that habit is to feed him pineapple snacks. It messes up the flavor with acidity and your dog stops eating it 90% of time.” Taste aversion might not work on every dog, so don’t be discouraged! You can try scent aversion, too.

7. Sprinkle the black pepper!

According to “Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat,” taste aversion is not usually successful- this goes for pineapple, monosodium glutamate (Forbid), etc.. What might be a better bet is altering the scent of the feces. You can do so by sprinkling black pepper on top of the stool. Black pepper causes irritation and could deter your pups from eating the poop. But we recommend just scooping your poop right away!

8. Pumpkin

Canned, unspiced pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix!) is a healthy supplement with a variety of uses. Add it to your pet’s diet to keep his tummy full. Added bonus? It helps with both constipation and diarrhea, and may even promote urinary tract health.

Remember, while vitamins, minerals, and enzymes are essential to your pet’s well-being, some of them in excess can be harmful. Always involve your veterinarian or dog care professional when adjusting your pup’s diet or seeking solutions to any problem! Make sure you know whether your pup has allergies to these foods or not before you use any of them. These natural remedies have been effective for many of our pet-sitting clients. Please let us know if they help you in the comments section below!

Frankie Berti

A founding member of the Equipaws family, Frankie can mostly be found working behind the scenes, helping co-create online branding, managing several social media accounts, designing brand collateral, writing copy, and managing events. She also fills in for pet sitters and dog walkers when needed in Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, and South Miami. Her own small pack consists of Boots the Shih Tzu mix and Nutmeg the Chiweenie.