Dear Pooped: The habit of eating feces – on purpose and not by accident – is called Coprophagia. This abnormal behavior is gross only because your puppy does it in front of you. In fact, this behavior is quite common in puppies, isn’t harmful and is usually outgrown. However, it’s better if you become proactive and not risk that she won’t out grow it, by intervening while she is still an impressionable puppy.

First of all, consult your veterinarian to see if there is any medical reason why your puppy engages in stool eating. Experts agree there is no known single cause for it and eliminating a medical condition will let you move on to looking at the behavioral aspects of it.

Behavioral Factors

Most coprophagic pups do it as a learned behavior. Sometimes pups begin it as a form of “copy behavior” from their mother in the whelping box. Lactating mothers lick and clean up after small puppies to remove the smell that attracts predators in the wild.  Since you have another older bitch that your pup has selected as her new mentor, and is most likely not stopping her from this behavior, it persists.

Attention-seeking behavior may also be a cause for your pup’s snacking. If, for example, you are away for long hours and the pup feels the need for additional attention, she may grab a tidbit knowing you will scold her for doing so. Don’t fall prey to reinforcing this negative behavior each time she tries to grab a snack. Even negative attention is better than no attention at all.

Best Solution

The only way to stop it is to teach her a new behavior. You may have seen products to cure this problem or heard of the old wives’ tales of putting meat tenderizer or MSG on the dog’s food to make the taste of the feces worse (worse than what?). Anyway, speaking as an experienced owner of a coprophagic dog, none of these remedies work. They may for a time, but once dogs get used to the new taste, the old habit returns.

The best way to avoid consumption is to pick up feces immediately after your dogs’ elimination. If you are diligent with this clean-up act for several weeks and start a new behavior model for the puppy to follow, the problem should correct itself. For example, have her poop on leash, pull her away from the object of her desire and reward immediately with an acceptable treat and then a little playtime. She will begin to associate elimination with a new behavior and hopefully, she won’t resort to the old behavior when you return her to the off-leash, unsupervised privacy such matters dictate.     

Lisa’s Pick of the Litter

As part of the media blitz to promote the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship dog show being simulcast on Animal Planet and Discovery Channel on Saturday, January 31, at 8 pm, www.Discovery.com is offering the “Deluxe Doggy Day Spa & Massage” kit to help you set up a ‘doggie date night’ with your favorite buddy.

The “Spa Kit” comes in a handsome bone-motif carrying case with paw balm, shampoo, detangler, double-sided wash mitt and instructions on how to massage your pet all for $19.95.

In addition, you can order a free viewer’s guide for “America’s Premier Dog Show” from Iams (co-sponsor of the show) by calling 1-800-566-5038. This guide features useful information about dog shows, such as what judges look for, as well as dog show lingo and rules of the show.  

Lisa Peterson, a breeder and exhibitor of Norwegian Elkhounds, is a Delegate to the American Kennel Club. Lisa can be reached at www.lisa-peterson.com or Dogma Publishing, P.O. Box 307, Newtown, CT 06470-0307.