When at your dogs veterinarian’s office, the last thing you want to have to tell them is that your dog eats poop, whether it’s their own or another dogs. You would hate to have the conversation about how to get them to stop doing it I’m sure. Well we’ve done some research to provide you the answers to the ‘why they do it’ and the ‘how to stop them’ so that you can allow your dog some dignity and discretion in an attempt to fix the problem yourself!
Why do they eat poop?
While it’s not an exact science, veterinarians have narrowed the most likely reasons down to:
- a combination of physiological and behavioral reasons
- their attraction to undigested corn, peanuts, or other foods that remain intact through the digestion process
- simple boredom
- if they think they’ve gone to the bathroom in the wrong place, they may try to get rid of the evidence
- a possible vitamin deficiency
- to get attention from you
- to dogs, it really does taste good (yuk)!
- the dog could be feeling stressed
How to stop them:
The first thing you should do with any issue you are having with your pet is to consult the vet. Based on prior history, the vet may be able to pinpoint the reason to give you a better recommendation to get him to stop. Here are some things you can try that have worked for others:
- add pumpkin, spinach, or pineapple to the dogs food – apparently it makes the poop taste horrible (as if it wasn’t already)!
- right after the dog goes to the bathroom, put tobasco sauce or hot pepper directly onto the poop
- poopy scoop right after the dog does his business
- add meat tenderizer to their food, it makes the poop bitter
