Why do puppies want to eat everything?

by Clara Lou
Some puppies try to eat everything that comes in their way. The simple yet fun fact is that puppies don’t have their moms around shouting at them when they are living with you.
When you bring a puppy home, it becomes your responsibility to teach him good manners and raise him to be a good obedient doggie.
When in wild, dogs learn and correct their behaviors from their moms and other pack members. Nevertheless, now, sharing the home with you, you need to know why puppies want to eat everything in order to curb this behavior.
Reasons why puppies want to eat everything
There are more than one reasons why puppies eat everything. According to Kathryn Lamb, Writer & Animal Behaviorist, at DogNeedsBest, “Puppies are curious creatures who explore their world with their mouths.” Most puppies grow out of such habits.
Natural instinct
When puppies start to explore their new world in the wild, they use their mouth as an obvious tool to explore. Sometimes it becomes irresistible for them to put certain things in their mouth due to the luring scents coming from it.
However, such behaviors are corrected over time as they learn from other pack members. So, how do you address this problem as a responsible pet parent?
The only language you can use to communicate with your dog is ‘training commands’. Use positive reinforcement for obedience training and you can instruct your dog to not eat everything.
Also, if your dog’s bad habit has turned into a huge worrisome behavioral issue like they show on ‘Cesar 911 show’, a dog behaviorist may be helpful.
They are born scavengers
Dogs are opportunistic scavengers. They often eat leftovers from other animal’s catch. So, when puppies are instinctively perform scavenging, they would know what they can and can’t eat.
Dogs would not only eat leftovers of carnivores but also that of herbivores. Had they been only scavenging meat leftovers, it would be easier for them to eat only animal leftovers.
When humans started domesticating dogs, they would try to put everything available around your house in their mouths.
Their attraction to poop
All the foods humans can’t eat surely are not safe for dogs. However, puppies do one thing in particular that you can’t stand a sight of. They eat poop! The good thing about this behavior is that it disappears as they grow adult.
Puppies have a special attraction towards poop. It could be their own excreta or that of some other animals including other dogs. The behavior is also known as ‘Coprphagia.’
There are more reasons responsible for this behavior including anxiety, greed for food, malnutrition, habit, attention seeking, etc. It’s your job to figure out what the reason is and address the problem.
Some pet parents came to me asking what if eating poop is a dog’s natural behavior and stopping them from doing so would be cruel!
Poop eating can surely provide them with unabsorbed nutrients present. This is again a species-specific behavior. But you’re already providing them a wholesome and balanced diet and since poop eating brings parasites to the dog’s body, you should never encourage such behavior.
Grass eating
Some canines find it intriguing to eat grass. It may partially supplement a dog’s vitamin and dietary fiber needs. But you have to convey to your dogs that they’re not allowed to eat grass.
When you spot them eating grass, command them to ‘leave it.’ and do not give accidentally praise them or shout at them.
You’re taking your pup’s good care with diet and nutrition. That said, your dog doesn’t need to eat plants. Moreover, some high-quality dog food recipes include plants and berries so that puppies get the fibers and nutrients they require.
What if you can’t identify the reason why your dog eats everything?
So far, we have tried to understand why dogs eat grass, poop, plants, and every other thing they come across. It was more about their species-specific behavior.
But some dogs eat everything because they somehow developed compulsive behavior. They would eat shoes and socks, crockery items, small clothes, tear sofa, and all other small things.
In addition to that, when you try to pull out those things from their mouth, they will run around the house and enjoy you chasing them.
If you need to correct such a compulsive behavior by yourself, you will need a lot of patience and persistence. I’d suggest you consult a canine behavior expert and ask for their help. They will be able to understand what exactly your dog is doing and help you accordingly.
The Endnote
Understanding why puppies indulge themselves in eating everything solves half of the problem. That gives you an understanding of what is actually happening and what’s the most appropriate way to address the problem.
Also, when your dog ingests small objects, they should pass their GI tract within 24-72 hours. However, if the dog seems uneasy after ingesting food, you should immediately rush to the vet to get the object extracted or inducing vomiting.
If you have any questions regarding this article, please let us know in the comment section below.