It is quite disgusting and somewhat disturbing to see your own dog eat poop.  To some dogs, he would just be content to eating his own poop, while other dogs prefer the flavor and aroma of other poop such as another dog, cow, deer, cat, and even human feces.

This condition is known as Coprophagy is a condition when a dog is somewhat fixated with eating its own or other animal’s feces.  No breed is spared from this behavior; may your dog be a mongrel or a Labrador, or a greyhound, your dog will still experience the need of eating its own poop.

Causes:

No one knows exactly what causes the condition; some say it’s a phase, some say it’s an acquired behavior.  Some specific causes could be:

• Stress and anxiety: most dogs that have been mistreated often eat their own feces.  This behavior is most seen on dogs that came from unsavory animal shelters and cruel owners.  However, if you have recently moved to a new neighborhood without helping your dog adjust, you may see some poop eating around the corner.

• Pregnancy or a dog in heat: It’s a natural instinct for animals in the wild to mask their own scent just to make sure their brood is safe.  A pregnant or a dog at heat might eat its poop in order to mask her scent in fear of being found by other wild animals that may eventually attack on her once they sense her weakness.  Mothers are often found eating the feces of their pups, and it can be due to the same reason, for from the simple need of just keeping the den clean.  Or, if you would closely observe the interaction between a mother dog and a newborn puppy, you will often notice that the puppies only poop or urinate when their abdomens and genitals are stimulated by their mom’s tongue.

• Puppy curiosity: just like human toddlers, puppies also have its own sense of adventure and wonderment.  Researchers postulate that puppies may be eating their poop just out of curiosity.  That curiosity may be due to a primitive memory of their mother eating their poop, we won’t exactly know.  Others say that the puppies instinctively eat their own poop in search for the proper nutritional requirement that they would need for them to grow.

• Improper Discipline: If during your dog’s puppyhood days you scold him excessively and punish him harshly whenever he poops, he will establish an undesirable behavior when it comes to poop.  He would be conditioned that whenever he poops he would be hurt again, so he “cleans after himself” by eating his own poop.

• Nutritional Imbalance: it has been lead to believe that dogs deficient B₁₂ or K “seek” for this nutritional requirement in feces.

Management:

Whatever the cause, you still need to help your dog get out of the nasty habit.  If you think that your dog is having some nutritional imbalance, ask your vet for what food to give to your dog.  Red meat can be the right food to give to your dog to address this problem.

You can also ask for some vitamin supplements that can help your dog stop eating poop.  Buy your dog a brand of dog food that is digested easily but leaves very little residue for poop.

You may love feeding your dog, but make sure you do not overfeed.  Too much food will just give your dog indigestion.  The resultant poop may still have some bits of whole food in it, and your dog will be quite delighted in eating his food all over again.

You can also do some behavioral modification on your dog by training him that eating poop is not a desirable course of action.  Get a good pair of disposable gloves and a plastic bag.  Go with him whenever he does the deed, and show to him that you’re cleaning up after him.

Tell him that poop is not made to be eaten while you’re placing the poop in the plastic bag and disposing it in a garbage bin.  Just make sure that the garbage bin is fully secured lest he takes it in his mind to go after it.  Aside from that, you can tug your dog’s leash while he’s smelling his own poop, and firmly tell him “NO.”

Some advocate the use of an additive that can make a dog’s poop quite unappetizing. You can use pepper powder or pepper sauce, or some commercially prepared concoction that you can use to pour over the poop to deter the dog from eating it.  You can try one of these products and see which one would do the job.

• Four Paws Potty Mouth – Coprophagia Treatment ($5.09):  This comes in a chewable tablet that is given in a dose of 1 tablet/10kg of body weight.  This is given every day in a span of 2 weeks.  It has brewer’s yeast and Cayenne that can certainly make the taste of your dog’s poop quite undesirable.  Aside from that, it contains vitamin B₁, B₂, and B₁₂, Iron and Copper; all of the important vitamins and minerals that your dog needs to help him stop eating fecal matter. Comes in a bottle of 60 tablets.

• 8-in1 Deter – Coprophagia treatment ($5.09): prides itself as 98% effective in deterring your dog from eating his own poop.  Comes in a bottle of 60 tablets.

There are a lot of commercially-available poop deterrent that can help your dog stop from poop eating.  Your dog is at high risk from contracting parasitic infections that came from the poop of other dogs and animals.  Behavioral modification can be hard, but it would only take hard work and dedication to eventually stop your dog from coprophagia.

Bear in mind that you must restrain yourself from physically punishing your dog.  Physical punishment only makes matters worse, and will not resolve the issue of poop eating.  Praising your dog whenever he follows your command of not eating his poop, as well as constantly and consistently guiding him from such an act can eventually help your dog get over poop eating.