Puppy eating her own poo... Any helpful suggestions??

[vintagesewingmachine]

Our puppy is now 6 months old and still feels the need to eat her own poo. She is crated when we are out, which is never more than 3 hours. She asks to go out and goes for a wee in the garden but will come back in then nip upstairs and do a poo when she thinks no one is looking. She quite often poops in the garden but still attempts to eat it unless we shoo her off. She is not remotely interested in the poo of our other dog or any other animal(we live in a rural area), nor is she interested in her own once it is cold. We have increased her food on the advice of the vet who suggested she is hungry but no improvement.
Any constructive advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

This is quite common and i am at the memories with my dog. If you google copraphagia in dogs there will be lots of info (make sure you specify dogs, there are some very strange people out there!).

We put pineapple chunks in with the dogs food - apparently this makes the poo taste horrible worked though or dog grew out of wantin to eat his own shite

I think the vet is wrong about hungry though, its more of a behavioural thing. But lets face it, dog food smells like shite so............

No, the hunger problem can the cause in some cases. A dog on a good quality complete dog food will be getting the nutrients and benefits they need. If not, they are simply eating their poo as a source of more food, more nutrients because they're hungry from lack of above. It could be a digestion problem where their body isn't absorbing that they need
Try changing dog food, or a bits of protein like eggs, certain raw meat, rice.

Or it could be that the dog finds it pleasurable - this is quite common. A pleasure act out weighs a happy owner. Try above first, if doesn't work then add either pineapple or courgettes to their diet, this isn't pleasant or pleasurable to eat.

It could also be a sign of boredom.

I'm a dog handler and work with a few behaviourists and asked them about this when my dog was a puppy.

I think it is something that most young dogs experiment with and grow out of, try calling her away from the poo and giving her a treat, I'm sure you are clearing up all poo as soon as she does it so she doesn't get the chance. I was also advised to try adding a tablespoon of natural yoghurt to dogs food, probiotics and all that

Some brands are very heavy on artificial flavourings, which are not alway broken down during digestion - making the poo smell delicious to a dog.

I'd try changing her food to something more natural - if she's not already on a natural one.