Eating own poop!

[yellowjesso]

My BC pup keeps doing this everytime after she has gone to her toilet area. She instantly turns around and laps up her poop.. Sorry i know thats graphic and disgusting but its even more filthy to watch.

As she turns around she steps in it and gets it all over her fur, paws and mouth.

She walks away with brown stained paw prints all over my carpet. ewww

 

Is there any way of stopping this?

 

Also, another question- Her poops are terribly runny. Almost just like brown water. I can't make an appointment with my vet until Thursday/Friday as they are closed for new year holidays, but is there anything i can do in the meantime to help? Anything i can add to her feed to harden her pooops?

 

Because her poops are so watery and runny she laps up her poop like she does a drink of water!

I quickly take her away from it, but sometimes what she does is this - She is doing a poop, she turns around after doing some of her poop, shes still squatting doing the other half of her watery poop while lapping up the half she has already done! It's absolutely disgusting. lol

 

I'v never had to deal with this before as my other dog has NEVER displayed this behaviour before, so i'm unsure what to do.

 

I'm feeding her a quality dog food (JWB) so i can't see it being that.

 

Thanks

[Ruger's Dad]

There are numerous threads on this topic. There is a powder you can get from your vet to put into your pups food. I don't know the name of it but she will find her poop disgusting once you begin treatment. Time will do the same as well.

[WyoBC]

I think there's a thing for the runs. I thought it was raw pumkin and rice. You'll want to make sure about that but I'm pretty sure.

 

Yeah there was a thread on that pill for making her poop tast really bad. I don't know if it will work or not but it might. Dose she have all the water she needs? Maybe she needs more water if she's licking up her poop like water?

[Sue R]

First, put her on a leash when she's out to do her business. That will give you the ability to keep her head away from her poop.

 

Second, you can give a small amount (this has been covered before so use the search function at the top of the page - it may have been in either the General or Health section) of powder specially made for this or Adolph's Meat Tenderizer (which is less costly) on her food. It will make the feces unappealing. BUT, in my experience, this can make the poop runnier and not all pups can tolerate the Adolph's. My Celt could not.

 

Third (or this should probably be second or first) have you had her to the vet for a check-up, including testing for intestinal parasites and giardia? Many parasites and particularly giardia can cause diarrhea. Giardia and some parasites are very easily transmitted so wash your hands and don't let her kiss you!

 

Runny poops are not normal and aren't healthy - if her food is running right through the pup, she may not be getting the nutrition she needs from her food. Didn't you say she was very tiny?

 

Foods vary greatly in quality and many brands that we tend to think of as being "good" aren't necessarily and/or may contain ingredients that are allergenic. Look for a food with a single protein source (chicken or lamb are good); without corn, wheat, or soy; and with a simple formula (less food sources means fewer items to be allergic to - vitamin/mineral additives are generally fine). This, too, has been discussed at length in many prior threads.

 

I have a youngster with what I'd call "a sensitive system" and it's taken a number of months to get it to the point where his poops are pretty consistently well-formed. He required several series of parasite control (giardia and hookworm) and a major diet change.

 

I tried several excellent-quality foods before finding the one that produced the best "results", trying each one for enough time to see how it would agree with him, and being careful to change food carefully and gradually. I even had to break his meals down into several, smaller meals a day rather than one or two larger ones, and that was very helpful when he was younger. He just wasn't able to "handle" a larger meal.

 

Also, avoid treats if she is having digestive problems. Adding canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) to meals may help by adding fiber - a spoonful is usually recommended for a pup, I believe.

 

What would stop my pup's diarrhea would be fasting him for about 24 hours (until he was no longer passing poop for some hours); then feeding him several (I did six) small meals of poached/boiled boneless, skinless chicken breast with white rice and pumpkin (chicken, rice, and pumpkin - you can figure out the acronym).

 

His poops would firm up right away on this diet. This is after or during treatment for the parasites/giardia that the vet diagnosed from a FRESH fecal sample - fresh is important to diagnose giardia and certain other problems.

 

After a few days to a week on this diet, I would gradually introduce the new food I was trying out, from just a few bits per meal, until I could see how it was affecting his "output" and could continue to increase it until it became his entire meal.

 

As he progressed, I would gradually also decrease the number of feedings a day and increase the size of each feeding.

 

My pup is always going to be a bit "scrawny" and I'm convinced some of that is due to his having multiple problems (hookworm and giardia) at a young age and for some time before I got him treated and his diet worked out. Now he has a system that functions well, can handle reasonable treats and changes and stresses, and is energetic and healthy - but it took some work on my part to find what would work for him.

 

Sorry to be so lengthy. I'm sure others can contribute much better advice. Best wishes!

[kelpiegirl]

I would try and get her to "a" vet. She is very small, and having liquid diarrhea can wipe out an adult dog. She may have some serious problems, or maybe just really bad worms- who knows. Try what Sue suggested, but get into a vet with a stool sample. The only caveat, is that withholding food from such a small pup for 24 hours may not be optimal...

Julie

[jrid]

After you get the diarrhea under control you can try putting some pineapple bits or pineapple juice in her food to stop the poop eating. You will have to do this for a few weeks to break the habit, but it does work and is much cheaper than the Forbid tablets the vet will sell you. It worked for my dog.

[Brandon M]

I had this problem with my dog too, but he grew out of it very quickly. In fact after posting about it on this site I never saw him do it again lol.