Hello all
Sorry to keep posting but you are all giving such good advice! Peggy still has a bad tummy - one minute solid poo, the next quidgy mess. She has now developed the lovely habit of eating her own poo. I have tried picking up as soon as she does it but she is now literally turning round before she has even finished to have a nibble before i can get to her. This evening as she watched us have dinner (we are eating before her as recommended for pack leadership) she decided to do a poo and have a massive gulp before I got down to her. She had been out in the garden around 15 mins before so dont think she NEEDED a poo. She has also been sniffing a lot around her bowls when they are empty and generally on the look out for food. I am wondering if she is eating her poo cos she is hungry? She is on Naturediet and I give her around 3/4 pack per day. She is a Cocker Spaniel X Bichon Frise (for all of you who dont like me calling her a Cockerchon!!! ;)) and is 11 weeks old. I am going to vet tomorrow for her jabs so will take a sample and ask them to test it for bacteria (as suggested on another thread for her runs) and ask his advice but just wondering what you all thought? I have just started adding chunks of pineapple to her dinner in case its the enzyme deficiency I have read about.
Look forward to your advice!
Sal

some puppies develop this as a habit, and will often eat other dogs poo as well, which can be a problem. if you are quick you could sprinkle something nasty like mustard powder on her faeces so that if she goes to eat them she'll get a horrible taste and hopefully wont do it again. pineapple is another tip, i think just adding the juice is sufficient. good luck.

If everything turns out ok with her poop sample,try feeding her raw green tripe.It is full of digestive enzymes and probiotics among other wonderful nutrients,both of these things are advised for poop eaters.

Can I ask my dense question Ktee? I'm in the UK and my 3 yr old lab eats the 5 yr old cockers poo, if we're not quick enough, raw green tripe, from where in the UK please, I'll try anything to stop this behaviour as I'm finding it affecting my relationship with the Lab.  We've only had him a year (rescue) and only just noticed in the last month him doing it, not sure if he did it before?

Hello All

Haven't posted here for ages but was interested in this thread so thought I'd share our experiences.  We have miniature wire haired dachshunds and we have tried absolutely everything to stop them eating each others poo's, to no avail.  It seems to be a dachshund "thing" - they almost all do it.  Ours are fed on raw green tripe and Royal Canin Dachshund 28 but they still do it.  We have tried pineapple (made no difference, changed to a lesser quality food, raw diet .... all the same)  The only thing we haven't tried and I will now I have read it on here - is to sprinkle something on the poo.  We have to be really vigilant and we have some that are worse than others for doing it.  I don't think it is because they are hungry though, I think there must be undigested protein in the poo that smells / tastes attractive to them.  I agree that it's an awful habit and does affect your cuddling them etc - BTW our raw green tripe we buy in frozen blocks and just defrost one a day.

Sue

Sprinkloing things on the poo is a good deterrant but not an option if the pup is eating it before you get chance to pick it up. Did i read somewhere about putting a small amount of grapefruit or pineapple juice on the dogs food to put them off eating it.
A dollop of natural yoghurt is good for settling poorly tummys, but worth mentioning to you vet - maybe pup is allergic to something/eating too much???

At least you know you'll never have a problem getting her to take tablets.... just plop them into a nice fresh poo and down they'll go!

Mums eat puppy poo and wee for the first few weeks of their lives. Some puppies then go onto develop the same habit but soon grow out of it.
Like rabbits and guinea pigs there are still some nutrients left in poo which are easier to digest 2nd time round. I have heard of half starved rescue dogs picking up this habit and then struggle to loose it once rehomed. They never know when the next meal is coming !
I would not put anything on poo to stop them from eating it as it is generally a behaviour problem and this would not help. I have heard that pineapple juice in their food or water makes there poo taste and smell bad and they generally ignore it.

I would advocate a cleaning up routine that removes poo as quickly as possible.

I hope this helps

> Mums eat puppy poo and wee for the first few weeks of their lives

thats instincive for hygiene and protection though

> would not put anything on poo to stop them from eating it as it is generally a behaviour problem and this would not help

accorign to operant conditioning it would- if poo tastes yucky then its not going to be repeatedly eaten unless they have to (e.g.your point about starved dogs) after a while they realise food is coming

>raw green tripe, from where in the UK please

You can buy frozen tripe from most pet shops, either in blocks or minced.

My dog occasionally eats other dogs' poo, though never his own. I think it is a particular dog, because it has happened a couple of times in the same area, and so i assume that particular dog's poo tastes or smells really nice. I am now extra vigilant in that area, to call him away if i see him tucking in to something! It is a disgusting habit, and makes me feel quite sick at the thought of it (especially when he licks me later on) but it doesn't seem to do him any harm, so i guess it is natural.

I'm going to have a look at getting some and can you just clarify for me someone the pineapple juice is this tipped on their food prior to them eating it? I use a dry complete food?  Sorry if I appear dense but I've only ever fed all in one complete, never anything raw or otherwise.  Many thanks

I think you put the pineapple juice on the food of the dog who's having its poo eaten, not on the food of the dog who's eating the poo (hope that makes sense!).

You could drop some into the water aswell craigles. Putting it onto dry food may put off your dog.
Some of the suggestions have been good but obviously not feasable if you dog starts eating immediately. Try the pineapple juice and see how you get on. Good luck :-)

This dogs eating its own pooh Zarah so the juice would go onto the own dogs food/drink :-)

My post was in response to craigles :-D Her dog is eating the other dogs poop.

Absolutley...I was just saying that it is , in part , natural behaviour that puppies generally grow out of and rescue dogs do get this habit for whatever reason and this can be changed.

If you take the pup out on a lead then he wont have a chance to eat it :)

Sorry Zarah, think there seems to be 2 conversations of similar context going on. I was talking about WombleWoo whos dog is eating its own faeces :-)  Monday always=brain not engaged yet!!!!

Hi womblewoo,

Just a thought! have you  wormed her with the vets worming tablets. If she is constantly hungry try putting down dry dog biscuits the all shapes one's, between meals.
She will have to sit and chew them, to eat them. It may help slow the hunger down. Then as the others have said something like curry powder on the poo! just hope she doesn't like curry.

Regards
Denese

Ah got you zarah, thank you so I put the pineapple juice on the Cockers food to hopefully deter the lab from eating his poo!  I'm a wimp and find it absolutely revolting (which yes I know it is to us) it is affecting my relationship with the dog though which isn't fair on him but I need him to stop and will try anything!

I never really understand why people get so upset about their puppies eating poo. It is fairly normal puppy behaviour, it doesn't do them any harm, and they mostly just grow out of it. Of course, that is assuming you have ruled out any problems causing her to eat her poo and I appreciate the OP was asking in case her pup was hungry.

I have no idea how much your pup should be eating, as I only have experience with large breeds. However, I have a 5 month old pup I bred back here for a few days, and also had her back a few days last week. I notice dher eating her poo then, and I suspect her main reason was hunger, as the owners had neglected to increase her food AT ALL since she left me at 12 weeks and she was quite thin and seemed hungry in general. I increased her food, and told the owners to also do so when they took her home. Pup has gained a bit of weight now and seems less hungry, and although is eating her poo (and Mums!) less, is still doing it. I think itis now partly learned behaviour and have made a point of leaving some poo in the garden so that I can keep an eye on her, and tell her 'off' if she goes to eat it. (she understands the off command) It seems to be working.

A few of the pups in the litter have eaten/do eat their own poo. Mum did the same as a pup. I did notice Mum continued to clean up after the pups long after they started on solids, at least until 7 weeks, and sometimes after that if they poo'ed in a 'naughty' place like the living room, I guess as she knew they shouldn't do it there. Anyway, I wonder if maybe she learned the behaviour rom her Mum and her pups learned the behaviour from her, but I guess I'll never know.

problems can arise if puppies begin to eat other dogs poos, they can pick up lots of different bugs and worms, not very pleasant. many infectious diseases are transmitted this way, so the behaviour should really be discouraged if at all possible.

Hi this is a bad habit which is difficult to break, in my experience it is usually female gundog breeds that seem to be the worst offenders, a friend of mine has a red cocker that does it as well she started young like yours and she still does it occassionally and she is 5yrs old now, my friend gives her Burns now with only a small amount of meat and adds Vetzyme tablets to it, she tried pineapple too but it didn't work, she doesn't eat her own now as my friend used the rattle method at home( stones in a coke can) but she does eat other dogs poo out on a walk occassionally if she gets to it before my friend catches her, she has learned to spot the signs and does take the rattle on walks, hope this helps.

>but it doesn't seem to do him any harm, so i guess it is natural.

It is somewhat natural for dogs to eat poo's from herbivores,ducks,deer etc,but not so for eating other carnivores poop....
Craigles PAH stock green tripe.Another tip is to give Bcomplex tablets,Human grade from the health shop.This along with the enzymes and probiotics either supplemented or from tripe should hopefully go along way with helping.Also behaviour modification to get them out of the habit.

Thank you Ktee and all who have offered advice, I do watch him like a hawk now'a'days and he doesn't really get a chance but I'm sure given an opportunity he would.  I'll get green tripe and human grad B complex tabs. 

I would check your vet before you start loading up a puppy with any additional vitamins. 

As you can tell from this thread, poo eating is very common.  It is not a sign that there is anything wrong with your puppy or anything is missing from his diet.  Talk to your vet about it.

I'd just like to sympathise with everyone that is having this problem. I do too, 5 of my 6 American Cockers eat poo, it seems like any dog poo will do. It ruins a good walk and I have now resorted to keeping most of them on lead at all times. If I'm feeling strong, I let them off one at a time and watch them closely. Invariably they have to go back on lead having blotted their copy book, and I go home, with a sore throat having  ah ah'd  the whole walk, stressed and angry with them.

I'll be trying some of the new suggestions that I'd not heard before. I'd love to think I could conquer this problem. The rattle method sounds promising, as a sharp ah ah works quite well most of the time, but hurts my throat after a while.

Why does it bug me so much............I don't know but it makes my crazy.

Dawn R.

There is an old lab near us that does this and has done it all his life.  His is a plodder now and is really friendly but the only way the owner has found to manage it is to fit a greyhound type muzzle.

I'm not suggesting you do this by any means but it means she can enjoy stress free walks knowing he can't eat poo.  And everyone who regularly uses the park knows he only has his muzzle on because of this.

Hi Sal

I also have a cocker x bichon frise puppy - she's a bit older than Peggy, coming up to 19weeks now. I haven't used these kind of forum sites before but after seeing your post I thought I might be able to help.

I had exactly the same problem with my puppy when we first got her - I knew it was a normal thing for puppies to do but couldn't help finding it absolutely revolting and tried to find advice online. I tried putting pineapple in her food for over a week and with no success. I also asked the vet about changing her food but he said the food she has is good quality and so it was unlikely that it was a nutrition deficiency.

However, I found some "Deter - Coprophagia Treatment" tablets online. As she was only little we only gave her 1/2 a tablet in her food everyday for 2 weeks and after the first week she stopped eating her poo! We thought she might go back to eating it once we stopped giving her the tablets but she has been fine ever since! Really worked well.

http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/item--dog--deter-feces  - have the tablets online.

Hope thats of some help.
Hazel

weve got a stafford bitch who does the same, they say its a natural instinct for a bitch to do it more when they are in season or welping, they are copying from there mother, you need to sto-p them from a young age, try using an empty bottle filled with stones or pasta and everytime u catch her, shake the bottle, but dont let her see you doing this

Hazel
We have been given the same tablets and seem to be working!!!!!