My puppy won't stop eating poop, it's ruining my relationship with my fiancé

[givemeareason]

My fiancé (23F) and I (23M) have a beautiful 6 month old F Corgi. We have had her since she was 3 months. Ever since we brought her home, she has been an avid poop eater. We live in apartments, where there is often feces from dogs and cats in the grass and courtyards around the complex, which makes it an issue each time we go out. To me, it seems like a harmless, breed-specific thing that she will grow out of. When I take her out I let her explore to her heart's desire, as I feel bad that we don't have our own yard for her.

My fiancé on the other hand, absolutely loses it when our puppy gets her teeth on said feces and will yank her leash at the sight that she is even sniffing the ground. This breaks my heart to see the poor puppy being yanked like that and that she isn't able to act out her doggly instincts of simply SNIFFING.

Anyways, this issue has caused a lot of discourse and arguments between my fiancé and I. Just wondering if I'm in the wrong and would love to hear some feedback from other dog owners.

 

[cooluel]

@givemeareason A simple solution would be to muzzle train your pup. That way puppy can still sniff everything on walks but not ingest anything harmful.

 

[kellygok]

@givemeareason Do not. Let your do. Eat poop.

How is this an argument at all? Parasites, bacteria, general cleanliness? My dog licks my face and hands all the time. I would vomit if I knew he was eating poop beforehand.

Control your dog, find another area with less poop for them to have some freedom to sniff and explore.

 

[abdallah20]

@kellygok yeah i once watched in abject horror as my dog flung hidden poop in the air then opened her mouth and literally let us slide down her throat. i had absolutely zero time to react and was left standing frozen and staring at her like “you are not licking me for at least a month and a bag of greenies”

edit: oops i meant to reply to something else, apologies.

 

[johnwebster]

@givemeareason Don't let your dog eat poop. If nothing else, think about this: how often does your dog lick your hands or face?

It also seems wild to me there is so much lying around your apartment complex

 

[silverfall]

@johnwebster I purposely toss poo around my complex because I like listening to domestics

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[djbartu]

@givemeareason Y'all need dog training, and so does the dog

 

[ann58]

@givemeareason I absolutely would train out the poop eating. Your dog will always have parasites if you just let her indiscriminately interact with or step on foreign poop, let alone ingest it. She should be allowed to sniff, but keep your leash short enough that you can see what she’s sniffing, and if it’s a poo, you have a few options. You can absolutely do a finger snap and “no” to get attention that it is an undesirable behaviour, or you can do the same snap to get her attention and then employ a replacement reward by offering her a kibble if she sees a poop. You can also incorporate a clicker with the positive method and then use it to replace the kibble.

Also, I would be complaining to management about the errant poop situation. It’s unhygienic for everybody! Dogs can track in worm eggs and ingest them later by licking their paws even if the poop has disintegrated into the soil months or years before. I wouldn’t even walk my dog in a place where poop was normal to encounter and not a one off relic. Considering REGULAR deworming.

 

[andrew923]

@givemeareason I would not condone or encourage your dog to eat poop. You should definitely let her sniff but should be monitored closely so she’s not ingesting stuff that could be dangerous. Poop can have bacteria, worms, and other stuff that could make your dog sick. I would try to do something in the middle - letting her sniff but avoiding her getting to actually eat the poop. Work with her on “leave it” as much as you can…but sometimes I just have to yank her away from the poop. You could also go through and clean up the area you’re letting her explore beforehand so there’s less for her to get into if you prefer to let her sniff with less supervision.

 

[00familyman]

@givemeareason My dog was a poop eater and despite us trying to always stop her, she managed to get it in here and there. Unfortunately it was also her demise as she caught distemper from what we think was skunk poo. She was vaccinated but I guess full dose like that, it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t wish distemper on my enemies dog, poor thing. She was only diagnosed after the disease had progressed and by then it was too late and we had to let her go as she was suffering.

 

[freddied]

@givemeareason why are you arguing with your fiance for her not letting your dog eat poop? if its an issue of her yanking the dog too hard thats another issue, but if its a standard "stop doing that" dog leash yank, thats honestly the proper thing to do in that scenario. dont let your dog eat poop. yes, stopping her from even sniffing might be best because sometimes if you give a puppy an inch she will take a mile, AKA she will try to bite into it and if your reflexes arent fast enough she'll get a chomp.

 

[waiting_soul]

@freddied I took it to mean that the fiancé was yanking the leash hard even if there was just sniffing, not that they were letting their dog eat poop all the time and she was freaking out about it. So my advice was going to be lose the fiancé, keep the dog, lol.

 

[kylein]

@givemeareason Poop eating is pretty normal for a puppy, and still a habit for many adults. If there's no medical issue behind it, it's not a worry.

Leash popping, on the other hand, is not a desirable behaviour. Therapy required.

 

[cliudelta]

@kylein There is the cleaning aspect and smelly breath. You can and should train your dog not to eat poop. Yanking the leash though or yelling at the dog is definitely how not to train your dog to not eat poop

But OP should train her dog to not eat poop

 

[aldrichenko]

@kylein Can’t dogs get diseases that can kill them if they eat poop?

 

[rebeccabm]

@kylein Poop eating is absolutely NOT normal for a pup. It’s called coprophagia.

From a quick google search for anyone who has 15 seconds: “There's a scientific name for a dog's habit of eating poop—coprophagia (kop-ruh-fey-jee-uh)—and also both behavioral and physiological reasons why some dogs view poop as a delicacy.”

It is NOT normal.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@givemeareason Dogs eating poop now and again isn't too shocking but if it's common you should take the little fella into the vet and get them checked out. When they start to eat their or other dogs poop frequently it could be due to a number of health issues including worms, diabetes, and even malnutrition syndrome.

Not to worry you of course but just things to be considerate of.

 

[lhoustonii]

@givemeareason Ahh it happens, usually a dietary issue with something missing. Easy fix is spray the latest down with bitter spray or Tabasco and problem solved.

 

[landscape_guy]

@givemeareason Get the pup checked out and get rid of the fiancé

 

[susannjenga]

@givemeareason Your pup may need more food or may be missing nutrients from their diet.

What breed size is your dog. I had a large breed dog previously and a giant breed currently.

They both occasionally ate their poop, during growth spurts when they were under 3 years old.

Talking to other owners of similar breeds it was common.

They are growing, and depending on the breed, they can be growing fast and need nutrition.

I currently have a Corso, and she was growing fast. She did eat here poop during spring time more than other times.

Also, dogs don't digest different foods the same way, if there's something you give your dog that it really enjoys and goes right through them, they may smell it in their poop and think it's a treat.

My previous dog loved corn, swallowed it whole (not corn on the cob), my neighbour's dog loved it too. So when my dog pooped, the neighbors dog found a way over and cleaned up the yard... took a bit to figure this one out!

What worked for me was to use two different words for extra food.

Treat was for her following directions, etc.

Snack was for after her bowel movement.

During the poop eating season, after she poops I say "snack" and give her a treat. She totally forgets to smell her poop.

If your dog is eating poop all the time, throughout the year, consider the food you feed. Talk to a vet.