It’s a question I get more often than one would think…”My dog eats poop. What should I do?”
The technical term for eating feces is copraphagia. Whatever you call it, it’s a tricky behavior problem to solve.
When a dog has a behavior problem such as jumping on people to greet them, we know there is basically one cause; the dog wants attention. So we make getting attention contingent on not jumping up, and the problem is easy to fix. But poop eating, now that’s a different story altogether. There are at least 10 reasons that people believe are the causes of dogs eating poop.
Today I’ll talk about the possible causes and tomorrow I’ll give suggestions for dealing with this problem. When it comes to eating poop, I believe for different dogs there can be different reasons why they do it.
To start, let me say many of these are common theories and there isn’t necessarily proof of these causes.
- Dog has a specific nutritional deficiency.
- Females lick their puppies and ingest urine and feces to keep the pups clean, so this is a habit.
- Dog is stressed.
- Dog is bored.
- Dog in a small space (e.g. crated for a long time) eats the feces to keep the space clean.
- Dog is hungry or malnourished (e.g. could be from being starved or fed too much).
- Dog is sick — some health problems result in unusual eating habits, may have parasites or worms.
- Eating poop is an OCD behavior.
- Learned behavior — dog saw another dog do this or does it for attention.
- Dog just likes the taste of poop. Also cat feces — to some dogs it’s like a fine pate.
Tomorrow I’ll give some suggestions for managing this problem. Citizen Canine readers, have any of you dealt with dogs who eat their own feces? Do you have any causes not on the list?
AKC's Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy Director, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist
This is a great topic, and one that is of particular concern for those who have Therapy Dogs. I am very glad you included #10 in your list, for I get upset at hearing so-called “experts” who declare this problem is always a result of nutritional deficiency. I know many healthy, well-fed, well-exercised dogs of various breeds with this nasty habit. I am certain many dogs just plain LIKE IT! And many people seem to think this is a “breed-specific” problem. Not so. Any breed can be a participant. I look forward to your next post–with SOLUTIONS!!
My dog does the same thing & is very well fed w/some of the best holistic food out there! I brought this up to my vet the other day & she really doesn’t know why either, BUT she did say that there has been great success with sprinkling Adolph’s meat tenderizer on their food. She says it won’t hurt them & makes the poop distasteful. I don’t think I am going to go that route, but will make sure I don’t miss ANY poop in the yard when I pick it up.
I am with you. My dog that eats poop is not malnourished nor does he have parasites. He is thin because he is an agility dog and I keep them slightly thin, but he gets plenty to eat. I think he just plain likes it.
I’m going to ask my vet about the nutrient deficiency but, for my dog, I really think it’s an OCD behaivor…here’s the killer tho…she doesn’t do it all the time…sometimes she walks right by it & other times, she makes a charge for it…it’s gotten so that whenever we come across stray poop, I pick it up b/c not everyone picks up after their dog…God forbid you should have to touch your own dog’s poop…don’t even get me started on that!!!!! wanna know how disgusting it is to have to pick up after a dog that’s not even yours? anyway, what I’m really concerned with is that she could die!! could she pick up some disease? she takes a heartworm pill monthly & will always do so as long as she continues to do this – per my vet…other than that, she’s a good little girl & even if she continues to do this, we’re gonna love her no matter what!!
I have seen this in young puppies sometimes it is a learned response they get from their mother, they see her do it so they think that is what they should do, sometimes puppies outgrow it and sometimes not looking forward to your next article.
One of the main reasons dogs eat poop is because they lack digestive enzymes in their diet. It is a fact that canines are true carnivores, thus requiring a raw, whole meat diet, which provides plenty of digestive enzymes. Kibble fed dogs crave enzymes, which are present in stool.
I feed my dog a combination of dry & Raw Health chicken! He still does it…lol!!
Felines are obligate carnivores, commonly called “true” carnivores, dogs are facultative carnivores which means they also consume non-animal food.
I have seen my own dogs completely ignore poop that was from a raw meat only meal, especially if there was a healthy amount of raw bone in it too.
I have seen dogs become poop eaters after having a litter of puppies and then slowly lose the habit after being retired from the whelping box.
I have seen many puppies outgrow the habit while others are life-long poop aficionados.
I find it amusing when people think that a dog can be “trained” to not eat poop when to a dog poop is just poop and not a “disgusting habit” that needs to be fixed.
One of the most inane “solutions” I ever heard was from an British “expert” on TV who suggested planting little flags next to each poop in the yard and scream “leave it!” if the dogs even went near the poop. The other was from a customer at the big box pet supply store where I once taught who wanted to use a remote shock collar and ZAP her dog when it tried to eat poop. Both “solutions” are from a human perspective and a human approach predicating that the dog will learn that “to mommy eating poop is disgusting and doggy should stop doing it.” When I suggested to the prospective shock collar buyer that she should simply pick up the poop before the dog ate it she looked at me like I was not only insane but mean – to her not to the dog. The impression I got was that she wanted to punish her dog for eating poop and in my advice there was no assuaging her anger with the dog for doing something “bad”.
Here’s the thing, no matter how many flags you plant and how many times you scream “leave it” or how many times you ZAP…as soon as you are NOT present the dedicated poop eater will feast away to heart’s content. In neither “solution” are you making the poop undesirable or dangerous to eat, the only negative in both scenario is YOU. So when YOU are not part of the equation it is safe and comfortable for the dog to eat what he or she desires. I attempted to explain this to woman who wanted the collar and
I yelled the same thing at the TV. I got no response from the TV but the woman stormed away in a huff.
By making poop eating moral -”that’s a disgusting bad habit!” – you are expecting your dog to behave in a typical HUMAN fashion, to think like a human able to determine right from wrong, “good” from “bad”. And that my friends, is not fair to our dogs!
I TOTALLY agree with you! I think we are the problem. In real life this would be normal to dogs. To stop this like you said we need to clean up the feces ASAP or just let them do their natural animal behavior. Read Pam’s post.
YES! Never let us forget that they are DOGS!
Some of my dogs only eat Frozen feces (it’s like popcisles to kids) they never eat it in the summer just winter months and it must be hard, so I think my dogs fall under the #10 they just like the taste of frozen feces that smells like dog food to them.
My dog also eats frozen feces with enthusiam. Looking forward to tomorrow’s post.
I have read (I wish I could remember where) that particularly in female dogs, who naturally “clean up” around their pups this is a problem. They clean up partially to clean the puppies, but also to remove evidence of their existence from potential predators. They may see other dogs, particularly the young, old, and small….to be at risk with predators and “clean up” after them as well. From what I have seen, it makes sense.
This totally makes sense! My long coat chihuahua does eat her own feces quite often.She’s not very found of our cat, so after reading this I finally put two and two together! She didn’t start this until our cat came into the picture.
What about dogs that eat small rocks?? My pug eats them and not matter how close we watch him he will scoop one up and swallow it…sometimes they come back up other he passes on thru but this is very distressing to us as we feel one day he will get choked…any suggestions on why and how to stop this behavior?
to the lady whose dog eats the rock some may not pass and sooner or later there may be a problem . know some bloodhounds that had blockages from rock and other that the rocks show up when vet was looking for a different problem . oh i also have a dog who will scarf up rocks and poopsicles
Interested to know what to do with a dog with problem 8 or 9.
I have 2 Miniature Pinschers and 1 Lab. The Lab always, always eats the Min Pin poops. I think it is because their diet is a fish/potato dog food…She does not eat any other dogs poop. I have tried tabasco hot sauce, hot pepper, and the stuff you buy at the vets….forbid….nothing has worked. It’s a seasoning for her!!!! But…I just accept it……
One of my yorkies does this too, but not the other. Our breeder suggested feeding them pineapple. They love the pineapple and it stopped the poop eating. He said it makes it taste bad to them. All I know is it was easy and worked!
Pineapple? I’ll have to try that. I heard pumpkin works. I think my dog eats it either out of boredom or OCD. Can’t wait to hear some solutions.
Pineapple and ‘ADOPH’S Meat Tenderizer is PAPAIN – a natural enzyme that helps break down protein chains – it’s not really a ‘probiotic’ – but has nothing to do with the resulting taste of the poop – just the amount of remaining digestible protein contained in it.
I feed a species appropriate diet, but i have one dog that does not digest beef as well as she does other forms of mammal –and on occasion this will prompt poopsicle snacking – but put back on mammal other than beef, it stops.
All my dogs are exercised, fed well, and playful, not bored; and they eat horse and cat poop. No way I can pick up all the horse stuff. What can I do???
I have a Shih Tzu and five-Cockers. Shih Tzu are notorious poop eaters. I love my Shih Tzu, but I wish I would have known that before I got her. The Cockers I had before I got my Shih Tzu do not eat poop. The Cockers I got after I got my Shih Tzu eat poop. I blame my Shih Tzu for teaching them such a disgusting habit. They were puppies and impressionable. All I know is that I have tried everyting, everything in the book! Nothing has worked. I scoop the yard every time my dogs go outside. I have to run to the poop before they get to it. I am getting tired of their putrid breath, and I hate yelling at them when they get to the poop before me. They are supposed to be enjoying their yard time, and I’m yelling at them across the yard to “leave it”. I get angry and SO frustrated becasue lot of times they will go ahead and consume it, Then, they will run off because they know they are guilty. I want quality time with my dogs, not this. Give us the scoop on poop!
Sprinkle powdered alum on the poo. It is verrrry bitter and will break them almost immediately. I had a Shih Tzu that wanted to eat rabbit poo. She got parasites from the rabbit poo. Hence, I had to break her. You feel sort of silly going around the yard with a salt shaker looking for poo. Just hope the neighbors don’t see you. Lol