Question about my puppy eating feces?

Question

I have done a lot of research about Intraspecific coprophagia, or when a dog eats other animal's feces. Most of the solutions, unfortunately, are in reference to making their own fecal matter taste bad by buying powders, adding pineapple to their diets, etc. My question is, when they suffer from Intraspecific coprophagia, or eating OTHER animals poop (and rolling around in it), what can you do? I have a puppy - 10 months old - that is a small dog (which are said to be more common perpertrators of this nasty habit), and he has recently gotten into the habit of rolling around and/or eating feces from other animals. He has never eaten his own feces. Any suggestions, other than stop taking him to the dog run and the beach?

Answer 1

hi, i think you answered your own question regarding powders in there food, if your dog is eating others then he/she will start one day eating his/her own!

When walking if your dog is off the lead then i don't think you will stop him, of course if your dog is on a lead you need to reinforce the command 'drop it' so your dog will then leave it. Reinforce the command with drop it and then give a nice taste treat, so when dog has found some more he/she will no they could have a nice bit of chicken instead etc.

When you dog goes into the garden the chances are he/she is eating it and you don't no!

Good luck, hope this helps.

Answer 2

My first comment is that dogs don't 'suffer' from coprophagia - we do!

To opportunist scavengers eating faeces is perfectly acceptable.

What you could try is improving the amount of control that you have over your dog. If you are able to teach him a really good 'leave! or leave it!' you could at least stop him in his tracks if you see him about to eat the unmentionable!

It would take too long to teach you here how to do it but basically you do a training session in the house where you prevent him from touching a tidbit which is either in your hand or on the floor and then when he backs off you tell him 'leave' and then immediately reward him with something better - NEVER give him the tidbit you have told him to 'leave'.

You repeat this many times, in very short sessions, until you think that he knows what you mean.

Try training him with different things - different treats, toys etc. - and then try taking him on a lead near some faeces and, if he shows interest, tell him 'leave', making sure he can't touch it and then praise him really enthusiastically and either play with him or give him a food treat.

Make sure that he doesn't get the opportunity to go back to the faeces or you will have wasted every single training session.

Keep at it. Don't give up. If you don't understand my method find a local dog trainer who can help you but you must understand that punishment after the act is ineffective so don't accept that sort of training.

Some dogs will accept the punishment because their reward i.e. eating faeces outweighs the punishment.

Two out of my three dogs will eat or roll in any sort of animal faeces and I use 'leave it' but there are times when I'm not quick enough to stop them but that's dogs!

Answer 3

A few dogs get into this habitat but there isnt always an obvious reason. Most likely it is a learned behaviour from its mother as the mother will often eat the puppies urine and feces when they are pups. She does this as her instinct is telling her to keep her nest/home clean and also to help hide her puppies tracks from predators. This instinct originates from her early ansestors which learnt to do this in the wild to improve chances of survival of herself and offspring. Some puppies may have watched their mother doing this and learnt to copy her behaviour. Now you are standing in as its role model you will have to stop her from doing this by teaching her it is wrong. Make sure you praise your pup when it goes to the toilet. Then when it turns to eat its poo say 'NO' very sharply and firmly, so the message is clear. Try keeping her on the lead whilst your training her not to and then you can tug her away and give the same command 'NO', if she continues not to listen. Try training your dog to the word drop (when playing with toys) and you can also use this command if she gets it in her mouth to increase her understanding. Be careful not to confuse her as this may have the opposite effect and if you arnt sure if its working get advice from a vet or behavioural specialist. Alternatively consult a friend with a bit more experience for free :) It may not have done her harm yet but it could easily cause infection or disease in the future and increase the chance of parasites such as worms! Especially if she is eating other dog's poo. It is also not nice for you bringing a dog into your home with this problem, and the thought of where the tounge thats just licked you hello, has been! :) Hope this helped, good luck with your pup :) x

Answer 4

Hi!
Foul habit "eats feces" most likely signals an unhealthy digestive system. Coprophagia is a symptom of underlying problems, such as leaky gut syndrome or dysbiosis, an overgrowth of “bad” bacteria. Courses of antibiotics, vaccinations, and exposure to pesticides and certain heartworm and flea medications can stop an animal’s digestive tract from absorbing important nutrients. Dogs is likely trying to get that much-needed nutrition in each of his fecal feasts.

Vets say: There are two general causes for dog coprophagia:

1. Dog behavioral problem.
2. An underlying medical problem.

Solutions To Stop Dog behavioral problem:
* Feed a well balanced and nutritious meal. Do not over feed.
* Keep your dogs living area clean from feces.
* If possible, try feeding twice a day. Feed the same amount but just in two portions. This works for dogs who eat poop through hunger.
* Add a bit of pineapple or spinach to your dogs meals. When your dog goes to eat his poop, apparently it tastes horrible to him after eating the pineapple or spinach.
* Teach the basic obedience command "off". Proper obedience training eliminates almost all problem behaviors, including coprophagia.
* If your dog eats his poop immediately after eliminating, provide a distraction. As soon as your dog does the business run away from the area and call him over. This should be enough to get his mind off the poop. When he gets to you be sure to praise and reward him.

If it an underlying medical problem, please visit your Vet for a thorough examination. The behavioral above techniques will not help dogs that need medical attention.

On a lighter note, most puppies usually outgrow this behavior but it will not disappear completely without your intervention.
Also look article: Help My Dog Is Eating Poops -
http://www.askedweb.com/askedweb/Help-My_Dog_Is_Eating_Poops/
Jason Homan

Answer 5

My 4yr old jrtxyorkie rolls in other animals feces and its not nice but luckily shes never tryed eating them.I have heard that adding pineapple to there diet does help so i would suggest giving it a go.There was also a solution to the rolling in feces,which i think was adding a bit of tomato ketchup to there fur as this covers the smell of the feces,the way ive dealt with the problem is by beeing very vigilant and when i think my dog is going to roll in something unpleasant i put her back on the lead.Im afraid theres not much more then beeing vigilant that you can do,and hope that your dog grows out of it,as my girl has grown out of it alot its very rare that she will roll in fecess now.Good luck.

Answer 6

Both my dogs eat each others faeces, the male the females and the opposite way around. It is horrible. But remember that animals in the wild also do that. Short of putting one of those thingies on their faces that stops them biting you will just have to keep them on the lead. My dogs like privacy so i won't do that. But i make sure that i always pick up their doggy-doo and discard it into the bins specially for dog-doo. At least that stops my dogs from eating it. Yughie it is revolting.:)

Answer 7

Growing up with dogs all of my life and living in the country..most of this sounds normal unless your puppy is eating his own fecal matter. All dogs will jump at the chance to clean out the cat box, a vet told me one time that there was something in cat poo that made it a treat to dogs the way Tootsie Rolls are to us lol. Apparently it is something to do with the digestive process in cats. My dogs ate and rolled in cow,pig and horse manure also. The Dane I have now when she gets the chance will roll in manure especially when she is out in the woods,that is a way that dogs hide their scent when hunting. With a bit of training,the puppy will learn to leave it alone and the rest of he will just outgrow the worst of it eventually.

Answer 8

I read somewhere that dogs do this because they are lacking something in their diet. My vet gave me tablets to put in their food which makes their stools smell real bad. I've stopped that now and just make sure I watch them when they go to toilet and clean it up quickly. I'm still not sure why they do it but at least they don't do it all the time. I keep saying they but only one of them does it.

If I think she's about to do it I give her the command 'move it' and she walks away.

Answer 9

Some dogs eat their own stools as a way of conserving enzymes which are in short supply. Other dogs will eat horse manure, cow manure and dog and cat feces, because they taste good to your dog.