Does it harm dogs if they eat their on toilet mess?

Question

I have just got a puppy and I caught him try to eat his own poo. I
can't be there twenty four seven but am worried that if he goes he might eat it.

Answer 1

Dog, cat, horse, cow, goat, sheep any variety of poo will do. I call dogs that do this recyclers, It won't harm them, may give them worms if the poo owner has them, but it is gross, It can signal a deficiency in the food check on what your feeding, remember puppies need a higher protein content in their food than adult dogs.

Answer 2

It is not a healthy habit for dogs to get into. Sometimes dogs do it because they are lacking something in their food. Science Diet, Iams, Purina, and other like foods have corn that is not digestible at all, so when it comes out in their poop it is still intact in it- then the dogs smell it and think it's food with something really good in it.

To stop this from happening get something like Deter Tablets- they make the poo even more undesirable to eat. Also, you need to make sure you are supervising your puppy more. They should not be left alone ever, but especially outside. When you see him go to eat his feces, you need to correct him and move his attention to something else. And you should keep your yard free of dog waste so that he doesn't have the chance to do it.
If this is happening in the house, you should research crate training (it goes on the idea of the crate acting as a den/cave)- they don't like to eliminate in their sleeping areas.

Answer 3

A puppy is a baby. If you put a baby on the floor unsupervised, it will put anything in it's mouth whether it's good for it or not. It hasn't learned yet just like the puppy.

Maybe if you left it kibble it would go to that and satisfy it's hunger. Remember puppies have little tummies just like babies so they need to eat more often because they can't hold as much as an adult in their stomachs.

Answer 4

It doesn't harm them, but it's certainly not the best choice for a meal!

Your pet store has pills (NatuVet? NaturVet?) that you can give to the doggie to discourage if from eating it's own mess. The pills have parsley in them which is a deterrent. They also help with bad breath and gas!

Keep a close eye on your dog, too. Doggies can eat their mess because they don't want to get punished for it; if you take him/her out to the bathroom more, less mess for doggie to stress over!

Answer 5

FWIW & I've had 2 dogs & 2 bitches to full term over 25 years;What goes out can come in & vice versa; Never had any trouble;in fact he just threw up after his morning constatution walk;slurped it right back up;no problemHave seen puppies eat feces;they got over it;they'll eat grass,then maybe throw that up also .Not to worry & enjoy new puppy;network is what it's all about

Answer 6

Nah, I have a ten month old puppy now and she is still doing it. She also went on a phase of eatng any others she can find. I used to get very distraught and upset as I thought she would be very very sick. It was a friend of mine who told me that some dogs do it to strengthen their immune system. She seems to be fine and ok for it, she doesn't tend to do it as much now that she is older, maybe got enough of it to satisfy her. However she now goes after our bin which is in the kitchen we ahve had to move it, as soon as yours can reach, do yourself a huge favour and move it.

Answer 7

Many times dogs and puppies who eat their own feces usually have a nutritional definiciancy. You should make sure your puppy is getting high quality puppy chow, or a vitmaine supplement. Sometimes they eat their feces when they are ill, or are infected with intestinal parasites.

The intestinal parasites, eat the important nutrence for the puppy to grow, and the puppy is still hungry and his body is craving certain nutriences, so alot of times they look for it in their stool.

Especially with puppies they carry a variety of intestinal parasites (sometimes passed from unfamiliar/contaminated surroundings, their mother, and from having a young and weaker immune system), so its important to make sure your puppy is tested for intestional parasites and wormed accordingly.

With your puppy eating his own feces, he might be re-ingesting intestinal parasite eggs, so its important you try to take the proper precaution, because many of these parasites can pass to humans also (with direct contact).

Take your puppy to the vet with a fecal sample and ask them to run a fecal float, to test for intestinal parasites, and if you catch it early you can get rid of the parasites before any major damage to your puppies growing body, and you might be able to break him of eating his stool completely.

Good luck.

Answer 8

no, it won't hurt him, but you can talk with your vet, there is a cure for this. I had a dog that did that and the vet gave him something called Forbid. He quit the next day and never did it again. I have also heard that you can put Adolfs meat tenderizer in thier food.(I have never personally done this, check with your vet)

Answer 9

Dogs will happily eat baby poo if they see one. I think it is animals' ways to recycle food --- to make sure that none of the nutrients is wasted. Might solve starvation problem if we do this.

Maybe you could try to associate this disgusting habit with something undesirable, like telling him off if you catch him doing it. He wouldn't want to be told off so this might work.

Answer 10

Sounds like he needs more protein. When our animals eat poo we add cooked chicken livers to their diet. When they eat grass we offer them lettice. The behavior stops immediately with the right diet.