Coprophagia or the eating of a dog’s own stools, those of other dogs or other species, is surprisingly common! Here is some advice on how to stop it.
It has its roots in behaviour and
potential causes include attention seeking, boredom, exploratory behaviour and hunger. It can be as a result of some medical conditions
, but this is rare and
other symptoms are usually evident at the same time.
Here are some tips which may help
to resolve the problem:
1. Counteract boredom by making the dog’s home
environment more interesting with interactive feeding toys or perhaps ‘finding
2. Did you ever teach the ‘off’ command?
Seek help from a professional behaviourist for tips on how to break a bad habit
and encourage good ones using positive rewards.
3. Remove temptation by clearing poo as soon as possible
(calmly, without attracting too much attention from your dog – you don’t want
to make it a game of who gets there first!).
4. Try a deterrent, adding a small
amount of pineapple or grated courgette to the diet makes the poo taste
unpleasant to some dogs prone to eating their own stools.
5. And finally, look at your dog’s diet
! Is he
getting the right food, in the right quantity at the right frequency to ensure
a sustained energy release throughout the day? Try switching to a Light
you can increase the daily feeding volume and/or frequency while maintaining a
healthy weight. Wet food like our
is also a good way to provide higher volumes of food without providing
too many calories
A high quality diet with easily
digestible ingredients and carefully balanced nutrients will also help towards
ensuring stable blood sugar levels and therefore satiety!
So with training, eliminating
potential hunger and maximising absorption of nutrients, the likelihood of this
behaviour can be reduced.
Want to know more? Read our full
fact sheet on the topic here