Why You May Not Be Able to Stop Your Dog From Eating Poop

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(Newser)Before you freak out that your dog may be suffering from canine conspecific coprophagy, know that it’s probably not that serious—though you will likely be grossed out.

Does this look like a poop eater to you? (Getty Images/MirasWonderland)

Scientific American reports on a study in the Veterinary Medicine and Science journal that looked at the result of two web-based surveys of about 3,000 dog owners in the US and Canada, with a finding that 16% of the owners said they’d witnessed their pups eating dog poop, either their own or that of other dogs, on at least six occasions.

The second survey, which focused exclusively on poop-ingesting dogs, revealed that 62% of those pets ate stool daily, while 38% did so weekly. The UC-Davis researchers couldn’t pinpoint definitive links among the poop eaters, such as age, gender, diet, or how easily they’d been house trained.

Read: Dogs, Cats, Fish, Birds and Other Critters: The Happy and Unreality of Pets

The scientists did find clues as to what separates feces feasters from those that don’t partake. Coprophagic canines more often live with other dogs (pointing to a possible social factor), and they also tend to be “greedy eaters” that “wolf down food.”

That 85% of the poop eaters preferred fresh stool (not more than two days old) led researchers to speculate that the habit traces back to dogs’ wolf ancestors, which may have eaten parasite-infected poop near their dens before the parasite eggs hatched, per the Washington Post.

Although dogs often suffer no ill effects from poop consumption, vets say some could be hit with diarrhea or be exposed to a disease.

As for trying to put a halt to the habit, dog owners in the study said trying products designed specifically for that task had a success rate of 2% at best; behavior modification techniques didn’t help much, either.

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jess
6 years ago

One of my dogs I have to watch like a hawk when my cats use their litter boxes. It’s like me with almond Roca, they see the litter boxes and think, hey it’s my own personal candy jar, let me see if Jess is fast enough this time. Hubby used to throw a soft sponge at her when he caught her. I am way vigilant when we are going for walks, that they don’t pick anything up outside but inside damn, that cat poop is like crack to her.

Reply to  jess
6 years ago

Back in the days when I had cats my dogs used to be fascinated by the litter box smorgasbord. I finally had to buy those covered boxes, yet still, they’d stick their heads in and chow down.

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