Why do dogs eat poop?
Dogs eat poop for a variety of reasons including –
- Nutritional imbalance – When a dog eats his own poop, it may be because the stool still has undigested minerals and nutrients.
- Stress – A dog may poop because of extreme anxiety (e.g. when left alone), and then eat up his own feces as a displacement behavior.
- Boredom – Lack of activity and interaction may cause a dog to start playing with his stool and sometimes eat it.
- Enjoyment – Many dogs like the taste of leavings from cats or other animals. My dogs also like smelling the stuff and scenting it with their tongue.
- Clean-up – Some dogs may eat poop inside the house to keep their living space clean. Dogs that are physically punished for potty training mistakes, may learn to eat their own poop to avoid our anger or strong discipline.
- Any combination of the above.
Whether eating feces is harmful to our dog will depend on whether it is contaminated with worms, fleas, or other parasites that may carry bacteria and viruses. The consequences of eating contaminated feces will also depend on the immune system and general health of our dog. Young puppies, for example, have developing immune systems, and may be more susceptible to bad stool; especially if they have not been fully vaccinated. To be safe, I only take my puppy out on hikes and neighborhood walks, after he has received all of his vaccination shots.
The most effective method to stop our dog from eating poop, will depend on the reason for his behavior, his temperament, as well as our own preferences.
1. Feed our dog a healthy and balanced diet.
The easiest balanced food to give our dog is dry kibble. Dry kibble is nutritionally balanced and results in less teeth tartar.
Make sure to get a high quality kibble, with good protein sources, and no unhealthy fillers.
Some well reviewed kibble brands include Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and Orijen.
2. Fixed feeding schedule and on-leash supervision.
If we keep our dog on a fixed eating schedule, it will help keep his poop schedule regular and predictable as well.
A fixed schedule makes it easier for us to supervise our dog, and prevent him from eating his own feces or those from our other dogs.
During poop time –
- I put the problem dog on a leash, and walk him out on-leash to do his business first.
- If he tries to eat his own feces, I no-mark him (Ack-ack) and lead him away from it. I get him to do some obedience commands, and then try again. If he does not try to pull towards the bad stuff, I praise him and reward him well.
- I keep sessions short, and end on a positive note.
- I make sure to clean up after him.
- If we have other dogs, only let them out after cleaning up.
- Make sure to keep the problem dog on-leash, so that we may supervise and prevent poop eating when our other dogs are out.
3. Keep our dogs busy and well-exercised.
Bored dogs will frequently develop behavioral issues and cause property damage.
It is important to walk our dog regularly (preferably every day), and to provide structured, interesting activities, to keep his mind sharp and engaged.
My dogs work for all of their food, either by performing dog obedience commands, or through interactive food toys. If we provide a lot of alternative activities for our dog, he will be less likely to find unacceptable entertainment on his own, including eating his own feces.
If we are busy in the short-term, and do not have the time to give our dog the attention that he needs, consider sending him to dog daycare or hiring a pet sitter.
4. Keep our dog’s environment clean.
Scoop up after our dog, as soon as he is done with his business. If we keep things clean, there will be less chance for him to engage in opportunistic poop eating.
During retraining, it is also important to supervise our dog closely, so that he does not practice any bad behavior on his own. We may have to go back to dog potty training basics, to fully stop him from eating his own poop.
5. Help our dog reduce stress.
Identify situations that cause extreme stress in our dog, and try to reduce the number of stressful encounters. In the meantime, practice managed desensitization exercises, to help reduce his stress response.
To desensitize my dog-
- I make sure that I am in control of the training environment. Then, I start by exposing him to very low levels of the stressful stimulus. Low enough that he is able to stay calm and learn.
- I treat and praise him for staying calm.
- I do some simple obedience commands (e.g. Sit), so that he is focused on me, and looks to me for direction while under stress.
- When my dog is comfortable with the low-level stimulus, I very slowly increase its intensity, and repeat the focus and training exercises.
If our dog starts to react badly, then we have moved forward too quickly. I move a few steps back, help my dog to calm down, and then do some simple focus exercises so that I can end on a positive note.
While conducting desensitization exercises, it is important to keep sessions short, fun, and rewarding for our dog. In this way, he will begin to re-associate the bad stimulus with positive experiences.
6. Teach our dog the ‘Leave-it’ command.
- First, I get some yummy treats that my dog likes.
- I put one treat in my hand, and make sure my dog knows it is there.
- I close my hand into a fist, and hold it still.
- My dog will naturally nose all over my hand, while trying to get to the treat. I say Leave-it, and wait for him to briefly stop nosing my hand.
- As soon as he stops, I mark the behavior (Yes), and treat him from my other hand.
As our dog learns the command, we can slowly lengthen the time he has to leave our hand alone, before we mark and treat him.
Once we are comfortable with this exercise, we can practice the Leave-it command with a treat on the floor. Make sure that we are fast, or have our dog on a lead. In this way, we may stop him if he decides to lunge for the treat. If necessary, we can also cover the treat with our hand.
As soon as our dog leaves the treat alone, mark and treat him from our other hand. It is important NOT to give him the treat that is on the floor. This may inadvertently teach him that he gets rewarded with whatever is on the ground, which is often not the case in real-world situations.
Keep practicing this until we have a really solid Leave-it command. Now, we can use it when our dog gets tempted by animal leavings during walks.
Note that independent minded dogs may choose to eat the feces anyway, if they decide that our reward is of lesser value. If this happens, I try upgrading my rewards, and make sure that my dog does not get within striking distance of the bad stuff. In addition, I quickly march my dog home and end the walk, if he manages to sneak in some poop eating. This teaches him that if he eats the stuff, the nice and interesting walk ends. That is usually enough of a deterrent to stop any roadside temptations.
7. Make the dog poop taste bad.
Adding meat tenderizer containing papain, in small quantities to our dog’s food, will sometimes prevent poop eating. Make sure it does not contain other additives such as MSG or salt. Some people also suggest adding pumpkin, pineapple, or stool deterrent supplements as alternatives. Our vet can also give our dog medicine, that will make his stool taste extremely bitter.
Only use one additive at a time, so that our dog’s digestive system does not become overly unbalanced.
Remember to consult with our vet, before using any of these additives. Adding too much, may give our dog digestive issues. Some dogs may also be allergic to the added ingredients.
Instead of adding to our dog’s food, we may also coat our dog’s poop with taste deterrents such as Bitter Apple.
Note that taste deterrents are added to the feces, and *not* to the food.
However, stool deterrents only work when our dog is eating his own feces, or those from other dogs in the house. Results are usually much better and longer lasting, when we correct the source of the poop eating behavior, through the other methods listed above.
My 8mo old male peke tried to eat poop once when he was 5mo old and never aha in till today I cough him with something in his mouth it turned out to be fresh poop I immediately took it out and scolded him I don’t consider him a poop eater never ate his own should I be concerned?
I have 3 months old german puppy he eats potty .i m very tensed pls hlp me.though i feed him pedigree. pls help me.
First of all, I would not feed him pedigree. Dogfoodadvisor.com has ratings of many brands to help find a good one. The best way to prevent poop eating is to pick it up as soon as it drops. Walk him to potty on leash and as soon as he goes bag it and throw it away. Teaching a leave-it command is helpful as well.
Pedigree not good… Try switching him over to a non-grain or minimal grain food like Blue Buffalo – even the bare bones BB food is still much higher quality than grocery store bought dog food that is nothing but junk & fillers (not to mention, many are the subject of many recalls that result in permanent harm / even death). Places like Petsmart/ Petco or even local feed stores have great deals & the prices are finally coming back down too. It is very comparable to all other brands of non -grain higher quality dog foods too.
If after slowly weaning from Pedigree to new food over a couple of weeks & has been eating the new food strictly, over a month or two hasn’t made a difference (btw, you will also see a huge diff in #2, being more firm, darker & your dog will have to go less w/ non-grain which = another +)…. It may be time to take a trip to your vet to make sure there isn’t other potential medical problems – like diabetes, amongst other things. He will also be able to advise on what other next steps you might try as well…. There are medical conditions associated w poo poppin’ š
Our 8 month old german shepherd cross will eat other animals poop (never her own or another dog’s) when we walk her through the fields around our house. She knows the ‘leave it’ command well and will often drop the poop when asked to be rewarded with a treat and praise. But occasionally she will choose to continue eating it while staring at us blankly from a distance and will run away if we try to stop her.
The biggest problem comes with trying to catch her and punish her/put her back on the leash to go home. We don’t want to call her back to us as she might associate being called back with being punished and we don’t want to stop letting her go free as she is usually well behaved and gets a good run/needs the exercise. Is it best to just walk away and wait for her to get close enough before grabbing her, telling her off and putting the leash back on?
our 3 year old italian greyhound-rat terrier mix is very fast after nosing around in the leafs. not letting a dog snifff around is “mean” but she is so fast and grabs a turd and gobbles it so fast, and i don’t carry rubber gloves to take it out. this is so hard to train a dog not to eat poop. or do I tell my stepdad to not feed her Purenia 1 anymore?
Purina def is not that high of a quality food, firstly… Though many foods are getting slightly better on store shelves, non -grain is always best & most of the better brands wont be found in grocery stores… Try the switch to Blue Buffalo – even found online at a decent price & is often sale these days… They also have never been involved in any of the deadly recalls, as they mfg their own food & don’t get ingredients or processing in China – who have ZERO regulations & often produce w/ non -food ingredients which cause permanent harm and even death. Do your homework if you love your pooch
As I noted in another post, if after weaning your dog into the new hi-qual food, & has been eating it for a month or more with no change in poo poppin’, I also suggest a trip to the vet to be on the safe side. Aside from being gross, there are also potential medics problems that can cause it, on top of the behavioral ones. My dog grew out of it when still a pup, but I swear he thought he was helping me clean up, after watching me all the time. Many dogs will also eat it if they are punished for either making an accident or getting caught, as they believe they are hiding the evidence, so to speak, in order to avoid punishment in the fjrst place.
Try the new hi quality food option first, it may surprise you – as well as having the benefit of not having to go as often & having smaller, firmer poos
I have a 3.5 yr. old Lab and I have used every method, every food, every additive available to me to prevent him from eating his and every other dog’s poop … I worry about his health and even my vet has not provided me with any successful treatment … left to my own devices I have decided that whenever he is off-leash with me, he is wearing a muzzle, it is the only method of preventing a poop-eater from eating everything available …
I have just considered doing this as well. It it works, what kind of muzzle do you use???
Thanks,
Hi guys!
My husband n i had bought our second shibainu from a breeder this time, and he has been eatting his poop… We had him in a playpen to begin with and he would chomp down his food and immediately poop and then eat it. Then i had wait til he finished eatting and quickly hold him, run outside and he will poop outside but when we come back in, he will poop again and eat it. He is on wellness core and has plenty of excercise with our other shiba. He has plenty of toys and treats. He is now 4 months. We had tried the poop pills and that did not work. What else can we do?
Have you had any improvement? I’m going through the same thing. My puppy is now 5 months and I’ve tried everything and he still eats his poop, everyday.
My dog has always ate her poop if we do the leave it she’s so stubborn she goes back in a few seconds not her food we’ve been on 2 different ones ones royal k9 most expensive and best for digestion and we are now on moist and meaty only thing she likes and don’t make her sick most makes her sick or she won’t eat. Tenderizer on food doesn’t do anything or putting it on the poop. Please help I’m desperate at this point I’ve been tying for almost 2yrs now I’m out of ideas time out isn’t even doing it.
Please don’t take this the wrong way only trying to help you. Both of those dog foods contain meat by-product meal which is slaughterhouse waste (ex. Chicken by-product meal: the left over parts of the chicken after the prime choice cuts have been used including feet, beaks, necks etc) they also have other ingredients like high fructose corn syrup that are not good for your dog. I would recommend going to a locally owned pet store and asking for a high protein food with natural ingredients and starting with that. You will be surprised how you can pay they same as you do now for a good quality food and how much less your dog will eat and poop! And hopefully stop eating poo! Hope this helps!
What can I do if my 1 yr old pup poops in the house and eats while I’m not home. She poops in the house once in a while even when we are home(not that often) and when it’s just her and my 7 yr old dog and she poops, she’ll eat it and sometimes carry it to my bed and eat it there. How do I stop it if I’m not there to see it?
I can have her outside for an extra amount of time but there are some days if something has changed in the environment she won’t do anything outside.
My wife and I started mixing some boiled cabbage and cooked pumpkin into our dogs meal at every meal. So far he has stopped eating his poop completely, but its only been about 4 days. The informstion on this, is that the smell after digestion is so twrrible to the dog, they wont eat their poop, bu this may not work with all dogs…. Important point is to cook the cabbage and pumpkin so they are not raw, and then add to their food, perhaps one 4th mixture of total amount of food. This might work for you, and its harmless to the dog.
Did you find a solution to this poop eating problem? I need to hear it.
My 12 wk old shi tsu is eating her poop.. I work from 7 to 330.. I dont know how i can stop her.. Im desperate. I have a yr d pit who i have had since 6wks n he never did that. Help.
What food is she eating? How long have you had her? Is she stressed when left alone in the house? Dogs may sometimes eat poop when they are anxious. Did she eat poop right from the start? Does she eat poop when you are around?
I heard of people using pinnacle or meat tenderizer to a dog’s diet and asked my vet. Both products work the same; they alter the taste of poop because they contain bromelain. Instead, you can just buy bromelain pills (our dog likes them, so that’s easy). We give 80mg (1 pill) a day. It works and the bromelain has the added benefit of decreasing arthritis (see webmd). Ask your vet about adding bromelain.
How old is your dog?
My puppy is 10 weeks old. He just started eating his poop a few days ago. He is a Jack Russell/Shihtzu mix. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.