Hello.


Any help would be appreciated - new labrador puppy aged 14 weeks - we got her last Wednesday.

She is settling in well and we are trying to toilet train her at the minute - however the one moment I took my eye off her and she poo'd - she started to eat it......................

Im wondering if its becuase she was with her mum up until just last week and I heard that mums do this to clear up after their pups?

She has been checked out by the vet, innoculated, etc.

Im just worried that if she is in the garden on her own as she gets older......... she continues to do this - anyone help please!

Pineapple added to her food should help it causes the poo to taste awful apparently due to an enzyme it contains.

Thanks for that molliepops - will give anything a go at the minute!

I Googled on your title as I had a feeling it's a natural sort of thing for puppies to do, and found lots of hits telling me that. They all seem to have their own ideas on how to stop it though.

PS female cats with kittens do it sometimes as well. I was shocked when mine did and promptly cleaned the litter tray out!

I am sorry to hear you have this problem, my dog does this too and it horrifies me.

I have tried everything;
pineapple
courgette
noise distraction and telling him off
pills that are supposed to stop him eating it
I have even sprinkled tabasco sauce on the poo and left it there for him to eat.

Nothing so far has worked, except following him round the garden with a bag and picking it up as soon as he does it.

It is worse in the winter as I dont go out in the garden with him as often as I do in the summer.

I put it down to him copying his mother when he was very little and not being out of the whelping box at all until I bought him at 9 weeks old. He is 2 now.

My only consolation is that the more people I speak to, the more common I find it.

I still tell him off when he does it and he takes himself off to his bed from the garden if he has been eating it now and I never let him lick my face.

I used to get really upset when he done it but now I know he will probably always have a 'perchant for poo' and I dont get as upset knowing I have tried everything to sort it out.

Please don't let it spoil your happiness with your new puppy as it so nearly did with me.

Good luck with finding a 'cure', I will be watching closely to see if I can get a few tips.

I just let mine grow out of it.

Thanks folks. Feejo I can empathise with you, as I found it a bit strange, but I have been googling yesterday and it seems its quite common!

Yesterday we just made sure we took her out on the lead and picked it up straight away, when the weather gets better and she is in the garden on her own, I know it might be a different story.

I agree about the whelping box. She was nearly 14 weeks when we got her and possibly has picked up the habit from her mum.

I read that in quite a lot of cases they just grow out of it (as tinman said).............and am just trying not to think too much about it lol!

We did the same.

The best thing I can advise is to just keep a close eye on her and try to clean up as quick as possible (easier said than done I know). Take away the opportunity if you can. Try not to punish her.

It is very common and there is lots of info about it on the net.

Some here from the Dogs Trust Coprophagia

Good luck and Congratulations on becoming a puppy parent.

Edit: You are doing all the above

My boy (GSD) when a puppy was a nightmare for this. He even used to force his head through the little door on the "cat toilet" to eat the cats poo, he forever had a snout covered in cat litter Thankfully he grew out of it and we can laugh about it but when it's happening it's not fun is it. Bear with it and rest assured you're not alone, I certainly dont miss the "pooey breath"

My lab was a poo eater as a puppy. To them it's just a tasty snack, especially when dogs are fed rubbish food as what goes in comes out pretty much the same as went in! I tried the pineapple thing, didn't work! I changed her to a natural diet and it stopped immediately. The natural diet means that more of the food is digested, so less poo is produced and what poo is made is a light colour with a sandy texture. A lot less appetising to a puppy!