Ewwww GROSS!! Help? - Page 1

My pups are 8 weeks old. Here lately they have decided to barely nibble their food, Instead they are uhhhhg cleaning up after themselves :( I didnt know what was happening, this evening the pups were in and I caught one having an accident, he turned around and started eating before I knew what was happening. I stopped him but what is causing this and what do I do to stop it??? They are freefed Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul with evening feedings having 2 cans of Nutro Puppy Max added to 4 cups of dry ( with a touch of water added to make it easier to mix)

you don't say how many pups.... but it is likely that they are being overfed, so the food goes thru them before it's completely digested.  still smells too much like food and not enough like waste.  either free-feed or don't - that is don't give them the special evening feed.  at 8 weeks old, when not free-fed they should have 3 meals a day.  ( i do not free feed, as this is troublesome for housebreaking.)  are stools fully formed and firm?  if not, they are getting too much food.

Thanks for the info. I suspected that might be the prob because of the odor. I am gone from 5 am until about 6 pm thats why I freefeed. There are 6 pups. Last couple of days I had given them canned food alone in the evenings in an attempt to get them to eat, which they did. hm I guess the next step is to stop the canned food altogether, it seems as tho they are getting spoiled on it and will only eat it. Of course canned food = loose stools. Do you think freefeeding without the evening special will help stop the stool eating problem?

How long were they in with the mother? Sometimes if left in too long with mom they pick up that "clean up "  trait that she does.

Not to get too gross but are they firm or runnie? most of the time they will  do the runnie due to it is like the puppy mush they were given to start them on food. I would personally cut out the can food. They should be able to eat dry with no problem at  this age. Might want to try a different brand of dog food. Something easier to fully digest . (some food is not fully digestable  and are better the second time around).

Keep the kennels as claen as possible. and take out after feeding so they can potty

If all else fails try "forbid" on the dog food. It is to stop that habbit.

 We had this problem with a rescue mom and pups and we asked our vet, breeder friends, books and the web. No one knew why  but these were some of the things we were told. Some dogs will out grow it while others will not.

based on your hours away, i understand why you free-feed.  cut out the special food.  and remember, unless it is sick, a hungry dog WILL eat.  if you have to give them something special to make them eat, they are not hungry.  take a look at their overall condition - can you see any ribs?  if not, cut back the food!  puppies should not be fat.  if they have potbellies, worm them.

They see their mom eat the poop from day one,,,They have learned a mimiced behaviour and if you dont have them seperated in separate cages  one started it and all the rest will do the same   and feeding too much it smells like fresh food as it goes right thru...... .

Only feed dry dog food ,,canned dog food is asking for trouble.....to rich for one thing for pups and cut back on the amount   ...tHREE TIMES A DAY , SMALLER  AMOUNTS., Feed when you leave and when you get home   give anothr small amount in an hour if not eaten   then two times a day will be ok...

do not wet food.....they need to learn the dry food.is for them....they will be hungy with that kind of hours and ought to eat fine...You may now have cocci     albon then for 8 days,,,,may be the reason for the loose stools...

and when they do what they are doing  , you definately need to albon .........thats where cocci starts....eating feces....

Recently a friend told me that she has added small quantities of frozen chopped spinach into the food, and it is not only good for them, it does something chemically to make the waste quite undesirable.  Does anyone have any experience with this??

might try it   wont hurt    you can order   FOrbid "  from Revivalanimal.com or Drs Foster and Smith....I tried it and it worked

I just keep pups busy and keep their poop out of reach  not always possible because I do sleep ,eat and leave home....They will stop the habit if you use the forbid" its a vegitable base form of a chemical....maybe its spinach?  wouldn't it be funny if it was,,,,, spinach   

I dont know if this will help but it worked with my recue bitch and that is to add 5ml of pineapple juice into the food they seem to love it but it dont tast nice when it comes out the other end.

Sorry but I gotta say this.... I have seen labels for products saying "add to your dogs food to make their poop taste bad" LOL! I cannot imagine it ever tasting good! Ewwwww ...LOL!