Is it safe? Can I stop it?

I wasn't sure which section to be posting this in so apologies if it's in the wrong place.

My pup has started to eat her own faeces. Is this healthy? Is it a sign of something more serious? Or is it simply because I'm not feeding her enough perhaps? And how can I stop it?

She's only 10 weeks old, and she was on dry and wet food to begin with but poops seemed too sloppy so was advised to stick to dry only. I give her a handful 3 times a day. Is that enough or too much?

I have 4 children and I don't particularly like the idea of her eating her poo then licking my childrens faces Doesn't seem too hygienic or healthy to me. Any ideas on how to stop her doing it please?

Clean it up when she does the poo?
It isn`t unusual, especially in pups, and it`s something they tend to grow out of.

May I ask what you're feeding her?

It's quite natural for animals to eat their own faeces - some vitamins and minerals are better digested second time around! Sometimes it can be a sign that their diet is lacking in something, but sometimes it's just because the poo happens to smell tasty - to them, at least! This often happens if the dog is fed on a cheaper food, as the ingredients are less easily digested, so the faeces often contain undigested portions of the food and the dog can smell it. Sometimes it can just become habit though and not be an indicator of anything, and pups usually grow out of it without anything needed to be done.
As suggested, cleaning up after pup ASAP is the best way to prevent it, but you may want to look at diet and see if it can be improved. What food were you feeding? If it continues for a long time then it may be worth the vets doing some further tests to check that the dog can digest its food properly and get everything it needs but I wouldn't worry about that immediately.
You could try deterrents, there are a few from things like putting tabasco sauce on faeces so that the dog learns they taste bad, to feeding the dog pineapple - can't remember the exact reason and don't want to google "dog eating poo" at work but something in pineapple affects the faeces and makes them less attractive to dogs or something like that.
Try not to worry about it being unhygienic - dogs also lick their bums and I don't think there are many cases of people getting ill from doggy snogs! Just follow common sense, don't let the children crawl around the floor (if they're at crawling age) or let puppy jump up to lick their faces, but if it's any consolation, I grew up with dogs and often crawled around the floor and fell asleep on them and I never got ill from it. Germs can help build healthy immune systems and there aren't really many things that can be transferred from dog to human. The biggest worry would probably be worms so I'd just ensure pup is up to date with wormers.

Also, in regards to how much to feed her, 3 times a day sounds good but how much to feed will depend on a lot - size of the dog, energy levels, metabolism, and the food too - whether its got lots of cheap "filler" ingredients like corn (you'll need to feed more), etc. Someone who feeds the same brand may be able to advise but generally I would stick to the feeding guidelines on the packet and then adjust if the dog is looking too thin or too fat. Just be aware that overfeeding can cause soft stools too so maybe with the wet food too you were feeding too much.

Hi at 10 weeks old up to the age of three months your puppy should still be on four small meals a day of good quality food. Feeding to much at one meal can cause your puppies digestive problems and may lead to an uncomfortable distended tummy/food regurgitation .

Please don't scold her for poo eating or she may be reluctant to relieve herself in your presence.
As the others say it is normal behaviour and the best thing is to take your puppy outside and praise/ clean up when she relieves herself.

Your puppy also needs regular worming, worms can contribute to the problem and of course eating pooh will perpetuate the cycle of worm infestation .
It is best to get a good quality worm preparation from the vet, I like Panacur granules for puppies, these are given over three consecutive days.

HI all

Thanks for quick responses. She was wormed 6 days ago so thats not an issue at the moment. We're still trying to house train her and we're averaging 1-2 a day in the house now and that is usually when one of the kids have left a door open and she escapes to another room without us noticing so we don't see the signs and of course don't always notice the poop straight away either but we do try to pick all poos up immediately.

I've kept her on the same food the breeder had her on because I didn't want to upset her any more than was necessary when we brought her home, and thought that we might slowly introduce something different in a few weeks. At the moment she is having Purina Beta Puppy. Should I stick with this or think about changing to something else?

You're right in not wanting to switch straight away and risk upsetting her tum but longterm I would be looking to switch onto something better in the future. The first (and therefore main - ingredients are listed in order of highest quantity to lowest, just like with human food) ingredient in the Beta Puppy range is cereals - this isn't a natural diet for a dog so some may struggle to digest it all. This can make the faeces more attractive in terms of taste, and the puppy may feel it needs to eat this to digest the food properly and therefore get all of the nutritional value out of it.
One thing you could try rather than a total switch is to add a small amount of a complete wet food - only really little amounts to begin with. I'd go for something like Naturediet (they do a puppy version - only downside is they're having issues at the moment which may mean its hard to get hold of at the moment and for the near future) or Natures Menu. These type of foods are higher quality and if your puppy is missing anything from her diet then this may help ensure she gets everything he needs. Something like Natures Menu has very few ingredients so its less likely to upset her tum than canned food which contains a bit of everything.
http://naturesmenu.co.uk/products/Pu...ches_for_Dogs/

i did see some natural tablets in a pet store once. they are to make poo taste bad, i couldnt think what could make it taste worse

my pup is 16 weeks. he started eating his poop at about 11 weeks. he did this all the time then even though he is on a good food (40% chicken). he is now doing this a lot less and only indoors! he has never been told off when messing indoors but we think he only now does it indoors as he knows he should do it outside and trys to hide it although there is no getting away from the smell

Hi there,

I work in rescue kennels and we see poo eating behaviour quite often. We add a small amount of diced courgette (you can also use pineapple) to each of their meals. This makes the faeces smell unpleasent and over time should discourage your dog from picking his faeces up.
Dogs will sometimes also eat their on stools if they eat too quickly, therefore causing some undiegested food to be passed (think someone else mentioned this, so sorry if im repeating!) prehaps feed in a treatball or use a kong instead of bowl feeding to slow down the rate at which the dog eats its food!