Copraphagia is that subject we all try and avoid and when we do talk about it our faces say it all! Dogs eating their own or other dog's poo is an emotive subject because it is the one behaviour our dogs do that it seems to us at least pretty horrible.  To our dogs of course it is a totally natural behaviour and in many cases enjoyable!!.

But there are a number of reasons that drive our dogs to perform this behaviour and we should be looking at why our dog finds this behaviour rewarding rather than reading all the 'magic' solutions on the internet, ranging  from pineapple juice, pepper to garlic in their food.. In many cases the underlying motivation is one of nutrition., for others it is attention seeking.
It is necessary to look at the reasons that may drive your dogs poo eating in order to resolve it.

1. The Right Diet

• Getting your dog's diet right for them can be challenging but every dog is an individual and what suits one may not suit another
• Changing a dog's diet should be done gradually over the period of least a week to avoid tummy upsets
• Many cases are just because a dog is actually hungry and we need to look at whether we are feeding the right quantities. The advice of a Canine Nutritionist such as Claire at The Pet Corner has been invaluable for many of our clients

2. Boredom

• Bored or lonely dogs often just try this behaviour and find it rewarding. It 'tastes good' 
• Ensure your dog has lots of interactive toys and things to stimulate his mind as well as physical exercise. A lack of mental exercise is very often at the root of many behaviour problems I see in my Behaviour work. 
• We are big fans of scent work and  foraging games and 'scatter feeding' in your garden can be a huge success for your dog. It is a quick and easy win for you too. Throwing your dog's kibble over your garden and helping him 'find it' initially is one of the simplest and easiest scent activities we know! After a few times your dog gets it and happily will search your garden for his dinner using up loads of energy!

3. Attention Seeking

• It has to be the fastest way a dog can get our attention and they work this out super quick! We run from the house to the garden like an Olympic runner and make lots of high pitched 'exciting' noises too
• Research tells us that Copraphagia is best tackled through prevention and management . Accompany your dog to toilet at all times and keeping him on a lead ( can be a longer lead than his usual one) so you can divert him away from it immediately.
• Increasing higher value rewards for his 'spending' often helps too and not just food. Maybe he loves a ball and you can get his attention away so therefore beginning to build new habits around toileting
• Stay calm, pick up quickly after he has done it but don't make it a drama or a race!

4. Avoid Punishment

• Some clever dogs work it out that a combination of their poo eating + human response = bad things. This often results in them eating their evidence faster and usually before you can get to it,  in order to dispose of it .
• Stopping all punishment  and finding  those 'moments' where you can reward them for more positive, alternative behaviours is your goal.  Even moving one step back from the source  or moving one tiny step towards you after they have gone to the loo are great opportunities to begin a different strategy with your dog. . It may be a tiny step but it is first step, after a few weeks of careful management but it is a start  . 
•  Missing those reward moments comes from our own frustration but remembering that it is much more effective to reward good behaviour from our dogs than it is to try and punish bad behaviour.

Recently as an Animal Behaviourist i have seen more than my usual cases of Shadow Chasing . It prompted me to  write a short article in our blog about this behaviour. It often begins as a behaviour that owners find funny and amusing. Unfortunately, this leads to the dog being reinforced for performing this behaviour and repeating it . It can then result in behavioural problems and in many cases the breeds involved are Collies, Springer Spaniels and English Bull Terriers but not exclusively.

The first indication of this unusual behaviour is usually witnessed when the dog jumps on a shadow on the floor and then the dog tries to either dig at it or chase it with it's front paws. Sometimes they try to  bite at the shadow it as it moves .  Children using a torch or laser beam as a fun game with the dog, can trigger the 'chase' behaviour. Much laughter follows as the dog tries to 'catch' the light and this rewards the dog for performing this behaviour.. 

In some dogs this starts what can actually becomes an obsession and the dog becomes 'addicted' to try and find shadows to 'chase'. This leads to a dog who cannot rest normally and spends much of his time hunting for shadows to 'chase'.

Tail chasing begins in much the same way . Watching your puppy chase his tail is often accompanied by much laughter and hilarity as children watch their new puppy spin around and try and catch it's own tail.  This behaviour too can become an obsession or an addictive attention seeking behaviour. The best approach to prevent this happening is usually to ignore such behaviour when you first see it or I often suggest that you leave the room when it happens. The consequence of you leaving the room is a good approach as it prevents you reinforcing the behaviour by any verbal, or visual communication that would result in the dog wanting to perform this behaviour again..

So, it is a practice to never tease your dogs with lights, laser pointers , reflections or shadows

Sometimes this behaviour can indicate in dogs a serious behavioural problem.. If you have constantly ignored your dog's light or shadow chasing and it has not resulted in an improvement of the behaviour please contact your Vet who can refer you to a Behaviour Counsellor .. Also if your dog is chasing 'imaginary flies or starting into space these both are behaviours that require professional help.

1 Being Prepared

​Planning and thinking about how a puppy will fit in to your family life makes the transition easier from the breeder to your home for your new pup and helps you relax and enjoy your new arrival.

After all the waiting, bringing a new puppy home is exciting and even more so if you have young children.  It is a big step for any puppy to leave the only home they have known, go in a car for the first time, leave their mother and perhaps littermates, all at the same time. So, thinking about some of the preparations before your puppy arrives helps you to work out what he needs in these first few weeks without his mother.
​
It is an excellent idea to ask the breeder for a piece of bedding that your puppy has been using for the first few nights with you. Agreeing as a family where your new puppy will sleep, how you will manage puppy in the first few days, what happens when you go back to work and planning on how to prevent your precious puppy escaping when lots of visitors come to see him. Stairgates are invaluable for providing safety and peace of mind.

Building a trusting, loving and stable relationship is a key part to robust, friendly and confident puppies that grow up to be brilliant pet dogs.

There are lots of ways to develop these relationships with your puppies through play, cuddles, feeding, exercise, spending quality time together and of course reward based training!

Working through training challenges and learning together is a great way to build, improve and strengthen those all-important relationships, with the added benefit of improving communication and teaching some manners.

For me, I start by teaching a hand touch. This is where, when presented with a hand at puppy’s level and asked to ‘TOUCH’ the puppy will run up and touch the hand with their nose. This might seem like a strange choice but is has a few huge benefits.

​Dogs of any age love to search for things – and especially puppies – as searching uses their young brain too and is great mental exercise for them.

Searching for food or toys not only teaches them to use their nose as well as their eyes, but begins the training process of them learning to wait ‘for good things to happen’.  You can practice your ‘wait or stay’ while you go about hiding food or toys and your lovely puppy is being taught some self-control too. A very useful skill for puppies!
​
So, to get him started, he can be in the same room as you and you can hide some smelly treats in an empty toilet roll holder or a furry pencil case. Show him what you are doing so he realises that the treats are hidden inside. However, he must not move whilst you hide the item, as that is ‘cheating’, so if your puppy needs support to remain in one position ask a friend or family member to help while he is learning. Puppies learn fun tasks like this one especially quickly!  I like to use a release cue to begin the search such as ‘search’ or ‘find’ or a simple ‘free’ will do too but you might need to give him lots of encouragement as he learns what to do. Try as hard as you can to let him find it on his own and when he does, open it and give him the scrummy contents. When you think he gets the game, you can begin to hide it in another room or outside. A great addition to the game is pretending to hide it in one place but put it in another, and he will learn to really use his nose! This mind game works super well on a rainy day or in the garden where there are lots of hiding places and competing smells!