What is Coprophagia? It’s a medical term for a feces eater, yuck!
There are a number of reasons why puppies, and some adult dogs eat poop. As disgusting as this is to us there are many reasons why puppies will ingest their poo. What I have witnessed is during their time with their mother, and if the dam is very conscientious and cleans up after her puppies, she will eat their poop. This behavior stems from when they were wild undomesticated dogs. In my research they (modern dog), are protecting their young from “predators”, and smells that could potentially carry through the air and alert predators to her pups. Even today they still mimic their ancestors behavior, this is hardwired in their genetic code.
I noticed that soon after puppies got some size to them and mum wasn’t as attentive (around 4 weeks of age) the puppies began to clean up after themselves. In the beginning they hesitated to eat the poop but as time went by, they became a bit more bold, and developed a taste for it. **This is why they are now in individual crates to keep cross contamination down to a minimum. After a dam has had a litter of puppies she is a bit addicted to poop herself. This could be a vitamin deficiency, from having lost important nutrients during the pregnancy, labor and nursing her puppies. As time goes on dam’s eventually snap out of it but on occasion we will need to step in and add vitamins that help to assist mum with the supplements she needs to replenish her nutritional stock.
Most puppies 99% will have worms at this stage of the game, and usually around 4 months of age their immune system is strong enough to defend themselves from worms. However, in the mean time pups will eat their poo in order to sustain the worms in their system. The puppy isn’t craving the poop the worms are needing the poop for survival.
I say all of this to make sure you understand the importance of cleaning up after your puppy, don’t leave temptation around so the puppy will want to eat it. Make sure puppy is up to date on all shots and deworming from your licensed veterinarian. Don’t leave puppy in her crate for to long this is very unhealthy too, exercise is very important they will eat out of boredom, no different than humans, and if you don’t feed puppy enough they will find something to eat- a nice hefty dose of poo.
Please, don’t just take my word for it, but do your own research.
Happy Tails! 😊