Why Does My Dog Eat Poop?

If you’ve ever witnessed your dog eating poop, you probably wondered if there’s a nutritional deficiency or mental problem that’s causing this behaviour. You likely find it upsetting or even revolting, but it may just be canine nature. So many dogs eat faeces that veterinarians consider stool eating normal doggy behaviour. The tendency of some dogs to eat their own poop or that of other animals has a scientific name: Coprophagia.

Here are some of the reasons why your dog may be engaging in this behaviour:

- It’s in a dog’s DNA to eat poop. Eating of fresh stools is a reflection of an innate predisposition of ancestral canids living in nature that protects pack members from intestinal parasites present in faeces that could occasionally be dropped in the den / rest area.

- It is a normal, natural behaviour at some canine life stages. Mother dogs will lick their puppies to urge them to eliminate, and clean up their faeces by eating it, for about the first three weeks after birth. Puppies will also naturally engage in this behaviour, eating their own poop, poop from other dogs, as well as poop from cats and other animals. They usually outgrow this though.

- Females and greedy eaters (dogs who steal food off tables or eat very fast) are more likely to eat poop.

- Consult with your vet to rule out health problems such as: Parasites, diet deficient in nutrients and calories, malabsorption syndromes, Diabetes, Cushing’s Syndrome, Thyroid Disease and other conditions that might cause an increase in appetite. Drugs, such as steroids are also known to cause Coprophagia.

- Environmental stress or behavioural triggers include:

* Isolation: Studies have shown that socially-deprived dogs who are kept alone in kennels or basements are more likely to eat poop than those dogs who live close to their people.

* Restrictive confinement: Spending too much time confined in a small space can cause the problem. It’s not unusual to see Coprophagia in dogs rescued from crowded shelters.

* Anxiety: Often a result of a person using punishment or harsh methods during potty training. According to this theory, dogs may eliminate and then eat their own poop to get rid of the evidence, but then they are punished more. It becomes a vicious cycle.

* Attention-seeking: Dogs eat their own poop to get a reaction from their humans, which they inevitably will. So if you see your dog doing this, don’t overreact because you may inadvertently reinforce the behaviour.

* Inappropriate association with real food: Dogs who are fed in close proximity to their faeces may make a connection between the odours of food and those of poop and will start to associate the poop with food.

* Scenting it on their mothers: In some cases, puppies will get confused by sniffing faecal odours on their mother’s breath after she has cleaned them. Also, sometimes mothers may regurgitate food that is mixed with puppy faecal matter. This is referred to as an “appetitive inoculation,” which may set a puppy up to develop this bad habit.

* Living with a sick or elderly dog: Sometimes a healthy dog will consume stools from a weaker canine member of the household, especially in cases of faecal incontinence. Scientists hypothesize that this may be related to the instinct to protect the pack from predators.

If this has suddenly or recently become an unwanted behaviour, there may be a health-related explanation. Thus, first rule out any medical or dietary causes and treat those if necessary. If, however, the dog has been eating poop since puppyhood, then it may be a learnt behaviour or caused by environmental triggers. In this case use management and prevention to break the habit:

- Keep the dog’s living area clean, including the yard, so there will be no poops for him to consume.

- Supervise your dog on walks and pick up after him immediately. Prevent him from eating poop by keeping him on a leash and, worst case scenario, using a muzzle temporarily until your dog can be trusted without it. Your dog would need to be desensitised to a muzzle before he’ll happily wear one.

- Training: Work hard on the cues “leave it” and “come.” One simple exercise is to teach your dog to come to you for a yummy food treat as soon as he has eliminated. That way, the dog will develop a habit of running to you for a tasty titbit, instead of reaching for the revolting one on the ground.