Puppy eats his feces HELP!!

[Edgar]

Hi, my boy's a three and a half month old GSD. He's pretty well behaved overall (just a puppy), I've taught him to sit, fetch and even stay sometimes but no matter what I try I can't get him to stop eating his own crap!!

He's out in the yard while I'm at work so sometimes I don't manage to clean all his mess up. And when I'm out with him he always finds it and takes a chunk down. It's so gross and annoying. A loud no doesn't seem to stop him in this case, neither does the good boy positive reinforcement thing. I've even grabbed him by the scruff of the next a few times and pulled him away...

That

[Annushka]

Maybe, worms... My dalmatian had the same problem, and we found worms. Or, maybe its because of his errm... "new teeth"... I didn't find the word in my vocabulary. :oops:

[nadooshkinz]

Hey guys! I did some research and this is what I found! (ps. I "bolded" the points I think are important)
Anyways I hope this helps, and if it doesnt dont worry, it'll probably go away as he matures :wink:

Coprohagia is the technical term for eating feces.
Although most people find it repulsive, it is quite natural for dogs, especially puppies to eat feces. (Feces found in kitty's litter box is an especially favorite treat.) Fresh feces closely resemble the first solid food the puppy ate: warm, semi-solid, semi-digested food that mom regurgitated for her pups to eat.
Often this behavior will just go away when the pup matures. In the mean time, keep the pup's toilet area as clean as possible. Be sure that the puppy is checked for worms and other possible problems such as something lacking in the dog's diet. It is a good idea to have the dog's diet approved by your vet, or switch to a nutritionally complete dog food sold by your vet or pet store. Many owners have had success in stopping this behavior by supplementing their dog's diet with one spoonful of canned pineapple or a teaspoon of spinach or a dash of MSG. There are products on the market such as 'Forbid' that can also be added to the dog's food to help stop the problem.

If the dog is still fond of feces, try teaching your dog not to touch it using the command 'Off.' Put your dog on leash and walk him by some feces. If he shows any interest in it, tell him, 'No, off.' If he continues to go for it, then loudly scold him, 'OFF!!!' and pull him away from it with a short, sharp tug on the leash. When he stops, praise him. Continue walking and keep returning to different piles of feces over and over, repeating the off procedure until he gets the idea that you disapprove of his dietary interests. Whenever he shows no interest in the feces, be sure to tell him how happy you are through praise and reward.

It is also possible to make the feces unappetizing by sprinkling them with hot sauce, lemon juice or anything the dog finds distasteful. Some dogs like hot sauce and will consider it a garnish, so find out what your dog does not like before using it.
Be sure to clean up your dog's feces immediately after he defecates so as to prevent the problem in the first place. Do not give him the opportunity to indulge himself.

[Annushka]

Nadooshkinz! :D Where have you been? I haven't seen ya for a long time!

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks! Great info Nadooshkins, even though its natural its still alil gross =) but now I have some idea of how to motivate him a bit better.

I've heard of meat tenderizer but wasn't sure if MSG was okay for the pup.

[Edgar]

Oops last post was from me... Forgot to login.
Thanks again guys.

[nadooshkinz]

Annushka- :D I've been around..its just with all the homework and school stuff I've been busy, but now I'm a lot more active...I hope!

K- Thanks! :D :D Just trying to help as usual!

Edgar- Thanks again! :D Yeahh :-? it is pretty gross.. I gagged when i read the part with:

(Feces found in kitty's litter box is an especially favorite treat.)

Anyways I'm glad my hard work paid off! :D Keep us posted Edgar :wink:

[eric]

GSD's eating poop.... Seems like a common thing. My shepherd Travis has quite a penchant for poop, especially frozen poop. I've heard and read all sorts of crazy things that you can give your dog/sprinkle on the poop etc, but I have got a 100% guaranteed, surefire way to eliminate this problem.

Pick up the poop. :D

Sorry, don't mean to be glib but from what I've read/heard/seen its just one of the things that dogs do. The good news is that his intake of his, uh, output, has declined over the years.

One of the funniest things I ever saw was related to this behaviour. I was outside with the boys and Travis was chowing down on something with gusto. I had my suspicions as to what he was eating, so I call him over. As he's running over to me, my wife arrives home and walks out to the yard.


Well, the boys immediately bee-line for her and before I can say anything Travis gives her this big, wet, sloppy dog kiss right on the lips. My wife promptly stood up, gagged, and vomited.

Well, ok, probably not too funny for her but I had trouble standing up.

[nadooshkinz]

eric napisał(a):

Well, the boys immediately bee-line for her and before I can say anything Travis gives her this big, wet, sloppy dog kiss right on the lips. My wife promptly stood up, gagged, and vomited.

*BARFS all over keyboard* :-?

[bk_blue]

LMAO :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[DogPaddle]

:lol: Oh that would be so horrible, poor thing.

Kavik was a big poop eater. I just kept the yard as clean as humanly possible and gave him some yogurt now and then and after a few months the habit was broken, no more problems. Good luck.