chewing his own poo

[Dimitri]

is this normal for a puppy to be sniffing/licking/chewing on his own poo?

[msquitacat]

Mine just plain eats it. I've done a little research and found a couple of opinions. One view was that there needs to be a change in food, as the puppy may be seeking some nutrition that he's not getting from his current food. The second view was that to the puppy, the poop still smells like his food and therefore it attracts him. The third view was that when puppies are with their mothers, the mother will often eat their poop to keep their living conditions clean, so maybe the puppy learned this behavior from their mother. I am going through the same thing right now. I changed my pup's food and he stopped for about a week, but now he's right back to eating poop. And he even has nerve to burp afterwards!

[rencook]

A dog eating his own stool not actually that harmful-its just really gross to us!! At least thats what I've been told by many vets/dog people. I used to work for a breeder that would put a little meat tenderizer on top of her dogs food-somehow it works and does not smell so yummy coming out!!

[Lola B Marie]

Four dogs ago, I had a boxer who did this. My vet said to sprinkle aniset.sp. It is an italian flavoring like licorish. Just a drop did the trick. Dog pooped ,dog smelled it then walked away all disappointed. Good luck, I know it's really a gross habit.

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by Dimtiri

is this normal for a puppy to be sniffing/licking/chewing on his own poo?

It is very common in puppies...and they often do grow out of it. I would recommend that you remove the poop quick and clean up before it becomes a rotten habit.

Diet does play a part in poop eating too. What are you feeding him? Sometimes an improvement in diet helps with this habit. Often pups/dogs fed a high grain diet eat poop...because so much of the grains do not get digested properly and they are enticing to re-eat.

Gina

[CuteCookie]

There is a product you can get from your vet that will do the same as the meat tenderizer, make the poop taste bad.
Some dogs despite changing of diet still eat the poop. Ask your vet about this and they can offer you a solution or try the meat tenderizer.
My situation is that during winter the poop in the back yard can not be picked up till the spring so my dog likes to eat the poopsicles. Come spring and summer I keep the yard as clean as possible to reduce the habit.

[dogsbydoug]

Quick fix for poop eaters - PICK IT UP.

That said, we have four adults and one pup here - they ALL, as aggravating as it is, are poop eaters. We feed Canidae to the adults and pup eats Eagle Pack large breed (for now will get switched to same food as adults when Eagle Pack is gone).

This began to get really bad when Canidae was introduced to the food rotation. We also feed Wellness, Drs Foster & Smith, and Royal Canin Natural Blend foods. We're going back to those three and removing Canidae...three bags of Canidae and I'm not thrilled with the results, but can't say I didn't try.

ANYWAYS...regarding stuff to deter poop eaters - DISTASTE from Drs Foster & Smith is one of the only things that helped us. I tried S.E.P. (Stop Eating Poop) made by Solid Gold - didn't help...tried Adolph's Meat Tenderizer - no help.

So, every evening I am usually out there with a bucket and a pooper scooper -picking up poop. If I get up early enough I sometimes do it in the morning too, but who wants to start off their day picking up dog doody?!?!

[Anne]

I agree with Dis-taste. It was the only thing that worked here, along with quick pick ups.