Coprophagia is the condition that makes the dog eat poop. It’s a hard habit to break, because it’ rewarding to dogs. The causes and consequences can be more or less serious depending on the conditions in which the dog is kept and on which feces it chooses to eat.
Most of the times, Coprophagia is nothing but a habit, seen by us with repulsion, but without major implications on the dog’s health.
However, there are serious exceptions to this. The possibility that the dog might ingest feces with parasites is one of them. The problem relies especially on eating other pet’s or wild animal’s feces. But even their own feces are an attraction to flies to lay their eggs.
Another problematic situation is the fact that feces carry virus, like parvovirus and can therefore transmit diseases. Cat feces are also a grave matter: they carry the dangerous Toxoplasma gondii, which is responsabile for toxoplasmosis.
We can differentiate three types of Coprophagia:
- Ingestion of owns feces
- Ingestion of feces from other animals belonging to the same specie (intraspecific)
- Ingestion of feces from animals of other species (interspecific)
Some dogs eat only their own feces, other only feces from other dogs, other search for feces from other species and others eat all kind of feces. Some factors lead to intraspefic coprophagia but not interspecific and vice-versa. So it’s important to know which feces your dog is eating, narrow the search for causes.
Causes of coprophagia
Lack of nutrients
The dog may not be obtaining the nutrients it needs for several reasons:
- Poor diet;
- Presence of internal parasites that lead to a weak absorption of nutrients;
- Health problems, like pancreatitis, infections on the intestines, among other things.
Thus, the dog eats feces to try and take advantage from the nutrients that aren’t digested. When a dog looks for feces from other species, it usually is looking for nutrients that aren’t available in its diet.
Similarities with food
Once again, poor quality diets, with a low digestibility rate, need to be given to the dog in a higher amount, producing more feces. Since the dog digests only a small portion, the food defecated is similar to the food digested. Since the dog feels that its needs weren’t satisfied yet, it may eat poop by associating it with food.
Hunger/Excess of food
The dog may be hungry and it sees poop as a snack. Or it may be eating a very caloric diet that when being eaten in excess is poorly digested and transformed and looks like food when pooped.
Boredom, loneliness, stress
Dogs may develop coprophagia as an escape to loneliness, boredom or stress. This behavior is actually common in dogs that lack physical and mental stimulation. Some breeds have an instinct to pick up objects, so when they don’t have toys or are bored they may pick up and ingest feces.
Learned Behavior
Although rare, some dogs may learn with their owners to pick up food and place them somewhere else, or for dogs, eat it.
The dog easily learns to eat feces with other dogs that have coprophagia.
Dirtiness
Areas where feces accumulate can make the dog eat them in an effort to keep the area clean. This happens when dogs are closed in small spaces for long periods of time.
Avoid punishment
If the dog is punished by making poop in the house, it can start to eat feces to hide them and avoid the punishment. This is very cruel to the dog since it actually tries not to poop and lives scared of being caught defecating.
Submission
In homes where there is more than one dog, the submissive dog might eat the feces from the dominant dog. In these cases, the dog doesn’t eat feces from other pets or wild animals.
Motherly instinct
There are several theories to explain why mothers eat their offspring's feces.
One of the most popular says that the mother is trying to eliminate traces of the pups, to keep predators away. Other say they are trying to keep the den clean. There is also another possible cause, which is a poor diet that she tries to compensate with coprophagia.
Exploration
Some researchers say it’s normal that pups feel compelled to eat their own feces, because it’s just curiosity and trying to explore their environment.
Solutions
Take the dog to the vet so he can discard any medical problem that might be related with coprophagia.
If the dog is healthy, you can try and put these suggestions to use:
- Feed the dog a high quality diet
- Adjust the food to the dog’s weight, age and breed/size
- Clean daily the place where the dog defecates
- Provide mental and physical stimulation
- Walk the dog on a leash to prevent it from eating poop from the streets
- Opt on using positive reinforcement in order to housebreak your dog
- Keep a tight schedule in feeding and walking so that the dog gets used to defecate during the walks
- Apply repellent in the dog’s feces in order to discourage it from eating them
- Don’t let the dog alone for long periods of time. If you don’t have that time to keep it company, get it a companion.