We have recently got a puppy who is now 13 weeks, he is 3/4 collie x lab. The house training is going fairly well, but sometimes when he does a number 2 he turns round so quickly and eats it. Can anyone suggest how I stop him doing this as it is revolting.
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I left the url to another site but the admins here deleted it, so I hope it's ok to just relay the info to here.
This is from a Q&A thread entitled
HELP FOR THE POOP-EATING DOG
Answer: "Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.
Let me start by saying that I am not a veterinarian, but I do have some extensive knowledge about canine behavior, having trained law enforcement dogs professionally for many years (believe me, you want to break a police dog from this RIGHT AWAY because he’s going to ride around in a car with you and breathe in your face all day).
Typically, dogs don’t do what is not good for them, and when they sometimes do it is often because of something else (vitamin deficiency, bacteria, etc). Yes, dogs will eat toxic substances if they have access to them and find them tasty and they will try to eat poison frogs, spoiled food and diseased carrion. These are environmental hazards that do pose some rick but they are not the natural behavior I am referring to. What I’m talking about is what dogs do that is entirely natural TO DOGS that you and I would not find particularly palatable or safe (lick their anus or genitals, eat feces, eat dirt or wood or trash, eat vomit, lick their skin/fur, etc).
Coprophagia (the eating of feces) is indeed repulsive but it is a natural canine behavior, especially with puppies. Normally, as the pup’s desire to eat more solid and complex foods begins to mature the behavior usually stops. If it doesn’t, have your dog checked for parasites. It may also be that he is lacking a certain necessary bacteria in his digestive system. Have him checked for this and also have him placed him on a NUTRITIONALLY COMPLETE medically approved (or supervised) diet appropriate for his age. You want to make absolutely sure that he is not vitamin or mineral deficient. There are some other things you can do to help rid him of this urge to consume waste:
Keep his ‘bathroom’ clean and feces free. Some time away from it may help divert his attention from obsessing about it. Keep his break area poop-free and make sure other dogs don’t soil it either.
Train your dog. Put him on a lease and introduce him to the word OFF. The word NO is not a good word for this because NO can mean a lot of things. Dogs can recognize a surprisingly large vocabulary. Get yourself a dedicated word specifically for this purpose. Lead your dog to some poop in a leash a couple times a day. When he struggles forward to get a small or a taste, snatch the lease (gently for a small dog of course) and firmly command “OFF” or even “NO! OFF”. [ I have a friend who uses the word PHOOEY ]. A couple of weeks of this and your dog will not need a lease anymore. You simply give the command OFF and he will anticipate the snatch and will immediately avoid contact. If he starts to go back to this behavior he might need another week on the leash as a remedial lesson.
Some owners say that supplementing their dog's diet with one spoonful of canned pineapple or a teaspoon of spinach or a dash of MSG can help reinforce the training. These products (apparently and presumably) taste bad once they’ve made the intestinal trip. It’s hard to imagine anything more repulsive than eating stool but it seems that a spinach-flavored turd is especially gross – even to a dog. [Pineapple and spinach are harmless but you may want to consult a vet before trying this with 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. Believe it or not these are called ‘Anticoprophagic Condiments’ and they are designed to keep the pup out of the poop (or visa-versa…you know what I mean.)"
Dogs naturally eat faeces to get vitamins they are lacking, there are soluions available that make it distasteful, and thus they are put off, the key is to distract them when you add it.
The best thing to do is to make sure they have a balanced diet, but the right kind varies with breed. Try looking up the breed on theweb or asking your vet what to recommend, they might be able to find what is lacking in his diet.
I think especially at such a young impressionable age the way you react to what they do is a great teacher. I would make sure not to make the pup think that pooing is bad (as this can lead to clearing eventually anyway) just the act of clearing up after, maybe praise before and during the act but immediatly after take him indoors again and rid the temptation, I know they are quick but we need to be quicker. I would be wary of adding supplements to a puppys food unless the vet had checked him out first and given the OK. I would also be wary of using the tug method described as very young dogs tend to have very tender necks and tugging is not a positive message. Maybe hold the lead so the pup can't reach (he will still try to get a better smell) and just use verbal commands and rewards when he comes away from it.
