Is it normal for a dog to eat?

Question

her own poop if she goes poop indoors when she knows she is suppose to go poop outdoors? She is a 11 month old chihuahua, she will poop on our daughter's bed, or our spare bed, then she must understand IT'S BAD, so she digs it and eats some of it to like hide it I think. I let her out all the time, I'm always home. Has anyone ever heard of this WEIRD behavior?

Answer 1

Darn!!! I am having the same problem with my 18month old pug... she's been so good until the last 3 days... the first day she just pooped and when I came back from work I told her she was nasty, with my upset tone... the second day, I just ignored her and didn't scratched her nor pay attention to her except to feed her, and I think that really hurt her... the third day, yesterday, I know she pooped because the blanket in her crate had stains like it had been pooped on but no signs of poop... when she heard me coming inside the house, she hid behind some furniture with her tail between her legs... what can I do? I will check the answers you get later... it's so upsetting, because she's been good at not having accidents, but for the last 3 days she'd been doing this.

Answer 2

Actually, I work for a natural Pet Product company and your question is more common than you'd think! She's prob. not eating her poop beacuse she feels guilty... Dogs that eat thier own poop, other dogs' poop or even kitty poop are displaying sure signs of a nutritional void. I would switch her food to a higher quality formula, depending on what you're feeding now I would first recomend Blue Buffalo, found only at PetsMart or online, it's PetsMart's first hollistic food and has been rated in the top 5 brands for 3 years in a row. If you can't get it, I'd recommend Wellness, Solid Gold, Innova or California natural, they're not as good as Blue and a little harder to find, but still high quality. As a last resort I'd get Nutro Ultra, but anything below that is not going to provide your pup with everything she needs. Once the nutritional end is taken care of she may have an "addiction" to her old habbit, you can purchase a tablet called Deter, or your vet may have a powder to put on the food for a few weeks, it makes her poop taste REALLY bad and she'll remember how gross it was. Lastly, I gave up on housetraining my Chihuahuas, they now use a littler box (like a cat) and have not had an accident in over a year! They go outside when I'm home, but at night or when I'm out they use the litter box with clumping cat littler. The pan I got at PetMart, it's got a low entrance for the little dogs, but I wouldn't get the litter that's made for dogs becuase they eat it and play with it! Good Luck, I hope this helps!

Answer 3

Its possible that she has a vitamin decifiency or the food is not being digested properly and she is trying to recoup the nutrients. Some dogs will eat goose or other dog's poop, possibly for the nutrients. Solid Gold has a product that makes the poop tastes bad but I would suggest trying a digestive enzyme and better quality food first. see www.onlynaturalpet.com

A pup is growing and proper nutrients are more important at that stage especially if there already is a problem so early on. this problem should be nipped early on so she doesnt scavenge and eat something dangerous to her.

Answer 4

Coprophagia is a behavior sometimes observed by dog owners. In a preliminary paper, they write that there are various theories for this, although none have been proven:

To get attention from their owners.

From anxiety, stress, or having been punished for bad behaviors.

From boredom.

In an attempt to clean up in crowded conditions.

When dogs observe their owners picking up feces, and imitate this behavior (allelomimetic behavior). This is highly improbable because the behaviour has also been observed in environments where owners never picked up the dog's (or other) feces.
Because puppies taste everything and discover that feces are edible and, perhaps, tasty, especially when fed a high fat content diet.
Because dogs are, by nature, scavengers, and this is within the range of scavenger behavior.

To prevent the scent from attracting predators, especially mother dogs eating their offspring's feces.
Because the texture and temperature of fresh feces approximates that of regurgitated food, which is how canine mothers in the wild would provide solid food.
Because of the protein content of the feces (particularly cat feces), or over-feeding, leading to large concentrations of undigested matter in the feces.
Due to assorted health problems, including:
Pancreatitis
Intestinal infections
Food allergies, creating mal-absorption
Because they are hungry, such as when eating routines are changed, food is withheld, or nutrients are not properly absorbed.
As a dieting technique
Another theory proposes that carnivores sometimes eat the feces of their prey in order to ingest and exude scents which camouflage their own.

Several companies produce food additives that can be added to the troublesome animal's food to make its feces taste excessively bad.

Answer 5

Dogs do this all of the time, it's some kind of vitamin definciancy going on. Believe me she's not trying to hide what she did. Dogs will also eat cat poop too. Nasty little things.. Now give mommie a big kiss. YUK..

Answer 6

Coprophagia is a behavior sometimes observed by dog owners. In a preliminary paper, they write that there are various theories for this, although none have been proven:

To get attention from their owners.

From anxiety, stress, or having been punished for bad behaviors.

From boredom.

In an attempt to clean up in crowded conditions.

When dogs observe their owners picking up feces, and imitate this behavior (allelomimetic behavior). This is highly improbable because the behaviour has also been observed in environments where owners never picked up the dog's (or other) feces.
Because puppies taste everything and discover that feces are edible and, perhaps, tasty, especially when fed a high fat content diet.
Because dogs are, by nature, scavengers, and this is within the range of scavenger behavior.

To prevent the scent from attracting predators, especially mother dogs eating their offspring's feces.
Because the texture and temperature of fresh feces approximates that of regurgitated food, which is how canine mothers in the wild would provide solid food.
Because of the protein content of the feces (particularly cat feces), or over-feeding, leading to large concentrations of undigested matter in the feces.
Due to assorted health problems, including:
Pancreatitis
Intestinal infections
Food allergies, creating mal-absorption
Because they are hungry, such as when eating routines are changed, food is withheld, or nutrients are not properly absorbed.
As a dieting technique
Another theory proposes that carnivores sometimes eat the feces of their prey in order to ingest and exude scents which camouflage their own.

Several companies produce food additives that can be added to the troublesome animal's food to make its feces taste excessively bad.

Answer 7

oh gezzz!

first of all...dogs don't really know the concept of "guilt" that is a HUMAN emotion...they know FEAR, and SUBMISSION...which we humans like to think are emotions of guilt or shame.

she is pooping there, because that is her way of marking that as HERS.
YOU need to be the alpha and let her know that that is NOT her place.
I'd suggest keeping the doors SHUT to her. * i do this with my dogs * and then CRATE training her so that she has a comfortable place in the house that she can call her own. my dogs lay in their crates even if i don't shut the doors...its like a den, they like it there...it's comfy, and quiet.
bottom line. do NOT allow the dog in the room if she is pooping in there, letting her continue to go in there is reinforcing the bad behavior.

eating poop is a survival instinct from back when dogs were once wolves...before they were domesticated. in fact wolves still do this. in lean times, when food is scarce the wolves will eat their own poop to re-absorb any left over nutrients. anything to stay alive....many animals will do this when left with no choice.

it's not weird, it's just instinct.

Answer 8

Check with your Vet about Vitamin supplements that may help curb your dogs unsavory appetite. Also, there is a product called "Deter" which comes in a chewable tablet and it makes the dogs' poop not seem so "tasty". This may not solve the problem entirely since it is a bad habit already in which case you may also need to work with a dog trainer on ways to correct the problem and to identify the cause and also to discourage your small dog from going in the house.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441778262&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302026151&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1141314399188&itemNo=0&Ntt=eating&In=Dog&previousText=eating&N=2023689

Answer 9

Dogs will sometimes eat their own or the cat's feces, for reasons ranging from a vitamin deficiency to boredom. (The scientific name for the behavior is coprophagy.) If your dog indulges, be sure to report this to your vet. Even though it's very common, it's one of the behaviors associated with rabies, and any dog that eats another dog's feces can get worms.

Answer 10

sprinkle FORBID on her food. I was told that squash added to their food stops this as well. I had a poo eater . The forbid did some good and she grew to love squash, I baked the stuff, grated it raw , sauteed it. You name it. But I think the ingredients may have the deficiency covered with the enzymes. I also used prozyme in her food don't know if it helped that particular problem but it was good for her. Good luck