Coprophagia

Question
Hi Trish,

I followed your advice and started my puppy on dry food and he is now 3.5 months old.  I've been feeding him Eukanoba puppy bites and doing a free feed.  However, he doesn't seem to like the dry food and eats much less of it than I expected (he used to lick the bowl clean when I served him the canned Pedigree puppy food).  Now he picks at the dry food only if he is starving, and begs if he sees my family cooking or eating anything.  Am I doing something wrong?

Which leads to another concern: he is still eating his feces!  I had caught him doing it when he was on the wet food also, but not as often.  Now if I turn my back on him for just a few minutes, he will defecate and immediately start eating his feces.  I try to keep a close watch on him and keep his potty area clean, but I am away from home for at least 4 hours a day.  I came home early today and caught him in the act and scolded him. I tried using forbid powder I got from the vet when I first caught him doing this, but since then I've run out of powder and I'm not sure it's helping.  What would you suggest?  Please help!  This doesn't seem like a healthy or sanitary habit for him to keep up!  

Answer
Sometimes they are eating thier poo because there are still appealing scents in it due to it not all being digested.  It still smells like it has food value.  It is not a good practice as it can lead to tooth decay.  I have a couple of poo eaters too and I have tried for years to get them to stop... to no avail.  If you are diligent with the pills/powder (Distaste is one) that make the waste unsavory then it may help.
As far as the eating the dry food, it sounds like he just PREFERS soft food and people food.  But, dry dog food has everything he needs.  You can try to put water on his food-it makes the food expand and take up more room in his tummy and it also may be more appatizing to him wet.  He begs for what you have because it smells better than what he is having.  It is normal and you can give him treats but this will make the behavior worse.  He will come to expect the table scraps. If you are going to give him treats it is best to do it away from the table and not while you are eating.
He sounds like a normal loved and spoiled pup. :-)
-Trish
Gemini Poms
www.geminipoms.com