Pup eating poo

[melb100]

once or twice we’ve seen Aggie eat a bit of her own poo, bad enough however this morning on walk she unearthed MASsIVE dog turd not even joking almost as big as her head and she stuffed it all in her mouth in a couple of mouthfuls (I literally gagged it was so gross). We’re still getting the odd whiff from darling poo breath, in the meantime we can (more or less) control her access to her own poo but harder to stop her digging up other dog poos without keeping her in lead 100%. any advice on stoping this becoming a proper habit? Could it be hunger? Tends to happen in morning but don’t want to feed her before walk. Could give her a small snack I suppose?

 

[JoanneF]

You could try a snack, but there are various theories about why dogs eat poo.

One is that there is something still in the poo that makes it attractive (like the other dog having a rich diet) or that Aggie feels a deficiency in her own diet that the poo will meet. An acquaintance swears by a dessert spoonful of live natural yoghurt daily to prevent this. Another says the bacteria wouldn't survive the digestive process to work, but it can't do any harm.

 

[Jan Woodhall]

Oh dear! I feel for you I really do! My dear little soul, now 6 months old does exactly the same! I could vomit! What is interesting for me is that he is VERY selective! So I would agree with JoanneF that it is possibly a deficiency, or just a liking of something in the poo. If you manage to stop this behaviour please LET ME KNOW HOW lol

 

[merlina]

To puppies everything is food. They do get more selective gradually.

 

[Finsky]

To puppies everything is food. They do get more selective gradually.

Oh yes...what is 'today's flavour' can be something not even worth of a sniff tomorrow...

But going back to the original post...you could not split the breakie, giving small amount at first before the walkies and let the dog finish it off afterwards.

 

[Hemlock]

It's normal, albeit revolting to us, and isn't helped by most kibbles having a mix called "digest" added last thing, which is why the bag of food smells meaty when you open it and of nothing much by the time you get to the last of it.

Constant vigilance is your friend - watch the dog, look ahead and to each side, try to avoid areas where lots of dogs are walked. take good-quality smelly treats e.g. sausage, cheese, ham etc. with you and practice calling dog away and rewarding.

 

[melb100]

One is that there is something still in the poo that makes it attractive (like the other dog having a rich diet) or that Aggie feels a deficiency in her own diet that the poo will meet. An acquaintance swears by a dessert spoonful of live natural yoghurt daily to prevent this. Another says the bacteria wouldn't survive the digestive process to work, but it can't do any harm.

-

Thanks Joanne. Have been thinking about giving a bit of live yoghurt for a while, this seems like a good reason to start doing it now!!

Oh dear! I feel for you I really do! My dear little soul, now 6 months old does exactly the same! I could vomit! What is interesting for me is that he is VERY selective! So I would agree with JoanneF that it is possibly a deficiency, or just a liking of something in the poo. If you manage to stop this behaviour please LET ME KNOW HOW lol

Haha absolutely. Will let you know how we get on with Stinky Poo Breath I mean Aggie.
The clincher was when she looked up at me afterwards with a massive grin, and her mouth and teeth were smeared all over with poo.

 

[poptart]

Tiree used to do this. I gather it's not unusual in pups although it was the first time I'd encountered it and I was absolutely mortified. I tried the yogurt and getting to his turds first, but in the end he just grew out of it. It's pretty gross but didn't seem to do him any harm.