Why do dogs eat poop?
Dogs do not have any idea about the nutritional content of the food that they eat so do not be surprised if you caught them eating poop. Their ancestors learned to live by scavenging ‘š so, whatever they can eat, they eat as long as they can get their stomachs full until the next meal that they can find. In fact, they would eat internal organs of other animals when they are in the wild so the poop should be nothing to them.
Another possible reason why your dogs actually eat poop is that they want to clean up their homes. If you keep them inside a kennel or somewhere confined, they would naturally want to keep it neat and clean because they would also sleep in that place. However, if you also scold them constantly when they would poop anywhere around the house, it could also be a possible reason why they eat it ‘š they want to avoid scolding and punishment so they erase evidence.
Dogs may also eat poop because they are not fed right. You may have failed to give them food at the right time or you just gave a small amount so in order to satisfy their hunger, they would rather eat their poop so that their stomach is filled. For puppies, there is also that sense of curiosity to try anything that gets in their way, just like human babies. If they see poop in front of them, they are not likely to know that it is actually feces and they would try to eat them to know how it tastes like.
If you are a careful dog owner, though, you must remember that poop contains waste, not minerals, so they should not be eaten back once they get out of the body already. Otherwise, it could be a reason why your dog becomes sick.
August 19, 2011 3:06 pm
The technical name for stool eating is: Coprophagia. There are, as discussed above many reasons for why a dog might and/or does engage in Coprophagia. However, in my 40 or so years witnessing dogs, I have been able to find (no) medical or nutritional reason for why a dog would eat poop. I believe actually, that the reason is much more psychological and/or dominance related. Defecation is one of the means dogs use to exhibit dominance. I believe that this might explain why it might be difficult to train your dog to go in another place other than the one he or she is used to. I also strongly believe that eating another dog’s crap is a way for some dogs to elevate their status within dog packs, though I suppose we’ll never really know for sure. We do know however, that many animals in the wild such as dogs for example, will scent mark over another marking of the same species, we even know of certain species of invertebrates like the red sided garter snake or the clownfish which can either disguise themselves as a member of the opposite sex, or like the clownfish, change sex altogether. I don’t think it would be a great stretch to say that I believe that dogs understand that crapping on a pile of crap wouldn’t remove a scent, only mask it, therefore, for some dogs, crap grabbing relieves stress and, by absorbing the scent of their rivals, an eager dog lacking in confidence, gets to elevate its status through non-confrontational means. You’ll also notice, if your keen observers of your animals that is, that , this behavior is most common in fixed dogs. Just so we’re clear though, there’s no such thing as a fool-proof rule, but I’ve only ever been around one or two unfixed dogs that have done this…, that I know of.
March 7, 2013 10:57 pm
The reason why they eat poop is because they are mindless killing machines. Any way, they taste good, why are Americans against dog meat.