Poop Eating Dogs – What’s Going on?
Children will often do crazy things because they saw their friends do them first. But once is usually enough. They won’t jump out of a tree or put their fingers in a candle flame after the first painful experience. Dogs, however, will return to eating dung again and again.
[sws_yellow_box box_size=”551″] Important update: Download this special report on how to cure poop eating in dogs (otherwise known as canine coprophagia) – click here… [/note]
Most experts have had to conclude that there’s more at work than simple imitation. There are times when that includes imitating their least desirable behavior – eating dung. But they do, so there has to be something about it that they like.
[sws_toggle1 title=”Important: Want to cure a poop eating dog? Click to Expand”] Understanding why dogs eat poop is one thing, having a viable, simple to implement solution to CURE poop eating in dogs is quite another.
With dogs who are eating poop, it’s important to learn and understand their particular motives as there is a conjoined strategy to beat the problem involving behavioural correction and immediate actions required to prevent the dog from actually engaging in the act.
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This isn’t all that surprising. Dogs have always been scavengers. They’ll eat roadkill as readily as their suppers. Old trash, pond muck, and dead sparrows on the lawn are no less appetizing. Dogs start getting hungry whenever they sniff something with a pungent smell, and dung certainly does smell.
Not all dung tastes the same, of course. Dogs seem to have different preferences. Some are attracted to the stools of deer, cows, or horses. Others will eat the stools of other dogs. And a great many dogs are attracted to cat droppings, possibly because cat foods are very high in protein and the dogs are going after undigested nutrients.
The Attention Factor
Dogs, no less than children, crave attention. And they do whatever it takes to get it, including things they know you hate. This probably explains why some dogs only eat dung when their owners are around to watch. It’s probably the equivalent of a 6-year-old saying a dirty word and then watching for his parents’ reaction. “Look at me,” the dog is saying.
Boredom has something to do with it too. Dogs entertain themselves by putting things in their mouths. When not much is happening, they often nose around the yard, picking up sticks and putting them down, even mouthing rocks on occasion. Since they aren’t offended by the smell or taste of dung, it’s just another thing for them to pick up, play with, and explore.
Dogs occasionally eat so much dung that they get sick to their stomachs. For the most part,
however, it’s not likely to make them sick – although they may get worms from eating the stools of an infected animal. Their digestive tracts are very forgiving.
The people who live with dogs, however, are less forgiving. For one thing, it’s an ugly sight that no one wants to watch. There’s also the fact that dogs who eat dung have heart-stopping bad breath. It takes some serious devotion to get past that!
Poop-Eating Tip: Veterinarians sometimes recommend adding garlic, canned pumpkin, or Accent meat tenderizer to a dung-eating dog’s food. Assuming that it’s his own dung that he’s attracted do, these ingredients may give it a taste he dislikes – although it’s hard to imagine that anything could make it taste worse than it already does. This isn’t a perfect solution, but it does work for some dogs.
Click below for the special canine coprophagia report which explains:
- Why dogs eat poop
- How to stop dogs eating poop
- The very serious health risks when dogs eat poop
- The methods you need to know to prevent your dog from eating poop
Wow! I’ve always wondered that. I don’t have a dog anymore, (gave her away) But before we did, she would eat her poop, But when My brother would fart sitting next to her, She would jump and then run off… She doesn’t like the smell of that i bet. But then, My dog would always try to get my food, Whether it had soem garlic stuff in it or not. So another reason, Is because they actually don’t know what the dump is. They think it is food or some kind of toy. They actually have great smelling, so they actually don’t always like the smell. They sometimes think it is something else outside like a rock or stick or maybe even a leaf! Again, Dogs think of things differently then we do. We think eating your own left-over is gross. Dogs, think it is normal. No, actually they do not know that eating left-over chocolate is bad, But they know that from other times of trying it of what their owner has said, they know their owner does not like it, so they do it. Or even if a dog is chewing on a toy, They know somebody will give them attention. So basically, Whatever they chew on, They know they will get attention from somebody that lives with them or somebody they know. They also eat the left-over to get rid of stress from like, Getting in trouble for knocking something down or getting yelled at. When a dog chews on an object or just anything, It is to entertain them if nothing really exciting around them is happening. You always need to entertain your dog or just have something busy for them to do, Or they get stressed out and more grumpy, and then their temper level gets too high. That tends it to make them MORE angry and fustrated that they tend to start biting or doing whatever they want to do, Whether it’s a good thing or bad thing. Dogs also get destracted. When it sees something they don’t know much about, They tend to try and do something with it. Like kind of what i said, They need to be entertained, or they entertain themselves, With whatever they find. Yes, those reasons you put together were good and thank-you!
dogs should NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! eat their poop because it is really nasty and i mean NASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Warning about feeding dogs garlic. I’ve read many lists of foods that are bad for dogs and garlic is on the majority of those lists.
i think that is very nasty.i will now pay more attention to my dog.
my dog eats poop sometimes!!!! i just have to shout:O
now i will start adding things to her feed. i think she eats it because shes just plain greedy :L.
well that was very interesting!!!!!!!!!!! i mean i want to become a veterinarian so a have to learn alot. i wonder what a dog thiks about poo 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂