Stool eating is called coprophagia.
This is a disgusting habit some dogs have, not all dogs do it all the time & some never do it. Some eat their own dodo & some eat other dogs poop or other animals poop. My current dogs will eat rabbit dodo but no other animals dodo. I have had dogs that eat poop, my dog Sam would only eat frozen dog poop. My dog Sydney would eat goose poop when we walked.
Why dogs do this is a debatable topic, some say it is because they lack something in their diet. Some say it is common in female dogs which has carried over from the fact that females clean up after their puppies. I think this doesn’t make sense because once puppies eat food the mom no longer cleans up like she did as young pups. I have also heard that dogs that live in a small area start to eat poop to keep the area cleaner. It is possible it is a learned behavior from a pups mom. It could be done out of boredom, stress, attention seeking behavior or anxiety. It also could be a signal of a medical issue. A Vet visit is a good place to start to rule out parasites, or a medical condition such as Cushing”s disease (especially if this a new habit). Some dogs, if punished for having an accident will start to eat their poop to try to hide the evidence. An animal should not be punished for an accident & it should be cleaned up out of the site of the dog. No matter the reason, I know most pet owners don’t want it to stop.
Some ideas I can recommend are:
- Keep their potty area picked up so there is not an opportunity to eat poop.
- Be outside with your dog so you can monitor them, clean up immediately & redirect them if they find a left over stool you missed.
- Take your dog out on a leash so you can be there & close to clean up & move your dog away from any stool he/she may find.
- Take your dog into the Vet & let them know your dog has this habit, they may want to run some tests to eliminate a medical condition.
- Add digestive enzymes into your dogs food, in turn helping the absorption of more nutrients into the body.
- Add meat tenderizer to your pets food, it can help with digestion.
- Feed raw zucchini
- Feed raw pineapple
- Sprinkle hot sauce on stools (careful: some dogs think it’s like adding ketchup & they like it more).
- If you’re out walking pay real close attention to your surroundings & steer your dog away from stools or get your dog’s attention in a positive way & feed it a treat as you move away from the stool.
- Teach your dog the “leave it” command & reward when your dog listens & moves away from the tempting stool. Your dog can learn quickly that you have a yummy reward for them. I had to do this with my dog Sydney on walks or she would eat goose poop any chance she got. I always took high value rewards on our walks near the river.
- If there is an area you walk near that is always a temptation for your dog, change where you walk or cross the street where the temptation is & then cross back. Don’t let your dog repeat this habit or it will make it harder to stop it.
- Feed a HIGH quality food (meat should be the first ingredient, no bi-products, corn, or wheat).
- Be sure you have fecal test done yearly at the Vet. Keeping your dog on heartworm medication that helps with intestinal worms can help prevent them getting worms from eating infected stools.
if your dog has this habit, I know it is an icky habit, but hopefully one or more of these will work with your dog. Please be sure it is not caused by a medical condition first, any health issues are the biggest factor to eliminate.
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