Poop Eating
Coprophagia (poop eating)
Coprophagia
(sometimes called coprophagy, or poop-eating) is a
pretty disgusting habit that fortunately only some
dogs indulge in. It seems to be "one of those
things" as far as dogs go: a behavior that defies
logic and scientific study, and mystifies dog trainers
and veterinarians around the world.
Many, if not most, dogs will eat the feces of other
animals (particularly other dogs, cats, sheep, and
horses) with gusto whenever the opportunity presents
itself. It’s a very common behavior in dogs,
but not particularly well understood.
The simple truth is that nobody really knows why
some dogs will make a beeline for a pile of poop that's
lying on the grass. It's natural for dogs to want
to sniff the poop - almost all dogs will do this,
since the depositor's anal glands have left a kind
of Post-It note there for other dogs to "read"
- and it's just as natural (seemingly) for some dogs
to want to consume these little signposts. It's just
that we don't really know why they do it. Actually
eating the feces seems to be a matter of personal
preference, from dog to dog: some dogs derive great
satisfaction from consuming poop, whereas other dogs
appear to be simply more fastidious by nature.
There are several popular theories about the causes
of this strange habit:
- A dog that eats poop is doing so in order to supplement
his own, nutritionally-deficient diet. He is not getting
enough vitamins from the food he's given in his own
home, so he chooses to eat the poop of other animals
(usually dogs and cats) in the hope that there may
be some residual nutrition available for him to sponge
up the second time around. This is a faintly plausible
theory, apart from the fact that studies have been
conducted on dogs suffering from malnutrition and
well-nourished dogs with a clean bill of health: and
the incidence of cophrophagia among both groups was
virtually identical.
- The behavior may be derived from the carnivorous/scavenging
heritage of our dogs. When carnivores make a kill,
they typically consume the entire carcass of the animal
– everything from the actual flesh to sinews
and tendons to “offal”, which includes
the stomach, digestive tract, and its contents (poop).
It’s been suggested by some that coprophagia
is a simple and natural extension of this instinctive
behavior.
- It may be related to boredom or stress. The particulars
of this theory are hazy, but essentially, bored or
stressed dogs – such as those that spend too
much time on their own, those that lead understimulated,
underexercised lives, and those that are excluded
from family life and adequate human attention and
affection – often succumb to strange and compulsive
habits, like pulling out their own fur, spinning in
circles for hours on end, and (theoretically, at least)
poop eating. In other words, a dog will eat poop simply
because there’s nothing else for him to do.
- Internal parasites, such as worms, may be leaching
nutrients and calories from the dog’s stomach
and digestive tract. Typically, a dog with worms will
have a voracious appetite (even more so than usual!)
and will consume all the food that he has access to.
In more advanced cases, an infested dog will turn
to technically-edible substances (such as poop), which
he would not normally consider appetizing, to fill
the gap.
- Improperly housetrained dogs sometimes eat their
own poop in an attempt to conceal the “crime”
from their owners and thus avoid detection. This is
especially true of dogs whose owners tend to punish
them for housetraining mistakes, whether out of impatience/frustration
or because they believe that the dog is somehow doing
it to “spite” them. A dog that’s
pooping inappropriately indoors either has not been
housetrained correctly, in which case the accidents
are not his fault; or the reason is medical in nature.
To rule the latter out, the dog should be taken for
a check-up at the vet (particularly if the indoor
defecation has started suddenly and without warning).
- Nursing female dogs eat the poop of their puppies
as a means of keeping the den area clean, and of hiding
the existence of her pups from potential predators.
It’s thought by some that one of the reasons
that coprophagia is so commonplace in puppies, especially,
is because they’re emulating the behavior of
their mother.
Clearly, theories abound on the subject. Unfortunately,
most of them lack merit: the simple truth is that,
although we can guess as much as we like as to the
reasons that our dogs willingly and enthusiastically
ingest poop pretty much whenever the opportunity presents
itself, nobody knows with any degree of certainty
as to why they do it.
Although it’s nearly impossible to “cure”
a dog with a taste for poop of this socially unacceptable
habit, here is a short list of tips for coping with
the behavior and minimizing it as much as possible:
- Clean up the poop in your own backyard as soon
as the dog toilets. If he doesn’t have access
to it, he can’t eat it – and it’ll
save you from dealing with the flies, the odor, and
the eventuality of someone treading in it.
- Teach your dog the “leave it” command
for those times when you want to be able to walk him
off-lead. Reliable obedience in the “leave it”
makes off-lead walks a real pleasure (and it’s
a lot safer for your dog, too – the usefulness
of “leave it” applies to things like herbicide,
snail bait, and broken glass as well as poop!).
- You can try booby-trapping the poop in the backyard
with things like Tabasco sauce and lemon juice, but
this seems like a great deal of (rather disgusting)
trouble to go to when you could just pick the poop
up. In addition to the natural deterrent of having
to repeatedly handle specimens of dog turds, reports
of success from this technique are pretty erratic
– in most cases, it seems that a dog bent on
coprophagy isn’t going to be put off by a brief
burning sensation in his mouth.
- There are substances you can buy from pet stores
and vet clinics which, when put into the dog’s
food (or the food of the household pet whose poop
he’s eating) makes the poop smell and taste
very unappealing to dogs. One such product is called
“For-Bid”.
- You can experiment with adding natural deterrents
– such as a few tablespoonfuls of canned pumpkin
or pineapple, or fresh grated zucchini
– to your dog’s meals. Again, anecdotal
evidence suggests that most dogs will readily eat
these substances, but that their presence in poop
makes it unpalatable.
For Further Information
For more information on bewildering canine behaviors
– what they are, how to recognize them, why they
happen, and what to do about them – check out
Secrets To dog Training. Written by an experienced dog-trainer,
it’s packed with useful and valuable information
on training your dog and coping with problematic behaviors.
No responsible dog-owner should be without a copy!
You can check out SitStayFetch by clicking on the
following link:
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