why do some dogs eat their own poo?

Question

well my dog does it, i was wondering why?

Answer 1

Your dog is insecure.
He eats his poo to hide his presence or any evidence that he has been there. It's a defence mechanism.
My dog does it too.
He's a Chihuahua so, he has issues.

Here is a link that I found for other reasons dogs like POOPsicles.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Dogs-Eat-Poop&id=803411


And more reasons........
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1551&articleid=155

Answer 2

The plain truth is that your dog thinks that poo taste nice.

If your dog has suddenly started eating poo it is a good idea to get him checked by your vet, as some medical conditions can increase appetite, so making coprophagia (poo eating) more likely. Nutritional deficiencies can also lead to coprophagia.

What can be done about it?

If your dog just eats his own poo the problem is easier to tackle. First look at his diet. The richer the diet, the less is taken out as it passes through the digestive system and the tastier the poo! Try changing to a dry diet with a lower protein level.

Alternative methods reported to work include feeding pineapple or an iron tablet in the meal which can render the faeces less palatable or clean up any poo immediately before they can be eaten. This is easier if you train your dog to poo on command.

If your dog eats poo from another animal it is more difficult to stop as you don't have any control over where the poos are. Some people have found spiking poo with chilli peppers or other unpalatable substances is enough to put their dog off for life. Unfortunately many dogs learn to detect spiked faeces by their smell and avoid these, while still enthusiastically consuming the untouched ones encountered on a walk. other alternative is intensively training an alternative behaviour by preventing any successful eating and rewarding leaving the poo. Remember, while doing this, you will need to offer some pretty potent rewards if your dog does ignore any faeces - after all you are asking him to pass up on a delicious snack. Also, while training you will need to stop him from ever being successful - he must not even get a small mouthful - which means training will need to take place initially on a lead. If, at other times, you want to let your dog off the lead, you can muzzle him to prevent him from snacking.

I knwo it sound yuk and stupid, but its true

Answer 3

Some dogs do this. It is called "coprophagy". It is normal, however, can be harmful to the dog leading to parasites and many other illnesses. Some choose to purchase items to put in the dogs food to make the poop taste terrible. Dogs love to eat cat poo. My dog did this one time and I was sick, but my vet said it is like candy to them. But, NOT to let them do it. Some people put a little pineapple (a little) in the dogs food and it is supposed to stop the dog from eating poo.

My dog did this but grew out of it. She no longer does it. We started picking up ALL poo in the yard and she never had access to it. That might be your best bet until your dog forgets about it.

Answer 4

If you want it to stop buy yourself a bottle of Dis-Taste and feed it to your dog (web site below). It will make his/her poo taste awful and hopefully, your dog will associate the bad taste with all poo. It worked for my dog.

Answer 5

My vet says if they only eat their own it may be something lacking in their diet. But as mine came from the breeder who kept 11 pups and mother in a kennel with a dirt floor and did little cleaning up after all of them my guess is they did it as a way to keep themselves in cleaner condtions.Ours would try eating it as it came out of the other dog.It was really disgusting.
It took us a couple of months to get this one to stop by yelling NO loudly.And cleaning up after them both immediately.
He does not try to eat just any dogs only his and his big buddys.He's 3 now and occasionally we still catch him eating it.Usually when the weathers been too nasty to get right outside to clean up after them.Guess he thinks he's helping.

Answer 6

There are many reasons, why dogs eat their own or another dogs stool! Here is some information that will help answer your question:
http://www.animalhealthcare.ca/contents/content.asp?id=91&cat=dogs
http://www.thehappydogsclub.com/copraphagia.html
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1551&articleid=155
http://www.housepetmagazine.com/August/coprophagia.htm
Hope this helps!

Answer 7

our dog used to too, we asked the vet about it and he told us because it is instinct if they are hungry to eat it rather than eat something else outside, they also do it because they could thing they might get yeld at, especially if they have done it in the house before and have gotten in trouble for that. so they eat it to clean it up so you(the owner) doesnt see it so they do not get reprimanded

Answer 8

Either the taste, or to hide the evidence from you. My dog does this also. I love her anyways.

Answer 9

my dog eats my cat's poo . and don't know why but their crazy

Answer 10

I don't know, but I have 3 things to say to that:

1. that's sick, but it saves you the time to clean it up...

2. that's sick, and they say a dogs mouth is cleaner then a humans...

3. that's sick, and my dog ate 2 of her own puppies.
(when she gave birth, it was winter and we didn't know she was birthing, and she wanted them warm- so the only warm place was back inside of her)... nasty!