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Dog Eating Feces

Submitted by Michael Adams on June 3, 2010

The thought of your dog eating feces could be a rather disgusting site. Many a times when you take your dog to a park you would notice him wandering around a tree only to realize that he is eating his or other animal feces. This problem in scientific terms is known as coprophagia.

Dog eating feces or rather poop in common terms is a common disorder in dogs.

There is no sure reason found yet as to why dogs eat feces. Some reasons that we have assumed is a vitamin deficiency to boredom or anxiety.

Some other reasons could be that the dog diet is deficient in calories, minerals or vitamins or not there is a problem of malabsorption of nutrients: some faulty diets would include high in corn, soybean or other fillers. The presence of a parasitic infectation like a worm infestation could also be a major cause. One answer could be because when they were puppies their mother used to clean up their whelping area so that they could be free from any health problems. If you have noticed your dog eating feces try and take him to the vet immediately as there are a lot of dog health related issues that this could lead to. The heath issues that a dog could face is rabies, they could develop parasites, such as giardia, filaroides, or coccidian. In case the feces are around for two to three weeks or more, roundworms and whipworms may be present.

Here are some ways you could try to avoid your dog from eating feces. When you take your dog out for a walk use a leash as the dog gets close to smelling the poop you could say “No” or “Off” this will make your dog aware and you could hold the leash tightly so that your dog does not reach the poop. If your dog is lacking nutrients in its diet try and include a spoonful of crushed canned pineapple or a spoonful of spinach in your dog's meal. Or even soya bean is another good option to include in your dog food. Try and change the number of times you give him his meals for example if you give him once in day you could split that into two portions once in the morning and once in the evening. Also you could try and keep your dog occupied by spending some quality time with them. You could also buy dog food that contains the chemical monosodium glutamate, which is made bitter tasting during the digestive process. Always take your dog to a vet for consultation on this issue.

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