More info on poop eating!
As previously stated, it is not uncommon to find your puppy eat its own or other dogs’ stool. However, dogs who are receiving a well-balanced and nutrient-rich diet should grow out of this behavior naturally by the time they are one year of age. If your puppy continues this behavior past his first year, you will need to consult a veterinarian or behaviorist in order to identify the problem.
Here are several of the reasons that are typically associated with coprophagy:
Boredom
Boredom is another cause for stool eating. If a puppy is left alone for a long time, he may find relief from boredom by playing with his own stool. This also occurs more often during cold weather, because they are fascinated by their frozen stool.
Stress
Stress will often drive puppies -- and dogs -- to eat their own stool. This may be stress from being brought into a new home, or from any of a number of reasons. It is because of this that you should not induce further stress in the puppy by punishing him for eating his stool.
Hunger
Parasites and worms can leach nutrients from the puppy’s system, causing him to be hungrier than normal. He will respond to his hunger by eating whatever is available. On the same note, your puppy may simply not be getting enough to eat during the day. Puppies are growing and need to be fed at least three times a day. Free feeding is most advisable for young puppies. After a year old, feedings can be adjusted to several times per day if desired.. If you have any questions regarding how much you should feed your puppy, talk to your veterinarian, or to the breeder bought the puppy from.
Attention
If you have already responded several times to this behavior by getting upset, your puppy may continue to do it just for the reaction. Even though the reaction is a negative one, all the puppy knows is that he is getting extra attention from you. Conversely, your puppy may eat his stool to avoid negative attention. If you have been responding angrily to “accidents,” his response may be to effectively “hide” the evidence by eating it.
Just Because
Finally, some puppies -- and dogs -- will eat their own stool just because they like to do it. There is not always a satisfying explanation for the behavior, and the best you can do is to try to prevent your dog from doing it by distracting him and getting the stool picked up as quickly as possible.
Be diligent in cleaning up after your puppy eliminates. Do not give him the chance to play with or eat his stool. Try placing the puppy on a leash when you take him outside to relieve himself, and do not allow him to inspect his stool after he has defecated. Distract him from the stool by calling him to you, and when he responds appropriately, reward him with a training treat and verbal encouragement and then take him inside, away from the stool, before you go back to pick it up.
Some experts have found that adding meat tenderizer, digestive enzymes, or natural additives to the puppy’s food makes a big difference, since these additives cause the stool to have a particularly unappealing smell that will discourage him from eating it. If you cannot immediately clean up the stool, or if there are some old stool piles in your yard, you can spray it with hot pepper sauce or mouth wash. However, it is still more effective to just clean up after the puppy each time he eliminates. |