Ask the trainer: Stopping bad behaviour

Q: We have a golden retriever, nine months old and she has horrible behaviour. She eats her own poo, and others. Are you able to tell me why? And the really big question is can I do anything to stop her?

A: The good news is that there is both a reason and a solution for this behaviour.

This condition is known as coprophagia and is a behavioural issue influenced by diet.

The act of eating faeces is normal for a dog when she has a litter because she will eat the puppies' stools to keep the environment clean.

This is due to the maternal instinct of keeping her puppies safe. No smell means no predators will be attracted to the helpless litter because she has eliminated scent.

As puppies grow, they too may experiment with this clean-up behaviour which is more a developmental stage. Just as many inappropriate items enter the mouths of our human babies as they discover their world, the same thing happens to our puppies.

This phase is usually short-lived and can be eliminated entirely by being vigilant in your daily clean-up.

If they have no access to poo, they are not able to eat it, so the behaviour never develops.

In a puppy over three months old, the cause of coprophagia is due to an enzyme deficiency in their diet. Feeding a specific premium age and breed diet such as Eukanuba will often be enough to get the nutritional balance correct

for your dog. This diet ensures proteins are balanced and absorbed by your dog rather than having them need to "recycle'' nutrients wasted in faeces.

Overfeeding can also contribute to lack of absorption of essential nutrients so ensure you feed to the guidelines supplied on the premium brands dog foods. Internal parasites can also play a part in the need for additional nutrition. Ensure that your puppy receives its recommended dosage up to 12 weeks and then is wormed every three months to keep worms controlled.

Once the nutritional needs of your dog are met, you need to move onto breaking the habit the behaviour has created. The "leave it'' command is priceless for behaviour management in this instance.

Leash walk your dog so you have control over what they can and cannot gobble up until the "leave it'' command is taught and given consistently. Reward with a high value treat when your dog does leave the faeces when you ask. Also assess honestly if you feel your dog's behaviour is motivated by boredom, attention seeking or the

need to clean up their own space.

Paw point of the week

Adding a teaspoon of crushed pineapple to your dog's food is a great digestive aid. The enzyme, bromellain, breaks downs the proteins in your dog's food, making absorption efficient and eliminating the need to "recycle'' waste.

Contact me for the chance to have your question selected for publication at nadines@dogguru.co.nz for further information on Dog Guru visit www.dogguru.co.nz