Puppy eating his own poo

diddlybo · 22-03-2020 11:41pm #1

We got our first puppy a golden retriever a few days ago. He's really settling in but has taken to eating his own poo. It's not every time but every ao often one looks irresistible to him.

I'm just wondering firstly if this is normal and secondly if there is anything that can be done to stop it. Or is it just something that he will grow out if?

Still waters · 22-03-2020 11:43pm

Totally normal behaviour learned from his mother, keep it cleaned up and he'll get out of it

heldel00 · 22-03-2020 11:44pm

It can be that the food you are giving is too rich and tasty and it still smells appetizing, even though it's poo!
What are you feeding him? Is it "too fancy"?

diddlybo · 22-03-2020 11:46pm

heldel00 wrote: »

It can be that the food you are giving is too rich and tasty and it still smells appetizing, even though it's poo!
What are you feeding him? Is it "too fancy"?

We're feeding him royal canin puppy food.

VonVix · 22-03-2020 11:51pm

diddlybo wrote: »

We're feeding him royal canin puppy food.

I've found a pattern in dogs/puppies inclined to eat their own poo if the food they are eating has added attractants (aroma additives to encourage a dog to eat the food, as dogs taste their food more with their nose than their mouth), this is including treats the likes of Pedigree dentasticks, the poorer the quality of the food, the more likely there's added attractants. Something worth noting.

lenny palmer · 22-03-2020 11:54pm

Our dogs did this. We gave them some pineapple pieces. This seems to stop them eating their poo. Anytime they started again we just gave them some more. Haven't seen them do it for a while now

irish_goat · 25-03-2020 6:03pm

As above, pineapple can help make the poo unpalatable. Cooked spinach can also help but it can be hard to get them to eat that. Your vet can also give you a powder to sprinkle into their food if it's really bothering you.

25-03-2020 6:07pm

It might be a good idea to change the food. There’s such a variety out there to chose from. Good Luck.

tk123 · 25-03-2020 8:53pm

The better quality the food the less poo you'll have. RC is imo not a great food if you want less poo. When Lucy was a pup I fed a mix of raw and Rocco Junior wet food from zooplus to bulk out the raw as she ate like a horse(!) = minimal nuggets!

irish_goat · 26-03-2020 10:25am

tk123 wrote: »

The better quality the food the less poo you'll have.

Sorry, this is wrong. Higher fibre diets will result in more poo, this does not automatically mean the food is poorer quality.

tk123 · 26-03-2020 10:28am

irish_goat wrote: »

Sorry, this is wrong. Higher fibre diets will result in more poo, this does not automatically mean the food is poorer quality.

I guess it depends on what you class as good quality - I'd consider high fibre high in fillers and lower quality. If I need to add fibre I'll add it myself.

Royal Canine maxi junior (which I assume is what the OP is feeding) is not a great food - I fed it myself 10 years ago when I got Bailey and thought it was great at the time but learnt my lesson and moved away from it.

irish_goat · 26-03-2020 10:44am

tk123 wrote: »

I guess it depends on what you class as good quality - I'd consider high fibre high in fillers and lower quality. If I need to add fibre I'll add it myself.

Dogs need fibre so I'd class any food which has very little fibre to be poor quality as well.

We feed our dog Royal Canin Dental and she is doing perfectly well on it anyway.

dartboardio · 31-03-2020 11:54pm

Hey op, we got our puppy last week and he's 9 weeks old.

He started eating his own poo the first 2 days, now he has stopped eating it completely! For whatever reason I'm not sure!

Now if he goes near it while outside i just steer him the other way, but even if he has an accident inside, he leaves it there (yay..lol)

diddlybo · 06-04-2020 7:09am

Has anyone got advice for alternative food? Royal canin doesn't seem to suit our puppy at all. He's having very loose wet stools.

OptimusTractor · 06-04-2020 7:16am

Try giving him boiled chicken & rice. Had similar problems with 1 of ours up until recently and that did the trick.

tk123 · 06-04-2020 9:18am

diddlybo wrote: »

Has anyone got advice for alternative food? Royal canin doesn't seem to suit our puppy at all. He's having very loose wet stools.

I'll be feeding my retriever pup a mix of raw and Rocco Junior from zooplus like I did with Lucy - https://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/canned_dog_food/rocco
There's a lot off Rocco fans here as it's great quality. The pup will be eating you out of house and home soon enough lol so works out at great value too.

Puppy eating his own poo

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