The Scoop on Why Your Dog is Eating Poop - Coprophagy

Dogs evolved in a self-domestication process that included scavenging on human waste heaps. That’s right, garbage and excrement. Nowadays, dogs get fed the best food and treats that their owners can afford. But they still want to eat poop, don’t they?

Grab a coffee and get comfy. Let me explain.

I will start by saying dogs are gross. They are. They enjoy being gross and embrace it fully. The smellier the better. Whatever the stinky is, they’ll eat it, roll in it, and wear it like a badge of honor. Humans prefer scents that smell appealing, but not your dog. Please keep this in mind as you continue reading.

The question is, why do dogs eat poop? Out of every possible thing that they could desire, sometimes they treat their poop like a fine delicacy. They race for it and ignore your demands not to eat it. Stop floundering.

The proper term for their stack snacking is Conspecific Coprophagy which is dogs eating dog poop. It’s disgusting. However, it is natural dog behavior. I said what I said.

Not to sound cliché’, but it all started with their mother. Newborn puppies cannot eliminate on their own for the first couple of weeks. The mother dog licks the puppies to stimulate them to help them eliminate and then cleans up their feces to keep the puppies and their area clean. The puppies smell It on their mother’s breath, and it becomes a learned behavior from their very infancy. From this, they learn to keep their area clean, which also helps shield them from predators. It’s not because they are hungry, or lacking nutrients (insert eyeroll and deep sigh here). This is discussed in a book by Linda P. Case called “Feeding Smart with The Science Dog”.

In this book, Case also refers to a 2018 study titled “The paradox of canine conspecific coprophagy”. In this study, researchers found that 82% of dogs that engage in coprophagy choose recently voided feces, no more than two days old. They believe that this is because intestinal parasites in the feces become infective after a few days lying in the environment. Therefore, rapid consumption to keep their area clean will also reduce the risk of environmental contamination with parasites. This fact supports the idea that coprophagy has been selected for during the dog’s evolutionary history and the “poop eating is a normal dog behavior” theory.

Dogs also choose what they eat in the order of smell, texture and then taste. Since smell is the first thing that drives a dog to eat something, it’s fair to say that there aren’t many things that smell fouler. Remember, they love stinky smells.

Many dog owners think coprophagy is a sign of health issues and dietary deficiencies and will turn to the internet threads for advice. Rest assured, there are tons of keyboard warrior expert home remedies out there. The most popular remedies include feeding pineapple or buying expensive supplements.

Let’s clear up the confusion around feeding pineapple to dissuade a dog from engaging in coprophagy. The truth is It does not change the smell or taste of their poop enough keep themselves, or other dogs from eating it. Pineapple is bromelain-rich, healthy in moderation, assists in digestion, reduces inflammation and calms gastrointestinal irritation, so slipping your dog a little fresh pineapple is always a good idea. It’s just not going to help you with coprophagy.

You know what else isn’t going to help you? Expensive supplements. If you hop online, you can order stool eating deterrents costing anywhere from $22-$45. Although the ingredients may be healthy, these are just fancy dog treats that would probably work better as a reward to call your dog away from their fresh stack of interest.

I also get asked a lot about the expensive fermented food toppers on the market that promise to make your dog stop eating feces. One brand is selling a 7 oz bag for a mere $107, (eh-hem…go to www.bonesadogtrainingcompany.com and sign up for my email and I’ll send you a dog kimchi recipe that costs maybe $10 to make yourself). Let me be clear, adding fermented fruits and vegetables to your dog’s diet is always a good idea. The nutritional benefits are tremendous. Fermenting enhances the vitamin content in the fruits and veggies and promotes good bacteria growth in the gut (for dogs and humans). Plain kefir is also inexpensive and good to add to your dog’s diet as it promotes a good gut microbiome. Please understand, you are dealing with natural dog behavior and eating poop does not mean they have a dietary deficiency. Only a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis, lab work and gut microbiome test can tell you that.

Speaking of microbiome, interestingly there is a medical treatment for dogs and humans called FMT, Fecal Microbiota Transplant which is basically (drumroll) eating poop. It is a highly effective procedure with an 80%-90% success rate. FMT is used for patients diagnosed with chronic diarrhea, irritable bowel disease, parvovirus and skin issues. For this procedure, stool is transferred from a healthy donor into the gut of a sick recipient either orally or rectally. The transfer is either done in a veterinary clinic or at home with oral capsules. You read that correctly; we are feeding stool in capsules to a sick dog as a cure.

This leads to even bigger questions. Will dogs actively seek out stool to put healthy bacteria back into their gut? Is coprophagy good for them? Can they smell good bacteria? I recently attended a lecture given by Monika Oli, Instructional Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Science at the University of Florida. I was able to ask her these questions. She agreed that this is a possibility. When dogs eliminate, their feces are covered in microbes. It is a fact that dogs can smell cancer cells, blood sugar spikes and oncoming seizures in humans, so they should also be able to sniff out good bacteria, even in the stinkiest substance on Earth.

There are only two things you can do to keep your dogs from eating poop.

First, you can hire a dog trainer to help you teach a “leave it” command, which teaches your dog not to pick something up. However, for this to be effective you will have to accompany your dog outside every time to make sure you give the “leave it” cue before your dog goes for it. Otherwise, since it is a natural dog behavior and dogs are opportunists, they’re most likely going to eat it if you aren’t around. This method isn’t going to work for a dog that uses a doggy door and goes outside independently. However, accompanying your dog outside for potty breaks is valuable as you can reward their potty training (you should be doing this anyway) and monitor their health by observing their stool (you should be doing this too).

The second and most effective thing that you can do is to have a bucket and shovel handy and get to their piles before they do. This is what we call “extinction” in the dog training world. The idea is that if there is no poop to eat, they won’t eat it. You will have to be consistent and diligent, and sometimes fast. Honestly, this is the only thing that is going to work. Dogs prefer to have their area feces free. So, if you don’t want them to eat it, you’re going to have to step up your game and clean it up. Plain and simple.

Hopefully, this gives you a better understanding of why your dog is eating its’ poop and how to deal with it effectively. Your dog might be gross, but they aren’t being naughty. They’re just being a dog. So, take that money that you were going to spend on the expensive anti-poop eating products, go to Tractor Supply and get you some nice rubber boots and a shovel.