According to some specialists, coprophagia (which means the act of eating feces) is a common behaviour between many animals. Dogs are some of them. Have you ever seen a dog eating poo? If so, have you ever wondered why that animal was doing it? In fact, there are some possible answers to this questions.
Although it might seem strange, eating feces (their own or not) is considered beneficial to dogs because it supposedly helps to extract some nutrients from the food they ate and possibly weren’t absorbed. The nutritional deficiency is often claimed when one tries to explain why dogs eat their feces. Nevertheless, in spite of there is no scientific proof about this assertion, if you find your dog eating feces you must take it to the Veterinarian, because if your dog isn’t getting sufficient food or isn’t able to digest correctly and this leads him to coprophagia as a way to supplement his diet, it is urgent to find out what is (if it is something) wrong with him.
Why do dogs eat poop?
Another reason stated for the coprophagia is that dogs who do it might be enduring a severe period of hunger. Still, there aren’t scientific evidences to support this idea.
One can observe in the nature that when female dogs give birth to their puppies they use to lick the rectal areas of their infants. By doing this, those mothers eat their puppies’ feces and keep the nest clean. They also help the babies to stimulate the defecation reflex on them. The habit of eating feces is also common between the puppies.
Eating feces is a normal behaviour between dog mothers and puppies in general, but it doesn’t mean that it is abnormal to the rest of the dogs. Moreover, coprophagia is very common between many species, such as rabbits, hamsters, pandas and elephants among other animals.
In spite of all of this possible answers, we still don’t know why dogs eat their own or other animals’ poo. It is an issue that requires more investigation.
HOW TO STOP COPROPHAGIA?
Coprophagia can be dangerous to the people who share the same space with the dog that does it. Dogs get in contact with several parasites and bacteria while eating feces (for example, E. coli or Salmonella) and they can carry these microorganisms silently without develop any disease and those are easy to transmit to people through the saliva.
So, what can you do to stop this behaviour?
- Never leave feces on the street when you take your dog to walk. On the same way, always keep the backyard clean after your dog defecates. Try to discourage your dog to contact with feces and try to take him to other places instead.
- Provide a high quality diet to your dog. Choose carefully a good kibble. You can ask to the Veterinarian which brands are the best for your pet, according to his clinic history.
- Ask your Veterinarian about taste deterrents. These products should be applied to the feces that are around your dog (on the yard, for example) and make them taste very bad. This will help your dog to break the coprophagia habit.
You can talk to the veterinarian to get some additional advice on how to stop this behaviour on your dog.