Dog Behavior Problems: Coprophagia
Increasingly, people are considering their pets as members of the family. They are given a spot on the bed to snuggle, and even share off our plates. This is why it is especially horrifying when dogs happily devour their own, and their friend’s, feces. Before you swear off puppy kisses forever, let’s explore this reprehensible canine behavior and discuss ways it can be curbed.
What Is Coprophagia?
The medical term for eating one’s one feces is coprophagy. Contrary to popular belief, this behavior is not generally linked to any sort of nutritional deficiency or lack of minerals or vitamins. In fact, the general consensus is that this gross behavior is pretty normal, and extremely common, especially in puppies. There does not seem to be a link to the diet fed, or even ability to house train. According to a journal article published in Veterinary Medicine and Science,1 it is possible that dogs with a more food-motivated brain are overrepresented as poop eaters. The article also suggests that more than 1 in 10 dogs will do this at some point in their lives.
Why Do Dogs Eat Stools?
One potential reason in an evolutionary sense that this behavior might have been advantageous in dogs’ wild ancestors include the ability to get the most nutrients as possible from limited food sources. Another hypothesis is that in an attempt to keep their offspring’s den clean and free of fecal borne intestinal parasites, there was an evolved defense strategy of eating the feces, and thereby removing them.
While it is true that feces that are immediately deposited are less infective than older feces (it takes around 2 days for infective larva to mature enough to keep the lifecycle of the intestinal parasite going), it is still a good idea to discourage feces eating due to the risk of transmitting intestinal parasites or worms.
Symptoms of Coprophagia in Dogs
Intestinal parasitism in dogs can cause weight loss, a poor hair coat and diarrhea. In severe cases, it can even cause life-threatening anemia. There are several canine intestinal parasites that have the potential to infect humans as well. Roundworms, for example, are zoonotic, meaning they have the ability to infect people as well as dogs. For this reason, keeping your puppies on a year-round antiparasitic medication is a good idea, whether or not they enjoy scavenging through the yard.
Treatment of Coprophagia in Dogs
Obviously, it is clear that poop eating should be discouraged for all the reasons listed above, but how can we curb this nasty habit? Turns out it is a little easier said than done. Studies show close to zero response or success with commercially prepared anti-coprophagia products, indicating this is a tricky behavior to stop (Hart, 2018).
Despite their efficacy being low, there are many available options for discouraging poop eating. Sometimes it takes a little trial and error to see if one might work for your pooch. Most products available through a veterinarian will have monosodium gluconate as their main ingredient. If that sounds familiar to you, it’s because it is! Monosodium gluconate is the MSG that’s added to our Chinese food and is in our meat tenderizers.
Other additives you might try included 2 – 3 chunks of canned pineapple or 1-2 Tbsp canned pumpkin on food. Occasionally adding probiotics to help ensure a healthy gut flora can help. The best tried and true method for avoiding poop eating behavior is keeping your yard impeccably clean and cleaning up feces immediately. Even if this means you follow your dog outside with a headlamp and a poop bag in the middle of the night. Supervising puppies while outside until they are trustworthy, and keeping them on a leash while going potty are other foolproof ways to keep poop where it belongs.
Teaching young puppies the command ‘leave it’ will prove to be an extremely useful phrase in many instances, coprophagia being no exception! Having a small bag of training treats on hand when your dog is learning can be invaluable; the phrase ‘leave it’ should be followed up with praise and a more enticing morsel. Be persistent and consistent, most dogs do outgrow this distasteful habit!
In the event that an emergency happens due to Coprophagia, having Pets Best Pet Health Insurance may help with costs at the veterinarians.
1 Benjamin L Hart, Lynette A Hart, Abigail P Thigpen, Alisha Tran, Melissa J Bain. The paradox of canine conspecific coprophagy. Vet Med Sci. May 2018;4(2):106-114.