does anyones dog/puppy eat their own poo? why do they do it?

Answer 1

its a supplemetn missing from their diet i think. consult your vet

Answer 2

Coprophagia - Eating excrement

Autocoprophagia - an animal eating its own faeces
Intraspecific Coprophagia - eating faeces from another animal of the same species
Interspecific Coprophagia - eating faeces from another species

There's no simple explanation as to why dogs to it, there could be many reasons. Although we find it revolting it doesn't usually do the dogs any harm and can sometimes be beneficial.

There are many theories:

1) Underlying medical problem - pancreatic insufficiency, pancreatitis, intestinal infections, malabsorptive syndromes and over-feeding (especially high fat diets). Though Coprophagia is probably not the only symptom in one of these cases.

2) Coprophagic dogs may be lacking in natural micronutrients such as vitamins.

3) They find the chemical appetite enhancers found in some dog foods attractive, despite having been digested by the dog.

4) If a dog is not fed fresh meat or ’wet’ food the dog may be attracted to another dog that is.

5) The dog is trying to introduce beneficial bacteria into their digestive systems, as most dog foods are almost sterile.

Behaviour theories:

1) Attention seeking - The dog is rewarded with the owner’s attention when it eats poo.

2) Coprophagia is also associated with allelomimetic behaviour - where the dog observes the owner picking up the faeces and learns to do so as well.

Cures:

1) Food additives: Pineapple and other citrus fruits, pumpkin seeds, peppermint, papaya and aniseed.

2) Garnish the faeces in something like vinegar or spring onion juice - something the dog doesn’t like.

3) Clean up faeces regularly.

4) Put the dog on a lead and let him sniff the poo and growl ‘No’ at the dog. When the dog pays no attention to the poo praise the dog.

Answer 3

Many youngs dogs develop this habit. Some people say that it is caused by a nutritional deficiancy in their diet but this is not proven and adding the supposed missing nutrients often doesn't stop the dog from eating the poo, so I'm not sure!

Its just one of those horrible doggy traits like rolling in muck and eating rubbish that are remants of the dogs origins as a wild animal. There would once have been a reason for the behaviour, like having a second go at getting the nutrients out of the food, or covering the dog's tracks, but there is no place for it in the dogs' role as a pet. A dog fed on a balanced whole food will have the right nutrition, and a pet dog is not being hunted by anything or competing for territory etc

So, if your dog/pup has taken up eating its poo how can you stop it? The good news is that most dogs grow out of the habit. In the meantime you have to act as poo police and make sure you stop the dog from getting at the poo as soon as he does it. Clear it up instantly and call the dog away with a treat to get its attention. There are also some products you can feed your dog to make the poo bitter tasting but these do not work for all dogs. The only way to find out if they work on your dog is to try them. Again in the meantime, you'll have to scoop the poop straight away!

Good luck if this is your dog!

Answer 4

its funny that you asked that.. my dog picked up a piece of poo (still a puppy) at 4 am and put it on my boyfriends face and chewed it... greeeaaat.

i was told that they do it for 2 reasons. one is that its just a puppy thing and the other is that they are lacking something in their diet. call your vet would be my suggestion. they make pills for dogs that make the poop taste bad (you would think it already did!)

Answer 5

I have a "chipom" (chihuahua pom mix) who did this when she was a couple months old, found out that she was not getting enough vitamins in her puppy food. Also if your dog is a very small breed, it may be possible that he/she needs to be fed 3-4 times a day, rather than once or twice, to keep up energy levels.

Answer 6

I've heard that they do this because there is something lacking in their diets. My dog doesn't eat it's own poo but he'll eat poo out of dirty diapers. Totally gross.

Answer 7

I think usually its because they feel guilty about making a mess and would rather eat it than be told off! make sure your not telling your dog off when he messes in the house. Otherwise your making himoverguilty for a natural process. Also it can mean that hes really used to having poop around him. Was he a resue dog? maybe he was kept in bad conditions and was forced to live in his own mess. its sounds grim but Ive heard of this happening.

Answer 8

Give your dog plain natural yogurt, they are missing a bacteria in there diet, this should solve your problem with the poo eating.

Answer 9

i was told its to get the goodness from thr food they missed from it the first time around.
i have a doberman puppy and she does the same even though she is fed with everything and as often as she should be, so i just try (and really try!) to clean the poo up immediately fter she does it and hope she breaks the habbit.
i think its just a puppy thing

Answer 10

I thinl its something to do with back in the wild, apparently its a mothering instinct thing, something to do with keeping the area they live in clean, or to hide any scent, my dog eats the cat poo and i was told thats why, its like they are cleaning up after themselves!

Answer 11

I read a lot online about that. I found out that most websites said dogs eat poop for about two reasons, one they are hungry and or lacking nutrients or they eat other dogs poop so that it seems like that dog was never their and that it is now their territory. I think it makes since to me but it was worth a shot.