why is my shihtzu eating her own mess all the time

[adygolding]

i have a shihtzu 4 mths old she is going to the toilet more often outside but why does she eat her own mess all the time. even when being corrected?

[andy-hughes]

Are you sure she's getting nough to eat, and that her food suits her?

Hungry dogs will smell undigested food in their excrement, and eat it to provide the nourishment they are missing. Try giving her a bigfger portion of food, and if she is not eating everything, change her diet. once she feels full and is digesting properly, she will stop eating her faeces.

[adygolding]

hi we were told to feed her on omega puppy food she gets this 3 times a day and treats cant understand why she still doing this though

[Eels]

Puppies quite often do this, it's very rare that it's due to inadequate or inappropriate food. Most often it's simply a bad habit that most dogs grow out of.

The simple solution is to pick it up before she gets a chance to eat it! Some say that a splash of pineapple juice or a small amount of the fruit in her meals will prevent her eating it.

Try not to worry - provided your vet is happy with her progress and growth, I don't think it's anything to do with her being hungry.

[maggie01]

I have a shih-tzu and she used to do this when she was a pup. I asked the vet and he said that it wouldn't do her any harm, it just wasn't pleasant. Try and pick up before she got there. She did grow out of it.

[Altosruleok]

how do you think shihtzus got their name?

[drgnrdr]

In my studies it sometimes has to do with their food, if they have corn or by-products in the ingredients, these are "filler" they make your dog feel full but it's not digested well. If you have ever corrected your dog ( like yelled NO!)when they have pottied in front of you or if you stuck their nose in it when you have found the mess, it sometimes makes the dog think you WANT them to get rid of it. And sometimes it is that she is not eating enough, she's still hungry and since they smell good stuff still in it, they will eat it. If you got her from a backyard breeder or a petstore we find allot of dogs doing this. Dogs enjoy cat poo because cats have higher proteins and different stuff in their food so when they go the dog's excellent nose smells the undigested protiens and such in there.Like they said, It usually will not hurt them, except they may throw it up, or if they have parasites. Pick it up after they go, redirect her away from it after they go and give them a treat or cookie and that will give you a chance to pick it up. Keeping them on leash when they go will help you have more control. They are still developing their insides with digestion and getting control of their bowels.

If they get use to getting cookie/biscuit after they potty maybe they will start leaving it to come get their reward.

[drgnrdr]

One thing I forgot to mention get a vet to check her, sometimes medical reasons can cause COPROPHAGIA:Pancreatitis,often transient
Intestinal infections
Food allergies, creating mal-absorption
Over-feeding, which leads to undigested fecal matter.

I read my reply and need to clarify something, feeding them more is not good I meant to say more often, if you feed them 1 meal a day or only 2 maybe they need a 3rd meal added, but you feed the same amount recommend on the bag of food, watch when they eat the poop, if she tries it after about 7- 9 hours after eating later in the day she may feel hungry.

One researcher recommends checking the dog's diet to make sure she is getting enough B vitamins and is not getting an excess of carbohydrates.

Good luck hope they outgrow this....

[adygolding]

i have tried pickin up sraight after shes been but goes back when im not looking to lick up whats left on the gra s .i hav e corrected her and she also has a full bowl of food there so cant understand why she doing it

[Pajama Girl]

You got some good answers here. In particular, drgnrdr had insightful information.

I would add that when you have a small puppy like this you should call and talk with the breeder and ask for his/her advice. Reputable breeders are always interested in helping you through puppy problems.

If you do not know who the breeder is, you may have a "puppy mill" dog who was kept in nasty conditions of an unclean cage and separated from its mother too soon. Sad.

If the behavior persists, there are products that you can add to the puppy's food that passes through the system without harm and yet makes the feces unappealing. This works in conjunction with the other suggestions and training hints that everyone sent in.

Maggie01's vet is almost right: one problem related to feces-eating is an increase in dental problems and gum infections.

Good luck.

[thugulike]

I had that problem with my mastiff bitch and found that a ring of pineapple in her dinner would nearly almost always successful. She had plenty to eat but still occasionally did it until she died last year. She enjoyed rude good helath and it didn;t seem to do her any harm but it was unpleasant.

[gessoo]

It is extremely common and is nothing to do with whether dogs are hungry or not. My vet tells me that it is because poo is high in protein. He reckoned that if dog food manufacturers marketed a new 'poo' flavour it would be a favourite with the dogs, but their owners would not buy it!! It's a horrible habit, but quite natural. My old dog did it all her life (when she got the chance) and lived to a very ripe old age. My present dog is partial to cat poo. She is obviously admonished when she goes to eat it, but still sneaks off occasionally for a tasty snack - yuk!

[adygolding]

thanks for all the help and advice, been watching her over the weekend when she does her business through the kitchen window and when she has finished she looks around first to make sure we are not present then tries to eat it. If we tap the window she stops and runs away so obviously she knows shes doing wrong, we are goijng to try the pineapple method, keep you posted, thanks

[drgnrdr]

Okay but maybe you did not READ my complete post, or I didn't make myself clear enough, if so my bad, I was suggesting TRAINING her not to go after it, come to YOU for a cookie/biscuit instead. Take her out on leash, when she goes, tell her good girl, and walk away from the mess, if she tries to go back to it, tell her leave it, when she looks at you praise her and give her a cookie, take her back inside, THEN clean up the mess so she doesn't see you "playing" with it, you can wash it away or put Bitter Apple on the slight remains. "Deter" is one product that you can give the dog to make it taste bad. Try pineapple as they suggest, but she needs to be trained not to go after ANY poo.

[adygolding]

i have now tried everything pineapple didnt work charcoal biscuits and even chilli powder shes still doing it with this can anyone think of anything else? also lately she seems to be biting now and again i always thought these type of dogs were very quiet. ia m having her spayed this month will this make a difference?