I’ve caught my lab eating her own poop a couple of times, so I increased the amount of food I give her. Lately she hasn’t been finishing her food and she’s 5 months so I thought it’s time to transition her to two meals per day, but then she threw up her own poop and bits of food. So is her wanting more food the reason she’s eating poop or could there be another reason.
I am no expert, but from what I have read it is not particularly linked to hunger. Increasing food won’t stop it. Have a search for old threads on here, it’s not an easy one to resolve.
I read on the AKC website that inadequate diet can cause a puppy to eat their own poop and when I increased her food I didn’t catch her doing again until yesterday when she ate 2 meals instead of 3. So I think that is the cause, but I would like to hear what caused other dogs to engage in this behavior to rule out other possible reasons.
My 4 month old lab ate his, but I've been back at work since he was 12 weeks, (I had to drop his meals to twice a day at that time) so I give him breaky in the morning, followed by a snack just as I left for work. When he started to eat his poop, I realised that I was probably underfeeding him (he grew, but I hadn't increased his portion sizes, so I adjusted them, and also have now started to add a Kong (frozen, so it takes a while to defrost for him to chew/eat) when I leave for work in the morning. I'd prefer to come home to having to clean the floor, than learning that he felt he needed to eat his poop. The Kong is filled with various things, like a combination of shredded chicken or beef sausage, mashed pumpkin, mashed banana, and sometimes a wee bit of peanut butter, because he really loves it and its a nice surprise for him when he gets it. If I know I will be out for a really long day, I'll give him 2. I also checked with the vet, and she indicated that as my pup appears to have stopped eating his poop, hunger and boredom were probably what caused him to eat his, and the frozen kong was the right course of action in this instance. For your pup, it may be worth talking to your vet to see if there is anything else going on.
