pup eating poop

[ladyelkslayer]

everytime my 13 week old pup poops, he turns around and tries to eat it right away. I try and catch him, but whenever I come home from work, his breath smells of dog poop, so I know he has been eating it while Im gone.  When we were up in the mountains the other day, I noticed him finding every pile of cow, deer, elk, and moose crap and trying to eat it.  has anyone else had problems with this?  Is he lacking some sort of nutrient that he is getting from the poop? Or could it be a habit he picked up when he was locked in his kennel before we bought him. (the gal we bought him from kept him in his kennel all day long so I wonder if he didn't like the mess so he ate it to clean up )  Any opinions would help!!

Thanks!

[MikeWalking]

The only other time I've heard of this was a mother eating her puppies poop and they were being kept in a pretty small space.....

[PAW66]

Is your dog a Lab?  My friends and I have 5 Labs (1 chocolate, 2 yellow and 2 black) between us and they eat poop. And like you say, it doesn't matter what kind, they don't discriminate.  One time the chocolate ate silage at a ranch we were hunting, and that was a real mess when she did her duty. That was one pile none of them were interested in taking.  Labs are a good reason for not letting a dog lick you face, even though it is a sign of affection.

[kenbell27]

We have two Rottweilers and a Lab/Collie mix and they all love horse poop and chewing on the clippings of the hoofs when the horse shoe'r comes.

[Curly]

We adopted a lab one time from a lady that was getting divorced and couldn't keep her anymore.  

The dog would wait for our other dog to do his business and she would immediately eat the  .     Then she would throw it up and eat it again......

We tried a bunch of different things and finally ended up getting rid of her.  We just couldn't break her of it.  She was about 2 yrs old when we adopted her and I think she just had been doing that for quite some time w/ out being corrected.  With your pup being so young, you should be able to correct it.

Our other lab would eat cat poop whenever the stupid neighbor cat would leave some in the flower bed.  He always loved horse nuggets and would occasionally try for deer or elk droppings.  The deer, elk, horse or cat poop eating wasn't too bad because it was just on occasion; and he usually had the E-collar on while out in the field so I could correct him immediately if he tried to take a bite..

Here are some links you can try reading for info.

http://www.dogeatingpoop.com/

http://www.pet-comfort-products.com/why-dogs-eat-poop.html

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_PoopEating.php

http://hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Eating-Poop-why-dogs-eat-poop-why-do-dogs-eat-poop-stop-dog-eating-poop

[bow4elk]

Bring your dog over anytime...I hate picking up dog poop 

[rasbo]

thats some funny stuff right there bow4elk

[ICEMAN]

Years ago I couldn't figure out why our cat litter box never needed emptying...

Hey Bow4elk, to get rid of those nasty doggy doo doo's on your front lawn, just sprinkle some powdered gravy mix on them.....     Dogs will come to your yard and clean your lawn for you...

[whitey]

bow4elk
No Sh!t..
Thats funny..
My Bird dogs dont eat turds.
Vitamins..Might look into the food..Missing 1..Vitamin S!
IMHO..
Whitey..

ICEMAN
That is funny sick..

[carpsniperg2]

 

[HoofsandWings]

Pups experiment. I was appalled at what my pup ate. He got over it. The scary part was when he had to taste mushrooms.
It took about 6 months before that phase passed. I can't tell you what he ate! Make sure you tell the pup it is bad manners.
Outside of that, you have to be patient.

[ladyelkslayer]

Paw66--yes he is a lab...thanks for all the links. after reading some of them, there are many possibilites that could be causing him to eat poop. it could be that he is trying to clean up after himself since he was kenneled before we got him.  also before we got him, the seller just put a huge dish of food and let him eat as much as he wanted, and he was quite overweight. we cut his food back to 1 cup 3 times a day, so he just might be trying to fill himself up, or he might just need the extra nutrients. I'm taking him to the vet on Fri to get microchipped so I will talk to the vet and see what she suggests.Thanks again for all your help!!

[Happy Gilmore]

highly likely he's not getting a vitamin or mineral he needs in his diet. For some reason, I've heard they'll eat their crap and get obsessed with other animals crap when they are lacking something in their diet.

what are you feeding him? May try switching to a controlled growth puppy formula for a while.

[Caseyd]

My chocolate lab use to enjoy a turd or two when he was a pup. He grew out of it though 

[ladyelkslayer]

Im feeding him Nutro Max Large Breed Puppy food, its what the vet reccomended.  Im going to start feeding him an extra 1/2 cup for the next couple days, then I'll talk to the vet about it on Friday, and we'll see what she has to say...

[Happy Gilmore]

Im feeding him Nutro Max Large Breed Puppy food, its what the vet reccomended.  Im going to start feeding him an extra 1/2 cup for the next couple days, then I'll talk to the vet about it on Friday, and we'll see what she has to say...

I'd guess he's not eating it because he's hungry. Something else. Any sign of worms?

[jjdavis2222]

We have a two year old Chocolate lab and she used to and still does on occasion eat some poo.

When she was a young pup we took her to trianing classes and we asked the trainer about this and she said that it was just curiosity and its really not going to hurt the dog and most likly they will grow out of it.
Kind of like why they eat grass.

She also said you should try to brake her of it, you dont want her eating anything bad.

[jeepasaurusrex]

I have read that its natural for a mother to eat the pups feces as a protection from other predictors finding the poop and finding the pups. 

[saylean]

Re incarnated green peacer?

Living green ya know...recycling even the basics.

[quadrafire]

There is nothing wrong medically with dogs that do this. They may have worms, but that is not the cause. The condition even has a name "coprophagy". Disgusting but very normal.
There are commercial products like "Forbid" that you mix with their food daily for 3-5 days. It is supposed to make it taste bad (as if it wouldn't be bad enough).
Sometimes even using Adolphs meat tenderizer (1tsp) mixed in the food for the same 3-5 day period has worked in some situations. Give it a try.

[Happy Gilmore]

I have read that its natural for a mother to eat the pups feces as a protection from other predictors finding the poop and finding the pups. 

mothers do this as part of "house-keeping". Saw some show on Africa and some wildebeast or something was doing it too. Must be common all around.

[ladyelkslayer]

There is no sign of worms, and I do think he is getting plenty to eat.  When i do catch him trying to eat it, I firmly tell him "no" its now to the point where if I stand there and watch him, he knows not to eat it, but as soon as I turn around, he tries to. I'm sure he will grow out of it, its just not fun coming home to a puppy who stinks like poop. I think he may be doing it just because he is lacking a nutrient, or he is trying to clean up after himself since he was locked in such a small kennel before we bought him.

[cwuwildcat]

Bring your dog over anytime...I hate picking up dog poop 

Now that was downright funny! 

This topic is also why I don't let anyones dog lick me or my kids.  The dog's owner almost always says "but a dog's mouth has less germs than a humans."  I shoot back that it may be true until it licks its ass!

[h2ofowlr]

Maybe he doesn't like his dog food and he's eating the crap to get rid of the taste.   

[ICEMAN]

Maybe he doesn't like his dog food and he's eating the crap to get rid of the taste.   

 

[rasbo]

hes a male...someday he will meet a bitch and eat crap for the rest of his life..Practice makes perfect

[markts]

hes a male...someday he will meet a bitch and eat crap for the rest of his life..Practice makes perfect
       And finaly the anwser we have all been waitin for

[SpringerFan]

I heard it happens when they are missing something in their diet. Are you feeding it crap food or good food? Stay away froom foods with grain in it. There are a ton of great dog foods out now. I have our ESS on Orijen and he has done great with it.

[Little Dave]

Grandmother's dog would do that, back when I was about twelve I thought that was a pretty handy dog trick.  We'd walk the dog down to the park, the event seemed to take place same time same place every day.  Though when my cousin showed up, she'd hug the dog and let it lick her face.

I recall the dog food was the cheap stuff.  These days she uses the cheap stuff as a base and puts all kinds of scraps in there, makes a soupy mess.  Sometimes she will put a lemon slice in there just to watch the dog eat around it very carefully.

[jeff100]

Both of my Brittany's eat their dog crap.  I've talked to several vets over the years and they all tell me it's very common, really nothing to worry about.  I'm a bachelor, so I don't care, I just don't let em lick me.  If I catch them I scold them for it, but I'm not losing any sleep over it.  I'm more concerned with them eating other animals crap (horse, cow, etc.  ) so I really discourage that behavior with a firm LEAVEIT command.  My older Brittany knows the rules.  The youngster on the other hand...is still figuring things out.