Why
Dogs Eat Poop
Daniel Estep, Ph.D. and Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D.
www.AnimalBehaviorAssociates.com
Copyright ABA, Inc.
Article published in the Rocky Mountain News, Denver, CO.
A behavior that
is very common in dogs but not well understood is the eating of feces. Technically this is known as coprophagia. When given
the chance, many dogs will eat the feces of other animals such as horses, deer and house cats. Raiding the litterbox is a
common activity for dogs in households with cats. the behavior may be derived from the carnivorous (meat-eating) heritage
of our pets. Carnivores frequently eat the internal organs and stomach contents (including poop) of the animals that the kill.
There may be proteins and other nutrients in the feces that are eaten.
Less well understood is why some dogs eat the
feces of other dogs or even their own feces. There are a number of animals that normally eat their own feces or the feces
of other member of their species. There include rabbits, horses and rats. In these animals it is thought that eating of feces
may provide nutrients, enzymes or bacteria that help with digestion.
It is not known why dogs eat their own feces. For
some dogs it is a strong habit while others may never do it. one theory is that it may be related to boredom or stress. Another
is that is related to digestive deficiencies. Neither theory has any support at the present time. No one really knows what
causes it.
Controlling or stopping coprophagia is very difficult. Veterinarians ca supply a substance that can be added
to a dog's food that makes the feces distasteful. Sometimes this is helpful. Most of the time, the best way to shop the behavior
is to prevent the dog from getting to feces. Picking up soon after your dog has pooped can be the best way to prevent him
form getting to his own feces.
Coprophagia is the ingestion of poop that is neither
accidental nor incidental. It is deliberate and habitual.
Other
abnormal canine eating issues include pica (eating of nonfood material), psychogenic water drinking (consuming
more water than necessary for regular daily use), anorexia (starvation to the point of extreme, and deadly weight
loss), and gorging (serious, unhealthy overeating).
The
focus here is on coprophagia and why dogs eat poop. But, you’ll see that dogs can have a variety of other eating problems.
Interestingly, you’ll probably also notice that several of these eating problems are also found in humans, such as anorexia
and gorging. We’re kind of like our canine friends sometimes, aren’t we.
Below there are 20 reasons listed why dogs eat poop. In addition, at the end of this article you’ll
see a summarization of the reasons. Hopefully you will understand exactly why dogs eat poop so that you can solve the problem
or take some action to improve the situation.
Why Dogs Eat Poop:
20 Reasons
1. Your dog might be hungry. If your dog doesn't
have access to food, he might eat poop.
2. Some dogs will eat
poop to clean up an area like a housekeeper. This is most likely if your dog is confined to a crate or kennel, or when he's
chained up or otherwise restricted. He's taking care of his space.
3.
If your dog likes to carry poop, and then eat it, it could be genetics. Some dogs have instincts to carry stuff in their mouths.
4. Your dog might be eating poop because of parasites or worms. They can suck
nutrients out of your dog, driving him to eat poop. It might also leave him extra hungry because of the lack of proper fuel.
5. Your dog might be eating cat poop or other animal poop to get key nutrients
and minerals not available in his own food.
6. Some dogs will
simply eat poop to pass the time. Dogs will eat poop because they are bored or lonely. It can be a sign of neglect.
7. Your dog might eat poop because he's anxious, nervous or otherwise upset.
Stress will drive animals to do odd things.
8. Some dogs will
eat poop to hide the evidence. If you punish your dog for pooping, he might eat it to stop you from getting angry.
9. If your dog has puppies, she might eat puppy poop. This is an instinct to
hide the poop from predators. Poop is evidence. Getting ride of it keeps her puppies safe.
10. Some young dogs and puppies will eat poop as a novelty. That is, they'll eat poop as an experiment.
They don't know better.
11. If your dog watches you pick up
poop, he might learn to do th e same. This is called allelomimetic behavior. Your dog observes you and learns from you, by
putting the poop in his mouth you put poop in a bag.
12. Your
dog might see others dogs eating poop. From this, they learn to eat poop too. 13.
Many dogs simply like the taste of poop. This obviously doesn't make sense to dog owners but that's irrelevant. Some dog like
to eat it and that's that. It's warm, moist, and very much like what your dog was given as a very young puppy.
14. If your dog food lacks key nutrients, he might eat poop. Your dog is trying
to get "food" with nutrients any way possible, even from his own poop.
15. Sometimes dog poop seems like dog food. This can happen when dog food is low quality and includes materials
that are easily passed and not absorbed by your dog. When the dog poops, it seems to be very much like the food he just consumed!
16. In some cases, dogs will eat poop if they are given too much food. This
is especially true if your dog's diet is high in fat.
17. Some
dogs will eat poop to gain attention. Many dog o wners get very upset when their dog eats poop, which means the dog gets attention.
This is a wonderful opportunity for your dog to interact with you, although it is because of negative attention.
18. It is possible that some dogs will eat the poop of other, more dominant
dogs. Your dog might be more submissive than other dogs, resulting in strange poop eating behavior. This seems to occur more
in households with multiple dogs where dominance and submission is a factor. Obviously this doesn't explain much about dogs
eating cat poop or other animal poop.
19. It is possible that
your dog wants to eat more than one time per day. If you only feed your dog once per day, and your dog eats poop, it could
be an indication they want to eat more frequently.
20. In
some cases, your dog will eat poop by accident. Dogs are curious and will try to eat almost anything, including poop. Dogs
explore the world through taste and smell, much more than humans.
