Perfect Puppy Problem Solving – Chapter 2 – Coprophagia
Chapter 2 – Coprophagia
Puppies usually love the taste of feces. It’s unappetizing but true. They’ll eat their own poop. Horse manure can be especially tempting as well. And if you have a cat, well, cat poop is a delicacy to your puppy! The habit of eating stools is called coprophagia.
Not every puppy develops this habit, but if your puppy is eating poop, it’s a bigger problem than just bad breath and nasty puppy kisses. She could ingest intestinal parasites and get sick. Puppies that eat large amounts of horse manure can develop severe diarrhea and vomiting.
Usually, puppies who develop coprophagia are not suffering from any nutritional deficiencies. In other words, there’s nothing missing in their diet that causes them to crave poop. They can develop the habit out of boredom, from being raised in close confinement that isn’t properly cleaned, or because of something as simple as they tried it one day and liked the taste.
What to Do
There are theories about adding things to your puppy’s diet to make the taste of her poop less appealing. You can purchase these products from pet stores or your veterinarian. You also may have heard about adding things to her food, from meat tenderizer to pineapple to pumpkin. Some people experience success with these items; others have no success at all.
A surefire way to solve the problem is through good management. As soon as your puppy goes potty, pick it up and deposit it in a waste receptacle out of her reach. If you have other dogs, pick up after them right away, too. Put your litter box in a place where your cat can access it but your puppy can’t. If you are around horses, keep your puppy on leash and make sure that she does not get near any horse manure. If she never has access to poop, she can’t eat it and thus can’t get sick from it. It may be a bit more work to clean up after your puppy promptly, but it’s healthier for everyone in your family.
Some dogs crave stool for a few rare medical reasons. If you have concerns, always check with your veterinarian.
What Not to Do
Never rub your puppy’s nose in her stool or scream at her for eating her poop. Yes, it’s a disgusting habit—to you, not to your puppy. She thinks it’s delicious! Just manage the issue and train her to leave her stools alone.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, this is all good information but I have a 6 month old male Labrador. He has become obsessed with eating other dogs poop and it is becoming a problem on his walks.
We have managed to train him not to eat his own as that was the first problem we had. Although we can never leave him in the garden by himself as if he thinks were not there then he will try and sneak it before we see.
However he now eats other dogs poop whenever he can get to it. Unfortunately we left him in a local puppy crèche and he managed to eat a full poop bag with some in and since then he has had a very sensitive stomach. At the time he vomited the full bag up and after a week on sensitive food he improved. However every time he manages to eat dog poop he now gets a sensitive stomach and has diarrhoea for about a week after. This is not good for a growing puppy. He is fine on his leash on his walks and we have started treating him for leaving it but as soon as he gets off his leash he will hunt for it. On our local field we have some irresponsible dog owners that don’t always pick up after their dogs. Whether we have a ball or there are other dogs to play with, after a minute of playing he soon gets bored and will go sniffing out for poop. Until he has learned not to eat it we have been keeping him on his leash but obviously want him off and playing like a puppy should. What can we do?? Please help.
Hi Michelle,
I’m sorry to hear that about your puppy, but I’m glad he is alright. That sounds like it was a very scary situation.
What I would suggest in this situation is to gradually give him more and more freedom. You say that he won’t eat poop on leash. That’s our key.
Start by putting your puppy on a 6 foot leash and letting him play. When he goes for poop, correct him with a stern “NO”. Because this problem is so intense, I would also suggest carrying around a spray-bottle full of water and squirting him when he tries to eat the poop. This will begin to negatively associate the act of eating poop with being squirted with water. This is very effective for most breeds and doesn’t hurt the puppy one bit.
As you continually reinforce this behavior and training, you’ll want to give the puppy more freedom. Right now, you’re doing the extremes: on leash or off leash. What I want you to do is to start giving him more and more leash. This can be achieved by purchasing a 12 foot, 30 foot, and 50 foot leash… or simply just tying a rope to the collar that’s approximately that long.
As you notice he’s beginning to steer clear of eating poop on the 6 foot leash, change over to the 12 foot leash. He’ll feel like he’s received more freedom and anytime he attempts to push the boundary by eating poop, you’ll still have control over him. We use the leash because if he eats poop and you run over to him to correct him, he’ll most likely mistake that as you chasing him and therefore rewarding his behavior by playing. With the leash, you can bring him straight to you and correct the behavior, thereby sending the correct message.
As he begins to progress, continue to give him more and more freedom by increasing the leash size all the way up to 50 feet. Once he’s proven that he deserves another chance, you can then try letting him completely off-leash. This is typically how leash-training should be done (generally speaking).
Try that and keep me posted on how things are going! Hope that helps and congratulations on the puppy!
- Jeff
Perfect Puppy Care