Puppy Eating Poop!
 

Hi everyone! My name is Mary and I have a new puppy named Roxie. She is almost 10 weeks old and she likes to eat her poop! I don't let her if I am right there to stop her...however, I am not always there! I read that this might be a vitamin deficiency? How can I stop this?
I am training Roxie to "do her business" on pee pads. She is very small, so I really like the idea of training her for inside business.
My other Yorkie (Cassie) never did this, so this is new to me.
Thanks for your help!:aimeeyork

Puppies can be especially adept at doing this nasty habit....keep poop picked up as soon as possible....you can also add stuff to their food that makes the poop taste horrible:

Off-the-Shelf Deterrents

By making your dog’s poop taste really, really bad, the following products will deter your dog from eating his own waste.
Deter
Forbid
Potty Mouth


Do-it-yourself suggestions to help you stop your dog from eating his own poop include:

*Coat stools with hot sauce or lemon juice.(You have to put some on each poop....if I am down there seasoning turds, I would just as soon pick it up!!!)
*Add a few tablespoons of canned pumpkin to his food bowl each day. Pumpkin tastes good in food, but disgusting in dog poop.
*Add meat tenderizer to your dog’s food (it will make the dog waste taste VERY bad).
*Canned crushed pineapple taste terrible to them once passed into stool.

I have used all these with some good results! Some work better than others....some work with one dog and not the next....and it takes a day or so to work ....perhaps coats the intestine and it is then dispersed into the stool, so AS USUAL, dont expect IMMEDIATE results....may take a day or so....

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.

Our Wylie did this as a puppy and we bought Solid Gold's SEP (Stop Eating Poop) and it worked immediately. :)

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
NOTE TO SELF......Save this information!! Thanks! I cant remember what I had purchased, but it was unbelieveable expensive and it only worked so-so.....

There are products to help with this problem.

It's a definite pain!

I thought my pup was eating his poop and then i found it hidden from me! I saw him taking it somewhere, followed and found more then one behind the tv.. i was suprised because i'm watching him almost all the time and picking it up immidiately..is it possible that he saw me and he wants to remove it somewhere now? Now he gets a snack everytime he does it on the pad.. but he already knows where to do it, i just want him not to take it anywhere

puppy eating poop
 

Thank you everyone for your advice! I SO appreciate it! I will continue to work with Roxie and see if I get any results! I am training her on pee pads, I wonder if it would be different if I took her outside. It is SO cold her in MI and I don't have a coat small enough for her so I keep her inside.
The vet says that she is so young that potty training her should wait for a couple of weeks yet...any thoughts?
Again, thanks!:)

Hi Mary! So my pups are 3 and 4 and mine still eat their poop. I have scolded them many times even when they were puppies but they still do it. I have researched it and most of what is said is that they aren't getting their all the nutrients in there diet so they look other places i.e. their poop. I also found out that if you feed them pineapple, it deters them from eating their poop because somehow, pineapple makes their poop taste bad to them. Not sure how that was found out but anyways, it is a very common thing among small dogs to eat their poop. Just continue to keep an eye on her. If I could get mine to stop, it would be a miracle haha Poop kisses are awful!

puppy eating poop
 

I hope Roxie outgrows this! I was at the Vet today and she said not to worry about it until she is older! I will keep hoping!:)

We tried everything for poop eating. Pineapple worked the best but it took a while to stop Kinder from eating her poop. Susan

Potty training starts the day you bring puppy home.
All my puppies were 8 weeks old, potty training started as soon as their paws touched the floor the day they came home.

How did you potty train your Yorkie's? Roxie just doesn't seem to have a clue!

I tried every thing to keep Pepper from eating his poop when he was a puppy - pineapple, the enzymes from the pet store, etc - nothing worked well. But the good news is that he has outgrown it. He is now over 3 years old and hasn't done it since he turned one.

Hahaha...he stashed his poop like gold behind the TV. This is hilarious!