Why Do Dogs Eat Their Own Poop?

(August 2, 2010)

Dogs are very adorable and loved by everyone and you might find it hard to digest the fact that your dog eats poop. This can be quite disgusting to even think of but there are many dogs that are into this habit that is medically termed as coprophagia. Not all dogs are into this habit and if you have 2 or more dogs at home, you might observe that only one of your dogs is into this habit and the other one never does anything of this sort. There are a number of reasons that have been given for this and the primary reason as to why do dogs eat feces is attributed to the fact that they are primarily meat eating animals and if their feces smell or contain some part of food that has not been digested, they are bound to eat it because it has appealed to them. Another reason as to why do dogs eat their poop can be because they are simply hungry and if they are not able to get food at that time, they will begin to eat poop. They might also be eating their poop if there are a few digestive enzymes or essential nutrients that are present in the poop. Parasites and worms could also be a factor that causes dogs to eat feces.

You can stop dog from eating poop by doing the following things. First of all, as soon as he poops, clear it up and ensure that none of it is in found in your yard or house. You need to see to it that you are giving your dog top quality food and make it a point to serve him food each time he’s hungry. There are certain foods such as pumpkin, spinach and pineapple that you can add to your dog food that brings out a smell and taste in the poop that is not very appealing. As soon as dogs get this smell, they will automatically give away eating poop. If you see your dog going to eat poop, discourage him from doing so and when he does that, reward him with a favorite treat of his so that he knows that it is not the desired behavior. Sprinkling some Tabasco sauce on dog poop is another way through which you can stop your dog from eating poop as one taste of it will make your dog stay from it.

Read on dogs eat cat poop and why puppy eats feces