GSD puppy eating his poop.

by Ellen Lawless
(Waterford, Ireland)

German Shepherd puppy, Dante

German Shepherd puppy, Dante






My 9 week old German Shepherd puppy eats his own poop. He is paper trained but if we don't get there on time, he will eat it.

I have scolded him and told him no loudly, but he will still do it again if possible the next time. Help. Other than that he is a lively, inquisitive friendly puppy.



Comments for GSD puppy eating his poop.

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Jun 30, 2010
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Pineapple
by: Anonymous

YES, Pineapple is the best remedy. Also take the GSD puppy away as soon as it finishes he call of nature.
Apr 09, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		dog eating poop
by: Jerry...

I heard it comes from overfeeding and dog is eating undigested food?
Jan 21, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Deter
by: wendy

Pineapple really does work. A commercial product is called Deter. Please do not scold him because he will get mixed messages. He won't know you're mad at him for eating poop...he may think it is the sight of poop that displeases you & will stop going on the paper & find a better hiding spot for his *business".

Teach a "leave it" command, which comes in handy in so many ways & use that. My pup used to eat my older guy's poop...would actually get his head under him & catch it as it came out!! Rewarding for leaving it solved the problem, as well as keeping the yard free of poop as much as possible.
Dec 17, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		pineapple
by: Anonymous

Yes! Pineapple is the BEST! I do rescue and it has not failed me once!

Nov 23, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Had the same problem
by: Anonymous

I have a 1 yr old GSD male and he did the same thing around 4-6 months. We thought it was the "starved for attention" and we fed him pineapple to get him to stop. It didn't help.

It turned out that he had pancreatic enzyme insufficiency disorder. If your puppy's weight drops or he has soft stool I would suggest taking him to the vet and getting blood work done.

Our pup lost 15 lbs before the vet could figure it out. I would keep a close eye on his stool and weight. I hope this helps a little our boy was in rough shape.
Nov 21, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Pineapple
by: Anonymous

I feed my GSD's pineapple whenever they start to eat their feces. They love the pineapple and it makes their feces taste bad to them. They also have pills to make it taste bad, but this is cheaper, and I enjoy pineapple too.

Nov 18, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Coprophagia
by: Debbie

This is fairly common in puppies but in some older dogs too. It's called "Coprophagia" and there are many theories as to why dogs do this in the first place such as:

? copying the behavior of their mothers
? just curious
? they're bored
? missing something in their diet, etc.

So clearly, no one has really found the reason, if there is one in particular, for this behavior.

Basically you have to stop the behavior before it happens and make this a habit in your puppy - so if you are there when the German Shepherd puppy poops, simply distract it with a favorite toy right after it finishes and clean up the poop right away.

After all, if there's no poop to eat then there's no problem so prevention is key. But there are all sorts of products too made to help with this problem and you can find them here: Coprophagia (or look below).

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