It’s a question that leaves dog owners puzzled and even a little grossed out: why do puppies eat their poop? We asked an expert veterinarian with over 30 years of experience to help us get to the bottom of it.

Dr Edward Bassingthwaighte is a veterinary professional of almost 30 years, turned holistic animal care pioneer. With a personal journey through chronic fatigue syndrome leading him to explore holistic healing, Dr. Edward developed the Whole Energy Body Balance (WEBB) method to merge healing touch, energy work, and neuro-fascial techniques, enhancing animal well-being. He brings insights into holistic practices’ transformative power for animals and shares heartwarming stories of recovery from pain, trauma and anxiety.

Is it your fault that your puppy is eating their poo?

The short answer is no. It’s not your fault when your puppy eats their poo. It’s gross from a human perspective, but quite normal for dogs to eat poo when you consider it from an evolutionary perspective.

In other words, poo is a normal food for wild and village dogs. It’s something that dogs eat in the wild. Poo tastes and smells good to many dogs. They like it (unfortunately).

When dogs used to live in human villages (and this was for thousands and thousands of years), they were mostly free-roaming, and not living in human homes like they do now. One of their most important food sources was human faeces, human poo.

So if your puppy eats poo, the first thing to understand is that even though humans find it incredibly gross and yucky, it’s kind of normal.

However, puppies will rarely eat poo these days, thankfully. Except for cat poo. Dogs consider cat poo to be an incredibly yummy treat, and they will eat it if given half a chance. Make sure you never give them that chance! Don’t allow access to cat poo.

Reasons why your puppy might be eating poo

Hunger or nutrient deficiency

The solution here is to check what you are feeding your puppy. Is it a complete diet and are you feeding a sufficient amount? Make sure you’re feeding a high-quality complete diet (preferably fresh whole foods), and enough calories.

Boredom and/or stress

Make sure that you are giving your puppy all the enrichment, activities, training, connection, love and time that they need. Also, make sure that they are not being exposed to stress, and that you are not overly stressed or anxious either.

Underlying medical condition

Your puppy may have a medical condition affecting digestion and/or behaviour. If you try everything else and they are still eating poo, please go to your vet and have blood tests etc to see if there is a metabolic issue that might be causing this behaviour. They may be lacking in digestive enzymes or have other problems that need veterinary attention and treatment.

Parasites

Sometimes if your pup has worms or other parasites, it can make them more prone to eating poo. The solution to this is to ensure worming is kept up to date.

Isolation

If your dog is isolated, especially in a confined space, they may not have adequate time to go outside and toilet. This can lead to stress and boredom while making poop accessible and more likely to be eaten.

One in six dogs are ‘serious’ poo eaters. In one study, this percentage of dogs were seen to eat poo four or more times. So it’s relatively common, and often not a health issue or ‘mental illness’.

If your dog is eating poo, there are a few things you can try, including vitamin supplements, mineral supplements, and taste aversion products. Honestly, these only work some of the time, but they are worth a try.

Otherwise, environmental management is the best way to go. Clean up poo instantly and remove the opportunity for poo to be eaten. And work on lots of enrichment, training, and play – the more you do that, the better things will get!

Find Dr Edward at The Healing Vet.

Do you have a poop-eating pup on your hands? Tell us how you solved it in the comments below.