Summary: 'My puppy is eating its poop, will he grow out of it?' or 'It's so GROSS when my dog is eating its feces. How can I stop my dog from eating feces?' Believe it or not, dogs eating poop is more common than you may think. It's called coprophagia. We'll review treatments to handle this problem.

It is not unusual to see a puppy eating its own or other's feces. This behavior actually has a name. It's called 'Coprophagia'. It is disgusting but usually not harmful if the puppy is eating its own feces. Nevertheless, it's the last thing you want to smell when you are snuggling with your puppy. If the puppy eats the feces of another dog or animal though, it could be harmful if the stools have worms, parasites or infectious diseases in them.

       
Copraphagia Treatment/Solution: Other than keeping your dog's poop cleaned up, you can also buy products that you put into the puppy’s food that make the stools undesirable. Deter is the leading product in this category. It can work well for some pets while others may find Forbid to work for them. Both of these products come highly recommended by its users as you can see on the link to the products above. Make sure you read the comments about the product from Amazon. The good news about this behavior is that most of the time puppies do grow out of it. Important: Don't induce vomiting when your puppy eats poop.

A simple training method can also be tried. When you are walking your dog on a leash, simply jerk the leash when your dog approaches feces, and reward him/her when they avoid it.

Deter - Coprophagia Treatment Sold By Amazon is described as "a safe and effective easy to feed chewable tablet. It is used to stop dogs and puppies from consuming their own feces. Dog eating poop (coprophagia) is a common but disturbing habit in dogs. The cause of this behavior is unknown, but this product is formulated to stop this." For-bid Stool-eating Preventative Sold By Amazon.com is described as 'Stop stool eating with FOR-BID. Pets eating stool is known as coprophagy. Vegetable protein and sodium glutamate work in the digestive system to give stools a bad taste. Directions: Simply sprinkle on dog food.'

If you have further comments or questions about 'Coprophagia: Puppy or Dog Eating Poop', feel free to visit our Forums, Use our 'Ask a Breeder a Question Link' or make a Comment on this article below. We encourage participation and feedback.

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