Remote Citronella Collar to deal with Coprophagia?

Ok, I normally detest these types of collars. But some times when all avenues have been exhausted they maybe of some use.

My situation is, I have a puppy who has always eaten faeces. His own and other dogs. We have managed the situation and cut his exposure to the waste product as much as possible.
But we can't scan a whole field for faeces. I have a 'leave command' and it works...when I am around or close. However, much of the time I am not around. On rare occasions he has messed in the house overnight and eaten it.

To make matters worse he is on a six month course of steroids which ramps up his hunger. I cant manage the situation, it is not possible. I have tried pineapples in HIS food, stool repellant tablets, even hot tabasco sauce on the stools. He doesn't taste it, simply swallows it!

So it leaves me with the Citronella Remote Collar option.

Any opinions please?

Have you looked at his diet to make sure he's not missing something or struggling to digest whatever food he's on to the best ability? Or perhaps even has a digestive issue affecting how well he digests his food? Coprophagia in animals is quite natural and often done so that they can absorb more nutrients second time around, and personally I wouldn't want to punish my dog for exhibiting natural behaviour. I'd want to make sure I was dealing with the cause, if there is one, than the symptom.

He has done it since he was born so sure, it's natural. It appears to have become learned behaviour not necessarily down to diet. His diet and digestion appear fine.

He is often hungry due to the reasons I gave above.

The cause is, he eats when he can, he sees faeces as food. Simple as that. Seems also to be a learned behaviour, so how do you deal with that?

It is not healthy eating other dogs waste material, natural or not. Also, ironically, the more faeces he eats the more upset his stomach becomes. Is that healthy and natural?

I understand your frustration but, if you can't always be around to stop him, how do you suppose the citronella collar is going to work? You've got to be there, so you may as well stop him by using the "leave" command. Plus punishment like that will only work if it is consistent & how soon do you think it will be before your dog realises that the citronella squirt only happens when you're around?

Sorry this is a bit negative but the only other things I can suggest are a muzzle out on walks? Or perhaps lacing a poo with tabasco or something really horrid? That might be severe enough to stop him forever?

All 3 of mine did it as pups but stopped as they grew up, i would be surprised if eating other dogs waste would make your dog ill as it is a perfectly natural thing for a dog to do, i appreciate your wish to discourage it as i did verbally but the collar thing is a tad extreme for a puppy.
Maybe time and more discouragement would suffice, what are the steroids for, 6 months of steroids for a puppy seems like a lot.
All the best anyway for both the problems.

Ted did this as a pup and it's horrible!! We tried our best to keep the garden clear, picking up when he was not around when possible so it didn't become a game of who could get to it first! (he prefered the faeces of our other dog to his own -yuk!!) He outgrew it at about a year old and now when he stops to sniff out on a walk I don't worry about him eating it. (rabbit poo is another story !!) Although it didn't work for Ted I was told that courgette in his food may stop it. Good luck.

Can you get him to carry a ball or a toy when you are out? If you play with him and keep him focused on the ball he might forget about hunting for poos to eat.

Thanks for the reply.
The thing about the remote collar is that i can hid out of view and there will be no association with me. I can easily manufacture that situation on a regular basis.
Although it is punishment, surely the taste (smell) of faeces should be a natural punishment to animals. The puppy has learned to ignore that.

He is going into kennels soon and that really is a hideous thought. I really have to sort this situation.

I have tried hot tabasco and pepper. It didn't touch the sides! He craved it more after! Also I'd look pretty silly shaking a bottle of the spicy sauce of various stools in the local park!

It's a tricky one and as I say, I'm not a fan of this type of training. The puppy is confident and determined so I would expect little or no side-effects.

Good idea but it appears food top of his list during most times. Also although play is good for him I want him to sniff around and be a normal dog.

The same way you'd deal with another learned behaviour, teach them otherwise.
Yes, to us, the idea of a dog eating poo is gross. To a dog, it's quite normal and the taste isn't a "punishment" as you suggest (mine quite like seeking out the freshest of cow pats in the field we walk in, they're quite the connoisseurs)
The fact that it upsets his tummy is probably more a manmade issue - cheap/rich foods will pass through with lots of undigested elements and that's probably upsetting pup's tum more than the actual poo itself. My two have absolutely no foul affects from eating cow poo on an almost daily basis - I wouldn't encourage it if I didn't live on the farm/know the farmer to know if/when he'd given the cows any kind of medication that may affect the dogs, so I can see why you'd want to stop pup eating poo (who knows what residual flea/worm treatments he may be consuming) but I don't think it's an excuse to use a spray collar. Poor recall/high prey drive is a potentially dangerous behaviour yet I would not recommend a spray collar, and I know lots of people on here would object to the idea. I've improved Kiki's prey drive with positive reinforcement, giving her a different chase outlet, etc. This did include changing my easier routine of popping to a particular place we used to walk, and instead hopping in the car to go elsewhere to break the cycle of chasing animals. A spray collar may have been the easier route but I don't think there was any justification for it.
It's up to you whether you try a spray collar or not ultimately but I think you're probably asking the wrong crowd of people. My advice would be to keep working on the leave, insure there is no health reason behind it, and perhaps find somewhere less poo-dense to let him run around in and break the habit.