Puppy Help - I have a poop eating puppy

[slo]

I know, I know....not the most wonderful subject.

I have a 5 1/2 month old Havanese puppy named Otis.
We brought him home at 3 months old, and he's always been a poop eater. At first, we thought it was because he was mimicking his mother, which we read that momma dogs eat their puppies stool. Time has continued on, and he's still a poop eater. The vet gave us a special powder to put on his food, but that is not stopping this nasty habit.

When we can, we do pick up his stool right away, but sometimes it's not quick enough. We do keep him on a leash a lot in the yard, but there are many times we don't so the poor thing can stretch his legs without being tethered to a leash. He loves to play fetch, so we do that a lot with him, and he can't do that on a leash, and sometimes while we are playing, he stops to poop.

He is a very stubborn and determined little boy, so after he poops, the greatest treat (I do use hot dogs as a high reward treat) or toy isn't going to stop him - he wants what he wants and he's going to do it. I do call him to "come" after he poops, to reward him with the "come" command, but like I said - that means nothing to him. He will "come" for a hot dog treat any other time.

When it comes to being potty trained in the house, he's is doing great with that, and hasn't had an accident in a long time. He has never been punished for pooping in the house, and to be honest, there's probably only been 5 or so times that he has. We are empty nesters now, so Otis gets our full attention, which has made potty training faster and easier than with our past dogs.

If any of you have any suggestions to help us break him of this habit,I would fully appreciate any advice you can give. Eventually, I would like for Otis to be in the yard all the time not on a leash, but he's making it very hard for us to achieve this goal.

Thanks for any advice you can provide

 

[Moliphino]

You could use an extendable leash or long line in the yard, so he can have room to run around but you can also pull him away immediately after a poo. My yard isn't fenced and my dogs are flight risks so they're always leashed outside, but we have 20' Flexi leashes so they can still play fetch and run around.

 

[slo]

You could use an extendable leash or long line in the yard, so he can have room to run around but you can also pull him away immediately after a poo. My yard isn't fenced and my dogs are flight risks so they're always leashed outside, but we have 20' Flexi leashes so they can still play fetch and run around.

Wow....I didn't know they made leashes that long. I will look into that - thank you!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Have you had him thoroughly checked out? My friends a vet and I remember her saying before that things like parasites or certain diseases can cause this.

 

[firefly_ris]

#1 Work on a really strong "Leave it" command.

#2 I have heard sometimes adding a bit of pineapple juice or canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix) to their food may affect the taste of the stool and deter them. A bit of pumpkin has the added bonus of aiding digestive issues.

#3 re examine the diet, if you're feeding a dry kibble make sure it has adequate protein and less fillers like corn -- some people feel filler heavy dog food is not really being digested well and the stool ends up smelling similar to their food. Dogs have short digestive tracts and are built for processing protein and meat well, everything else not as much.

#4 Sometimes this is just nearly impossible to break and it's all management. My SILs 4 year old PWD is a little better but still does this, even after trying several things.

 

[firefly_ris]

Ps I have 2 Havanese, they are now 4 and 2. They are my first small dogs and are fun!

 

[soccerdad72]

Sorry, no suggestions - I just would avoid letting him lick you

 

[slo]

Have you had him thoroughly checked out? My friends a vet and I remember her saying before that things like parasites or certain diseases can cause this.

Great suggestion - our vet did do this, and he did have one (this was at his first check up) and he was medicated for it. After a follow up stool sample, it came back normal.

 

[slo]

#1 Work on a really strong "Leave it" command.

#2 I have heard sometimes adding a bit of pineapple juice or canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix) to their food may affect the taste of the stool and deter them. A bit of pumpkin has the added bonus of aiding digestive issues.

#3 re examine the diet, if you're feeding a dry kibble make sure it has adequate protein and less fillers like corn -- some people feel filler heavy dog food is not really being digested well and the stool ends up smelling similar to their food. Dogs have short digestive tracts and are built for processing protein and meat well, everything else not as much.

#4 Sometimes this is just nearly impossible to break and it's all management. My SILs 4 year old PWD is a little better but still does this, even after trying several things.

These are great suggestions - thank you!
We feed him Science Diet for puppies, so I'm not sure how that is in regards to what you mentioned. Our vets have always highly recommended Science Diet, so that's what we've used for all our dogs. I will try the canned pumpkin and see how that goes.

I love how you have 2 Havaneses - they are wonderful little dogs. Outside of the poop eating, Mr. Otis is a real joy.

 

[Rogue1677x]

My mother had a beagle who was a "recycler" as we referred to him, and she said a little bit of canned pumpkin helped with that.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Doubt the pineapple juice will help in your case, but it doesn't hurt to try. The powder the vet gave is almost definitely to do the same thing, make the poop taste "bad."

Best thing is to not let him practice the behavior (which you're already doing) and a strong Leave it command would be great to help with that too.

How big is the yard? How far away are you when you're asking him to come for a hotdog instead of munching the fresh poo? If possible, try to get right up close to him so you can really shove the hotdog right in his face and snag his full attention before he eats the poo. Immediate gratification for turning away from the poo.

If you're across the yard, I would not keep telling him to "come" right after pooping, when you know he is going to eat the poo first - you don't want to him to blur the command as optional / delayed. You want "come" to mean come NOW, so if it's unlikely that he actually will, you don't want him to learn that he can ignore the command when there's something "better" around. Especially if he still gets the hotdog once he gets to you.

 

[slo]

My mother had a beagle who was a "recycler" as we referred to him, and she said a little bit of canned pumpkin helped with that.

My mom also had a Beagle that was a chronic poop eater. Calling him a "recycler" is very funny!!! I'll definitely try the pumpkin.

Doubt the pineapple juice will help in your case, but it doesn't hurt to try. The powder the vet gave is almost definitely to do the same thing, make the poop taste "bad."

Best thing is to not let him practice the behavior (which you're already doing) and a strong Leave it command would be great to help with that too.

How big is the yard? How far away are you when you're asking him to come for a hotdog instead of munching the fresh poo? If possible, try to get right up close to him so you can really shove the hotdog right in his face and snag his full attention before he eats the poo. Immediate gratification for turning away from the poo.

If you're across the yard, I would not keep telling him to "come" right after pooping, when you know he is going to eat the poo first - you don't want to him to blur the command as optional / delayed. You want "come" to mean come NOW, so if it's unlikely that he actually will, you don't want him to learn that he can ignore the command when there's something "better" around. Especially if he still gets the hotdog once he gets to you.

The yard is not huge, but not tiny either.
Regardless how close I am to him, he's so incredibly fast, that even if I'm 3ft away from him it doesn't matter. I do have a strong "leave it command" which works well with everything but this. We don't know if it's he likes the taste, if he's hungry, if he likes the thrill of the chase, if he likes the attention it gives him (which he already gets a lot of attention, but maybe to him it's not enough. He eats his poop while we are playing fetch - he'll stop and then turn around and eat it). I feel like I'm beating my head into a wall trying to figure this out.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I would not be overly concerned. I had a yellow lab who was constantly eating poop. I'd correct her immediately, would make sure she dropped it every time...but she still did it on every walk, including the very last walk I ever took her on. Some dogs just have a pre-disposition.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Definitely speak to your vet. Coprophagia is very common in puppies because of their developing digestive system, but it’s usually tied to nutrient absorption issues. They will likely suggest some foods to supplement to help curb the dog’s perceived need. You’ll still need to monitor a lot in the early stages.

 

[leahgoogle]

Our sheepadoodle did this as a puppy. She had a clean bill of health at the vet. She is now a year and a half and doesn't do it anymore. She probably stopped about 8 months old or so. So, Otis may grow out of it. Love his name, btw!

 

[Christine]

When we brought home our latest rescue, she was about 7 months old. Clean bill of health. She had been living with another family for months so it's not like she was a stray or anything.

It was winter, the poop froze into poopsicles, and she loved them. DH was doing the same as you, making sure to keep the yard picked up, but invariably there'd be one and she'd get it. This went on for about a year but we just kept at it as well as very, very negative feedback when she was caught in the act. We've had her 3 years now and she doesn't do it anymore.

 

[Micca]

we have 20' Flexi leashes

..I didn't know they made leashes that long

Telling DW about this. I'd like to expand my range a bit.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I have a 10-year-old Yorkie that is a chronic poop eater. I recently changed his food to a low-fat kibble and the bad habit has subsided considerably.

 

[Moliphino]

Telling DW about this. I'd like to expand my range a bit.

This one's half off on Chewy, which I noticed this morning after I looked them up because of this post. We've been using this kind through 4 dogs now, the only one that broke was the one Leota chewed halfway through as a puppy that we tried to repair.

https://www.chewy.com/flexi-classic-nylon-tape-retractable/dp/166838

 

[slo]

Definitely speak to your vet. Coprophagia is very common in puppies because of their developing digestive system, but it’s usually tied to nutrient absorption issues. They will likely suggest some foods to supplement to help curb the dog’s perceived need. You’ll still need to monitor a lot in the early stages.

If this continues after he's 10 months old, I'll definitely talk to the vet again. The first time I brought this up to her, she just shrugged her shoulders & said it's puppy behavior and gave me the powder. We go to a large vet clinic, so maybe I'll get another opinion, from another vet, the second time I want to discuss this.

Our sheepadoodle did this as a puppy. She had a clean bill of health at the vet. She is now a year and a half and doesn't do it anymore. She probably stopped about 8 months old or so. So, Otis may grow out of it. Love his name, btw!

I'm going to keep my fingers tightly crossed that our little Otis grows out of it like your dog did.
Thank you for the compliment about his name - we absolutely love it and it fits him so well. Quick story.....we originally named him Sully, after Sully from Monsters Inc, because he's so super fluffy like Sully. Our whole family is Ss & Ks, so we wanted to keep that going. For 2 days, I kept accidentally calling him Sophie (our 14 1/2yr old Yorkie that passed away), and I told the family that he can not have an S name, because it's to much like Sophie. So after much thought and deliberations, we decided on Otis (our last name starts with O, so it's still part of our initials). I haven't registered him with AKC yet, but I do have the papers. His AKC name is going to be Otis F. Sullivan with the F being for fuzzy, because my DH is always calling Otis his little fuzz monster - LOL!!!

This one's half off on Chewy, which I noticed this morning after I looked them up because of this post. We've been using this kind through 4 dogs now, the only one that broke was the one Leota chewed halfway through as a puppy that we tried to repair.

https://www.chewy.com/flexi-classic-nylon-tape-retractable/dp/166838

Question about this leash.......does it work real nice and smooth without a lot of drag. We have an extendable leash at home, and it does have some drag and Otis does not like it at - he's much happier on a regular long (6ft) line leash. I'm not opposed to trying another one as long as it works nice, easy and smooth - he's only 12lbs, so he's not a strong big dog.