why do dogs eat somebody else´s poop?

Question

I own a golden retriever puppy, the other day on the park I found it eating a big chunk of other dog poop, why?

Answer 1

It is normal for a dog to eat another dog's feces... or another animal's for that matter. Sometimes this is caused if the dog is malnourished. But since you are asking this question i'm going to assume that isn't the case with your dog. If your dog is like my dog he probably eats feces because he/she is attracted to the nutrients and/or undigested rice, corn or other ingredients from the food that the other animal has digested. They view it as a snack. Disciplining the dog immediately after he displays this behavior is important because you do not want it to become a habit

-It can be unhealhy because if the other dog/animal has worms or another illness it can be passed through contact with the "poop".

Answer 2

It is believed by many that dogs eat feces and roll around in dead things to mask the odors of their human counterparts. When a dog is trying to establish that he is a dominant being, worthy of high ranking in a pack hierarchy, he will often attempt to trick others in the pack into thinking he is an excellent hunter and can adequately supply for the pack. The odors we find so foul are similar to the way a dog would smell after a successful hunt. He is just being an imposter, Much like some people try to pass off imitation cologne for the real thing! No dog vying for the position of top dog wants to smell like his caretakers cushy couch!

Answer 3

Most dogs don't eat other dogs' poop. It's usually associated with a disorder, I forget the name of. Those dogs usually eat their own, also. So, if this is an isolated occurrence, then maybe that dog ate tasty stuff that didn't fully get processed within the body before he pooped, so was enticing to yours. Dogs like to eat cat poop, as it contains a lot of fat, I'm told. So, maybe a related issue?

Answer 4

When I was a kid, I wanted to play a prank so I poopped into a brown paper lunch bag. I put it outside the bathroom window and soon went to retrieve it, but my dog had gotten to it first and was munching down on it. I guess my dog really loved me!

I think it has to do with the fact that dogs didn't fully evolve with a head so they have tendancies more in line with the body.

Answer 5

I was once told by my vet, and this is regarding a puppy who ate her own, that it was because her digestive system didn't break the food down totally yet and when she went, she would smell the parts that were not digested completely yet. Possibly in more mature dogs that just gulp their food down without chewing, there could be remnants left that smell like food to them.

Answer 6

I think that dogs act like rabbits. Rabbits eat their own waste just to get the protein or nutrients or w/e it is that they need from their waste. This could be because the animals arent able to extract all the nutrients or proteins from their food and thus reuses the waste for another round of protein/nutrient extraction.

Answer 7

Because it's a dog and not a person. Don't expect your animal to act like a human. Though there are some sick humans that do this kind of stuff.

Answer 8

I saw a dog ate a baby's poop and licked his pat pat before the baby's mom came to clean it.

Answer 9

Its in there genes there are two ides of thought on this one is that they used to eat it because there was not enough food for them in the wild and its how they survived! Second is that its a hunting trait, they use it to track in my opinion its the first one! makes most sence!

Answer 10

A vet told me my dog eats cat terds because of the protein that he detects in it. Maybe it's the same thing.