The unthinkable, the grotesque has occurred… your dog has eaten poop. Perhaps this is the first time or maybe it’s a frequent occurrence. I’m Anai Fonte, owner of Dogtown Dog Hotel in Miami and with over a decade working with Canines and seeing it all, I am going to break this one down for you and what, if anything can be done to stop it.
In the article by LiveScience.com, “Don’t Poo-Poo This: Why Dogs Feast on Feces” explains that this is a very common behavior. You are not alone! But why has your dog developed Coprophagia, the scientific name for this behavior? Turns out the leading theory is that this is a primal instinct to keep their area clean. Mindy Weidberger writes “And this predilection for poop could be behavior that originated in dogs’ wolf ancestors, and is linked to parasite prevention, according to a new study.” Parasite larva takes days to develop and if they eat the poop before then they stop the spread. She also adds that in a study only 4% of pup parents were effective at curbing this behavior through training.
source: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/390124386469589143/
Of course the poop your dog is eating is any important clue into what is motivating this behavior. If a dog is eating poop from another species such as your cats poop, Dr. Wailani Sung, in her article for PetMD “Why Do Dogs Eat Poop?” says this is quite normal. They do it because it contains nutrients and it’s something they enjoy. How do you stop a dog from doing something they enjoy, make it less appealing. In another article “8 Ways to Stop Your Dog from Eating Cat Poop Once and for All” they recommend adding black pepper to the litter box.
So why is this happening and what can you do?
- If your dog is eating other dogs poop or its own you can try training techniques however unfortunately they have a very low success rate.
- You can try chews that are specifically designed to curb this behavior. Reading the reviews it seems hit or miss but if you’re ready to try anything or at least spend a few minutes chuckling at product reviews check out <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075YP8C2S/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B075YP8C2S&linkCode=as2&tag=dogtown06-20&linkId=d39a5ee4ecc454ba9156d372184cb591″>Solid Gold Stop Eating Poop for Dogs with Coprophagia – Natural Chews with Peppermint – 60 Ct</a><img src=”//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=dogtown06-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B075YP8C2S” width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />
- If your dog is eating cat poop try adding pepper to the litter box.
This is the crappiest article I’ve written yet but I hope it’s been helpful!
*The image used in this article is not of one of our clients. We just got a sad dog of the internet. We wouldn’t want to embarrass anyone.
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