Despite how gross this is, it’s actually a common problem in dogs. Coprophagia is the scientific and medical name given to the medical condition of consuming faeces. Sometimes dogs eat their own faeces, but sometimes they eat the faeces of other animals. Some dogs find things like rabbit poop, goose droppings, or horse manure particularly tasty.
It’s most common that puppies will eat their own poop. They’re busy exploring the world with their mouths and just happen to stumble upon some poop and eat it.
Why Dogs Eat Poop
Nursing Mothers
It’s normal for nursing mothers to eat poop as they are cleaning their puppies. Mothers want to keep their den area clean, so it’s not unusual for them to eat their puppies’ poop.
Puppies
It’s not unusual for puppies to eat poop. They’re exploring the world with their mouths, and the poop smells and tastes good to them. If you notice a puppy doing this, you want to address this issue quickly before it becomes a habit. For puppies that like to eat poop, you should start by limiting their access by frequently cleaning their pens.
Encourage your puppy from the beginning to poop outside by getting him on a good potty training schedule. Take your puppy outside at regular intervals. When your puppy does finally go to the bathroom outside, praise him and reward him with high-value treats. Once you’ve done that, immediately remove him from the area of the poop so that he is not tempted even to try to eat it.
Taste
Dogs think all sort of gross things taste good, like the poop from another animal. Sometimes dogs will eat poop from another animal simply because they think it tastes good.
Attention-Seeking
Chances are, if you’ve ever caught your dog eating poop, you’ve probably run after them telling them to stop or drop it. Unfortunately, sometimes this can backfire.
Sometimes dogs will mistake this excitement for an invitation to play rather than your desire to get them to stop. In these scenarios, these dogs will misunderstand your yelling and chasing as giving them attention. This means that, unfortunately, these dogs will be more likely to do this again when they want your attention.
Illness
If your dog has never eaten poop and suddenly starts, you should contact your veterinarian. If your dog is experiencing other symptoms of illness, such as lethargy, depression, vomiting, or diarrhoea, this could be cause for concern.
Underlying medical conditions like parasites or nutritional deficiencies can cause dogs to start eating poop, even if they’ve never done it before.
Pica
One particular form of illness that could be an underlying cause of stool eating is a medical condition called pica. Pica is a condition in which dogs consistently chew and consume non-edible items. This is a serious condition that usually stems from other underlying medical conditions or compulsive disorders, such as:
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Extreme boredom
- Anxiety
- Teething
- Early weaning
- Compulsive disorder
Pica could be life-threatening when dogs consume objects they shouldn’t be. Sometimes this could be poop. Other times, this could be objects like rocks. If your dog is eating things he shouldn’t and exhibiting any of these other underlying conditions, please contact your veterinarian.
Anxiety
When dogs are anxious or fearful, they will often exhibit displacement behaviours. Sometimes when dogs are anxious or afraid of being punished for going to the bathroom, they will eat their own stool to hide it.
Loneliness
Dogs who are kept isolated from people in basements or outside or in kennels are more prone to eating their own poop. The lack of interaction with people makes them act out in weird ways, like eating their poop.
Dogs That Eat Poop From Other Animals
Cat Poop at Home
If you have cats at home, it’s not unusual that your dog may try to sneak into the litter box to sneak a taste of the cat poop. If your dog is eating your cat’s poop from the litter box, the easiest solution is to make the litter box inaccessible to your dog. Placing the litter box in a room that is closed off with a baby gate is often the best solution.
The baby gate will still allow your cat to jump over to use the litter box while keeping the dog out. If your cat is older or can’t jump, you can even get a baby gate with a cat door cut out.
Other Animal Poop on Walks
The other times that your dog is likely to eat the poop is when you’re taking him for a walk or hike. Your dog is likely to sniff the ground, stumble upon the poop from another animal, and eat it. Dogs most often will eat goose or rabbit poop when they’re out and about.
When dogs eat their own poop, it can be gross, but it usually isn’t overly concerning. On the other hand, you don’t want your dog to make it a habit of eating poop from another animal. When your dog eats poop from another animal, it’s possible that your dog could become sick or end up getting a parasite.
While eating other animal poop like rabbit poop or goose poop isn’t pleasant, these aren’t particularly harmful to your dog. If your dog gets into the habit of eating poop from other dogs when you’re out on your walk, this requires immediate attention. The poop from other dogs could carry intestinal parasites, and your dog could be at risk of contracting them if he eats it.
How To Get Dogs to Stop Eating Their Own Poop
It’s often believed that dogs eat their own poop when they have an underlying nutritional deficiency. Some animals, like rabbits, actually have vitamins packed into their poop. When dogs eat poop, it could be because they’re trying to increase their vitamin intake. Adding a dog multivitamin to your dog’s diet may be helpful.
Sometimes dogs have difficulty with their digestion and digesting their food well. Adding in a probiotic with digestive enzymes could be helpful. These aid in digestion and help dogs break down their food easier.
If all of the other remedies haven’t helped and your dog is still eating their own stool, you may need to add a deterrent to his diet. This is a powder you add to your dog’s food. It doesn’t make their food taste bad, but it does make their stool taste bad. This discourages them from eating their own stool. The good news is that these can be effective in only a few doses!
Teach your dog a “leave it” or “drop it” cue. “Leave it” is a useful cue that can come in handy in a variety of different scenarios. In scenarios where your dog is trying to eat his own poop at home or in the backyard, this could be useful. To teach your dog how to leave it:
- Place a treat on the floor.
- Tell your dog to “leave it.”
- If your dog tries to get to the treat, be sure to cover it with your hand or foot so that he can’t get it.
- When your dog looks away from the treat and looks up at you, use a verbal marker such as “yes” to mark this moment.
- Reward your dog with a treat.
Start by teaching this inside your home with few distractions. As your dog becomes familiar with this, you can start slowly adding in other distractions inside your home, like placing multiple treats on the floor. Once your dog has mastered this at home, consider practising in your backyard and then putting the skills to the test on a walk at the park.
If you’re with your puppy who is struggling and wanting to eat poop, you can try to redirect his attention to something like a long-lasting chew toy. This will get your dog’s focus off the poop and onto the tasty toy. This will help to distract him while you clean up the poop.
How To Get Dogs to Stop Eating Poop from Other Animals
In addition to using the “leave it” or “drop it” cue, it is useful to muzzle train your dog. Muzzles can look scary, but they’re actually a wonderful tool! Just because a dog is wearing a muzzle doesn’t mean that he’s a bad dog. Muzzles can keep dogs safe by preventing them from eating things they shouldn’t, like rabbit poop. If you’re thinking about using a muzzle, be sure to go through the steps of properly muzzle training your dog.
Conclusion
As much as we love our dogs, it is an unfortunate and gross act when they start to eat their own poop. In most cases, ingesting a little poop isn’t a huge cause for concern. You should contact your veterinarian if your dog is experiencing other symptoms in addition to eating the poop.
