help,ive got a 4 month old puppy and he eats poo, cat poo ,bird poo and recently his own!..will he grow out of this? i cant let him off lead in the park because hes like hoover ,otherwisw hes happy healthy,is there a change i can make to his diet? is it because hes lacking something?

Hi,

I have found puppies eat poo quite often when they are younger, some of it I think is curiosity sometimes its just because they like the taste of it, Grosse I know.  Your pup could possibly be lacking something in his diet, what are you feeding your pup? Generally though I have found its behavioural most time, try and pick up in your garden the moment he has a poo so as he doesnt get the opportunity to eat his own. Most times its only dietary when an older dog starts to do it when previously they didnt, then it may be something to do with their health and the vet can do tests to check why a dog would suddenly start doing this. I have a bitch who from a very small age has been a poo eater, she is healthy and well and is on a very good high quality diet so I know its nothing to do with diet, she simply likes the taste??  she had a litter of pups last year and 3 of those pups are just like her, poo eaters so its something she has passed onto her puppies too, so maybe your pups mum was the same ask the breeder? If she wasnt then you will just have to try your best to distract the pup while out on walks with something far more interesing than poo, which may help break this behaviour..a lot of pups do grow out of it as well.

theyre gross,arent they?I used to have a peke who did it,in winter when the poo would be frozen solid,we used to joke they were her ice lollies,yuk!The only thing ive found to help is get there first!I think dogs are programmed to find nourishment where they can,and i expect there are still a few nutrients left in it- - but,yuk!

Hi , thanks for the feedback, I'm feeding him royal canine and meat or fish, my sons lasa apso did the same bit I put that down to stress, mine has stress free balanced life , here's hoping it is a phase!

If you have a look on the Search facility for poo eating ... you find tons of it, responses I mean.  Including quite a few from me! In my experience, one bitch grew out of it at 5 months, the other is nearly 2yrs and still likes a nibble given the chance! This is dog poo I'm meaning. We've tried all the lotions and potions and good quality food, with no avail.  'Fraid any other animal poo is fair game to any of my crowd!! 

Agree with the rest that it's a dog thing!  Even my elderly Beardie will sometimes have a look around for one of the small dogs poo.  Think she likes "bite size" myself!  Sees them as a treat!  :-(

The only thing that really works, and I've tried Deter etc.  is to get there first.  As for picking up other dogs poo in the park - it makes me so mad that other owners don't pick up.

I have taught my whippet the 'leave it' command with food treats. He knows what leave it means & gets a high value treat (cheese) as his reward. I started holding my hand out with a treat on, I closed my hand & gave the command 'leave it' everytime he went near it. I can now have treat on my hand & he leaves it. I then treat him with my other hand, hope this makes sense. When we are out I use the command & he now associates it with getting a high reward treat. It's not working completely 100%, but he is so much better than he was. He eats my other dogs poo, not his own. He looks at me now when they have a poo, he knows he will get cheese. I don't tempt fate though, I always clean up, but I am managing to get there before him. Getting through pounds of cheese, but hey it's progress!

> He looks at me now when they have a poo, he knows he will get cheese

:-)  :-)  :-)

Not daft is he? 

Two of my dogs are obsessed by the mud/slurry on my boots after it's been raining and I've been out to feed the hens. I have to lock my boots away otherwise they'd lick them clean...yuk.The little one showed and early interest in poo, including his own, but I have a feeling his interest was partly driven by the huge and extremely exciting uproar he could cause--"OMG THE PUPPY IS EATING HIS OWN POO!!!" Picture grown men screaming (well, my sons, anyway), puppy with a demonic grin threatening to jump up and lick their face...it never happened, but it was like the Victorian image of women fighting each other to climb the only chair in the room to get away from a mouse.

The good news is he doesn't do it any more--I didn't treat him with Deter or other proprietary brand of anti-poo potion. I guess he has found other ways of getting his thrills.

My flattie was a determined poo eater and we tried everything - deter, pineapple, courgette etc., but none of it really worked. Most effective is a strong 'leave it' command. I can now throw a piece of chicken between his paws and say 'leave it' quite quietly and calmly and he won't touch it. We watched him like a hawk when he was a puppy and always picked up immediately, trying to stay very nonchalant about it with him at th esame time. He's now 18 months and seems to have grown out of it, though we are still careful and do watch him if we can. He loves cow and deer poo, but at least is ignoring his own, so I reckon that's success!
We also give him a banana, as my daughter said someone had told her it was magic for stopping poo eaters. He likes it anyway and it is good for him so whether that has also helped is hard to say.
Take heart - there are loads of dogs who do this - and, from my experience, if you persevere with the leave it and picking up, he will grow out of it.